Jefferson Hotel experience 3/25

By: robtahn@prodigy.net

In November 2006 my friend Patty asked if I wanted to go to Jefferson and stay at the famous Jefferson Hotel.  I said yes, then she tells me we're going on November 19th and we're staying in their most haunted room, number 19.  That scernio seemed creepy in itself!

The Jefferson is as quaint a small town as you'll find.  The hotel was no exception;  reminded me of my grandmother's house.  Warm, cozy and creaky.  We checked in, put our stuff in our room and decided to take our cameras and see what we could find while it was still daylight.  We chatted with the owner of the Cypress Coffee House across the street about his experiences and he let us take pictures of him and his store.  We felt honored because he normally doesn't let anyone other than the folks on the ghost tour do that.  We took about three pictures and our cameras died - typical for ghost hunting. 

We took our cameras back to the room so they could charge up for the ghost tour that evening and then we were heading downstairs for dinner.  Before we left Patty wanted to see what kind of activity she could coax out of the room.  I believe a woman is to have committed suicide in the room.  Patty was asking her to make the chandelier move, write on the mirror, make some noise.  While standing there, we noticed the temperature in the room kept going up.  Curious, I checked the thermostat and the temp had increased to 6 degrees warmer than what the thermostat was set to.  So I turned off the heat. (each room has it's own climate control).  Even with everything shut down, the temp continued to increase at a steady pace.  At that point we decided it was a good idea to leave the room and have  dinner.

 While waiting for our table in the hotel restaurant, we were chatting with the host.  We asked him to tell us some stories about the hotel.  We didn't tell him what room we were in, but he proceeded to talk about room 19 first.  He said people had experienced noises, smelled cigar smoke, the chandelier moving and temperature changes.  Patty and I looked at each other and busted out laughing.  The poor host had no idea what was so funny until we told him what room we were in. 

 We did sleep with the lights on that night, just in case.  Other than hearing a few noises, it was an uneventful night.

A Haunted History

By:  Leah_Lay@hotmail.com

I was shown this site by a coworker… very impressive! Within the astonishing volume of personal accounts, I’ve noticed some similarities between my stories and the experiences of complete strangers. Even to a skeptic (which I am not) that has to be pretty convincing. I wanted to list a few of my encounters here.

The majority of my paranormal experiences happened in elementary school. We lived in a fairly new house in Rowlett, TX. My bedroom faced the street, across the hall from my parent’s room, and we had an attic with a fold-out ladder above my room. I witnessed several strange phenomena that terrified me to the point where I would run into my parent’s room and tuck myself under their bed frame to spend the rest of the night.

The first incident that I can remember:

I was laying in bed reading, and I turned out my lamp, but the room was illuminated by the street. I saw a wispy figure about 3 feet high that looked almost like a rag doll, with a round head and a draping featureless body. The apparition rose steadily up into the air and disappeared into the ceiling.

From then on, it just steadily went downhill. I had an antique vanity, and I saw ghostly faces all around the perimeter of the mirror, twisting and morphing.

Then I awoke one night, and at the head of my bed sat a figure that was darker than the darkness in my room, a shadow man, and he was completely featureless aside from the shape of a brimmed hat. I was paralyzed with fear, and I was too scared to move to even look away. I eventually must have passed out from exhaustion.

I began to notice strange happenings. I would go to bed, and wake up with an open window. Or my curtains would be drawn before bed, and I’d wake up to have them closed.

And finally, after being terrified by one thing or another, I was curled up under my parent’s bed frame, I looked in the dresser mirror across the room, and there was a figure of a large black vicious dog with red eyes. It was snarling, and drooling, and showing its teeth, but there was no sound. Terrified, I slammed my eyes shut, and shuddered uncontrollably until I fell asleep.

As I grew up, I saw less and less. We moved a few times, and I started to forget about my childhood horrors. Then in high school, we moved to SC. A few weird things in that house: I came home once to find the attic door wide open when no one else was home. My mom told me she felt someone stroking her hair while she napped, and felt a person sit on the edge of the bed, but no one was there. She also kept several creepy dolls that seemed to move on their own, or watch you. One time at the library, I stumbled upon a book called In a Dark Place, which chronicled a horrific haunting that occurred in Connecticut. The Warrens were even called upon to help rid this family of malicious demonic forces. It was the most terrifying book I’ve ever read. I would grow very uneasy and spooked while I read it, and it got to the point where I couldn’t even sleep with the book in my bedroom.

Another story was at the Dillard’s in Denton, TX where I worked as a perfume salesperson in a really old mall. I went into the storage area for our department, which was an oddly shaped room, with very tight corners and high shelves. I heard a “Pssst.” So I called out, and when no one replied, I went around the corners and didn’t see anyone. I blamed it on pipes, or something else, and brushed it off and went back to searching for my products. Then I heard a more insistent “PSSST.” This time closer and louder, and my heart stopped, and I panicked and ran out of the storage room as fast as I could, and wouldn’t go in there alone anymore.

A few years later at the Legacy Theatre in Plano, TX after a movie, I went to the restroom alone. After finishing up in the stall, I was gripped by this inexplicable terror, almost like something was coming down the aisle of stalls to get me. I began to panic and shake, and ran out of the bathroom, with the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. When I came out, my friends were asking me what was wrong. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

I also had a dream that I was getting ready for my grandfather’s funeral, and when I woke up, I got the call that he passed away in the middle of the night.

This last story was from my dad, and it’s probably one of the worst I’ve heard, particularly because of its creepiness, but also b/c my dad is a hardcore skeptic, very Christian, and he doesn’t make things up.

When he was a boy, he had a paper route, which meant he had to wake up early and bike around the neighborhoods before dawn. He came across a ditch that had traces of a morning fog, and he saw what appeared to be a naked human running across the road on its hands and feet, loping like an animal. Scared him to death, he says!

That concludes my paranormal history. Thanks for taking the time to read this! Keep up the good work =)

In Addition

By:Leah_Lay@hotmail.com

I had a boyfriend in college whose mother killed herself. It was a very traumatizing and tragic event, and the entire family was deeply effected by it, even though she didn’t live with them b/c they were divorced. After the family gathered together, we all sat in a circle and held hands, and the stepmother wanted to pray. My boyfriend’s little sister said “But mom was Jewish!” and the stepmother proceeded to pray a Christian prayer anyway. Right in the middle of the prayer, the power went out in the entire house and then came back on. There wasn’t a storm or any wind, nor did they neglect to pay the bill. It was definitely eerie. They built that house as a family, and it was her ‘dream house’ so I wouldn’t be surprised to find her still there to this day.

 An Animal's Love Never Dies

By: LAXDispatch@amadotrucking.com

I had a dog for 13 years named Hippie.  Now Hippie Loved cats and disliked other dogs, kids and most people. When our babies were born Hippie decided that she would guard the babies when they were asleep mostly at night.  She would jump off of my bed and go into the babies room and sleep in the middle of the floor between the 2 cribes.  A few months later Hippie delveloped cancer and we had it removed.  The day she came home she went right to the babies room and laid down between the cribes.  Hippie would go to sleep and snore.  3 months later Hippi died at home. Shortly after her death we were up late and we heard what we thought were little nails clicking on the floor of the kitchen headed for the babies room.  We got up to look but of course nothing was there.  Even my oldest daughter heard it and asked is that Hippie?  There could be times that you would hear her then after the walking if you listened long enough you could hear a faint snoring coming from the room.  This went on for several months until about a month before the house was sold then it stoped.  We figured that Hippie loved us so much that even in death she felt that it was her job to guard us and the babies until she felt it was no longer necessary.

Few Personal Stories

By: o5pr3y@yahoo.com

First off I just want to say that I love your site and I've read nearly all the stories in it. I've been meaning to send in a few stories of my own but never got around to it.

When I was a little kid,(about 3 - 6), My cousin lived in a house that gave me the creeps. I spent the night there frequently but never thought to much about the eeriness untill after they moved out and other relatives moved in. Well a few years back we had a small family party at the old house and I hadn't stepped foot in it in 15 + years. It got late and my cousin and I were relaxing in the garage and just talking when we both felt cold and uneasy. So we left the room and joined everyone else. When it got down to just a few of us, My family and my cousin's and the current residents, we started talking about how the house creeps us out.

My Aunt mentioned that whenever she went into the Garage to do laundry she would feel like someone was watching her and sometimes there would be what she called , the "darkman", staring at her. It always just stood there and thats it. One of the current residents told us about thier late son's encounter had happend years before. He said that he painted his room black so he could use it as a development lab, (he was a photographer). Well the very first night when he was sleeping in it, ( still just his room, no development fluids or anything), he saw a small girl. About 2 ft high and with a green body with an orange face. It was floating in the top corner of his room. From what I was told was that the "girl" turned and looked at him, and all he did was pull up his sheets and try and sleep.

When my cousin still lived at that house, I had been moving around for a while. We settled into a little ghetto area of town with a cheap rent since it was all we could afford. I was about 4 at the time. I don't remember any of this, but these things were all recently told to me by my parents. 1st off, when we were still unpacking, a whole box of shoes went missing. After about 3 months the ENTIRE box reappeared in the middle of the living room. completely untouched and the tape unbroken. Also, we had a small bowl that we kept keys in, but our keys would continously go missing until the last exact minute that we needed them.Such as for work. A few odd things happened to me while we were there. my Ghostbuster toys went missing ( I'm not joking, as stupid as it sounds it REALLY happened). Other times, my mother would come in and have to block my closet door because i would point and complain about the "man". The last incident I was told about was hown one time my mom stopped me from jumping out our apartment window because those kids called my name. I know that sounds cliche but once again I'm not joking. My mom is very religious and doesn't joke about those things.

Another incident that happend to me was around 2002 in the Spaghetti Factory resturaunt in Oahu , Hawaii. I was there on a family trip and we were eating a late dinner. I went to use the bactroom and and as soon as I walked in I felt uneasy. While I was using the facilities, I was overcome by the most tremendous amount of fear I've ever felt. I quickly finished up, and went to wash my hands. However I made sure I didnt look in to the mirror, (after all NOTHING has made me feel that scared before, the last thing I needed was a face to match it). I went back to my meal and talked to my mother about it, since she was always interested in hearing these things. I also went and asked the manager about it who told me that a few other people, both employees and customers, had felt something like that before but no one had ever seen anything.

One of my friends (the one who actually told me about this site), just recently told me of a new encounter. Its more of a paranormal story rather than a ghost one though. His uncle

used to dabble around in Astral Projection. Once when he was doing so, he turned to check on his body, (something he always did) he saw what could only be descibed as a Grim Reaper like creature standing next to his physical body and staring at his spirtual self. the creature then pulled out a claw shapped blade and seemingly threatened to stab his body on the bed. Instantly, my friend's uncle snapped out of the trance and hopped out of bed and threw up his arms as if ready to fight, and all the while yelling out to the creature to "come on and fight". yet when he looked around  the room there was nothing to respond to his call.

The Woman Singing

By: juliakennedy12@yahoo.com

This is the most peranormal thing that has ever happened to me.Last night at about 9:30,i was talking on the phone with my cousin elyse,she was in her room and she had no lights on.All off the sudden we stared to here this woman singing,and i asked her what is that and she sdidnt answer me!she said she didnt know and it wasnt the tv or anything,elyse ran out of the room and told me there was a light coming out of the closet,and the singing was coming out of no were!We still heard it coming from up stairs,but it was very fant.She went up there again and it was silent for as long time,and i asked her if she was ok and she starded breathing realy heavily!She told me there was a misty light that touched her nose and it was misty and it was starting to make her nose wet,she was alkso looking in the merrior and her eyes turned into an un-human blue color and when the mist went through her her eyes turned black!She thought it mite have bine her grandmother,also this one time she said that her grandmother gave them a bird clock before she died,and it had no baterys in it.The power went out at her house and then just when elyses mom lit the candles the clock started working and it had no baterys!

Haunted House

By: stephanie.hoehner@yahoo.com

in 2007 my husband and i moved to Burns Flat, Oklahoma last year after he was transferred for work. the house that we lived in is located on an old military base in town. when my husband went to sign the lease for the house, the lady who ran the housing authority there told him that she should tell him a little bit of information behind the house before he heard it from someone else.(we were also told the same exact story by our landlord). story goes that a year before we moved in, a man and his girlfriend were living there together for some time until she left him. he committed suicide by hanging himself in the hallway at the entrance to the living room. the marks from the rope he used are clearly visible on the molding around the attic door. our landlord had told us that several males lived there before us and none stayed for more than 2 months. one man, two days. we were told he quickly packed up and left in the middle of the night. i didn't believe in any of the drama behind the stories. until little by little my husband and i would see shadows out of the corners of our eyes. my youngest son, who was two at the time, stood in the kitchen one night for several minutes staring at the back door. he wouldn't respond to me calling to him. after that he would look towards the kitchen and stare. after seven months of living there, my husband left his job and we made very quick plans to move back to OKC to be closer to my parents. we started packing and moving by the next day. on the night before we left, early that morning around 3 am, we were laying in bed watching tv. we had the door to our room opened enough that we could see our kids room across the hall. i looked up and had seen half of a solid silhouette standing in the doorway. i say it was a "solid" because most of the light from kid's nightlight was blocked. i shrieked and jumped on my husband saying someone was watching us. I got up to see if one of the kids had got up, but, they were sound asleep. i checked in the living room to see if my mom (who stayed the night to help us) had got up, she was sound asleep too. we haven't been back since and will not go back.

One of the Haunted Places

By: rocknrollbabe511@aol.com

Hi, I kinda wanted to tell me own story about one of the places that are listed in the Georgia Haunted Places. In Griffin The Trestle. Theres more to it then what you have posted. My cousin lives in Griffin and we’ve visited the Trestle a few times. Our first time was nothing big. We could feel a presence that we feel didn’t want us there or back. We had planned to go back that night, but never made it due to the car doors not opening and when we finally got them to open on the way there we had a car wreck, and after that our last attempt to go, the car wouldn’t start.

After a few weeks of avoiding the place we went back. This is just a few things we saw. Theres a small wooden bridge before you get to the trestle. You can hear the screams of a women that was said to have to raped and killed there. Also the trestle was known for its hagging and some nights you can see the out lines of peoples bodies haning. Since the area is being built on theres is less and less activity. But theres a line on the ground that keeps the spirits in that area and away from some of the people that live there. Other then that I don’t know much more about the place but I thought you could add some of that to your page.

Haunting in Illinois Story

By: christinerichter@gmail.com

My story starts in 1983, the year I was born in Des Plaines, Illinois. My parents and my older brother had previously lived in a two-flat, but with a new baby, they decided they needed more space. House hunting was difficult for them, because money was tight, and they always seemed to get outbid on the property they wanted. When they pulled up to the house right off of the Wolf Rd. Circle, they thought it was too good to be true. It was a brick ranch, with wood floors, and all of the space our young family would need. There were schools within walking distance and a couple of parks too, they thought there was no way we would be able to place a successful bid on this one without a fight. It seems the property had been on the market for 7 years and no one had stayed there very long. My parents were ecstatic, and immediately placed a bid, and bought the house.

Everything was pretty normal, and no one seemed to notice anything odd, little noises were just the foundation settling, right? The day I was christened, my parents invited everyone over for a party, and to see the new house. We had moved in a month or two before so this was the first opportunity for the family to check it out. My aunt walked up the steps, and as soon as she set one foot in our entry way, not even saying hello, looked at my mother and said, "I will not go in your basement, and will not go in your attic..." My mom thought it was strange but just brushed it off.

While we were living in the house, things seemed to escalate. The kitchen was always about 20 degrees colder than the rest of the house, even on the hottest summer days. There were constant footsteps down the hallways that were noticeable because of the wood floors. One day my Godmother and my mom were hanging out in the house and watching me. They heard the footsteps coming down the hallway, and me being a one year old heard them too. You could follow where they were coming from, and as soon as they approached where the doorway was I started screaming and crying at the top of my lungs. Needless to say, they picked me up and ran out of the house as quickly as they could. We didn't go back until my dad was home from work. Another weird thing that occurred regularly was that we had storm windows in the basement that had shutters on the basement walls that were locked from the inside. There was no wind that would come from the window wells, but they would bang at random times.

Everyone in my immediate family was injured while living in the house. My brother, who was 8-9 at the time was playing on our living room floor, when out of nowhere my mom hears a scream. She walks in to find the fireplace mantle on top of him. He of course couldn't have pried it off the wall, and it was about 15 feet away from the fireplace. He said it flew off the wall onto him. My dad was hanging up artwork in a hallway one day, and said the hammer flew back and hit him above the eye. He had to go to the hospital and still has 2 scars above his eye from where the sharp points on the opposite end of the hammer hit him. My mom also said an unseen force pushed her off the deck and she broke her wrist.

I was the only one to see the ghost, but I cannot recall anything, even though this is my very first childhood memory. I was about 3 at the time and my dad asked me to get him a pop from the fridge. I remember mundane details like the socks he was wearing and my point-of-view while walking down the hallway. I reached the fridge, grabbed a pop, and turned around to head back to the other room. When I did, I screamed and that's all I remember. My parents found me lying on the kitchen floor, and when they woke me I didn't remember what happened. I'm 25 years old now, and I try to remember, but I still can't. I've thought about going to a hypnotist to bring the memory back, but I'm too afraid.

My parents had been in the house a while now, and got friendly with the neighbors. After a while they started asking about the house and our experiences with it. They then mentioned that they knew the house wasn't "right". It had been vacant for a long time, and whenever anyone moved in, they wouldn't last too long. They told my parents that an older couple had lived there and the husband was a salesman that would travel frequently. His wife, Pearl, had some medical ailment and was confined to a wheelchair. One time when the husband went out of town, Pearl died in the kitchen and no one knew until the husband came home a week or two later. The husband must have known that even after death, Pearl stayed in the house because even though he moved out, he paid for the house to be kept up and the heating and air conditioning to run for the 7 years it was vacant.

My mom went to a psychic around this time with some girlfriends, and they all had a reading. After she was done giving my mom a reading about life children, job, future, etc. She said, "I know you didn't come here to find out about this, you really want to know who is in your house..." Finally, someone offered to help. She told my mom to go back into the house and tell Pearl that she was welcome to stay if she would leave us alone, but if she wanted to cause trouble she would have to leave. After that my mom had the house blessed, and nothing happened again. We lived there another 2 years before we moved.

I live in a suburb about 40 minutes away now, but every time I pass that house I always wonder if Pearl is still there.

Summit Inn

By: elvenmajic@yahoo.com

I wanted to tell you a little about the Summit Inn.  The summit Inn was the only place in franklin that had a live band.  They would open it up for dancing fools such as my self and my best friend Karen.  We partied there every weekend.  The ghosts name was Ester.  We always heard stories.  The owner who was killed Chuck, and His wife, who is now out of the hospital, Nancy we always telling people about her. 

The oldest Daughter Jessica and her husband Joey ran the bar forever.  It was a grand place.  The fires were never so bad.  I remember the first one after we started parting started in the bar in a service elevator and went all the way up to the attic. but it was like it was contained. the second one i remember destroyed the entire bar.

Now alot of people would stay the night if they drank too much and would hear stories of Nancy laying blankets out on the beds and they would be back in the closet before the Guest came back to the room.

We would always joke and call up the stairs "Hey Ester come join the party...".

We were all shocked when the Summit actually burned down. Chuck was a great guy.  Kind hearted, fun and full of life. 

The property is gated off now, but, I have lots of pictures of the summit when the energy was high.  And regulars came every weekend to kick up their heals and listen to the band.  If you want i will try to get them scanned and send them to you.  I know how a little information can make a story a little more like an old friend.

Keep up the good work and If I come up with any stories you don't have i will be sure to let you know.

Holywood Cemetery

By: queenisabella2001@yahoo.com

In my family almost evryone has experienced  the paranormal.  This is only one of the many things I have experienced. It happened about five years ago, when my daughter was almost 5 yrs old. For some reason, that I don't know, I have always liked to visit cementeries and this happend at a cementery located in Hollywood.  My sister and I desided to go look for Rodolfo Valentino's resting place which is in the mousolium.  It is a huge mousolium but at the entrence you get a map that shows exactly where the famous stars of hollywood are buried.  OK, so we are in the mousolium following the map but we having problems finding Rodolfo Valentino's resting place.  After about 35 minutes, and we were still looking, when my two older sons (21 & 17 years old) came up to us and told me, "what's wrong with your daughter?" and I asked "why?". They, than, asked me to look at what my daughter was doing.  My daughter was knocking on the wall(the covers to where the coffins are put in) and was saying "I'm coming".  After knocking, she would run over to anotherone and would do and say the same thing over and over.  I watched   for about five minutes in which time my sons desided to leave due to they were really scared.  I called my daughter and asked her what was she doing.  My daughter looked at me and very camly(even looked happy) said, "the lady is dead".  At that age my daughter was calling males and females "lady".  I got a little scared too and told her to tell the 'lady' to go away to which she turned and said "good bye".  My sister, kids and I were the only ones in the place and this was the first time I had ever been in a mousolium.  How would my daughter know that those were not regular walls.  She never knocked on the house walls.  Us adults didn't see anything out of the ordinary but we did get a little scared due to the way my daughter was knocking and saying "I'm coming" sounded as if people were calling her and she was responding...Ok, it's a long story but I hope you enjoyed it...I always read stories in this page and I really like this site...keep up the good work....

Lawrence MA

By: steven.m.stewart@verizon.com

About 20 years ago I was employed by Bull Worldwide systems. They had a location in Lawrence, MA on Merrimack Street in the old Wood Mill. I was in Security and worked numerous night shifts. There is a ghost that haunts the 2nd floor far east wing near the exiting staircase. There were many a nights I held the only key to the area that was secured and alarmed. It was my job to walk the floors, secure the area and leave. After walking my tour I would sit in the Security control room on the first floor and get window alarms going off. I would then walk up to that area and after exiting the elevator I would see lights on and get the strong smell of lilac perfume. Upon entering the area the window would be open, (30ft up and no ladders around outside, windows had screens latched inside) lights on and even sometimes furniture moved and placed on desks. Puzzled, I would leave the area, shutting off lights, latching the window, fixing the desks and re-setting the alarms. It would happen every now and then with no explanation. Many employees witnessed similar events, even in daylight hours, but no one saw an apparition or figure. However, the lilac perfume and temperature in the area would always be cooler when that fragrance was around. When it was gone or normal, the temperature was usually around 75.

The story goes from Wood Mill history, that at the turn of the century a young woman had an accident in that 2nd floor area. Her long hair got her hair stuck in a huge woolen machine eventually crushing her skull. Back then there were no emergency shut offs and machines just kept running until the steam stopped the engines. They say its her ghost that haunts that floor.

Today in 2008, the Wood Mill is being converted into Luxury Condo's. Good luck to the individual who purchases the 2nd floor east end.

Below is a link to the site. There is a black and white photo showing the building that looks like its 3 separate buildings attached but is actaully one. The floor with activity is the one with the majority of tractor trailors parked in front of or the top of the photo wit the little mill next to it.

Montgomery Academy

By: k.wolfman@yahoo.com

Montgomery Academy (formerly St. John's Academy)

Gladstone, New Jersey, USA

here's the story:

"At the top of St. John's Drive (just off of Mosley Rd) in the Gladstone/Peapack area of NJ, there's a school. It used to be a church and a catholic school. Nuns still reside there, they live on the third floor of the main building, and rent out most of the land and buildings to Montgomery Academy, a K-12 school. Well, back when it was a boarding school (all girls) one of the dormatory buildings one night caught fire and burned down with several of the girls (ages 8-15) inside, as well as one or two of the staff who was on watch for the night. Now there are many, many places in the school that are rotted and condemned that are mostly like basement areas and old boiler rooms. A few years ago we were starting up a photography club for the school, and knew of an old dark room and the like that, like much of the old school, still had equipment and things like pictures in it. So, a group of about eight of us (unfortunately, at least half were younger kids, who got easily scared) went down, very carefully, to the old dark room to see what we could scrounge up. What we wound up finding as far as materials were mostly old photographs and a few film reels... some interesting stuff, some every-day. but some of the old rooms we had to pass just happened to have occupants of the 'less-than-solid" variety.. Needless to say, the younger kids bolted, and we had to chase 'em all the way out. Other occurances are reported sounds of children playing with marbles on the hard floor upstairs above one room on the first floor, though since Montgomery has occupied the space (and most likely for some time before that), that room upstairs has been carpeted. In the first floor girls' bathroom there have been reportings of doors slamming and leaky faucets that haven't actually had working pipes for years... there is no water that runs to them.

Also, the old principal of the school, who was there when i got there, used to give his 'Haunted Tour' to the graduating senior class every year.."

My Fathers Stories

By: stjulson@yahoo.com

I have been a frequent visitor to your site for years now, and have constantly shared and showed it to many friends of mine. I have been fascinated with the supernatural since I was a child, mainly due to my father's experiences and his frankness and honesty when he tells me the stories which he has experienced.

My father lost his mother when he was only 6 years old, and ever since then has experienced many different instances where he believes his mother has made contact with him. Starting from when I was born--two weeks old, as a matter of fact--my father was driving home from work on the always busy and awful Florida highways when he heard a woman's voice tell him to put on his seatbelt. He should have been wearing it, I know, but Dads will be Dads. Three seconds after he heeded this and locked in his seatbelt, an 18-wheeler merged into his lane, not seeing him, and smashed his car into the barrier. Had he not put on his seatbelt, who knows. As the years went on, his mother's jewelry which he had would move around the house, especially his room, without anyone touching it. He would hear voices at night call his name, and often times our dog would bark at nothing. There were also two instances where her picture, which sat on his nightstand, would suddenly move or fall over without anyone near it.

I myself, sadly, have experienced the supernatural only twice, or so I like to believe. It may be foolish to wish that I have experienced it more, but oh well. Once, when I was only four years old, I was climbing atop a large, brick barbeque which my father was in the middle of constructing. The bricks were massive compared to my small body, since I was four, and when I was climbing on them began to move so violently from me climbing on them that I fell onto my back, onto the patio floor (my father had not yet mortared the bricks). As soon as I hit the floor, the bricks began to fall on top of me. Strangely, and I am not going to explain what I felt or thought I saw, as I was four and it is only a one or two second memory, but the bricks did little damage to my body, only giving me cuts and bruises. By all rights they should have broken all the bones they hit, including my legs, arms, and sternum. I truly believe that something, perhaps my grandmother, laid on top of me and took the blows. My second experienced happened when I was 17 and was laying in bed. Not two minutes after I had turned off the lights, something walked from the hallway up to the foot of my bed. It was not hurried walking, or slow, but just walking as if something was coming to check on me, either barefoot or wearing slippers. Needless to say, it scared the crap out of me, and I made a nightlight out of my bed-side lamp. Of course, once the lights were on, nothing was there.

Thank you for having this site. It's nice for all of us believers to have a place to meet and share.

I have the Ability

By: 4tullers@sbcglobal.net

Hello! I came across your website today and thought I would share a few things with you.  I have always had the ability, I guess you could say, to know when ghosts are present.  On occasion I have even seen them.  Mostly, it is just a sense that they are there.  I inherited this from my mom.  I have a lot of stories, some from my mom, and some from my own experiences.  The first one I want to tell you about was something that happened with my son when he was two.

My husband's brother died two weeks before we were married.  We had never mentioned Uncle Jon to my son.  When he was two years old my son began telling me that Uncle Jon was coming to visit.  Everyday for about a week he would tell me this.  The one night while I was setting the table for dinner, he got very excited and started saying "He's here Mom! He's Here!"  I asked who was here and he told me that Uncle Jon was here.  I then asked where he was, and my son pointed into the kitchen behind me.  This was one of the few times that I haven't been able to sense that someone was there.  My son still believes in ghosts to this day.  He is now 10 years old.

A couple years after that we moved into another house.  There was no history of a death in the home.  It had been built in 1980.  I always felt a presence there but oddly enough, it was never the same person.  Our visitors came and went as though they were staying at a hotel.  Sometimes they were men and sometimes women.  Most were non-threatening.  I would see them walking down the upstairs hall.  One night while cooking dinner a woman wearing an old fashoined dress, 1800's style I would guess, walked through the kitchen towards the family room and then just vanished.  A couple of years ago while we were on vacation a ghost moved into my youngest son's room.  From the time we returned noone was comfortable in that room.  My son began crying, saying he didn't want to die.  Death was suddenly on his mind a lot and he was scared.  I knew what was going on and I finally had enough.  I walked into his bedroom one night and said out loud, "You are not welcome here.  You have no right to do this to my son, he is a kind and loving boy who does not deserve to be frightened like this.  You want to stay in this house than learn to share and stop scaring my son.  It was his room first.  You have a problem with that then pick on someone who can take it!"  I then turned around and walked into my room.  The ghost followed me in there and I could feel a lot of hostility in my room for awhile.  After that night, my son was no longer afraid and did not think of death again.  This ghost apparently moved on and never returned.  We had many more visitors in the time that we lived in the house but as I said before, they just came and went.  We have since moved from that town and in the new house we smell cigar smoke once in awhile in the closet under the stairs.  None of us smoke. 

My Haunted House

By: vethurlow@gmail.com

When i was eight years old,after my mother passed away,my family and i moved from Hendon to London. We moved into a newly developed street,into a five bedroom,three story home. It was the most beautiful house i had ever lived in and spent the next six years gradually moving from room to room as i grew older. For the next three years or so i was in the first two immediate bedrooms as you reached the second floor. No disturbances of any kind ever happened;they were very peaceful rooms to sleep in. Unfortunately,my dad,my older sister and eldest brother decided to use a Ouija board in my dads room at the end of the hallway on the same floor. They spent many weeks playing  with it,without informing my older brother and i. We had one spare room on the third floor next to my sisters room as my eldest brother only ever slept there when he stayed over. I was tired of my room and moved into that room. Still unaware of what they had been doing,i didn't know at that point that they had also played in her room. Less than three days after i moved in there,i got the urge to move my bed against the closet door. I felt uneasy having it stare at me when i slept,i moved it in hopes of keeping whatever was in there to remain that way. one day,i was reading in my room and i heard scratching coming from above me,which would have been the attic. naturally i bolted and had my sister check it out,of course nothing was there. After that i slept downstairs until my dad made a wonderful suggestion of me taking his room. I was thrilled and too young to think about why he would give it up so easily. Well, he took the other second floor bedroom and i took his,while my sister remained up there alone. I had absolutely no problems there for the first six months. Then,my dad decided to share with us during a story telling night,about what they had done in my room. They told me of a slightly unnerving presence that grew more hostile with every new session. This spirit claimed to be my mum,knew everything but one question,"How did we lose our wedding rings?". This spirit failed that one,so they called him on it and he then claimed to be the devil. That was their very last experiment and burned the board in a bonfire we had had months earlier. I didn't have a good nights sleep in that room for almost the duration of me sleeping in there until we moved out. It started with my room already so dark,feeling like the space was closing in on me. I would try to move around and make noise to make myself feel comfortable. But then, i felt like someone was watching me from behind me in the corner of my room. It felt evil,like it hated me. Like a cold stare coming from someone you're most afraid of. I just tried not to breathe,i didn't move an inch the whole night. I pretended to be asleep. I would lay on my side and close my eyes,too afraid to open them again because i could feel it staring me in the face. Cold sweats would come out of nowhere,all over my body and i was frozen either until i woke or day break. It progressed to my door rattling at two or three in the morning. I would get so scared because on most nights when that happened,there would be these soft and slow footsteps leading up to the door before it started. I was always afraid and my dad didn't believe me,he would just say "if it wanted to hurt you,it would have done so by now".  I remember the first night that i stood up for myself, i flipped the light on,jumped out of bed, i swung the door open and said "go away!" and shut it again. Every time it happened after that i began to treat it as a prank. i would just say out loud things like "leave me alone!", "what do you want? go away". By the time we had moved out, these happenings became less and less frequent. The weirdest part was that as time went on in that house,it became less and less beautiful. It started to look and feel old,as if the home we had built in it was fading. On the day we left,i looked back and felt a sadness as though it had died. I was relieved to be gone.

6 Years Ago

By: doggyboy137@yahoo.com

It started about six years ago, my family moved into a house in Murray, Utah. Late at night, i would lie in my bed watching shadows of witches walk up and down my hallway pacing. When we were cleaning out the cupboards, we found a  sharp tooth, strange coins, and weird writing on the walls. In the basement, there was a cement room, with no light in it. In the cement room there was no way out of it, but there was a dead-bolt lock on the outside, and many scratches on the inside, and when you would look inside the cement room, you would see red eyes staring at you. One night i was lieing asleep in my bed when all of a sudden someone said my name, and they asked me to come play with them, they kept tuggung on my blanket asking me to play but i just ignored it.My father would have dreams of indians dancing around a fire. There were stairs in the house that led to wall then turned, and on the wall there was a huge red stain that would not come out. We have pictures of the house which has a huge tree in front of it that looks like a witch over the house, also in the picture there are children, who are transparent who were not there when the picture was taken. My mothere was in the kitchen when she felt cold hands grab her neck and slam it aginst the table, she still has the scar. I would walk past the basement door and her a man and a woman arguing. We lived in that house for EXACTLY five years, when looking over paper work with our realtor, every other person who lived in that house lived there for five years, EXACTLY FIVE YEARS!!! One day the realtor came to ask us how we liked the house, we told hi it was haunted, he denied our claim, then a branch on the tree hit him in the head and he tripped, after that he quit selling realestate. when we started to ask our neighbors about the house they turned weird!! when we would bring up the subject to them they would run in there homes. Now ever since i lived in that house, i see things!!

My Story - Yolanda

By: Jmeraz@aol.com

I bought a house in Lakewood CA in 1995.  From the beginning, my youngest daughter refused to sleep in her room.  She said it was because she didn't like the colors, but I found out later it was because she would hear voices and then the room would go absolutely pitch black no matter what time of day.  She slept on the couch for the entire 11 years we lived there.

In June of 2006, someone broke into the house and attacked everyone with a knife.  My oldest daughter, Yolanda was killed.  Her daughter refused to ever step foot in the house again after she was released from the hospital.  My youngest daughter and I had to return.  We had no other place to go.  At first, we would see lights outside my bedroom window every night at about 3 am.  That was about the time the attack had started.  We would hear the tv even when it was turned off.  There were always bangs in the house for no reason.  The cats would look up at the same place when they happened.

I would walk down the hall and hear footsteps and music from Yolanda's room even though there was nobody in that area of the house.

We sold the house and moved out at the end of 2006.  It wasn't because of the incidents in the house, but I still wonder if my daughter is somehow trapped in that house, reliving that night.

New info for Fort Scott, Kansas Old Fort

By: megan.nighswonger@yahoo.com

I just love your web site.  I wanted to tell my experience with the old fort in Fort Scott, Kansas. 

I believe that I am slightly sensitive and do believe in "ghosts" or spirits,  My (now) ex-husband is sensitive as well as is some members of his family.  I live in SE Kansas and lived in Fort Scott, KS  for a few years. 

Back in about 2004, myself, my then-husband, and our two daughters were visiting the fort,  It was after hours one summer evening, but not quite even dusk yet,  My oldest daughter was about 4 years old and my youngest daughter was about 3.  We were walking downtown towards the fort, and then walked past the front of the fort.  Once we passed the main building, my oldest daughter asked me, "What that soldier was doing up on the second floor balcony?"  Looking, there was no one there!  I asked her what the man was wearing and she said blue clothes.  That made me think Union soldiers.  We continued to walk past and she looked back, I asked her if he was still there and she said no, that he must have gone inside. My husband asked he if she liked the large old tree in the middle of the courtyard in the middle of the fort, because he himself had some sort of "feeling" surrounding it,. My daughter said that it gave her goosebumps and made the hair on her arms stand up. 

Since then, we have visited the fort and when we are there during the working hours nothing really seems amiss.  I personally got a cold feeling in the basement museum part of the main building (where my daughter previously saw the soldier man).  Just a general feeling that I wasn't alone.  Although, there were no other visitors down there with me,  I spoke with one of the park rangers and he said that the alarms go off all the time, without reason.  I was actually there with my daughters last year (2007) when the alarm was going off, and spoke to the policeman that responded and he was exasperated and told me that it happens all the time.

Feel free to take any piece of my story and add it to the haunted places page or even the haunted stories page,  I have had other things happen in my lifetime, that I may relay later. 

Cazenovia, New York

By: crewdude1945@yahoo.com

I am a resident of Cazenovia, a small town to the south east of Syracuse. One late fall night I was driving on East Lake Road and came upon what appeared to be a young lady and an older woman dressed in 18th Century  dresses on the side of the road. I slowed down to see if they needed any help, but then sped up again once I realized that my headlights were passing right through them. To this day I do not like to drive that road at night.  What I probably saw were spirits walking the carriage path that used to exist, where the road now exists.

Oldest Family Home

By: prayer4ne1@yahoo.com

I've never written this down, but our WHOLE FAMILY can tell you true experiences about this! Our oldest family home is located about 2 miles north of Screaming Bridge in Liberty Twp Ohio.  Even friends and business associates have encountered a passed-on relative who I'm sure, knowing him, will never ever leave. That's okay, we don't want him to leave.

My grandfather, Charles Brandenburg, owned our family farm, 127 acres originally, and made it into a flourishing, lucrative popcorn and tomato business for many years. In 1970, after a family argument, he continued out in the field next door (used to seat the largest farmhouse). The tractor he was using got stuck in the spillway next to the pond (pond's still there too). He brought a second tractor out to try to pull out the first tractor with the assistance of my grandmother (who just passed away last Fall) and my aunt (who currently resides at 5111). In his attempt, the tractor turned over on him, crushing him and killing him instantly. Strangely, everyone seemed to know something occured there and came to the site. They said they saw a bright glow in the sky.

Ever since then, more people than I can tell you have each had an experience, describing him so well, we knew who they were talking about, and we've showed them his picture. Their expressions have been classic!

You can either hear him or see him and it can be day or night. He's always there. He has one particular place he sits. Lights on or off, you can see him. It's chilling a little though when you look long enough when you are trying to make out what you are looking at when you suddenly realize he's looking RIGHT AT YOU! If you turn your back to the living room of the house and watch reflections in the many windows, he will stand up, bow his head, and walk from one end of the room to the other.

I would be home as a teenager doing my homework when my parents would leave to the store. The light and sound in the room would change as he came up to look over my shoulder, and sometimes he would clear his throat. 

Clocks stop and start when you ask him questions, other electrical appliances stop and start.  When business associates or parents of friends would come into the driveway, they would run up to the house to inform us that someone was sneaking around outside by the drive. And everyone seems to know exactly what he looks like.

Did I mention---- he built the old house?

My aunt is now 72 years old and lives there alone with her dog. My parents still live in West Chester (as do I) and they have plenty to share also.

God! I only wish someone would catch him on video or something! (Just to look at!)

If you want any pictures, I can send them. 

Ohio

By: mandkrayburn@ctcn.net

Two years ago at Mercy Hospital in clark County I was taken to the emergancy room for complications following a surgery.  I was having trouble breathing and very upset and was waiting on a test to be done.  I looked out my room door and I saw a small boy in a jacket and a pair of blue jeans leaning on the hall way wall looking at me.  At first I thought he was with his family and was curious about what was going on with me, but then I noticed that I could see the railing on the wall through him.  I could not believe my eyes and kept looking, and as soon as I blinked he was gone.

Mercy Hospital, Clark County, Ohio 

Phoenix, AZ GraveYard

By: naranjo0804@yahoo.com

It was probley about 7 years ago, My best friend and I were coming from a friends house...we use to tell people that we wanted to walk through a grave yard at midnight just for fun or to scare our friends....well we were passing the big grave yard and it was about midnight and we had already walked far so we hoped the fence to cut across...half way through we seen a truck driving we thought it was security, but it seemed to come out of nowhere it started driving faster and over graves not on the dirt road we got scared and started running. we had to clim over a big fence.once we got over we looked back and there was nothing there. we we so scared and shookin' we never did that again. I think mabey something was angre that we were there.

Nanaimo

By: the.hellbound.heart@gmail.com

This story happened in Nanaimo BC, in Canada from 1992-1994. The people who experienced phenomena were me, my sister, and my mom. It was in a house behind Uplands Park elementary that was built in the 1970's. I really don't know any of the houses history. While we lived there my sister saw an apparition of a short old man with a scarf tied around his head several times. Once she saw him appear in the bathroom while she was taking a bath. I was sitting in the living room watching tv, and heard her yell. She saw him appear in her room, and the upstairs bathroom also. My mom saw him once, a few monthes before we moved. We had a large window in the front of our house, and she saw him walk by it, then go into our neighbors yard and disappear behind a fence. She went outside, and followed him, but saw nobody.

I never saw anybody in that house, but I experienced other phenomena. I would often hear the keys on my brothers computer clacking when I was the only one home. I experienced really starnge things twice. The first was one night when me and my sister were left home alone. We were in the living room watching tv when we thought we saw people running through our yard, and eard noises. We panicked, and went to the room we shared. We pretended to be asleep in case somebody was trying to get in the house, so that they wouldn't hurt us. We were lying there for a pretty long time. I heard people talking inside our house. It was 2 or more men, and a woman. They were laughing and one of them, the woman I think, asked for matches. That was all. Eventually our parents came knocking on our window. They didn't have keys, and wanted in. We got up, and went to the front door. We told them what had ahappened right away, and I found out my sister had heard voices too, saying the same thing I heard them say. My parents checked all the windows, and doors, and everything was locked from the inside.

A month or so later my sister and me were home alone again. It was about 6 or 7 at night. There was one room on the second floor. We took our two pets up with us, and went to watch tv. I left the kitchen light on because I was scared. We were up there for about a half hour when we heard a noise downstairs. We both went down there. The light switch had actually been turned off, and a very heavy large glass bowl that had been on the counter was placed on the stove. Nothing really dramatic happened after that in that house. My sister saw the old man a few times, but soon he disappeared. I've had weird stuff happen since, but nothing that scared me that much.

"The House Behind Lum's Restaurant"

By:  Anonymous

A woman I work with told me a ghost story months ago that I just can't stop thinking about. If it's true, and I'm convinced that it is, then she was a participant in one of the most fascinating paranormal stories of all time. By my friend's estimate, the year was 1972

      or 3. She was in her twenties and unmarried at the time. She had started hanging out with these four guys who shared a rented house that stood at the corner of Wilson and Sulphur (I think) near Highway 44 here in St. Louis. Now at this point I have to issue a disclaimer of sorts- that my friend (whom I'll call "Joan") has ever told a lie. She seems very straight forward and honest and simply not prone to exagerration of any sort. Anyway...she remembers her first time at the house and how something went whizzing by her. When she mentioned it to her host he told that she hasn't seen anything yet! Some time later, she was at a table in the house (in the kitchen or living room I think) and an ashtray lifted off the table as if moved by some unseen hand, and started circling her. For a second she could not believe her eyes. Before long, she was seeing something levitate every time she went to the house! EVERY TIME! Once it was a lit cigarette that was lifted which put everyone in a panic because they were afraid that when it landed a fire could start. The consciencious ghost thoughtfully put the cig in the glass of the man who had been smoking, which prompted the smoker to ask aloud if "they" didn't like him smoking! In fact, Joan and a friend spent the night there once and claimed to have gotten no sleep whatever- there was so much to watch in the house; things moving,things levitating, or both- that there was just too much to watch! Once she was talking to one of the guys who lived there about the haunting and he told her that's nothing; that she she come by late one night close to midnight. Well, it came to pass that they were playing cards one night when Joan heard  something that sounded like crying. She got up and walked around to where the stairs to the second floor were, looked up, and saw a little girl! She was in pajamas and pig-tails and holding a doll or teddy bear. And she was crying. Joan said that when she focused her eyes she could tell that the girl was slightly transluscent. The girl then opened her mouth in what appeared to be a scream and silently and gradually (yet quickly) dissappeared. Eventually Joan asked the guys what they knew about the house's history and it turns out that they were renting the house from an older man (say in his 50's) that was the nephew (?) ofa couple who had been murdered in the house roughly twenty years

earlier. It seems that one of the couple were woken up in the night and went downstairs. It was there that they were confronted by an intruder. A struggle ensued. The other spouse came to their aid but both wound up being killed. It was immediately after the killings

that the intruder saw the little girl at the top of the stairs. She was, no doubt, sobbing and hysterical and he killed her too. Since Joan has told me this story (last September I think)

I've been trying to reasearch it a little and have had no luck. I have tried to recreate the story in the same order it was told me, detail for detail. There are few details I can add. Joan said that there was faculty from St. Louis University studying the house for

some time back in the 70's. The investigation did tape record the reaction of people who had never been in the house before (these people did see these amazing feats). Unfortunately she does not know if any video footage exists.  She also said these four guys seemed to enjoy bringing girls to the house for the sole purpose of exposing them to these scary happenings! Whenever these girls would cry and claim to have seen something these guys would sometimes say that they had seen nothing! The thing that gets me about this story is how nonchalant everyone involved seems to have been during these occurances. I can't believe anyone would take such a spectacular haunting for granted. And it makes me wonder just how many other stories are out there, just as spectacular maybe, and just as unknown because the people involved are just taking it for granted. Another detail I must add is this; this house, sadly no longer stands. I'm not sure when it was raized, but it could have been standing as recently as 2005. Back in the 70's it stood in the back of Lum's Restaurant. Today, the house and restaurant are both gone, and a new hotel (A Drury Inn) has been built there which I believe is now open. She has long since lost contact with the four guys (which she met while working at a bar called Sub-Station 8). Hopefully posting this story will help preserve it and bring more details to light.

The Burns Ranch

By: troyarn@catholic.org

 I spent the first 18 years of my life living in a small Kansas town.

Although there was little reason to stay, it was a great place to grow up and I have many fond memories of exploring the nearby woods and rivers. A lot of strange things happened in and around that town, but I will only tell of one for now. This short story is about the Burns Ranch.

   The Burns Ranch was located about five miles west of town, situated at the base of a gently sloping hill literally out in the middle of nowhere. A curving, gravel road was the only way to get there and beyond the house this same road soon petered out into dirty ruts that faded into miles and miles of unused pasture land.

   The house itself was a two story Victorian that had to have been built in the early 1900´s. It was old, but wonderfully remodeled and a beauty to behold. A smaller, more modern guest house stood behind it and an ancient barn nearby completed things.

   All of this had been in the Burns family for generations; handed down from one son to the other till finally Richard Burns inherited it. At the time of this story, Mr. and Mrs. Burns had a newborn baby girl and a son who was about 4 years younger than me. I was a family friend and while in my high school years, would house sit while they were all away on business trips or vacations.

   This was a great gig for any teenager and I always jumped at the chance to get away from it all and spend some time alone out there.

   One summer they asked me to stay at their place for a few weeks. The first week I was to be alone as usual, but the second week, their son Robert was going to be there. Although not much younger than me, they for some reason wanted me to keep an eye on him. We got along well enough so this was all fine with me.

    I left for the ranch one late afternoon just as the shadows of the day were starting to bend longer toward the east. Weaving through the curves of the road and over old low- water bridges, I finally crested a hill, made my way down to the last of the bridges, passed through a small forest, and then came out into the wide, open spaces of prairie land. About 100 yards further down the road was the house.

   No matter how many times I went out to the ranch, I could never fully get over the creepy feeling that would wash over me the minute the house came into view. It always seemed foreboding and spooky. The place looked haunted.

   One corner of the house formed a rotunda in which Robert’s room was located on the second floor. As I neared the house, I could see someone standing in the shadows of his room; holding the curtain back and watching me arrive. Pulling into the driveway I saw the curtain fall back into place, swinging slightly. It seemed that someone was home and

             I wouldn’t be alone that first week after all.

   The driveway led around the house to the back door, which everyone used when entering or exiting the house. The only time I ever saw the front door used was after dinners when we would go out to sit on the porch and watch the sun set.

   I locked up the car, went through the gate of the fenced in yard, and knocked on the door, waiting for whoever was inside to answer. When no one did, I went across the yard, past a three foot statue of the Virgin Mary, and toward what amounted to a cement room that had been built into the side of the hill. It was some sort of storm shelter and near the door I found the keys to the house which were always hidden there behind an old painting.

   As I let myself into the foyer and sat my bags on a bench, I kept calling out to let my presence be known. Dead silence was my only welcome. On the right side of the entranceway were the stairs that led up to the bedrooms. Under the stairs and next to the bench upon which my bags sat was the door that led to the basement. Beyond that door and in front of me was the dining room, the kitchen being to its left. To the right of the dining room were the rest of the downstairs; a few sitting rooms, the library, and an entertainment room.

   Sure I saw someone at the window, I began a search of the house; starting with the first floor before working my way upstairs. The stairs ascended to an L shaped hall. Just to the left were the master bedroom and bath. To the right and down the hall, past another bathroom, were the baby room and a spiral staircase that led to one of the sitting rooms below. The guest room I used as well as Robert’s bedroom was around the corner, at the end of the L. I searched these rooms then went down to the basement, which had been renovated into a modern living room complete with bar. I found nothing.

   Perplexed but kind of used to how weird the house could be, I went back upstairs to unpack and start to enjoy my stay.

   I set up my guitar and amp in the entertainment room where I planned on creating rock songs I was sure millions would jam to in years to come.

The fridge was stocked so that was no problem and I had brought along a ton of movies to watch on the VCR in the basement. It seemed the only thing I had to worry about was the occasional phone call and feeding the dog, which was in a pen out near the old cement shelter. No problem as far as I was concerned.

   I had been house sitting here many times before so knew how eerie things would feel when evening came. Like I said, it just had that look of a haunted house. Not much happened that first night and the next day I got up, fed and watered the dog, then watched a few movies before taking a short walk around the property.

   That evening the phone rang and it was Mr. Burns. He wanted to know how much it had rained the night before. I knew he was out of state so told him it didn’t rain at all but he insisted I check his rain counter, a measuring device that he had attached to a post near his mailbox. I went out and sure enough, although it had been completely dry the last few days, there was about ¼ inches of water at the bottom of the thing.

I went back to the phone, where he was waiting on the other line, and told him. He didn’t seem surprised and said it would probably rain that night. He told me to take care, make sure to keep the doors locked, and to not let anyone in when evening came.

   I liked Mr. Burns and he was a decent guy, but sometimes he talked like that; making little sense at all. So I agreed to do as he said and hung up the phone. About three hours later evening crept up on the ranch and with it came the first storm of the summer.

   This wasn’t just a small shower, this was a torrent. It came down heavy for about thirty minutes then calmed to a steady downpour. Suddenly the phone started ringing. I would answer but no one would be on the other end of the line. It rang like that all night, about three times an hour, and each time I picked up the receiver I would be greeted with silence; no voice, no signals, nothing. Just silence.

   As the rain came down, I looked out the window, down toward the road that led back to town. I saw a flicker of light through the nearby forest and went to stand on the front porch to get a better look. Sure enough, there was someone down there. It seemed a vehicle had stopped just inside the forest at the low water bridge.

   Whoever it was had most likely been coming out to the ranch, so to make sure there was no trouble, I reluctantly slid on my bad weather clothes, went out to the shelter where I hung up the key, then made my way through the rain and mud down the road toward the light. The wind was howling and the rain pouring down in sheets, but I could still see the light shining whenever I raised my head to see where I was going.

   I finally got to the curve that led into the woods and toward the low water bridge but when I made the turn, there was nothing there.

   By now I was really freaked out. The bridge was flooded over and there were no tire marks on either side of it. I could clearly see the other side of the bridge and no one had been down it since well before the rain started…probably not since I came down the day before.

   I checked around a few more minutes just to make sure no one happened to be there needing help, and then made my way back to the ranch. The phone was ringing again as I entered but I didn’t bother picking it up this time. Let it ring. I had wet clothes to get out of and weird lights to think about.

   I was warming up in the kitchen a few hours later when I heard a car horn go off. A steady drizzle was coming down now and looking out the window again, I noticed the lights near the bridge were back; this time dancing around through the trees before turning up the road and coming toward the house. It was a car and every few seconds the driver would toot the horn a few times. I got on my clothes, wrapped the still-damp coat around me, and went out the back door; this time armed with a rifle.

   I could see nothing past the light of the porch so went out into the storm carrying the rifle and a small flash light. I went toward the barn and down the soggy driveway. The horn was still honking, but I could no longer see the road due to tall brush in the fields so the car was invisible to me but getting louder and louder by the moment.

   Everything suddenly seemed to build up; the car horn got louder, I could now see the glare of the lights growing through the brush. I found myself getting tense; pointing the now cocked rifle in the general direction of whoever was coming down that road. The horn rang out one more time. The light shined just a little brighter. I finally got to the end of the drive and went out onto the road.

   There was nothing there to greet me; just a dark, wet, stormy night and a muddy road that lead to a very flooded bridge. Even the rain seemed to have eased up a bit. After a few minutes of trying to figure all this out, I gave up; covering the rifle so as to keep the water off it.

I trudged back toward the house for the last time that night, deciding it was safer inside than out there in the open.

   Nothing much happened for the rest of the evening until about 4 a.m., when I was awakened by someone pounding on the front door. This was odd. Everyone always used the back door. Nonetheless, I got out of bed, put my clothes on, and went downstairs to find out what was going on.

My body ached from being out in the storm the night before. I tried to hurry down the stairs and through the house as fast as possible, listening as the banging becoming more and more persistent.

   I had an idea that no one was going to be waiting for me on the porch when I opened the door and I was right. Unable to sleep, I looked around a bit then brewed a large, strong pot of coffee and sat reading till the sun poked up over the horizon.

  The day was bright, hot, and humid and after a short nap, I decided to take a walk around the property. I hung the keys back inside the shelter so as not to lose them and as I did, I got a strong urge to go into the little room and explore a bit. I have no idea why I would suddenly want to do this since there was really nothing in there and to be honest it was not a place I wished to be in. Still, it took a little effort to walk away from the shelter. Something told me not to enter all the way, so I just stuck my hand in, quickly placed the keys behind the painting, and then I shut the heavy door.

   I took a long walk. Before going back to the low water bridge, I shut the barn door which had come open during the previous evening’s storm, then made my way to the top of the hill behind the house. From here I got a great view of everything for miles and miles. I sat up there for some time then went to the river.

   The bridge was still flooded out but not as bad as before. There were no tire marks and no evidence whatsoever of anyone being there before except for what tracks I had made.

I still had no idea as to what had happened the night before. I would have thought it was all a prank but the storm was a bad one and besides, the bridge had been out. I went back to the ranch and the first thing I noticed was that the barn door was open again. Already on edge, I peered inside then closed the door; placing a large rock in front of it.

   Later that afternoon while working out a few songs on my guitar, I kept getting a very strong feeling of someone standing right behind me. No matter where I would sit the feeling was always there. Growing tired of it, I stopped what I was doing and said aloud, “ Stop it! I’m trying to do something here!”. No sooner had I said this than the feeling stopped. It came back whenever I would start to practice my music, but went away when I told it to.

    The next day I was upstairs going through some things when I heard, very loudly, someone downstairs yell out, “Hey!”. It startled me at first, but then I thought it might be the family coming home early so I put up what I was doing and went down to find an empty  house.

   The rest of my time there alone was uneventful with the exception of a lot of weird feelings. The library for some reason spooked me as did the shelter and I refused to use the spiral staircase located next to the baby room. I was somewhat nervous the whole time and took many long walks. Once while sitting at the top of the hill, I saw a car coming toward the ranch. It passed through the forest and made it over the bridge. I was actually a little relieved. Robert had finally showed up.

   Robert’s grandmother had brought him back from a summer camp he had attended and after we finally said our goodbyes, I sat on the porch with him listening to the various stories he had to tell and looking through the photos he’d brought back. I was reluctant to mention my own tales but it didn’t matter; Robert had grown up in that house. He knew something weird had happened to me while alone there.

   We spent the next few days enjoying the good weather. We hiked, explored the valleys and forests along the road, and went on drives that took us to places we’d never been to before. One night, just as the sun was setting, Robert finally asked me how my stay had been. I didn’t hesitate in telling him some of the odd things that had happened and he reaffirmed some of them with his own stories.

   It seems he too was drawn toward the cement shelter where the keys were hidden. The only difference was that he had gone inside; the heavy door slamming shut, locking him in. It was some time before he was able to push the thing open and get out. He said that the Virgin Mary statue had been moved so it was facing the doorway, as if watching his struggle.

   He was as confused as I concerning the lights at the bridge and the mystery car, but he did mentioned seeing a lady come down the spiral staircase I was so afraid of. She came down, glared at him for a moment, and then walked back up. Robert never found out who she was but felt that she was not nice. He also told me of dreams he had about the library. They were vivid and scary and involved the closet. He had just recently discovered that a relative had been born in that room years ago and had died there as well.

   Above each bedroom door was a small window and Robert said one early morning he woke up seeing the shadow of someone come down the hall and stand in front of his slightly open door. The person stood there for some time before Robert called out, thinking it was his father. When he got no reply, Robert screamed for his parents and as they turned the corner in the hall, the shadow disappeared.

   That explained why I always felt watched whenever I tried to sleep in the guest room across the hall. As for Robert’s room, I only went in there to get a CD now and then. I never felt comfortable in there ever since I saw someone looking out the window at me as I came up to the house that first day.

   Toward the end of my stay, Robert and I settled down one evening in the basement. We had movies to watch and were set for the night. There was a small bathroom between the foyer and the kitchen and in it was an old fashioned toilet that had a string you pulled when you wanted to flush it. The thing was loud and as we sat downstairs watching our second movie we could hear it flushing.

   We inspected it before finally turning off the water and returning to our movies. Around one or two o’clock in the morning we were in that zombie state just before sleep actually comes. Suddenly, we heard the back door slam shut.

   Wide awake now, we grabbed a few rifles that we had brought down to the basement with us and listened. From right above us we heard the unmistakable sound of boots shuffling across the foyer floor. They slowly came toward the basement door and stopped. Then we heard the door creak open.

   I admit I finally came to understand the term “shaking like a leaf” but Robert wasn’t much braver. We were too scared to even try and pretend to be cool.

    For a moment there was nothing, and then whoever was above us came walking down the stairs. We could hear someone brush against the coats that hung on pegs along the wall. We could hear the firm, deliberate sound of boots making contact with the warped boards that were the steps.

   The stairway going down into the basement was hidden behind a wall so that anyone who came down could not be seen until they reached the bottom. The third stair from the bottom always made a horrible squeaking noise and when we heard that we raised our rifles and waited.

And waited.

   Finally, when no one came into view, I told whoever was there that we were armed and to leave. There was no sound at all. Eventually we gained a little courage and slowly peeked around the wall and up the stairway. No one was there. The door was shut.

   I was beyond scared at this point and after going throughout the house and checking the doors and windows, we spent the rest of the night in the dining room talking about what had happened. To this day I am unsure what to think. We heard, without a doubt, the back door open up and slam shut. But when we checked it, the key was still in the lock and the door was still bolted from the inside.

   Robert left the next day to go spend a few days at a friend’s home. He wasn’t surprised when I told him I was asking another friend of mine to come out and stay with me on my final night there. That night was quiet except for the usual strange feelings. Even my friend mentioned it and left early the next morning.

   Rather than spend another day there alone waiting for Mr. and Mrs.

Burns to return, I wrote a note telling them I had to leave early to run a few errands, placing it on the kitchen table.

   I packed up all my things, made sure the house was cleaned up, and then locked the door. A sudden sense of urgency overcame me as I walked to the shelter to put up the extra key. I came close to just tossing it into the room in my struggle to hurry, but managed somehow to put it back in its proper place on the hook.

   As I walked to the car I noticed the barn door was open again and although I tried to ignore it, I ended up going over and shutting it.

The big rock I had put in front of it earlier was gone.

   No one ever said anything about me leaving early or asked me how my stay was. Mrs. Burns would often laugh at the idea that her house could ever be haunted, but sometimes I think that laughter was a little forced.

   As for Mr. Burns, when I asked him how he knew it would rain the evening I checked the level of water in his gauge, he looked at me puzzled and swore he never even called me during that trip.

   I still don’t know what to make of that place. Like I said, lots of strange things happened in and around the small town I grew up in. And that was just one of them.

Tyler Junior College

By: Ibanezplaya007@suddenlink.net

WISE AUDITORIUM

Heavy footsteps Heard throughout the night Odd noises all throughout ... Someone hung themselves in the auditiorium it is also said that you hear a little boy screaming

ORNEALES HEALTH AND PHYSICAL ED CENTER

A small boy fell of the top floor over the rail and broke his neck , the boy likes to mess with the janitorial staff at night slamming doors slapping on walls out of nowhere doors will rattle, you can hear the sound of the boy laughing the elevator goes up and down for no reason, and when you mop the track you can go back and see small footprints in the water, one report has also said that a memeber of the staff has felt the boy touch him.

also a girl drowned in the swimming pool sometimes you can hear a splash and nothing will be there and then look in and see ripples as if someone was swimming in the pool also can hear a girl laughing and occaionally screams for help

ROGERS STUDENT CENTER

Very bad feeling when you walk in sounds like things will drop from the third floor and land behind you and nothing will be there many workers have quit because they say something was messing with them.

GENECOV

VERY VVERY BAD feeling

reports of dark figure walking halls and a man seen walking most of the night crew is scared to go in the building

sense of evil and being watched

Vanderbilt Mi

By: goodenoughinn@bellsouth.net

I own a home in Vanderbilt Mi that is haunted .There have been several people who have died in my home.We had a friend over who seen a lady in a long gray dress floating in my back room.He will not come to my house or even close to my property.Myself and several friends were setting in my front room watching the superbowl game and over our load talking and cheering we all heard at the same time a female voice calling for Joey.In doing some research I found that a Mrs Rosenburg had died in the house ,her son Joey had hung him self in the stair well.We have heard footsteps up stairs when know one is up there.My ex-husband died there in 2005. Havn't heard from him yet.

Waverly Ghost

By: eoshealy@newberry.net

Hi!  I encountered your site a few years ago.  It is an interesting source for ghosts and local legends.

My sister lives on a farm in Northern Virginia.  She saw your site and thought that the resident ghost of their farm should be included.  Waverly Farm is in Clear Brook, Virginia, about five miles north of Winchester.  The main house was built about 1740 by Alexander Ross.  Later the home was owned by a great nephew of George Washington.  A clear spring gushes from the farm.  As a result of the spring and the droughts experienced in the 1860's, the house remained neutral ground during most of the Civil War.  It was after the war that reports of the ghost, a man in gray, began to appear.  The man wanders at night into the south bedroom on the second floor.  On one instance he is reported to have blown out candles to disrupt a card game. 

PS.  While looking through the ghosts listed for Newberry, SC (my home town), I noticed an error.  The ghost at Newberry College (Madelain) haunts Smeltzer Hall instead of Keller Hall.  Smeltzer stands on the site of the original building for the college which had a tower (unlike the present building).  The story takes place right after the Civil War, about thirty-five years before Keller Hall was built.  Hope this is useful.  Ernest Shealy, local historian

Weird Experiences in South Euclid Home

By: Galgonedaft@aol.com

Shortly after moving into my home in South Euclid,I awakened one night to see a black figure standing about two feet away from me,It was silent,and unmoving,at least six feet tall.I was too terrified to scream or move.I could see its hand extended towards me.The hand had the appearance of shiny,black glass,I could not see facial features,but I knew it was lookong at me,and it was a very evil presense.I had been suffering tormenting thoughts for weeks prior to seeing this.For the past ten years I sleep with the bedroom lights on all night because of this,When I told this to my then,teenage daughter,she told me that she had seen orbs,at night in her bedroom,but had never told me,for fear of not being believed.We anointed the house with oil,and prayed for all evil to go in the name of Jesus Christ.There have been no more incidents of this sort here.        There is one more inexplicable event,however.My 25 year old daughter had a frightening dream that she was at our old house,in Euclid,that we moved from 15 years ago,She dreamed that she was frightened,and frantically trying to get out of the house,A voice said "dont go in the coal room."She bismissed the dream,until one week later we saw  the same house being shown on the evening news,taped off as a crime scene.It turned out that much loved schoolteacher Marilyn Habian had been shot to death in our old house.Now the really eerie part-her body was found in the old coal room,now a bathroom.Creeps me out,to say the least