Mok O'Keeffe, 56, lost his entire family within two years, including his brother Andrew at age 44 and his father the day after Andrew's funeral. His mother lost her mental capacity, and he lost his job and home, living on £20 a week. He moved to a small cottage in Gloucestershire, where he met his husband Joe. Five years ago, the couple bought a five-bedroom Elizabethan 'baby castle' with a turret near Abergavenny, Wales, for £900,000.
Ghostly encounters begin
The previous owner warned Mok the house was haunted, claiming she had been lifted and carried down the stairs. Mok initially dismissed it, telling the spirits he would share the house if they left him alone. For a few months, it worked. Then he started seeing moving figures, lights flickering, and hearing loud footsteps up the stairs that woke him. His yoga mat would be rolled up and tucked away, and shadowy figures crossed his path. His schnoodle Chaucer barked at invisible spirits.
Dark history revealed
Mok discovered that hundreds of years ago, prisoners taken to the Skirrid Mountain Inn—now known as Wales' most haunted pub—for execution would spend the night before in his bedroom. A local psychic, Lisa, confirmed dark forces. She felt pressure around her neck in Mok's bedroom and identified a spirit named Gladys, the youngest of nine children who lived in the house into her nineties and had her ashes scattered on the cherry tree in the garden. Neighbors have seen Gladys' ghost.
Taking control
Through Lisa, Gladys told Mok to take control of the ghosts. Mok now stands in his room and commands: 'You can't come upstairs after 9:30pm.' After that, the activity quieted. One night, he saw two eyes peering through the door of the snug and told them to stay downstairs. Mok is now a firm believer but says the house has a beautiful energy. 'I love being here. I think of it as another character in my family. I will be carried out of here in a box, and some of my ashes will be sprinkled on top of Gladys' in the old cherry tree she planted as a child.'
