The account
Olive Ryan described Monte Cristo as though another family still lived there, unseen beside her own. In ABC’s 1999 Australian Story interview, she said she could accept that arrangement, although she disliked being alone in the house. Her husband Reg connected reported appearances with its former owners, the Crawleys. The family had moved into the damaged building in 1963 and spent years restoring it. The result is a haunting told by people who knew the place through ordinary work: repairing ironwork, furnishing rooms and raising children. Their imagined neighbours occupied the same house they were making habitable again.
Following the trail
A recorded story, with its history attached
The ABC transcript is a direct record of the Ryans explaining their experiences and beliefs. It also includes their daughters recalling séances and practical scares played on visiting friends. Those admissions do not settle every report, but they belong beside the claims rather than being omitted from the house’s story.
Why it stays with us
The lasting image is coexistence. Instead of one encounter followed by flight, Olive describes an ongoing domestic arrangement with occupants she cannot see. The archive lets her speak without turning her belief into independent verification.
Follow the sources 1
- My Favourite Haunt, Australian Story ↗Australian Broadcasting Corporation