The voice from the attic

25th September 2024. Reading Time: 11 minutes General, Paranormal Investigation. 397 page views. 0 comments.

Was the voice from the attic a real disembodied voice or an act of deception in a quest for validation? This is my account of an experience that has sat with me for years and something I cannot seem to accept either way.

The voice from the attic

It is an experience I have written about many times. I was doing an investigation at a place called Milanos Tavern. I have actually written about it in a lot more detail in Issue 30 of Haunted Magazine! It is a bistro/restaurant/function centre in a bayside suburb of Melbourne. Back in the 1800s, it was a hotel. It is one of those places that always end up on blogs and website as most haunted locations in Melbourne due to the attached local stories and myths. At the time which was back I would say in 2014ish, no one had ever actually investigated it.

Milanos Tavern started out as the Royal Terminus Hotel built in the 1840’s. It had a total of 5 sitting rooms and 7 bedrooms. For 30 shillings a week, you could stay at the hotel. In 1990 it was sold and renamed Milanos Tavern where it sits today as a dining bistro and function centre. A known suicide took place in one of the bedrooms when this was a hotel. Mr Charles Edward Broome, a stock broker was found dead in his bed with an empty bottle of prussio acid next to him. On the dressing table was a note addressed to the local police Sergeant. He admitted he took his life of his own free well. He asked to be put on a yacht and released at sea. If this was not possible he asked his body to be wrapped in jute cloth and put in a cheap coffin with holes drilled in it. He then asked to be put in the ocean – the holes were so the coffin would sink.

Milanos Tavern was rumoured to be haunted by the spirit of a girl called Tilly and that was the whole reason I was visiting. The staff at Milanos told me that a young staff member was raped in the 1920’s by the landlord. She was dragged through the underground tunnel which sits underneath the kitchen where she was left for dead. It was quite common for a lot of hotels to have a tunnel leading to sea so that alcohol could be transported by pirates. Staff reported that on the third floor, Tilly makes herself known and was quite aggressive to males often pushing them or growling at them. A lot of staff were too afraid to go upstairs on their own.

This myth was reported heavily at the time on all these haunted websites. After a phone call, and producing a copy of our public liability insurance, my brother organised access for myself and some friends to attend and investigate the claims. It was also one of the rare occasions that my husband joined us so for me it was an extra special night! After arriving at the location and having dinner first, we spoke with the staff who talked about their experiences. They all seemed to know the story of Tilly very well. They showed us around all the areas where they have had sightings and experiences. The security guard took us upstairs to the third level where this spirit of Tilly was said to be. Staff were even too scared to go up there at night to lock up the EFT machine because they felt Tilly was there. At the time, there were 3 males and 2 females present to do what was the first time anyone had investigated the property. The 3 males went over to the other end of the building and I and the other female investigator went to talk to Tilly. The rumours were that she liked females so we thought maybe we might be able to make contact. We sat on a stairway that leads to a small attic. I began asking questions. Suddenly I was stopped cold in my tracks. I heard a whisper in my right ear that said 'GET OUUUUUT'. It was almost like a Hollywood movie. I ran down those stairs so fast. When an angry male whispers in your ear to get out, I’m sorry but you get the hell out and that is what I did! My natural reaction was to flee. I had only been investigating the paranormal for a year and I wonder if now my reaction would be the same 10 years later. I went back a few minutes later of course, but the voice didn't return.

I am not usually the kind of person to present a video because I don't present evidence. In this case, I am publishing it to show you what happened on the night so we can talk about it a bit more. You see the voice was also captured on two video cameras and a digital recorder. My brother uploaded this on a now-defunct YouTube channel he had that I won't let him remove because of how much this experience means to me.

Now that you have had a laugh at my reaction, let's talk about what could be going on.

Given that the voice was caught both on two video cameras, a digital recorder and was heard by 2 people, I think we can agree that the voice itself was real and not a hallucination or telepathic communication that only I could hear. Besides the 'it must be a ghost' explanation which I have been back and forward on, the only other option I saw didn't come to me until years later. It wasn't until someone commented on my video a few months ago with the theory the voice could have been planted using a timed recorder or some sort of device to play the voice. While it seemed unlikely, I also couldn't rule it out meaning the whole experience had to be looked at from a different perspective that I had missed.

There was no room for a person to be hiding in the attic. No one else was in the vicinity of the area but thankfully we had a DVR system set up which showed us where everyone was and everyone was accounted for. So we know that it wasn't a real person sneaking up on us or a voice travelling. But what if there was some sort of speaker set-up or two-way device that someone had planted? There was a security guard there that night who commented to me during an interview that he had heard an aggressive voice on those very stairs on many occasions. Security guards do have access to two-way communication devices and it is not the first time a person has planted something at a location to make it look haunted. At this particular time, this was the very first time this location had ever been investigated. The stories about this place were local legends. It would often make the 'Top 10 most haunted location' lists in the newspapers just based on reputation. When we asked the staff about the hauntings, they were a wealth of information and seemed to know all the myths quite intimately. Maybe there was a reputation to uphold at the time? The paranormal field was very different 10 years ago and a lot of places didn't offer investigations.

What if it wasn't about the reputation of the property? Say he did somehow plant a device to play this voice. If he did, I genuinely don't feel like it was because he was secretly sitting in his little office having a laugh at my reaction. (I am sure it would have looked hilarious BTW). During our talk, he went into lengthy detail about his own experiences and even felt like he had some sort of connection with this spirit of Tilly that the staff all talk about. He referred to her affectionately as 'My Tilly'. What always stuck with me was that he said at the time he often heard her growl get out at him when he was in the same area. Maybe he just wanted to be believed?

In the weeks that followed my experience, I struggled a bit mentally with the thought that maybe I had that 'holy grail' kind of experience. I had only been investigating the paranormal at that kind of level for a year and I had the recordings and the experience that some investigators of decades have and will never get.

Had I found everything that I was looking for? Did I hear a ghost?

I find with myself that I do get caught up in the moment. I am the very first to admit it. I don't feel like it is a bad thing because I enjoy what I do. I will never call something paranormal just because that is how I am, but if something happens and I don't know what it is, I can't help but get a little excited. It is a natural reaction for many who have a passion for the paranormal. It is when the dust settles and I have a level head that I can then properly go in and try to work out what went on. I always think back to that security guard. I think back to his comments. I think back to his connection with 'My Tilly'. Was he so desperate to be validated or to prove to us that she was there that he planted a voice for me to hear?

I returned to the location a couple of times and tried to recreate the voice or find a source. Of course, it never happened again. The security guard wasn't on duty on those occasions so was he the missing factor? I certainly would love to believe it is a disembodied voice, but I have never been able to commit to that explanation. In some ways, I feel like it is too good to be true. Especially when it comes to the paranormal we have been conditioned to believe that if it is too good to be true then it usually is. Maybe it is the rational side of me talking or maybe it is too close to home. When I said above the experience made me struggle a bit mentally, it made me think about death and the afterlife. You might think, 'but you investigate the paranormal!'. While this is true, I am not so sure what we communicate with is the spirits of the dead. If you read my blog you will know that I think we play a much larger role here than many believe. My own mortality is something I have confronted before and to be blunt, the thought of dying absolutely terrifies me. I guess I feel like I still have a lot of living to do. As paranormal investigators, it is very easy to become a little detached from the concept of death. This brought it front and centre for me and mentally it was difficult for me to process. It still is.

Is my bias my worst enemy?

So no matter which explanation it does end up being, neither sits well with me and I can't land on one or the other. It has however highlighted my own bias in refusing to admit that something could be paranormal. If someone presents me with their own experience I believe them, yet I won't believe myself. Why is that? I need to do some deep soul searching when it comes to this experience as all these years later it still sits differently with me and even with bright flashing words on the screen in front of me showing what it says, I cannot fully admit that it could have been paranormal or something I don't understand. The strange thing is that I really want it to be. It is not from doubt of the night or the experience or even doubt within myself, it is based on my belief and issues I have with my own mortality that need to be confronted. Maybe until I have done this, I will not be able to fully embrace and open myself up to that possible explanation. I know this sounds strange from someone who investigates the paranormal but I am being honest with you all, death terrifies me. A few days ago, I asked people why it is that some people don't have paranormal experiences even though they believe? Many responded that they may believe but are not necessarily open to it. My response is that I don't think it is necessarily that they are not open to it, but maybe they won't allow themselves to be. Is that me?

If you asked me right at this moment, do you think it was fake, the answer is no I don't. I can't prove that it wasn't of course. Do I want people to scrutinise my video and say they don't hear what I hear? Do I want people to validate my experience? No I don't. This very experience largely set me on the path I am on right now and if I didn't have it, I may not have written these 700 getting worked up about nothing. What matters is that something happened and maybe that is what we need to focus on sometimes. Experiences are personal and sometimes it doesn't matter what is causing it because it can mean so much more than that. This was that moment for me.

I do ask after reading this to please be kind as this is difficult for me to share on such a public forum. It is also a reminder to us all be kind when people are looking for advice or even validation on their own photos. It is never about the evidence itself. It is about how it made them feel. You never know what is going on in a person's mind.

If you enjoy LLIFS, consider buying me a book (otherwise known as buy me a coffee but I don't drink coffee and I LOVE books). Your donation helps to fund the LLIFS website so everyone can continue to access great paranormal content and resources for FREE!