Okay, so these are true stories. Honest. I’m from a long line of Englishmen and Irishmen. I believe in ghosties and things that can’t be seen. Otherwise, life would be no fun.
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When I was very young we had a neighbor who had a serious drinking problem. One night my sister woke up and saw flames coming from his house. Turns out that he had been drinking, turned on the gas stove, lit a cigarette, and then fell asleep on the couch in his dining room. (Clarification — I grew up in rural Nova Scotia where it was common to have a sofa, or ‘chesterfield’ in or around the kitchen. Don’t ask me why.)
Anyway, this old fella used to look in our windows and come to visit when he was alive and I guess he saw no reason for that to discontinue just because he was dead. To this day I refuse to sit in front of a certain window in my old house at night because I’m convinced he’s looking in.
One night, shortly after the fire, my mother and I were alone in the living room watching TV. The kitchen door was locked and when I heard the knob rattle I went to see who was there. Only no one was there. And we hadn’t heard anyone come into the porch — or leave.
Around the same time my mother saw a shadow pass across our kitchen. The shadow was the same shape as our deceased neighbor, and she swears it was definitely a man. She said the dead man’s name and two glasses on opposite ends of the sink flew together and smashed. My mother told her guest “that’s enough, now” and he went away. Ghostly Wail
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Years earlier, when I was about three years old, I was chasing my grandmother’s fat tom cat (ironically named ‘Tiny’) through her house. I chased him to the bottom of the main stairs, beside what was originally the front parlor. This house was of the Victorian era and my grandparents bought it in the ’70’s when they moved back to Nova Scotia from Toronto — so it had a history long before they arrived.
When Tiny and I reached the foot of the stairs, he looked up — and every lick of fur on his back stood straight up on end. I looked up the stairs and saw two women in long dresses coming toward me. I still remember what they looked like.
It would be another twenty years before I saw them again — in an old photo my mother showed me. It was taken around the early part of the 2oth century in front of what was to become my grandmother’s house. The photo was black and white but I knew which woman was which and the hair color of each — even though I’d never met them. My mother was able to confirm it, because my grandmother had identified the women to her. Both of them died before I was born.
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One more about my grandmother’s house. When I was in my teens, my grandmother (long since widowed) decided to go away for a week. My mother and I were asked to check in on the house. Since it was only 1/4 of a mile away, I’d often walk down to water plants and make sure everything was okay.
One day while I was standing in her sun porch, at the foot of the stairs that led to what we called ‘The Kitchen Chamber’ (a large room above the kitchen, oddly enough), I felt a ‘presence’ on the stairs behind me. The hairs on the back of my neck bristled and the flesh there tingled. I remember my palms went moist and my heart was in my throat. I just knew that if I turned around there would be someone there watching me, and I was terrified of who it might be.
Obviously, whoever it was didn’t think I should be there without my grandmother home. So, I said aloud, “Nan’s away. I’m just here to water the plants. It’s all right.” I’m not sure how long I stood there, too scared to turn around, but eventually the feeling passed and I braved a glance over my shoulder. Nothing.
Nevertheless I didn’t waste anymore time there than I had to. I practically ran all the way home, my legs shaking. When I told my mother what had happened she just nodded and said, “My brother said he saw an old woman in there one night, but mom accused him of being drunk.” See, the funny part is that my grandmother never had experienced anything strange in that house. If she did, she never said anything. It was only those of us who didn’t ‘belong’ that ever saw or heard anything.
My grandmother died a couple of years ago and her house sold. Shortly after he bought it, the man put it up for sale again. Most people believe it was because of financial difficulties, but there are others who claim he saw a ghost. Joke or not, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had, although I can’t imagine any spirits in that house, a place that holds such wonderful memories (like Nan’s sugar cookies) could ever be malevolent.
Now, who wants to tell me a ghost story? One of your ghost stories will be picked to win a signed copy of my first two books in the Brotherhood series: Be Mine Tonight and Night of the Huntress.
Happy Hallowe’en!
Kathryn Smith
Ghost Mistress
UPDATED: Join us tomorrow, November 1st, 2007 for Kathryn’s Guest Author Day. YAYAAY! We are planning way ahead these days ;). And yes that will be fixed by this weekend. Honest!
I grew up in what is called the most haunted town in South Texas. True or not, my mother used to be a member of the town historical society, which was based in the local (haunted) public library building. She said there were mornings she’d come in and the card catalogues would be open with the cards all over the floor and the librarians would tell her stories about books being out of place or even moving during the day from one shelf to another a la that first scene in Ghostbusters. Apparently the last owner of the building died in there somehow and liked messing with the librarians (the Library moved into the haunted place from a different building when I was about 5 or so).
When I was married, I remember becoming instantly alert in the wee hours of one night. I couldn’t tell what woke me – all I knew was I shouldn’t move. My husband was happily snoring away next to me.
I lay there trying to figure out what woke me, when an intense feeling of dread came over me. It was dark and quiet, but I was so scared I could only hear a rushing sound in my ears. I tried to look around the bedroom by just using my eyes, not moving a muscle.
When I looked to my side, I saw this shape standing next to the bed. It was an outline of ‘nothingness.’ It resembled a tall man wearing a caul or cape of some sort, but there were no details. It was just blackness. I wondered how it could stand so still and yet feel so threatening. It never moved or said anything.
Eventually the feeling of dread passed and the shape dissipated. When I could move again, I turned on the light, woke my husband and cried. I slept the rest of the week with the light on.
Five years ago I remember waking up with a fast beating heart and the feeling that I was being watched. The bed was double and as I opened my eyes all I could see in front of me on the other pillow was a human shaped shadow staring at me!What amazes me till this day, is its reaction.It gave me the impression that it was shocked to have been found out!Of course, I was so afraid that I just couldn’t move , I tried to recite every prayer I knew, and just when the shadow disappeared I felt something/someone actually walking on me!I Ever since then I slept in the middle of that bed, making sure I took up all the space!
My sister woke up one night feeling a cold rush of air over her. She didn’t look to see what it was, but she thought it was a ghost. My niece was taking pictures one day on my digital camera. One of the pictures came out showing a big skeleton hand on it. It was very weird.
This is a true story!
My friends and I use to play the Ouija board a lot in college. Blame it on boredom!One late night around 2am in the dead of winter we had the lights off, black candles around and about 6 of us trying to contact spirits. My roommate who was studying to be Wiccian contacted this really bad spirit. The room literally felt like ice and the shadows soon looked like ugly forms, not necessarily from the candles.
The spirit become more angry and all of a sudden my one friend screams. On the wall there was a shadow of skeleton. I even saw it! We all ran out of the room and I almost pissed in my PJ’s. From that night on I have never picked up an ouija board and if I see one I seriously start shaking.
This things are evil! Milton Bradley is evil! LOL
Hate Ouija boards. I was always paranoid about someone getting possessed by an evil spirit (What?)
Great stories. I wish I had one that wasn’t a product of my fevered imagination.
My aunt’s old house (they moved when I was a baby) was haunted. It was a shadowy old lady who appeared in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room at the same time every day for a few minutes. I think they call it a residual haunting. Everyone saw it. It got so old hat, they would just walk back and forth through her to get the table set.
::headdesk:: Sorry I forgot to update the draft post with the contest! All better now.
Okay, so here goes…its a true story but it happened to my mom and dad when they were “newlyweds” in New York. They lived in an apartment that was pretty freaky. My mom said that while she was pregnant, she would sometimes be home alone while my dad was out driving a cab. Well one night she’s sleeping and just woke up with a start. She tried to sit up but something was pressing her down into the bed and not allowing her up. When my dad came home and she told him about it he just laughed. Well, a few months later, when they were moving out of the apartment, my dad told her that before he married her, he and his roomates were sleeping one night when the same thing happened to them. He said that when he asked the landlord about it, he said yeah, a sailor committed suicide in there and he always hears the same story! Frea-ky!
Oh, these are great stories! I knew a minister’s wife who told me a story about when she first moved into the manse. She had her bedroom set up the way she wanted and went to sleep that first night in her bed. She woke up in the middle of the night to find a man standing at the foot of her bed, scowling at her. She said, “Can I help you?” (She figured he was a ghost from how he looked) and he said, “When I lived here we had the bed facing the other way.” She said, “Would it make you feel better if I put the bed that way?” He nodded. So, the next morning she changed the bed around and never saw her ghostly friend again!
Wow, some good stories 🙂 I’ve got 2.
The first one happened to my mom just after she married my dad. They were staying at his grandmother’s and she woke up in the middle of the night to someone calling her name. She laid there for a minute before up and looked at the foot of the bed, thinking his grandmother had come in but no one was around. My dad was sound asleep next to her. Once she sat up, whoever it was stopped calling her.
The second one happened to my parents and my mom’s parents in the 70s. It was just after my dad’s grandfather had passed away and they were taking a last walk around the empty house, no one else was around or even in the yard. The four of them were in the basement when above them, they heard someone walking with a cane across the hardwood floor, from one side of the house to the other. My grandpa got really unnerved and him and my grandma went out to sit in the car to wait. My dad always says it was his grandpa taking one last look around the place.
My mom just recently went to Shakertown (Mt Pleasant Kentucky) for a reunion and was staying in the East House. Mom was getting ready for bed when she and her roommate heard a soft knocking on the door. Both of them looked at each other and asked if the other had heard that. They opened the door and no one was there. (This time of year-not many people stay there and the only other people there was an older couple that didn’t look the type to play practical jokes). The next morning they mentioned what happend to the guy working at the desk what happend and he said that guest occasionally hear the knocking on that door. The neat thing about this is that from my mom’s research they were staying in the room that my ancestor lived in (fortunately for me his son left the shaker community). They have stayed there before and thought that they saw someone in the same room but they knew no one was there because it was their room. The East House is supposedly the least haunted of all the buildings at Shaker Town.
I already have your books, but I wanted to share that when my oldest son was a year old I heard a voice say ‘check on the boy’. I went into the bedroom and my son had a bright red face, he was choking on something that turned out to the wheel from a toy car.
To this day I’ll never forget that voice. It was as clear as day.
Gah, you guys are freaking me OUT! I’ve never had an encounter with a ghost or anything..at least I don’t think I have..I have my moments where I feel like I’m being watched but I haven’t actually SEEN anything – maybe that’s just me being paranoid!
But according to this: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071026/ap_on_re_us/ghosts_ap_poll
– a sampling of 1,013 adults all over the United States, I — as a single woman — am more likely to receive a visit from a ghost than most other people…
“The most likely candidates for ghostly visits include single people, Catholics and those who never attend religious services.”
Well, damn!
A few years ago I visited the lighthouse in St Augustine. First off it’s about twenty degrees colder inside than it’s outside and there’s no AC. Hubby and I decided to make the climb to the top. Almost at the top I felt a rush of cold air and the person behind us said Whoa! I ran back down and never looked back. Hubby continued on while I waited safely on the ground. Recently, I watched an ep of Ghost Hunter’s on the Sci Fi channel. And guess where they caught a ghostly apparition? Right about where we felt that freezing air. I’ll never go back there again.
I haven’t met a ghost yet, better you all than me! Used to fool around with the Ouija Board with school friends. One friend was spooked, said she felt a presence and wouldn’t go near it; the rest of us never did, and I had a boyfriend who found where to look for a special hunting knife that had been lost for years from it.
Giselle, that was one of the freakiest eps of Ghost Hunters! Were you where that shadowy thing looked over the rail?
These things are exciting to read and hear about, but I think I’d lose my shit if it happened to me.
Chantal, wow! Perhaps we all have someone looking out for us.
We have kids and have been given nice toys or outfits that friends’ children have outgrown…sometimes these items had been given to them from their friends. We do the same, passing on the things that another family might use.
When we were about to move, we did an awful lot of sorting of things and gave a friend a couple of bags of toys. The next day, she asked if I had ever known a slim long haired girl who might have died several years ago. I questioned her on why she was asking. It seems that while she had walked down the road with the bags the previous night to get home, she was surprised at how terribly heavy they were. The items all put together should have been considerably lighter. When she went to sleep she dreamed that the room had dropped quite a bit in temperature and a sad young girl came to her, wandered around her room not saying much, and then after exploring, left. The next morning she took the toys to an orphanage (which was the reason she had accepted the toys in the first place). They were far lighter than the night before. I had to admit I didn’t recognize the child she had described. She never visited my friend again.