In the far northern snowy wastes of Sweden can be found the tiny village of Borgvattnet. Although the village boasts a miniscule population of only about fifty souls, it is allegedly one of the most haunted places in Europe. According to those who live there, the dead not only walk, but they also easily outnumber the living.
For the most part, the people of this remote village have learned to peacefully co-exist with the dearly departed. There is one exception, Borgvattnet Vicarage, a former house of the holy where the dead are drawn like a moth to a flame. If the reports are true, this one-time Vicarage is truly a house of horror.
This house is shrouded in mystery. Why the house is so active with spine chilling supernatural activity is completely unknown. The house was built in 1876 as a home for the village’s clergy and their family. For the first fifty years, the vicars of Borgvattnet lived peacefully with no talk of ghosts. All that changed in 1927 when Chaplain Nils Hedlund took possession of the house. With the new resident, hell broke loose all at once.
The first documented incident of the inexplicable and unexplained occurred to Hedlund as he was performing a task most take for granted, his laundry. While hanging his clothes on a line, Hedlund watched in awe as some unseen agent of chaos tore the clothes from the line and ripped them to shreds.
Following this first incident, the haunting of the house took on a dimension of true horror. Screams rang out in the middle of the night from nowhere, but yet from everywhere. Hedlund, a devoutly religious man, believed something diabolical resided in his house. But as for what that something was, he could only speculate.
With Hendlund’s short tenure in the house over, Rudolf Tangden was the next resident of Borgvattnet Vicarage to come face to face with something nightmarish. Tangden had heard rumors of his new home being haunted but he paid them no mind. They were merely rumors, and he didn’t believe in ghosts and ghouls. Tangden’s flippant attitude changed shortly after moving in.
T-Shirts, Mugs and More!
We now have t-shirts, tarot decks, ESP cards, coffee mugs, face masks, and much more merchandise available for purchase. Every dollar spent helps fund Paranormal Study!
One night Tangden was stirred from his slumber by the unnerving sensation of being watched. With his eyes fully awake he scanned the dark room until his eyes settled on a figure standing in his bedchamber. A woman in a gray dress stood before him staring down at him with cold, dead eyes. Tangden gathered whatever ounce of courage he had, jumped from his bed and approached the mysterious woman. Before he could utter a word, Tangden watched as the woman abruptly vanished leaving him stunned.
In the wake of Tangden’s dramatic encounter with the gray lady of Borgvattnet Vicarage, each vicar that followed him experienced intense paranormal activity. Household items moved around the house as if guided by an unknown intelligence. Phantom footsteps could be heard sneaking around the house. Eerie music wafted around the house on the breeze. One visitor woke up in the middle of the night to see three elderly women sitting on a couch sobbing as if they were mourning the passing of a loved one. When she turned on the lights, the apparitions remained for a few more moments until they faded away. It should further be noted the room didn’t have a couch. Whatever this visitor saw was clearly a vision of an event long since passed.
As with any haunted place, the question is eventually asked, why is this seemingly innocent looking house so haunted? Unfortunately, no one can really say with any certainty. Nevertheless, there are a few theories to explain the presence of the ghosts.
Some villagers believe it’s past residents who haunt the house. One theory has it, that a former maid found herself in the unenviable situation of being pregnant outside of wedlock. When she gave birth, she committed the horrific crime of murdering her newborn and then took her own life. Some feel the gray lady is this tortured maid and the wailing of a baby heard frequently is her infant she murdered.
A second theory involves a former vicar who lost his wife while she was giving birth to their eleventh child. Devastated by the loss, the vicar buried her on the property but then did something unthinkable. When he moved out of the house, he dug up her body and took it with him. Many have come to believe this violation of the sanctity of the grave caused the house to be haunted.
Currently, Borgvattnet Vicarage no longer houses men of the cloth and their families. The house is now operated as a popular bed and breakfast for people traveling to the region. And as you guessed it, the house is still very much haunted. Guests have complained of hearing an infant crying and witnessing dark apparitions wandering about the halls and room. One guest was reportedly grabbed by an unseen hand and dragged across the second-flloor landing. He and his wife were so frightened by the incident, they opted to sleep in a tent in the chilly night air.
Borgvattnet Vicarage in northern Sweden certainly is not for the timid or faint of heart. Powerful supernatural forces clearly hold this house captive and show no signs of ever relenting.
If you found the content in this article to be of any value to your paranormal studies, please let us know in the comments below. Feel free to share this article with your friends as well because if you found it interesting, they might too.
Do You Want To Know More?
Our content creators also have podcasts that go much deeper into paranormal topics.
Tim Woolworth’s Walk in the Shadows, an episodic masterclass that consists of a deep dive into all things Fortean, paranormal and supernatural.
Rick Hale teams up with Stephen Lancaster in The Shadow Initiative where they explore various paranormal topics and discuss current paranormal news.
Please check these shows out and visit Paranormal Study social media to keep up to date on articles and all the things our authors are doing.
Be the first to comment