Ghost story: 'Mummy, there's a woman in my room who screams at me.'

Sydney mother of two Alix Fiveash doesn’t believe in ghosts, but her son told her something that really tested her beliefs.

While pregnant with her second child, she purchased a "renovator's dream house" in Marrickville and moved there with her husband, Gerard Corboz, and three-year-old son Albert.

"We loved our new house, but the problem was my three-and-a-half-year-old would not go to his bedroom," she said.

Albert was a good sleeper before the family moved. There was a lot of excitement and build-up to the new room and despite a new bed and a lot of positive coaxing, Albert refused to sleep in his own bedroom. Every night he would end up in his parents' bedroom.

"I was about to go on maternity leave and I was getting a bit concerned about it, and then one day I was sitting downstairs and he came down and said, 'Mummy, I really don't like the lady in the room that screams at me all the time,'" said Alix.

"Every single hair on my body just stood on end."

Despite being a non-believer, Alix admits a host of childhood horror movies came to mind.

The mother of two said that, normally, Albert talked about cars or trucks or imitated siren sounds, so this was completely out of character.

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He told her again: "This woman comes in my room and she screams at me, she doesn't want me to be there and I don't like her."

Albert went on to describe the woman as old, with her hair up, and said she was wearing a long dress.

"He went into a really vivid description of someone that I can't place as a TV character, or a movie character, or anyone from ABC Kids that made sense – and again, every single hair on my body was standing on end."

When Albert's father came home, they talked about it as a family.

"Again clear as can be, [Albert said], 'She's in there, she yells at me she doesn't like us being in her room and this is her house,'" said Alix.

"Neither of us believe in ghosts and this was the most clear thing our child has ever told us."

They turned to google and asked friends for advice. They emailed a psychic, who said she could help for $300 and advised them in the meantime to spray the house with vinegar and play Tibetan music.

"The best I could come up with was a community radio station that played a lot of eclectic free-form jazz, and I just put that on for about two days," she said.

Alix admits she thought what they were doing was "absurd" and she didn't get any more help from the psychic.

"In the meantime, my eldest sister was using this story to entertain her friends at a party and everyone thought it was hilarious. At the end of the party, this couple came up to her and said, 'We didn't want to say in front of everyone, but we're actually ghost whisperers'," said Alix.

They explained that they work for all sorts of people, including real estate agents, and that they could help.

Despite being very cynical, Alix agreed they could visit and take a look at the bedroom.

"They came over and as soon as they arrived, a dog appeared at the front gate. I've never seen the dog before – no idea whose it was – and I actually said, 'I don't like dogs, I've got a cat. Please don't let the dog in the house," she said.

They said the dog was a spirit dog and had come to help.

"I was thinking, 'I can't cope with this. I have a three-legged cat, go away.'"

But they came in (without the dog) and they split up to look around the house. The woman went upstairs, where she "connected" with someone.

The ghost whisperer told Alix that there was an energy of a woman in her house who'd been there since the 1920s and had been hit by a vehicle – possibly a tram – and couldn't get out of the house.

The old woman was apparently scared and really hated the changes being made to the house, not to mention the noise – especially the jazz.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but she called down the angels and apparently this woman's mother came down. She was really deeply connected to the house because she's been there for so long and they set her free and she went off into the spirit realm.

"I was downstairs just staying away from it just thinking, 'I hope these people are not going to rob my house.'"

The fashionable ghost whisperers – "inner city, nice shoes, funky glasses, coffee types" – left without charging a cent, and Sydney mum Alix said the "lovely" pair – who seemed like functional people with employment – had done something to the house.

"It felt phenomenally better – the whole staircase up suddenly felt like we installed a skylight. It felt like an energy lifted and I say this with the greatest scepticism towards it," she said.

"Our staircase was light again and I can't explain it any other way other than a weight of energy had gone and my son was straight into his bed. He was fine.

"He said, 'Mummy the lady's gone' and I was like, 'Thank f**king God."

So, does Alix now believe in ghosts?

"I don't know what to believe now, but something happened. We've had an experience that was quite fascinating – that's how I dealt with it because it was really freaking me out."

This article was originally published in 2015 and has since been updated. 

Featured image: Supplied.