S07-E04 - Take Care, Caretaker

A community hall should feel familiar.Stacked chairs, stage curtains, children’s parties, committee meetings, tea urns, and lights switched off at the end of the night.But for Jan, the ordinary became something far darker.In this listener-led episode of Haunted UK Podcast, Steve shares Jan’s disturbing account from a community centre in the northwest of England — a building that seemed, at first, completely unremarkable. After recovering from a major heart attack and stepping away from office work, Jan took a part-time role as cleaner and caretaker, hoping to feel useful, valued, and involved again.What began as light cleaning after parties soon became a series of increasingly strange experiences: doors banging in an empty locked building, a toy pushchair moving across the hall by itself, cold and oppressive atmospheres, voices, footsteps, objects shifting, and the repeated appearance of something connected to the building’s past.Other staff had their own stories. A man in an old-fashioned suit had been seen near the stage, a possible former headmaster from the days when the building was part of a school. But alongside him was something else — a darker presence, described by witnesses as a black shadowy figure, a smoky mass, or a hooded form moving silently through the hall.The most unsettling moment comes after an evening pantomime, when Jan is alone in the building and sees a strange blue ball of light grow in the darkened hall before shooting through the double doors. The next morning, a local teenager arrives with his own account of what he saw through the rear window: a huge shadow figure following Jan across the room.Atmospheric, strange, and deeply unnerving, this episode blends witness testimony, haunted workplace activity, possible residual spirits, mediumship, shadow phenomena, and the uneasy suggestion that something inside the community hall was never meant to be disturbed.Enjoyed the episode? Subscribe, leave us a rating, and drop a review. It really helps the show reach more listeners. Here's where to find more:Support the show: Patreon (patreon.com/hauntedukpodcast) | Ko-fi (ko-fi.com/hauntedukpodcast)Follow us: Instagram @hauntedukpodcast | TikTok @hauntedukpodcast | X @hauntedukpodWebsite: https://hauntedukpodcast.com/Produced by Pink Flamingo Sound Studio Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.