The Cage
When the estate agent we work for, received the instruction to market ‘The Cage’, one of the most haunted houses in Essex, our first thought was we like a challenge!
The Cage in St Osyth has featured in many TV documentaries and has had a book written about it ‘Spirits of the Cage’ (at the time co written by the current owner). It had been on the market with numerous agents over several years without a sale.
At the time the instruction was received, the house had not been lived in for two years, as the current owner was forced to move out because of the paranormal activities, and so it wasn’t presented to anywhere near its best and there was no electricity!
With Florent, the agent, the decision was made to market it as a haunted house and the entire photoshoot was done at night using candles.
So armed with our usual camera gear, about 200 tealights and a gas lighter, we set out to create the atmosphere of a haunted house. We were also lucky in the fact that we could make use of some of the props left over from the ghost evenings which had been previously held.
We were highly delighted with the resulting images and once listed on Righmove, The Cage received worldwide attention and eventually an offer was accepted.
During the shoot, we were advised to hold on tight to the banister rail when going up and down the stairs as there had been several instances of people being pushed down them, and this we duly did! – not too sure how this would have sounded written down on a Risk Assessment form. We are often asked did we sense anything while in the house at night, and we can honestly say that the answer was ‘no’.
However, when the images had been processed, we could not help but noticing a ghostly face looking through the landing window.
Post Script
Not long after the photoshoot at The Cage we were asked to photograph another house just a few houses along. On this shoot ‘George’ the resident ghost made himself known – but that’s another story!