The Hairy Cow

There’s a house in Australia where people go to be terrified.  They go there to spend the night – but they don’t get much sleep.  The house has ghosts.

Monte Cristo is arguably

the most haunted house in Australia.

In 1876, Christopher William Crawley acquired some land in a remote area.  By 1878 the Great Southern Railway Line was running through the area and Crawley’s Hotel was making him rich.  Crawley wielded so much power over the area that he was regarded as the Town Founder and owned almost all of the land.  He was generous, financing the construction of several civic projects, including a church.

Crawley needed a home worthy of his wealthy status, and so Monte Christo was built.  The home certainly stood out as the best in the area.  It sat atop a hill, overlooking the surrounding land, symbolic of Crawley’s position within the town.

The house was built from sandstock bricks fired on site and laid with a drystone foundation. (I’m not certain what this means, but after a century – not one crack has appeared in the brickwork!)  The upper and lower walls are made of brick.  The upper walls are 9 inches thick while the lower walls are 18 inches thick – 18 inches!  The ceilings are 12 feet high.  Needless to say, it was a “fancy pants” house and more information on its glory can be read here.

The Crawley’s seven children were sent to equally fancy pants schools and were all very talented in the music and art fields. The boys became doctors and solicitors.

Like many fancy homes, servants complained about their harsh treatment by the family.  Today, stories of torture, murder and suicide help to increase interest in the home.

William Crawley died at the house, on the 14^th of December.  He died “from heart failure, secondary to blood poisoning caused by a carbuncle on his neck becoming infected from rubbing up against a starched collar”. (There’s a lot to be said for not using starch!)

For the next 23 years, Mrs Crawley left the house on only two occasions!  She died in the house on the 12^th of August.  She was 92.  She died of “heart failure, secondary to a ruptured appendix”.  Monte Christ remained a family home until 1948, but the fancy pants days were over.  During the next decade, furniture was sold off, the house lost its shine, was vandalised and neglected.  In 1963 it was purchased by Reg and Olive Ryan.  Ryan loved the home so much that he spend countless dollars returning the ruined home to its former glory.

They sometimes returned home and discovered their new home blazing in lights – even when the electricity was disconnected.

Now, it’s a ghost house... There are reportedly at least ten ghosts living within the building.  People travel from all over the world to sleep in the bedrooms of the Monte Christo.... some of those people eventually fall asleep in their own cars, parked down the hill and far away from the home.

Many mediums have reportedly run, screaming from the home...

The stairs seem to be an especially haunted area of the house. ... Especially for children, who often scream as they move up them.  Often children without asthma suffer severe asthmatic reactions.   People have reported feeling unseen forces, preventing them from climbing the stairs.

Reassuringly, Reg Ryan has never had a bad experience from the ghosts he shares a home with.  Proof to me that, a ghost can live in your home ... peacefully... leaving you to live your own life.

A group of ghost hunters spend a weekend in Monte Christo.  They did not capture any ghostly evidence on their visual or audio devices.  They did discover a floorboard, used by Reg Ryan to trigger the opening of a cupboard door.  Neat trick for scaring paying guests...

I can’t help but wonder what other tricks are used to create scary sensations during the night...

But, would I like to spend a night in the Monte Christo?

No.