Borgvattnet’s Frightening Vicarage

In northern Sweden, there is a small town called Borgvattnet that may be home to one of the most haunted buildings in all of Sweden. In this slightly remote town consisting of just fifty full-time residents, the closest city is Östersund and the trains only run there on weekdays. It may not sound like much of a tourist destination but the strange and intriguing Vicarage draws visitors every year.

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The vicarage of Borgvattnet was first constructed in 1876. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, a vicarage is usually the house where the priest and clergymen lived. During this time there were church endowments and clerical income (usually derived from land, tithes, and buildings) to support clergymen and make sure they had a place to sleep, eat, and serve the church. However, just fifty years after the vicarage of Borgvattnet was established the hauntings began.

The first officially reported hauntings took place in 1927, although it is not unbelievable that there may have been earlier oral accounts that were never recorded. The resident vicar of the time began to note strange happenings from around the vicarage that, at first glance, seemed harmless. These included unexplained noises and laundry inexplicably being torn off the line.

From the first recordings in 1927 through the last of the vicars, almost all who inhabited the vicarage noted or recorded strange, unexplained happenings. Sometimes it was typical and distant such as unexplained noises or the feeling of being watched but other times the activity was much more intense. The house remained a vicarage until the late 1970s.

Although she may not be a lady in white like our dear Resurrection Mary, there is a lady ghost seen around the vicarage. The first recorded sighting of her occured in the mid 1930s by priest Rudolf Tangden. While sitting in a room one evening like he had many nights before, he noticed a woman wearing grey appear in the adjoining room. Confused, he went to get up and ask her what she needed but as he crossed the threshold to the room she vanished. Sightings of this grey lady have continued and she is also sometimes associated with noises of crying, laughter, and music.

In 1947, during priest Erik Lindgren's last year in the old vicarage, activity seemed to have peaked again as unexplainable and poltergeist-like activity plagued the home. The reports of Lindgren were so intense that it gained national attention and was even mentioned in the national press. Erik Lindgren also recorded on the most infamous parts of the vicarage’s story - the rocking chair. Shortly after moving in, Erik was exhausted and decided to take a rest in his rocking chair and read for a bit. Inexplicably, he was thrown from the chair abruptly and aggressively and fell onto the floor. When he sat down again in the chair and righted himself he allegedly felt a strong force enter his body. Today, the rocking chair remains on display and is often see rocking by itself.

However, its reputation continued to precede it and soon scholars of the paranormal and beyond began wanting to further investigate this strange house. One of the most notable was when Tore Forslund, a noted “ghostpriest” visited the vicarage in the early 1980s. His intention was to rid the vicarage and the town at large of this heinous presence and haunting.However, despite repeated attempts, Tore gave up within a year and seemed to have little to no success as many still report strange happenings to this day.

According to Tony and Nicls Lakksonen, who now own the house and have a paranormal ghost hunting team, noted that when they first stayed overnight in the house: “All four of us had dizziness, nausea, headaches, and a strong feeling that we were not alone, that 'they' knew who we were. We tried to document down as much as we could during the only night we had, but because we were so affected, we got out of the house on a number of occasions and we came out dizzy with a headache. But we defied this feeling and spent 24 hours in total in the house."

Today the ghost hunting team mentioned above run the vicarage as a bed & breakfast for paranormal experience seekers. Although, if you don’t want to stay the night you can always stop by the cafe for a coffee and a quick peek around.

The above image is provided and hosted on Ghostwatch.