Some years ago I went to Warwick for a week and stayed in a 15th century hotel. my bedroom was cosy and small, with beams and a shoulder-high door with a large latch. It seemed the perfect place to stay for a few days of seeing some historical sights and engrossing myself in Tudor history.
I should like to state here that I did not feel the least afraid of being on my own and the thought of ghosts did not occur to me. I was so interested and busy during the day that I slept well at night.
About halfway through my stay I awoke suddenly out of a deep sleep in the middle of the night. Immediately I felt a chill of fear. I looked towards the low door of my room and noticed a white mist coming through all round it and gradually building up on the wall. I stared at it as a column began to form. My only thought was to quickly switch on the light and I tried in vain to find the cord which hung near the bed. Waving my arms frantically to find it I still kept my eyes on the dense patch of mist. Eventually I found the cord and managed to switch on the light. Everything in the room appeared normal and there was no mist or anything strange.
I lay there with the light on for some time. My heart was pounding as I wondered what I had seen. Then the thought occurred to me, "Would the mist still be there if I switched the light off?" Perhaps the light was masking whatever it was. The only way to find out was to switch off the light again. I was afraid to do this and hesitated for a long time before gathering the courage and doing so. Once the light was out, the room was dark and everything was as it should be. This confirmed that I had seen something.
In the morning I told the proprietor of the hotel about my experience. She said that there was no record of any ghost having been seen in the hotel and she offered to give me another room. I declined to change rooms and stayed where I was. I did not see anything else in my room after that but I did keep the light on all night.
I have often thought about the misty shape that was building up on the wall and wondered if it would have developed into anything if I had not switched the light on when I did.
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