Strange goings-on ... Macdonald Berystede Hotel
By NADIA MENDOZA
JOHN CUSACK?S terrifying new nail-biting thriller 1408 is nothing short of heart-stopping.
The chilling, spine-tingling movie is sure to send popcorn flying as cinema-goers jump from their seats.
So call me crazy, but when offered the chance to copycat Cusack?s role in the film and spend a weekend at a haunted hotel - I said yes.
With the perfect ingredient of curiosity, courage and scepticism pumping through me, I arrived at the Macdonald Berystede Hotel in Ascot a little apprehensive.
Mumbling my way through check-in, fear quickly turned into excitement as I started willing for a face-to-face encounter with some ghostly apparitions.
Chugging up in the lift, preparing for the unexpected, I soon found myself standing outside the notoriously haunted room 364.
As I waited for chairs to fly and temperatures to plummet to freezing, I was disappointed at how everything seemed under control.
Tempting the spirits to come by setting the mood with low lighting and concentration, it wasn?t long before something did happen.
What was that?
My head spun round scanning the room.
The noise grew louder, but I couldn?t place where it was coming from.
What started as a creak was now a tap, before turning into a knock and then more of a bang.
I tiptoed towards the door and peered through the peep-hole.
And to my immediate relief spied the waiter with my complimentary room service.
It was only as I sat there munching that I realised I was disappointed at not having encountered something from another realm.
Maybe it was all just hocus pocus after all.
Fact or fiction ... John Cusack in thriller 1408
But soon the room grew colder. Or was my imagination running wild again?
Was I willing something to happen and psychologically tricking myself?
But when it was time to put a jumper on and I realised the air-con was off, I questioned what was going on.
But again, my enthusiasm ran away with reality as I discovered the heavy-set curtains flapping behind me - and the open window.
Leaving the room for the afternoon the following day, I left the do not disturb notice on my door so I could record any change of movement - but on my return, the room was spic and span.
Perhaps an eager maid ignored my wish of privacy, or better yet the ghostly visit of Blue Lady who is said to haunt the hotel.
1408 is released in cinemas on Friday.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2001 ... 19,00.html
