Do you believe in ghosts, we were asked. My answer was Yes, my husband Mark was sceptical and our daughter Amber thought it might be like an episode of Scooby Doo!
Whatever the family's opinions, we were about to find out on a weekend break in haunted Dover Castle.
We stayed in the former home of the Battery Sergeant Major of the castle, an elegant four-storey Georgian house sleeping up to six guests.
It is stunningly located at the heart of the castle and very spacious. Amber was pleased to see the basement has a games room with table tennis and a second sitting room with a plasma TV.
The house stands near 13th century Peverell's Tower and both can be rented from English Heritage. Guide Gavin showed us round the castle and grounds perched on Dover's white cliffs.
It was windy and rainy, a perfect evening to hear about ghostly goings-on at the castle. The secret wartime tunnels were particularly eerie and the underground hospital is said to be the most haunted spot.
An apparition of a soldier staring at the picture of Winston Churchill is said to have disappeared through the wall. A surgeon on one evening ghost tour is said to have vanished before visitors' eyes. We didn't see any ghosts in the tunnels - but I did have my eyes closed for much of the time.
The castle's most famous ghost, a headless drummer boy, also failed to show. But we felt thoroughly spooked.
The Sergeant Major's House sleep 6 and costs from £823 per week.
