joseph engraver
11-03-2025, 09:18 AM
The Ghost of Castle Fosdinovo
“Welcome to my home.” Pietro Malaspina said as he met us at the stone archway supported by marble column as we drove through in a rented Fiat 500. “This castle has been in my family´s possession since 1337. Construction started in 1124, welcome to my home.” Franca and I were booked for two nights at the thirteenth century medieval castle turned into a Bed and Breakfast that sits high up in the mountains overlooking the Liguria coast, the plains of the river Margra and the ancient cities of Sarzana and Lerici twenty kilometers below. “You can park your car up there” he said, pointing to a steep stone road that led to a very small level parking lot that once was a court yard. “We do not open till three P.M., and you, are twenty minutes early.” I got back in the car then Franca navigated up an even smaller roadway that was just wide enough to allow us to make it past the walls of our home for the next two nights. Up we went, the side mirrors just barely missing the castle walls.
While waiting for the owner to show up we decided to explore a bit. We walked down the stone paved road and found a small sign that indicated that two huge iron bound doors were the main entrance to this cold and forbidding place. One of the doors was ajar and I was very interested to see what the place looked like inside. We went up a worn granite stairway behind the doors and followed the stone steps ever upward. Along the walls were ornate sconces that held unlit torches. At the top of the stairs were two more massive doors which were locked shut? As we retraced our steps down I noticed a small opening in the wall. “Let’s see what is in here” I said to Franca.
I looked inside but could see nothing for it was as dark as a dungeon. I dug a lighter from my pocket and flicked it on. In its glow I realized that it was exactly that and a spooky feeling came over me. I got out my camera and took a picture then hastilybacked out of the room and we went to meet Signore Pietro Malaspina.
From the parking area the view before us was spectacular, I could see all the way to the island of Corsica which was forty miles in the distance.
Promptly at three the owner showed up. “Leave your bags in you car, follow me and I will take you to the registration room.” Following the owner and director, he led us to a very small door nearby, unlocked it and led us up more narrow stone stairs that led to a large courtyard some fifty meters long framed with hanging gardens of wisteria and jasmine. At the other end we stopped in front of another large, heavily reinforced oak door. Unlocking it he handed us as set of keys. “Here is a flashlight and the keys to all the doors you will be allowed to enter, please return them when you depart from here. “Welcome to Castle Fosidinovo, for the next two days my castle is your castle.”Pointing to a rope hanging down the wall he said “If you should become lost, find your way back here and pull this cord and someone will come to lead you to your room.” I had an image Frankenstein’s monster showing up holding a flaming torch saying “You rang sir, please follow me.”
At the reception desk we presented and surrendered our passports, then signed the register. The heir to the castle then led us to another door, unlocked it with a heavy iron key then led us up more stairs past a collection of old tools, weapons, and a full set of armor standing guard.
Up we went, past paintings of nobles, and ladies from centuries past, then entered a large room with old but comfortable furniture, more paintings and a wall lined with modern books, a carved marble chess set sat on one shelf.
Turning down another narrow unlit corridor he stopped in front of another wooden door, opened it with the same large iron key, and then led us into a very dark room with paintings of a praying nun and a priest on the wall. He went to a shuttered window unlatched and opened it filling the room with afternoon sun shine. Franca immediately went to inspect the bath room and me to look at the view below. “It is wonderful” she said when she returned.
With that the director said. “Enjoy your stay here, breakfast will be served down the hall on your left from eight thirty till ten, and if you should see a ghost don’t be afraid. He is a friendly guy”. Then he was gone, leaving me to find the way back to the car and haul our luggage up stairs, down corridors, through archways and locked doors, hoping to find our room again.
We spent the day enjoying wandering around taking photos, had a great dinner and slept well that night. The next day was a repeat of the first except for this nightmare dream.
The Nightmare
I was saw a young boy and girl playing in a stone paved courtyard. They were running and sliding through a light covering of snow. I started to run with them. Laughing and playing with them I said “I am an old man but I still can run as fast as you can” as I followed after them.
They led me to bush and a dark blue canvas under it that was covered by the snow. I lifted up the canvas and found a clear plastic trash bag underneath .It was tied at the opening with a piece of rope and frosted over inside as if by the breath of a living thing. Through the opaqueness I could see a body inside. My first thought was that the animal was a dead dog or a foal and someone had left there. Then, the creature inside the bag moved and I realized that it was still alive and was suffocating. I tore at the plastic and made a hole in it .It was not an animal. It was a naked young girl. I ripped the bag open and pulled the girl from the bag. She was covered in afterbirth. I wiped her face and cleared the moldy slime from her eyes, nose and mouth. As I cleared her mouth with my fingers I saw a jagged gash along the right side of her neck. There was not a drop of blood anywhere and her skin was as white and as cold as ice. Her hair was the color of honey. I took her in my arms and felt the smoothness of her frozen skin. Then she moved and I realized she was alive. I said to the two children who were standing nearby. “Go for help. Find a doctor.” Meanwhile a large gathering of people had suddenly appeared around us. One was talking on a cell phone; others were talking to each other, but they seemed to not see me and the girl. “Help, I yelled to them. Please find a doctor.” No one moved.
I thought that I must yell louder in order to be heard, I screamed “Help” again but it was as if my vocal cords were frozen, I tried to scream again thinking I must make my voice be heard, I still remember trying to clear my throat. I screamed “Help” at the top of my voice and I heard Franca's voice say "Joseph you are dreaming" and I awoke from the most vivid nightmare I have ever had in my adult life.
On returning home to Mexico and my computer I searched “The castle of Fosdinovo” on the web.
It was then that I discovered that the young rebelious daughter of the Malaspina family in A.D. thirteen hundred had been entombed alive by her family in a cell with a dog and a boar located approximately under the room we rented, and that recent investigations had uncovered the bones of a girl and two animals. I never given gave much credence to ghost stories, but since that time I now do.
The end
“Welcome to my home.” Pietro Malaspina said as he met us at the stone archway supported by marble column as we drove through in a rented Fiat 500. “This castle has been in my family´s possession since 1337. Construction started in 1124, welcome to my home.” Franca and I were booked for two nights at the thirteenth century medieval castle turned into a Bed and Breakfast that sits high up in the mountains overlooking the Liguria coast, the plains of the river Margra and the ancient cities of Sarzana and Lerici twenty kilometers below. “You can park your car up there” he said, pointing to a steep stone road that led to a very small level parking lot that once was a court yard. “We do not open till three P.M., and you, are twenty minutes early.” I got back in the car then Franca navigated up an even smaller roadway that was just wide enough to allow us to make it past the walls of our home for the next two nights. Up we went, the side mirrors just barely missing the castle walls.
While waiting for the owner to show up we decided to explore a bit. We walked down the stone paved road and found a small sign that indicated that two huge iron bound doors were the main entrance to this cold and forbidding place. One of the doors was ajar and I was very interested to see what the place looked like inside. We went up a worn granite stairway behind the doors and followed the stone steps ever upward. Along the walls were ornate sconces that held unlit torches. At the top of the stairs were two more massive doors which were locked shut? As we retraced our steps down I noticed a small opening in the wall. “Let’s see what is in here” I said to Franca.
I looked inside but could see nothing for it was as dark as a dungeon. I dug a lighter from my pocket and flicked it on. In its glow I realized that it was exactly that and a spooky feeling came over me. I got out my camera and took a picture then hastilybacked out of the room and we went to meet Signore Pietro Malaspina.
From the parking area the view before us was spectacular, I could see all the way to the island of Corsica which was forty miles in the distance.
Promptly at three the owner showed up. “Leave your bags in you car, follow me and I will take you to the registration room.” Following the owner and director, he led us to a very small door nearby, unlocked it and led us up more narrow stone stairs that led to a large courtyard some fifty meters long framed with hanging gardens of wisteria and jasmine. At the other end we stopped in front of another large, heavily reinforced oak door. Unlocking it he handed us as set of keys. “Here is a flashlight and the keys to all the doors you will be allowed to enter, please return them when you depart from here. “Welcome to Castle Fosidinovo, for the next two days my castle is your castle.”Pointing to a rope hanging down the wall he said “If you should become lost, find your way back here and pull this cord and someone will come to lead you to your room.” I had an image Frankenstein’s monster showing up holding a flaming torch saying “You rang sir, please follow me.”
At the reception desk we presented and surrendered our passports, then signed the register. The heir to the castle then led us to another door, unlocked it with a heavy iron key then led us up more stairs past a collection of old tools, weapons, and a full set of armor standing guard.
Up we went, past paintings of nobles, and ladies from centuries past, then entered a large room with old but comfortable furniture, more paintings and a wall lined with modern books, a carved marble chess set sat on one shelf.
Turning down another narrow unlit corridor he stopped in front of another wooden door, opened it with the same large iron key, and then led us into a very dark room with paintings of a praying nun and a priest on the wall. He went to a shuttered window unlatched and opened it filling the room with afternoon sun shine. Franca immediately went to inspect the bath room and me to look at the view below. “It is wonderful” she said when she returned.
With that the director said. “Enjoy your stay here, breakfast will be served down the hall on your left from eight thirty till ten, and if you should see a ghost don’t be afraid. He is a friendly guy”. Then he was gone, leaving me to find the way back to the car and haul our luggage up stairs, down corridors, through archways and locked doors, hoping to find our room again.
We spent the day enjoying wandering around taking photos, had a great dinner and slept well that night. The next day was a repeat of the first except for this nightmare dream.
The Nightmare
I was saw a young boy and girl playing in a stone paved courtyard. They were running and sliding through a light covering of snow. I started to run with them. Laughing and playing with them I said “I am an old man but I still can run as fast as you can” as I followed after them.
They led me to bush and a dark blue canvas under it that was covered by the snow. I lifted up the canvas and found a clear plastic trash bag underneath .It was tied at the opening with a piece of rope and frosted over inside as if by the breath of a living thing. Through the opaqueness I could see a body inside. My first thought was that the animal was a dead dog or a foal and someone had left there. Then, the creature inside the bag moved and I realized that it was still alive and was suffocating. I tore at the plastic and made a hole in it .It was not an animal. It was a naked young girl. I ripped the bag open and pulled the girl from the bag. She was covered in afterbirth. I wiped her face and cleared the moldy slime from her eyes, nose and mouth. As I cleared her mouth with my fingers I saw a jagged gash along the right side of her neck. There was not a drop of blood anywhere and her skin was as white and as cold as ice. Her hair was the color of honey. I took her in my arms and felt the smoothness of her frozen skin. Then she moved and I realized she was alive. I said to the two children who were standing nearby. “Go for help. Find a doctor.” Meanwhile a large gathering of people had suddenly appeared around us. One was talking on a cell phone; others were talking to each other, but they seemed to not see me and the girl. “Help, I yelled to them. Please find a doctor.” No one moved.
I thought that I must yell louder in order to be heard, I screamed “Help” again but it was as if my vocal cords were frozen, I tried to scream again thinking I must make my voice be heard, I still remember trying to clear my throat. I screamed “Help” at the top of my voice and I heard Franca's voice say "Joseph you are dreaming" and I awoke from the most vivid nightmare I have ever had in my adult life.
On returning home to Mexico and my computer I searched “The castle of Fosdinovo” on the web.
It was then that I discovered that the young rebelious daughter of the Malaspina family in A.D. thirteen hundred had been entombed alive by her family in a cell with a dog and a boar located approximately under the room we rented, and that recent investigations had uncovered the bones of a girl and two animals. I never given gave much credence to ghost stories, but since that time I now do.
The end