Spring Break Horse And Buggy Ride

by | Apr 22, 2019

I don’t know what has been going on lately … but have you been experiencing more paranormal activity … Things going “bump” in the night?

Or sounds that have you jumping out of your skin … or feeling a bit anxious?

With some of the sounds I’ve been hearing I’m not sure if they are inside or outside the house. At first I thought there were car doors slamming … then I wasn’t sure. I usually don’t look out — That’s right, I’m afraid what I might see …

It does seem that many ghost hunters are experiencing more activity — sometimes needing to run out of places they’re exploring … Then going back … All I can say is that something different is going on …

I’ve been enjoying spring break and a buggy ride … and meeting some people …

I enjoy the old part of town.

There are modern shops, but there is evidence of the old depot and some of the old shops. I especially like the trees that grow in the parkway casting shadows along the walkway.  Listening to the wind blow through the trees gives an eerie sound that feed the imagination.

I have heard the clip-clop of horse hoofs and I have seen phantom horse drawn buggies among the modern traffic on the street from time to time.

Last week, I noticed a horse drawn wagon going through town. Spring Break comes at different times for the public schools and the private schools and the different colleges in the area. I don’t know if someone hired them or they were just out to see if there was an interest in a wagon ride. It’s nice when you have out-of-town guests visiting to treat them to a horse drawn wagon ride. It’s something they enjoy and will tell their friends and family back home.

I especially like it when there is a mix of people, young and old. On this particular day it seemed to be an impromptu group selected by the young man at the reins.

“Do you want a ride?” he called out.

Several people climbed on and my cousin and I decided to join them.

One man asked, “Do you do Haunted Hay Rides?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact we do. There is a favorite place we go that always gives everyone a scare. Do you want to go?”

Everyone seemed to be in agreement. We were headed toward the old movie theater. I had heard stories about how popular it was during the days of silent pictures and continued with the talkies. Today there are larger ones that have replaced it, but it is still used for private showings.

Since it was daylight, no one expected to see anything spooky, but our driver said it would give us a scare. I wondered what he had planned.  This may not have been as impromptu as I originally imagined.

One young woman spoke how at one time there was an element that would come to town (of course from Los Angeles). One of the projection rooms was used for gambling. One game got a bit out of hand and there was gun fire, but the movie watchers didn’t notice because the shots seemed to correspond to the gun shots of the western that was playing.

We were told to squint just a little and look at the front of the theater. I thought I saw a man in a suit with a hat — he looked like a private eye of days gone by. Others saw people coming out of the theater eating popcorn. One man pointed to the roof. He said there was a man up there smoking a cigar. It seemed strange, but several of us smelled cigar smoke. Power of suggestion or there was someone real or in spirit form smoking a cigar.

Not too far from the theater was the old hospital that many claim to be haunted. One woman spoke about the stories her grandmother told of the old haunted hospital. One man on the ride told about when he was a kid, he and some friends went out there one night and they heard screaming coming from the building. The woman confirmed that the third floor was for patients who received electroshock therapy. Even when the third floor was shut down, many of the nurses heard crying and screaming coming from the third floor.

I felt a sudden chill and others in the wagon remarked how they, too, felt cold. Neither my cousin nor I heard any screaming, crying or distress.

We just about jumped out of our skin when the driver’s cell phone started playing music. We were on our way back to the old part of town, our ride was coming to an end.

Many of us went to a restaurant to continue talking and telling stories. I’m always interested in the experiences of others or urban legends from other places.

Leo’s Story

Leo is from Vermont and is visiting his daughter and son-in-law. When he was a child, his mother took him shopping for school clothes. She was always looking for bargains and the basement seemed to have all the discounted clothes. They were going down in the basement when he began to feel ill. Before they got to the last step, he heard a man shout, “Run! Get Out!”

His mother started running up the stairs leaving him behind. He shouted, “Wait for me! Don’t leave me!”

She kept running right up the stairs and out of the store. Leo caught up to her at the bus stop. The look on his mother’s face told him not to say anything.

Days later, his grandmother came with bags of school clothes for him. His mother refused to go in that store again or any store for that matter. She was afraid from that moment to leave the house.

His grandmother tried to find out what happened that day, but his mother wouldn’t talk about it. Leo told her that he wasn’t feeling well as they were going down in the basement. He heard a man yelling to run and get out. His mother ran, forgetting all about him.

This remained a mystery until a few years ago when there was an article in the newspaper about it being the 100th year anniversary that a man committed suicide in the basement of that store. His mother must have heard what he heard and perhaps saw the ghost of the dead man, which he hadn’t seen.

That was a bit creepy for a Real Ghost Story. I hope you enjoyed it!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharon

Crazy Ritual Urban Legend Gone Wrong

by | Apr 15, 2019

There Are All Kinds Of Urban Legends As Well As Scary Rituals People Perform …

Below I have two videos of the LaLlorona Legend. They were both taken the same night, but with different perspectives.

It is quite a sad legend of a woman who was married to a wealthy man and they had twins, a boy and a girl. When the wife/mother found that her husband had been unfaithful she did the unthinkable — she drowned her children … Now she is cursed for eternity searching for them …

There is another part of the legend that I don’t know is actually true (You know how urban legends seem to be expanded over the years). It is said that LaLlorona searches for children. When she finds one that is not her own … she eats it … Mothers tell their children of this legend to keep them safe whenever they are near lakes.

Another creepy thing is when you hear a woman scream, run for your life!!

Video Searching For La Llorona:

 

Same Night, Different Perspective:

 

It’s Always Good To Be Able To See Ghost Hunters In Action.

I don’t believe it is wise to summon urban legends or to perform a ritual when you’re not completely sure what you’re doing. But we all get caught up in doing something different — usually with the best of intentions.

It seems Ghost Hunting is dangerous enough — we usually don’t know what we’ll find … or what will find us …

In the videos above there were sounds and paranormal activity — perhaps some things could be explained, but then there were others … Perhaps being scared out in the woods and maybe even lost was a bit of an issue. I just know that I wouldn’t want to be out in the woods during the wee morning hours. But … if you live for adventure and getting scared silly … By all means do what makes you happy.

Thanks for stopping by. This was a bit different kind of Real Ghost Story. I thought it was worthwhile to share. 

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Sharon

Did You Hear That?

by | Apr 13, 2019

Jill was attending a party with some of her co-workers.

She was fascinated by the house more than mingling with the party attendees.

There was an elderly man sitting at the top of the stairs.

“This is a lovely old house,” Jill said, hoping to learn more about it.

“Yes, it is. It’s been in my family for generations, but my grandson, Jerod, doesn’t seem to like it much. He’d be comfortable in an apartment . . . which I just may get for him.” The elderly man drifted off in thought.

Jerod, who was Jerod? Jill wondered. She went in search of him when she suddenly heard, “GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!”

Jill and three others promptly ran for the door . . . but the majority of the party guests continued talking, laughing and drinking.

Jill left the party with her three new friends. They stopped at a coffee shop to discuss their experience. Evidently, they were the only ones who heard the old gentleman’s request.

Jill told them about talking with the elderly man at the top of the stairs.

“Jill, I saw you standing at the top of the stairs . . . talking to yourself. There was no elderly gentleman.”

“He told me he was Jerod’s grandfather.”

“Jerod’s grandfather has been dead for 20 plus years.”

Jill realized she was talking to a ghost. She was getting those side-eyed glances people give you when you talk about ghosts and hauntings and such.

“Hey, wait a minute!” Jill demanded. “What made you run to the door? You heard it, too, didn’t you?”

They slowly agreed, but that was different from conversing with a ghost . . .

Jill thought about it over the weekend. She did some research on the house and Jerod’s family history.

Monday morning she was ready to find Jerod and receive an explanation.

Well, she found that Jerod was no longer working . . . he had been confined to a wheel chair after being hit crossing the street. He was currently residing in a nursing home.

After work Jill went to pay him a visit.

She learned that Jerod’s younger brother worked at the office in the mail room. He was looking after the house until Jerod could return home. He was supposed to be making it handicap ready instead of throwing parties.

Jill, told him about meeting his grandfather and hearing him bellow from the top of the stairs to get out.

“Oh, so you heard it, too!!  Did you hear anything else . . . the women talking in the kitchen . . . the bouncing ball in the driveway . . . “

Everyday after work, Jill went to visit Jerod. They spoke of other things besides his grandfather.

Jerod’s physical therapy was going well and soon he would be out of his wheel chair and walking with crutches and later with a cane.

They eventually married and moved into the lovely old house along with the resident ghosts . . . and may I add . . . they all lived happily . . .

This was a fun Real Ghost Story!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharon

Dolls Creep Me Out

by | Apr 11, 2019

I may not be alone — dolls creep me out.

I felt this way before Chucky! There has always been something creepy about them.

But a Raggedy Ann doll?  What could be creepy about it?

It’s not the doll, but what’s in the doll.

Ed and Lorraine Warren renowned demonologists and paranormal investigators have Annabelle locked up in their private creepy Occult Museum in their house in Monroe, Connecticut.  Ed Warren passed in 2006, but Lorraine Warren continues with paranormal investigations.

The story of Annabelle is well known, but for those who may not know I’ll give a brief history. In the 1970’s a woman bought a Raggedy Ann doll at a hobby shop for her daughter’s birthday. Her daughter was an adult and a nursing student. It seemed lots of young girls liked having dolls and stuffed toys on their beds — perhaps a connection to their childhood and home. And, I remember how popular these dolls were to make in all sizes.

As you can see from the picture above, Annabelle was a fairly large Raggedy Ann doll.

As the story goes, two nursing students shared an apartment and the Raggedy Ann doll was a prominent figure in the house. As long as it was a doll and behaved as a doll, everything was all right, but it didn’t.  There were “messages” written on parchment paper — which the girls did not have in their apartment. The doll would move from one bedroom to the living room . . . and was seen standing on her own.

Of course, this frightened the girls and they consulted a psychic.  They were told how a little girl, Annabelle, died on the property and her soul was in the doll. They were also told that the little girl wanted to stay and live with the young nursing students. They agreed and were very sympathetic to the story.

As time passed, the doll’s behavior got more erratic and violent until the Warren’s were called in and the doll had to be removed. The doll had a demon inside, not a child. This demon was biding its time until it would eventually possess one of the nursing students.

This possession thing is what creeps me out. I try not to think about demons, but they are very much a part of the paranormal as angels. And, too, often they are encountered in antiques.

We, as collectors, have a kind of romantic attachment to stories and wanting to preserve the old, but we do, at times, encounter things that we can’t handle or don’t want to handle.

I’ve never really liked puppets or marionettes.  I thought they were just creepy.

My brother got a Howdy Doody Marionette for Christmas one year and I stayed away from it.  Gary got good at manipulating the strings and having him walk around and up and down the stairs and even do a little dance, but I wasn’t amused, I was afraid of it — it just wasn’t natural.

I’m not claiming it was possessed, I’m just saying I didn’t like it. Howdy Doody was fine on television, but not in the same room with me. And it was fine for my brother to have as long as he kept it in his room.

Well, it seemed this toy would be in other parts of the house. Maybe my brother was trying to scare me, but he claimed he left it in his room.  I guess one day, this little marionette got in my mother’s way and it was put out in the trash.

As my mother admitted decades later when I asked her what happened to Howdy Doody, she admitted to throwing it out. “That thing kept staring at me. I swear it moved, crossing its legs and folding its arms.”

Throughout the day she kept hearing something in Gary’s room. She thought maybe there was a mouse in the house, but all she saw was that marionette.  She studied it as it seemed to study her each time she went into the room.  She moved it in the closet and it returned to the desk.

She got a paper bag out of the drawer and put Howdy Doody in it and put it in the trash. When my brother and I came home from school, she had some cookies for us.  We did go out to play for awhile, but after dinner when we were doing our homework, nothing was said about the missing Howdy Doody doll.

I asked my brother about it and he just shrugged and said, “One day it was gone. I was glad to see it go.”  Then he leaned closer and said, “You were right, that thing was creepy.”

Sometimes there are real demons possessing items and sometimes things are just creepy with the help of our imaginations . . . or . . . not.

I hope you liked this post about creepy dolls — maybe you have a story or two of your own. I’d love to hear from you in the comments below or you can email me: admin@twocansonastring.com

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharon

My House Is Haunted

by | Apr 8, 2019

That’s right!!

It’s not something I like to admit . . . some of you may think I’m nutz!!

I may be . . . but I know what I know . . . and something strange is going on in my house!!

I have an antique music box . . . one of those with the metal disks.

It has been in our family for as long as I can remember . . . but it was previously owned by my great-aunt . . . who would always go to estate sales looking for bargains . . .

And along with some of her bargains she may have picked up a spirit or two and then passed it on to us . . .

So . . . this antique music box may have had several previous owners . . . 

A psychic friend of mine told me this music box was once owned by a man with a little girl and a very ill wife.

The little girl wanted to play the music box, but it only had one volume — LOUD!!

Since the little girl’s mother was ill, she wanted to play the music box for her, but her father told her not to play it while her mother was sleeping.

To be honest with you, I was all right with the little girl and her father’s spirits hanging out with the music box. It was no big deal to me.

But the other day . . .  

after bringing in my groceries from the car . . . and while in the kitchen putting them away  . . . quite a distance from the music box . . .

It started playing . . . not too loud, perhaps because the lid was down . . . and it played for a good 30 seconds to a full minute.

I was startled!!

In the past there have been random notes . . . but nothing like this!

I thought maybe the little girl turned it on . . . or my great-aunt did . . .  but why?

And why didn’t it play longer?

Maybe the little girl’s father turned it off . . . Residual Energy . . .  But why now . . . and not before?

Well . . . this kind of thinking and analyzing and wondering can make one nutz!!

It was just one of those paranormal experiences . . .

There are some creepy things out there . . . hopefully my music box isn’t one of them . . .

Have you had a paranormal experience you’d like to share? Please leave me a comment below.

And, if you know why my music box played “out of the blue”, please let me know by leaving a comment below. I’m still a bit creeped out by it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharon

Haunted Farm House

by | Mar 31, 2019

When Rick was six years old he moved into an old farm house in Georgia with his parents, grandparents and siblings.

 

It was exactly what one would imagine a haunted house to look like. When they first arrived to their new home, Rick and his brother were excited about the old barn, out houses and sheds that were in the back of the house. His sisters were interested in the house and choosing their rooms.

This old farm house had a tin roof. The interior was wood, wood floors, wood walls, wood stairs and banister. The woodwork was extraordinary, but there were small images in the wood that somehow seemed creepy. Rick’s father didn’t notice it when he saw the house. He was interested in the 500 acres and the barn. He also noticed that the farmhouse was huge with six bedrooms and four bathrooms. There was a huge family kitchen he knew his wife would love. Some improvements were made to the house without taking away the charm of the original woodwork. There was also a three bedroom house on the property for his parents and another that would be great as a guest house for his brother and his family.  The price was a factor that made this farmhouse an absolute bargain.

There was going to be a lot of work in clearing away debris in the yard, but Rick’s father was planning to start out small by planting a garden near the house and to build a chicken coop for fresh eggs and buying a cow for fresh milk. He didn’t think beyond that, but he believed he had plenty of time to decide. First he had to move his family from California to Georgia.

Rick and his siblings didn’t like the idea. Their mother was concerned, but she had every confidence in her husband and father-in-law. She thought a farm would be a great place to raise her children.

Rick’s grandfather had recently retired and sold his construction business. He thought a farm in Georgia was perfect for his retirement. They liked the idea that they would have a house of their own close to their son and grandchildren.

They arrived on a cloudy, windy day. By evening, it started raining. They noticed the roof leaked and the wind and rain seeped through the windows. There were eerie creaking sounds from the floors and the walls. Although the electrical wiring and plumbing were only about five years old, there were problems due to the house being empty for a couple of years.

The strange thing was that the house was fully furnished. It looked as though someone had packed up what they could take in their car and left, never to return.

That first night was an experience they would never forget with lights turning on and off and toilets flushing and faucets turning on and off. Not to mention mopping up the rainwater under the windows and emptying the buckets to catch the drips from the ceiling. And, of course, the creaking of the house.

The next day was cloudy, but no rain. Rick’s mother took them to register for school. Although they wanted to go back to the farm and get settled before starting school, they did begin that day. There was also a bus that dropped them off after school at the long driveway to their property. It would be there at 7:30 the next morning.

While the kids were busy at school, repairs were made on the farmhouse. There was a crew of workers packing up when the kids arrived home from school.

The overgrown grass and weeds were cleared away.  The old farmhouse didn’t look quite as scary as it had when they arrived.

The smells coming from the kitchen were inviting to four hungry children.

After dinner the children settled down to do homework in front of the television. Their grandparents sat at the table playing cards. By 9 PM they went to their house. Their house came furnished as did the guest house. These two houses were in better shape than the farmhouse because they were not as old.

There were the regular creaks from the house, but Rick was tired from school and not getting enough sleep the night before.

He did wake up in the middle of the night. He felt a weight sitting on his chest. He tried to move, but it was impossible. He couldn’t even open his eyes which scared him. He tried to yell, but he couldn’t open his mouth. He remembered praying for Jesus to help him. In a few minutes the weight was off of him and he was able to move. He jumped out of bed and ran to his parent’s room, turning on the lights in his bedroom and the hallway and in his parent’s bedroom.

He told his parents of his experience, they checked his room, but found nothing and left the light on in the hallway.

He slept through the rest of the night undisturbed.

At breakfast in the morning he thought it had been a bad dream as his mother suggested.

The kids got on the bus and were off to school. Rick learned from one of his new friends that the old farmhouse had a dark history. They said it was built by an old ship builder, but his wife was a witch. Rick liked the idea of an old ship builder building the house, but he didn’t know what to make of a witch living in his house at one time. Then he thought about the creepy symbols carved in the wood.

Rick’s older sister was way ahead of him. She heard the story, too, and went into the library to look up some of the symbols she remembered seeing repeated throughout the house. She discovered these were for protection, but didn’t know what they needed protection from. She was level-headed for a 12-year-old and didn’t allow her imagination to run wild.

Rick’s 14-year-old brother looked up old newspapers articles from two years previous when the old farmhouse was abandoned. He was told about the murder of a small boy in the house and how the parents ran off leaving their son dead in the house. He couldn’t believe it and had to check it out for himself.

There it was in black and white. A picture of the old farmhouse, a black body bag on a gurney, policemen on the front porch and he noticed something dark looking out of an upstairs window. He made a copy of the article.

Soon Rick’s parents learned some history of the house. It is interesting how people seem to enjoy telling tales after someone moves into a haunted place, but no one is to be found to warn them from buying it and moving their family into it.

They had the house blessed, but that seemed to bring the stories into reality.

From what the family experienced that Friday night, they knew the little boy was not beaten to death by his parents, but some evil entity was in the house and did a repeat performance on Rick, but, fortunately, he didn’t die. His brother heard strange growling sounds coming from Rick’s bedroom and got up to check on him. He saw something dark on the bed hitting his little brother. He tried to grab it and throw it off him, but there was nothing for him to grasp. He was shouting for it to stop, walking up the whole house. His father came in and rush for his young son and was able to get him away from the dark entity.

It then turned on the elder son. His father returned with a shovel, swung it at the entity, hit it several times before it finally left through the ceiling.

It was tempting to leave the farmhouse, just as the previous owners had, but they decided to defeat this thing and banish it from the house.

The family moved into the guest house.

With help from the priest and church members, all the furniture was removed from the house, including the basement and attic. It was taken out into a pit the grandfather made in the middle of the field and burned. The fire department was there to make sure the blaze didn’t get out of hand.

There were plenty of witnesses to hear the screams, growls and cries from the burning pile of furniture and boxes left by previous owners.

The house was blessed again and the family slowly bought furniture and returned to live in the old farmhouse.

Rick was still bruised from his ordeal, but he returned to school. He became a bit of a hero among his peers for surviving the demon’s attack.

The girls seemed most reluctant to return to the farmhouse. They stayed with their grandparents at night, but did have dinner in the farmhouse. Eventually, they decided the farmhouse was safe for them.

The houses and buildings on the property were free from demons, but as for the woods, that’s another story entirely.

That was truly a creepy Real Ghost Story!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharon