Inside Patrick Stewart’s Real-Life Ghost Encounters

It seems Patrick Stewart’s feelings of something otherworldly began with an experience that many children have, which was being spooked by eerie paintings or portraits of people. In his case, growing up in England, those portraits had the added creepiness of simply being old, from the 17th century, according to what he wrote in his book, per USA Today. He claimed the paintings seemed to exude an “unexplainable mist,” and a “spooky glow” and when he told the woman whose home he was staying about the paintings, she corroborated his instincts by saying that there were indeed spirits in the house and she’d seen a girl who smiled at her on several occasions. She was impressed Stewart could sense it too. But there were more tangible incidents to come in the actor’s adult years. 

Stewart wrote that he’s positive he heard his mother’s voice when he was alone and grieving over her body at a funeral home in 1977. According to USA Today, he said, “Just before my eyes fixed on her face, I heard her say, ‘Oh, hello, Patrick, love.’ I know I heard it. I did not imagine it.” With that, he was able to tell her a final goodbye.