Organist rehearsing in cathedral in the middle of the night hears something terrifying

There are few things spookier than an old building in the middle of the night, especially when you think you're alone, only to suddenly realise you're not. One of the UK's top organ players recently revealed an absolutely terrifying thing that happened to her while she rehearsed in a cathedral during the early hours.

Anna Lapwood is the official organist at the Royal Albert Hall, and boasts 1.5 million followers on TikTok, where she frequently shares glimpses into her life rehearsing and performing across the globe and recently uploaded footage documenting an unsettling occurrence whilst practising at a Norwegian cathedral. In a caption accompanying the video Anna wrote: "People often ask if I ever get scared practising in cathedrals at night. Not often... but when this happens at 2.30 in the morning in Norway it's SCARY."

The footage filmed from Anna's perspective shows the cathedral interior, with no one to be seen. Suddenly, nine quick, forceful knocks are heard, echoing throughout the vast space.

Anna then turns the camera to reveal herself seated at an organ, appearing, understandably, rather shaken. "Guys, I love you all, but please don't do this in the middle of the night," she says, reports the Daily Star. "It's really scary."

In a scene worthy of any horror film, Anna then pans the camera back towards the doorway, keeping it steady for several moments, before a muffled thudding noise can be heard, perhaps someone attempting to gain entry to the cathedral. Turning the camera back to herself, Anna explains: "It's half past two in the morning and someone's trying to get in, and it is - I know they can't get in - but it is still scary."

Anna maintains the camera position for a few more moments while listening for any more noises, before adding: "I basically just sit here in silence until I feel like they've probably gone."

In the video description she explained: "My heart was RACING. This was after they had tried the door about four times - it's scary because you know they know you're in there because the organ sounds very loud from outside...! Heart rate has just about returned to normal.."

Anna shared another video after numerous commenters speculated it was a local resident disturbed by the music asking her to keep the noise down. The footage revealed the cathedral's exterior whilst Anna performed inside, with the music barely detectable.

In text overlaid on the video she clarified: "Ok LOADS of you were like 'maybe people knock because you're disturbing them by playing the organ at 2.30', so thought I would show you how it actually sounds from the outside. This is from in front of the cathedral - I'm playing full organ at this point.

"You can definitely hear it from outside, but not really loudly. You can also hear how much louder it gets the closer you get to the building. In terms of disturbing nearby residents: the closest residential houses are quite some distance away.

"And to those who are like 'HOW DISRESPECTFUL AND SELFISH PRACTISING AT NIGHT': this is literally the practice slot the cathedral gives to visiting organists! We tend to be told we can practise from 11pm until about 8am.

"It's the only time we can do the registration work we need to do a) without disturbing those using the church during the day, and b) without being interrupted. In this case: I had five overnights in a row as we were recording my next album!

"As for the knocking: the cathedral organists always warn you about this happening as it happens very regularly - it's normally slightly tipsy people coming home from a night out! I had people with me during the recording bits, but nobody with me for registering/rehearsing. It's a bit scary when it happens and you're alone, but there's a panic button if anything actually happens, so you feel relatively safe!! Plus it's so worth it to get to play in this building."