More Ghosts and Abandoned Farmhouses

In my last post I mentioned that we were going to be told a ghost story last Friday night. It turns out the story was quite predictable, albeit very sad, for an old boarding school. In the 1930s a boy called Numi failed his exams and, knowing that he would be severely beaten by his father, he decided his only option was to hang himself in his bedroom. Since then there have been multiple ‘sightings’ of Numi and his room has been kept locked for the last twenty years. Several years ago the owner of the hotel was staying here by himself for the whole winter and as he walked down the corridor he saw Numi in one of the bedrooms: it sounds like something from The Shining!

We were also told another story, not involving ghosts, about an old abandoned farmhouse a few kilometres from here. The farmhouse was bought by an old couple from Reykjavik who decided to spend their retirement in the Westfjords. However, the house was very difficult to get to by road and they struck a deal with a local politician that a concrete bridge would be built for them if they promised to live there for the next twenty years. Sadly, the old man briefly left retirement the next year to work on a ship but the ship came into difficulties and everyone on board drowned. The old woman had to keep her promise and lived there for the next nineteen years until she was able to leave and was sent to a psychiatrist in Reykjavik.

Whilst in Reykjavik she went to the Hallgrimskirkja (the huge church) every day and she collected money from people riding in the elevator to the top. She did this for five or six years until she died and with the money she collected the building of the church could finally be completed in 1986. (Hopefully I’ve got the details of this story right!)

A few days before we heard this story a group of us went and visited the house.

As you can see, the woman’s things are still there. The house has fallen into disrepair and I was a bit too scared to go upstairs as it looked like things had started to fall through the ceiling!

The house was featured in a short film The Last Farm. It’s a very sad film but very moving and worth watching.