Why a ghost youngster showing in a graveyard satisfied me I had a guardian angel

The apparition of a ghost child, which appeared in the middle of wildfire smoke, left Brocarde feeling like she had a momentary guardian angel

I’ve experienced paranormal activity many times, so I’m not someone who is easily spooked by a strange noise, a shadow in the corner of my eye or the feeling that I’m being watched. But what happened while I was filming my latest music video at Landoll’s Mohican Castle in Ohio genuinely stopped me in my tracks.

I had deliberately chosen the castle as my base while attending Incarceration Festival. It was around forty minutes from the Ohio State Reformatory, but I was far more interested in staying somewhere with a reputation for paranormal activity than choosing the most convenient hotel.

Landoll’s Mohican Castle certainly looks the part. During my visit, Ohio was sweltering under a summer heatwave, while smoke from the Canadian wildfires had turned the skies grey and hazy. The air smelled of burning, and the castle seemed to appear through the mist like something from a horror film. But it was the cemetery hidden among the trees that really caught my attention.

The Heyd Cemetery sits on the castle grounds and is connected to some of the earliest settlers in the area. It is also surrounded by stories of tragedy, conflict, a burnt-down Lutheran church and, according to local folklore, restless spirits. Two of the most well-known ghosts associated with the property are Sarah Carnagey and her daughter, Samantha, who both died from typhoid fever in 1857. Their graves are easy to identify because visitors have left toys, coins, trinkets and other offerings around them.

I decided that the cemetery would be the perfect location to film Blank Pages , the final music video from my album Good Attendance at Sunday School . The song is one of my most stripped-back and personal, so I wanted the location to feel authentic and atmospheric rather than simply looking like a film set. I arrived before dawn to capture the cemetery while it was still quiet. I’ve filmed in plenty of locations with a paranormal reputation, and there is something about being somewhere like this in the early hours that can make the atmosphere feel particularly intense.

Almost immediately, I found myself being drawn towards Sarah and Samantha’s grave. I would walk away to film another shot, then somehow end up back there again. There was no dramatic activity, but I could feel a presence around that particular area of the cemetery. It was one of those sensations that is difficult to explain unless you have experienced it yourself.

I eventually moved inside Heyd Cabin, a replica of an earlier cabin standing on the historic site. It was there that the atmosphere became even stranger. The cabin was filled with old portraits, and I immediately noticed how unsettling they were. Their eyes seemed to follow me around the room. But what really caught my attention was the window. From inside the cabin, I had a direct view of Sarah and Samantha’s grave, and I could see it throughout the filming. As the light changed, the grave remained almost impossible to ignore. I felt as though I was being drawn towards it, and the sense of being watched became stronger.

I continued filming Blank Pages , becoming completely absorbed in the music. The song is deeply personal, and performing it in a place surrounded by graves and stories of the dead created an emotional intensity that I hadn’t anticipated. Then, during a break in the music, the playback stopped and everything went silent. That was when I heard it: a child laughing. It was a little girl’s giggle, and I immediately turned towards the window.

What I saw next is something I will never forget. There was a small figure moving through the cemetery. It appeared to be a young girl wearing a long, flowing dress. Her back was towards me, so I couldn’t see her face, but I could clearly see her moving through the graveyard, almost skipping between the graves. I watched her carefully as she continued towards the trees. Then she disappeared. There was no dramatic flash or theatrical moment; she simply seemed to vanish into a beam of light.

Having experienced paranormal encounters before, I didn’t immediately assume that I was looking at something threatening. In fact, the feeling was quite the opposite. The little girl didn’t feel frightening. She felt peaceful. There was something almost angelic about her. I had the overwhelming feeling that I was witnessing a spirit that wasn’t there to scare me. It felt as though she had simply appeared for a moment, allowed me to see her, and then quietly disappeared.

The timing was extraordinary. I was filming a deeply personal song in an old cemetery, surrounded by stories of people who had died there, and suddenly I was watching what appeared to be a child wandering through the graves. I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a connection to the spirits associated with the property. The experience completely changed the atmosphere of the shoot. I went back to filming, but I felt different. There was an energy around me that felt almost protective rather than threatening.

Then the cemetery gave me another strange moment. As the morning progressed, the sunlight began to hit Sarah and Samantha’s grave. The light seemed to fall directly around it, creating an almost perfect halo. It was incredibly striking, particularly after what I had just witnessed. I couldn’t help but stare at the grave and think about the little girl disappearing into the light only moments earlier.

I’ve experienced enough paranormal activity to know that encounters don’t always look like something from a horror movie. Sometimes they are subtle, sometimes fleeting, and sometimes they can actually leave you feeling comforted rather than terrified. That is exactly how this experience affected me. Whatever I had encountered in that cemetery, I didn’t feel as though it wanted to harm me. If anything, I felt strangely reassured by it.

When we finished filming, I walked back over to Sarah and Samantha’s grave. By then, the cemetery had completely changed. The darkness had lifted, the sun was stronger and the outside world was waking up. I stood there quietly, thinking about the little girl I had just seen and the strange sequence of events that had unfolded around the grave.

I didn’t feel scared. I felt strangely privileged. Whether she was connected to Sarah and Samantha, another spirit associated with the cemetery, or something else entirely, I felt that her appearance had been a positive experience. For someone who has encountered spirits before, that distinction is important. Not every paranormal encounter carries fear, and not every haunted location feels dark. Sometimes a presence can feel incredibly human, peaceful or even protective.

Blank Pages is about endings and new beginnings. It is the final song on Good Attendance at Sunday School , representing the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. There was something almost too perfect about filming that song in a cemetery, surrounded by reminders of the past, and then experiencing what felt like a brief encounter with a child from the other side.

I arrived at Landoll’s Mohican Castle expecting a haunted location. I left feeling that I had experienced something genuinely paranormal. I can still picture her now: the flowing dress, her back towards me, quietly moving through the cemetery before disappearing into the light.

Of all the paranormal encounters I’ve experienced, this one stands out because it wasn’t terrifying. It felt almost like a goodbye, or perhaps, given the meaning behind Blank Pages , something much more hopeful. It felt like being watched over as I turned the page. My single Blank Pages will be released on September 18.

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