Evil In The Basement

There’s a legendary haunted estate not far from my home.

Many of my ghost hunting friends have visited this place several times over the years, bringing in psychics and other paranormal investigators who have all experienced the same creepy feeling … some even refusing to walk inside.

That’s basically the my feeling when I was invited to visit the place. I could feel my heart racing before we even arrived on the property. I could also sense that we were not welcome — even though we received permission from the home owner.

I’ll admit I’m not all that brave when it come to exploring haunted places. I do have a fascination about the whole paranormal realm, but I won’t put myself in harm. I don’t like being pushed or knocked down — which has happened.

I’m not immediately prone to anger, but with whatever was in the basement of this house wanted to provoke anger and feed off of it.

I mentioned this to my friends before entering the house.

I’m not sure if they heard me or just ignored me because I’m usually the first one to leave an investigation.

We heard very clearly “Get Out!” and much profanity … but we continued investigating the house. I loved the antiques and was surprised by how neat and tidy the house appeared since no one was physically living there.

It was interesting that the farther away from the basement I moved, the calmer I felt … until I opened the door to one of the bedrooms and immediately jumped back.

I later learned of family members who occupied that bedroom were into the dark arts. It is believed they invited some evil entity into the house and it decided to occupy the basement … But there was definitely something going on inside that bedroom.

I heard growling and saw dark shapes moving around. There were knocking sounds coming from a clocked closet door. I heard voices of crying out for help, but I wasn’t stepping foot in that room.

I did call out to them to move into the light, but informed there was no light only darkness and it was blazing hot inside.

I explored some of the other upstair bedrooms.

I could feel a lot of sadness throughout the house.

There had been suicides in the house as well as deaths of natural causes. So, this estate was haunted by a number of entities.

I was curious about those people who had lived and died there and their feelings about the place. I did hear one woman say it was a great place to raise their family, but when some cousins came to stay they got into the dark arts and left the chaos from their rituals behind them when they moved out.

I heard arguing downstairs and decided to see what was happening among my friends and suggest we leave … or at least step outside.

We didn’t need to feed the anger and rage that fed the “beast” in the basement.

It was interesting to see how everyone was on edge after exploring the basement. I suggested they go upstairs and explore there or explore the grounds … but they wanted to stay and argue.

I took the arm of my friend, Barbara, and forced her to come with me outside.

It was almost as though she was in a trance once we got outside on the porch. We sat down on some chairs and after a few minutes Barbara was back to her ol’ jolly self telling me how scared she was in the basement.

“There was something growling at us and swearing … I wanted to leave, but Hank insisted we all stay together and explore every inch of the basement.”

Barbara did return inside the house to get everyone else outside.

It was interesting to watch how at first they continued arguing … but then suddenly stopped … They didn’t seem to know where they were or what was going on.

After a few minutes in the fresh air, everyone was calm and back to “normal”.

I think in some ways that scared me more than what I heard and saw inside the house.

I thought it funny how at one point the “house” wanted us to leave and when we decided to leave the “house” wanted us to stay and explore some more. The front door even opened for us.

Fortunately, we’ve all had enough and were soon on our way back home to have another Real Ghost Story to share.

Thanks for stopping by.

Be sure to check out some of the ghost hunting equipment below to see what you can discover in your own home and surrounding area.

Sharon

It Happens The Same Time Every Night

Jill worked the night shift at a convenience store.

There were gas pumps and a car wash.

Right at midnight, every night the car wash would start . . . but there was no car . . .

The manager thought it might be a timer he wasn’t aware of, so he checked it out. Nope! No timer . . . just the detectors when a car came through the door.

Of course, Jill thought of a phantom car which creeped her out. She was busy with customers and restocking as necessary. She knew when the shifts at the hospitals and nursing homes changed there would be some hungry customers. They would fill up on gas, but rarely used the car wash.

Jill was going through her normal routine when there was a lull in business . . . washing down the front of the walkway, sweeping up any debris, emptying the trash barrels, etc.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a black hearse ease its way into the car wash.

It didn’t seem solid to Jill . . . it was a dark shadow shaped like a hearse . . . She was the only one there at the time, too scared to move . . . but her body and neck tried to have a look inside the car wash.

When a customer came in with a half dozen kids, Jill went back in the store.

“You’re out late . . .” Jill said as she rang up the purchases.

“Yes, we had a fun day at the zoo,” the woman answered. “My husband should be in shortly, he’s filling the car with gas.” She left with the kids.

Jill watched as the woman got the kids in the mini van. The man’s attention was drawn to the car wash. He finished pumping the gas and quickly got into the mini van and drove away. He paid at the pump, so it wasn’t as though he was leaving without paying . . . but something spooked him . . . and it had something to do with the car wash.

She told Rick, the night manager what had happened.

He confirmed that something strange was happening. He saw what looked like an old-fashioned undertaker in a black suit walking out in the field with a shovel. Rick said it was clear . . . but it wasn’t . . . The man looked right at him, he nodded and gave him a strange smile before taking off in the field with the shovel . . . That was when the apparition was wispy and not as clear.

Rick was shaking from his experience, but when the customers were coming at a steady pace, he settled into work and was greeting the regulars and helping them in record time.

Jill was busy, too . . . but she still wondered about the hearse and the mortician . . . 

She did some research in the library the next day and discovered that over a hundred years ago there was a mortuary on that property. The county bought the land to enlarge the road.

From the old photographs, the carriage house was located where the car wash was built.

That was evidently residual energy that repeated an event over and over again . . . But what doesn’t fit is that the mortician saw Rick and nodded to him . . . and maybe to the man in the mini van . . .

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharon

Is There A Difference Between A Ghost And A Spirit?

I enjoy having interesting discussions with my ghost hunting friends.

We had a lively discussion and finally settled on ghosts are tied to a particular location and spirits are free to roam as in the expression “free spirit.”

Now that I think of it, there were ghosts at my parent’s old place that seemed to belong there. They were primarily in the yard. They didn’t follow them when they moved, but the new owner  complained about lights turning on and off and the electric bill being more expensive each month.

I doubt these ghosts went inside to cause problems for the new owners. I believe the new owners brought their own spirits with them. Or attracted new ones.

The house was located approximately 5 miles away from a hospital and there was a cemetery across the street from the hospital.

I know I’ve had spirits trying to come home with me after visiting someone in the hospital or cemetery. I’ve had to be very firm with them to stay where they were and to not follow me home.

I have heard that spirits feed off the electrical system.

My cousin has seen her deceased father in her car waiting for her when she’s shopping at night. It’s comforting for her to know he’s still around to look out for her, but she has had to charge her battery regularly or replace it before the warranty is up. She has had the car checked to see why the battery is being drained, but there is no mechanical explanation.

There is always a fear that spirits will follow you home.

Many times they do, but we must not invite them to do so, unless you want to. The problem is most of us don’t know what we’re inviting in. Too often what we believe to be children turn out to be demons that create all kinds of problems.

I had once been of the belief of allowing ghosts and spirits to stay where they are, but when they impact my life in unpleasant ways, I have been forced to send them on their way elsewhere. Preferably “into the light.”

There can be ghosts, demons and spirits in antiques and old homes.

There is plenty of old haunted stuff out there waiting to be picked up by someone and brought into their homes. I have a friend who picked up an interesting piece of wood that was once part of a picket fence in front of an old house that was being demolished. He had it in his car and pretty much forgot about it, but he was getting speeding tickets, parking tickets and also had people running into him. He attributed it to that old piece of wood.

He later put that piece of wood in his yard to stake up a rose bush. It wasn’t long that sprinklers would turn on and off, he had a couple of pipes burst because of high water pressure and the rose bush died — some may believe from over watering or lack of watering which is possible, but he believes it had to do with that old haunted piece of wood he picked up.

This can be true of many things that one finds.

I found an odd coin that I believed to be lucky, but it was anything but.  My lucky day was when I lost it.

To tell you the truth, I was tempted to leave it some place for someone else or even throw it out, but I kept it thinking I would do some research on it — of course, I never did. I only hope whoever has it now is having better luck with it than I did and has taken the time to research it.

I hope this article was helpful and informative or got you thinking of some of your own personal experiences involving ghosts and spirits. I’d love to hear about them.

Please leave a comment below or send me an email:  sharon@twocansonastring.com

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharon

 

Does Ghost Hunting Have A Season?

I like to give my ghost hunting friends something to think about while we’re at my favorite coffee shop.

I was surprised they didn’t laugh me out of the coffee shop. I just got thinking about different hunting seasons and different holiday seasons along with the seasons of the year. Is there a season that is better for ghost hunting? Fortunately, they took me seriously and we had an interesting discussion about their various ghost hunting experiences.

I know when we were having a founders day celebration in town, there were ghostly spirits all over the place. When there are concerts in the park, you’re apt to see ghostly apparitions. Just about every event attracts spirits to them. This got me wondering if these spirits were just having a good time with the crowd of people, sucking up the energy or if they were there because of something else.

It seems one question always leads to another.

Matt didn’t think there was any particular time that was better than any other, but it may have to do with the location and how many other people have been there.

Some people are looking for the “thrill of the moment.” They hope to capture an EVP or have something happen so they can share the experience with friends. “Ghosts aren’t trained animals that follow your commands,” he said. Many times amateur ghost hunters will say such things as move the chair or close the door or move an object. For some spirits it may be difficult to do that and to be honest, would you want to move a chair, close a door or move an object at someone’s command?

If spirits want you to know they are here, they may speak to you or move something. We need to use common sense and treat these entities as humans who are no longer with us.

It seems I got a bit off track, but it explains why Matt believes Halloween isn’t the best time for ghost hunting. All the time up to Halloween, people are visiting haunted sites and making demands and acting like complete jerks. This turns off spirits as well as turning off the living.

Matt did share an experience he had to a known haunted theater.

He got permission and went in with several people who were both curious about the theater and what Matt was going to do. He was upset as were the others by how someone got into the theater and vandalized it.

He spoke with those with him and then spoke to the spirits that were supposed to haunt the old theater. He didn’t speak to them about the vandalism, but of the various plays that were presented on that stage. He spoke of the conversion to a movie theater and mentioned how his father used to go there with his brother and sister on a Saturday afternoon while their parents were in town doing their shopping or his dad was at the barber shop.

As Matt could feel the nostalgia of the moment, he could also feel spirits gathering. The room took on a definite chill. He mentioned many old movies and the various stars. He spoke of how his father told him about the pop corn and the ice cold root beer with so much carbonation that the bubbles wet his nose, but the heady fragrance added to the taste. There was never anything as refreshing.

He was definitely making a connection with the theater ghosts. He thanked the spirits and those who accompanied him and left. He made arrangements to visit again. Matt prefers to make several visits to a location. He does his research between visits. He doesn’t draw any conclusions until his investigation is done, but he admits he has never completed an investigation because he enjoys the spirits he finds and there is always something new to learn.

I remember being in a local cemetery delivering flowers to various grave sites.

It was before Halloween with a nice nip in the air. I could hear movement that echoed throughout the cemetery.  I tried to concentrate on where I was going and what I had to do, but the crunch of fallen leaves seemed to get louder and closer to me. I called out saying I had two more deliveries to make and I’d be on my way. I honestly thought it was the caretaker or someone else who had permission to be there. And if it was kids who got in somehow, I’d alert them to the fact that I was aware of them and they weren’t going to scare me.

As soon as I spoke, the crunching of leaves stopped. It seemed more frightening to me to not hear anything than to suspect that someone was out there watching and waiting. I tried to shrug it off, but the longer it took me to locate the right grave site, the more frightened I became.

I started talking again. “Have you seen the grave site of Mrs. Emma Lindquest?” I asked. “It seems she’s around here someplace, but I can’t seem to find her. Her son will be disappointed if this isn’t delivered on her birthday.” I rambled on about what a wonderful mother she was and how her son told me how he liked to surprise her on her birthday with breakfast in bed. He would pick a flower out of the yard and put it in a vase or have it on the tray.

I heard some scuffling of leaves and followed the sound. Someone had cleared away the fallen leaves from her headstone assisting me in making my delivery. I expressed my thanks and gratitude that I never would have found it without their assistance.

Off in the distance, I heard a hollow sounding voice ask, “Who else?”

I immediately said the name and the grave site number. I followed the sounds to my destination.

I believe there had been some Halloween-type pranks being pulled and the spirits that were present at the cemetery when I got there were going to take the upper hand and scare me away, but once they realized I had a job to do and I wasn’t there to cause trouble, they came to my aid.

I was curious about the ghost who helped me, but this didn’t seem to be the time to poke into his business. I know I’ll be there again and if it is meant to be, I’ll make his acquaintance.

Since ghost hunting doesn’t seem to have a definite season, it is good to note that it is best not be frequent places during times of high tourism when some tourists may have personal agendas that chase ghosts away. It’s also good to remember to treat ghosts as we would like to be treated — with kindness.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Sharon