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If you've been following this blog each week, you'll know I've already covered some of the history of Gladstone Gaol, along with a couple of the deaths that occurred within its walls. This week, I'm going to delve into some of its paranormal mysteries and share a few of my own personal experiences.
Gladstone Gaol is a foreboding presence, perched slightly higher than the rest of the town like a massive crown of cold stone and brick.
Inside its walls, that imposing stone creates an almost claustrophobic atmosphere, cutting you off from the outside world. Standing inside one of the cells and looking through the tiny windows, you can almost imagine the sense of dread the prisoners must have felt as they waited for their sentences to expire.
Of course, most inmates only spent a few months at Gladstone. Serious offenders were almost always transferred to Adelaide Gaol. Even so, being there gave you the overwhelming feeling of being cut off from the world... from life itself.
I first visited the gaol many years ago while following up on some family history research in the area. I wandered through the cell blocks during the day and knew that one day I would return to investigate its reputed hauntings.
That day eventually came, and many more nights have followed since. Like most allegedly haunted locations, however, Gladstone Gaol doesn't reveal its mysteries every time you visit. In fact, this is one place that is very much hit and miss when it comes to paranormal experiences..JPG)
Maybe the ghosts just aren't in the mood, or maybe they're off doing other ghostly things—who knows? Whatever the reason, this is one location that certainly doesn't put on a haunting every night.
I consider myself a researcher and a sceptic as much as I am an investigator. Before my team enters any location, I always try to find out what others have reported seeing, hearing, feeling, or capturing. Partly, this is so I can look for logical explanations, but it's also to see whether our experiences match previous reports.
Some investigators argue it's better to go in "cold", without any preconceived ideas. My view is that if ghosts genuinely exist, whether or not you've read previous reports shouldn't make any difference to what happens.
Before my first investigation, I had heard stories of the infamous cold spots in C Wing, reports of an apparition in the main hall, claims of doors opening and closing in A Wing, and countless other alleged paranormal occurrences. To a sceptical mind, many of these can often be explained by perfectly natural phenomena—or, as I like to call them, "xenonormal" occurrences: events that seem paranormal until a natural explanation is found.
My team has now investigated the gaol several times, often alongside other paranormal groups. While we've collected very little in the way of compelling evidence, we've certainly had several personal experiences—some of which we've tried every possible way to debunk without success.
One involved an experiment where we locked volunteers inside the cells while another team leader and I played the roles of wardens. We announced that it was "lights out" and switched off the lights.
In the complete silence of the gaol, we suddenly heard shuffling footsteps behind us.
We both turned and saw what appeared to be a yellow light, about the size of a tennis ball, drift out of one of the cells before disappearing into thin air.
Unfortunately, it occurred in one of the few blind spots in our CCTV coverage, so we couldn't present it as evidence—only as a personal experience.
But it happened.
We spent a considerable amount of time trying to explain what we'd seen. Other investigators attempted to debunk it as well, but none of us could come up with a simple explanation.
What was it?
I honestly have no idea... but at the time, it was certainly exhilarating.
On a later investigation, I decided to point one of our CCTV cameras directly at the same doorway where we'd previously seen the light.
This time, we were investigating with different teams, and it was well into the night. Three of us sat on the cold slate floor watching the monitor while another investigator slowly walked through the cell block.
As she reached the doorway the camera was focused on, the three of us simultaneously saw what appeared to be the figure of a man step out of her body and walk into the room. A moment later, the investigator herself—a woman—walked through the doorway. All three of us jumped to our feet to see what on earth had just happened. The investigator was completely startled by our reaction because she had no idea what we believed we'd just witnessed.
When I reviewed the CCTV footage later, it clearly showed the investigator entering the room and also captured the reactions of the three of us watching the monitor from another camera positioned further down the hallway.
What it didn't show was the figure we all believed we'd seen.
Once again, we tried everything we could think of to explain it, but we never found a plausible answer.
Instead, we were left with nothing but "what ifs".
What if the CCTV had glitched?
What if there was an issue with the DVR frame rate?
What if it was simply an unusual trick of the light?
Of course, we can't present any of these as truths. They remain possibilities—unanswered questions surrounding a single moment in time.
We can remove variables, attempt to recreate the conditions, and search for logical explanations, but we can never recreate that exact moment under exactly the same circumstances.
For me, it remains just that: a fascinating personal experience shared by those who witnessed it.
To this day, I have yet to hear an EVP that truly convinces me, or see a photograph or video that definitively proves Gladstone Gaol is haunted.
That doesn't mean it isn't.
It simply means that, if spirits do reside there, they're either extremely elusive... or perhaps just a little shy.
Either way, I'll keep returning—not only because I enjoy investigating the old gaol, but because I always enjoy catching up with caretaker Tony Holland and wandering through the eerie corridors of one of South Australia's most fascinating historic prisons.
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