Haunted - by a snake with two heads Aug 25 2005
Exclusive By Nick Capehorn
TWO local councillors have talked about a bizarre ordeal when their home was haunted by a twoheaded snake.
Former Bracknell Town Mayor Jennie McCraken was harassed by the ghost for the first year of living at their former Binfield house.
She eventually turned to family friend Terry Walters - an amateur exorcist - to rid them of the spooky serpent.
And the wife of leading Bracknell Forest Borough councillor Iain McCracken added that the experience turned her into a firm believer in the paranormal.
She said: "I was open-minded about it before, having never seen a ghost, but after this experience I am definitely not sceptical any more.
"My mother-in-law saw it too when she lived with us and was not the sort of lady who would have previously thought anything like that existed.
"Two very level-headed women saw the snake and were affected by it."
Mrs McCraken said the house had many other phantoms beside the slithering spectre which presented themselves as "sparkles of light or smoky apparitions".
The house's other ghostly guests kept to themselves, but the snake - believed to be the form of an old ladywho did not like newcomers to her house - caused Mrs McCraken problems.
She dreamed of the snake, and also of a spider with a woman's face, but she also saw the reptilian wraith around the house.
Mrs McCraken added: "There was a nasty ghost there. It was most unpleasant and very frightening. I wasn't the sort of person to believe in something like this before, but the ghost seemed to single me out."
She was also struck on a number of occasions by the snake or an unseen force, and after 12 months of haunting - many times when husband Iain was away on business - she called in amateur exorcist Mr Walters.
He already felt the place had mysterious guests because an old lady used to watch him from the window.
Mr Walters, who has told the story in his book on the paranormal Who on Earth am I?, said: "When I first went round I didn't get any feelings, but as I went up the stairs I sensed something hiding in the eaves of the house.
"We waited for it to come out, and I told her to stand her ground when it did come. She said 'there is a snake circling round you', and I was willing it to leave them alone.
"There was a vacuum feeling in the room and after that ended they were not bothered by it again."
If you have been affected by a haunting or UFO sighting call the News hotline on 01344 456611.
