大象传媒

When things go bump in the night, some of us are likely to stay firmly wedged underneath the bed covers, but for Michael Sweetman from Haunted Knights, ghosts and ghouls are all part of his trade.

Haunted Knights is a small group of physic ghost hunters who are based in the Mutley Plain area of Plymouth.

As the club's founder, Michael invited me along to one of its investigations at the eerie surroundings of Totnes Guildhall.

Although the club is made up of people who share an interest in psychic ability Michael says you don't have to be a psychic to join.

Michael thinks he's been psychic since he was six

"I think I became physic from the age of six," explains Michael.

"But it wasn't until I was 16 or 17 that it really took to a peak, and I was hearing voices everywhere, and it really scared me.

"A friend took me over to Tokyo and I trained there with the Buddhist monks. Mediation is a massive thing in Japan, and I spent quite a few years training there."

Built in the 13th century by the Saxons, the Guildhall is supposedly haunted by various deceased residents of the town and once the glorious summer sunshine dipped below the horizon, the evening's activities began.

The evening saw a whole range of ghostly exercises - from walking around the Guildhall with electromagnetic rods to capturing orbs with digital cameras.

From 11pm till midnight a s茅ance took place; this involved participants forming a circle and placing their hands on a glass underneath a board of letters.

Spirits are supposed to make their presence known through movement of the glass and for some of those attending, it was their first ever psychic experience.

"We've used the s茅ance board to communicate with a ghost called Billy from Totnes," said Michael.

Scott believes he saw an orb

"We believe he died in a motorbike accident in 1962."

"He [Billy] basically wants us to find justice, because the people that killed him were never caught.

"He mentioned five names, and we know all five names are from Totnes, our historian is going to continue to research what we've learnt, and we'll take it from there."

I didn't find the evening terribly spooky until about 12.30 am, when I was about to start the interview with Michael.

As I was asking my first question, I saw what could only be described as a metallic blob of silvery light, flash and linger for about one second from within a darkened room.

The light听 - which I definitely would classify as a blob, not a shimmer or camera flash - hung just below the beam of a door.

Michael said it was probably an orb and it left me generally perplexed.

It may have just been a camera flash from outside, but it definitely did not register as something mentally familiar.

The evening certainly left a distinctly spooky impression with many - me included.

To find out more about the club and its events follow the link on the right-handside of this page.