by Sharon | Jul 5, 2018
I’ve always been interested in old train stations that have been abandoned or converted into shops and restaurants.
No I don’t explore them — the abandoned ones, but I will visit a converted one.
There is always an interesting story to be heard.
This one took place in Indiana. I’m sure there are many similar stories from all over the United States . . . and perhaps the world. But this particular Indiana train station was converted into a restaurant and bar.
As the story goes . . . It goes back to the first world war when men were traveling by train to join the troops.
Many women tearfully said good-bye to their husbands or boyfriends at the train station along with many families.
This real ghost story centers around Peggy and Marvin. They recently broke up. Marvin joined the army and was leaving town with other local boys. He was surrounded by his friends, family and new girlfriend.
Peggy showed up wanting to have an urgent word with him. Marvin did his best to ignore here, but she was as persistent as a gnat. Reluctantly he leaves his family, friends and new girlfriends and steps outside near the tracks with Peggy.
She tells him she’s in the “family way.” Marvin tells her it’s her problem. Plus some other choice words that were unkind and uncalled for . . . but he was going off to war and he had a new girlfriend . . . so what did Peggy expect. Marvin walks away to rejoin his friends, family and girlfriend . . . Then boards the train.
No one remembers seeing Peggy leave the train station . . . they do, however, remember seeing her talking with Marvin down by the tracks. This is what her parents were told when they came looking for her around supper time.
By the next morning, police informed Peggy’s parents that her dead body was found in a packing crate at the end of its route.
It’s still a mystery of what happened . . . but rumors spread. Marvin was never charged with Peggy’s murder . . . And to this very day there are sightings of a sad, lonely figure of a young woman walking along the railroad tracks after dark.
This seems to me to be an urban legend . . . which it very well could be . . . As I mentioned earlier, there were rumors . . . speculations, perhaps, but nevertheless a popular belief that Marvin told Peggy to meet him on the train . . . which, of course, she did — hoping he had a change of heart and would marry her . . . but instead murdered her and put her in a packing crate along with goods that were being delivered several counties away.
Well as it happened, after about 40 years, Marvin is found tending bar at the old train station. It’s no longer the train station, the tracks are still out back and used by freight trains primarily. He did return from the war, married, had kids which have grown, married . . . Marvin is a grandfather . . .
Yes, the days of his youth are well behind him . . . the memory of Peggy . . . faded the day he left for war.
Marvin is tending bar when a young woman, wearing a straw hat and sun dress walks in and orders a gin and tonic. She sits at the bar playing with the thin straw in her drink.
There’s something familiar about her, but Marvin can’t place it. They engage in small talk and she says she’s there visiting relatives. No, she’s not related to Peggy, but she resembles her in looks, voice and mannerisms.
The strange thing is that no one else in the bar saw this mysterious woman and the gin and tonic was untouched on the bar.
Marvin got some ribbing about seeing things and serving imaginary customers.
On other visits to the bar, this mysterious woman would walk in, catch Marvin’s eye and walk out back. He could see her waiting for him down by the tracks, but each time Marvin resisted the urge to follow her.
After this went one for several weeks, Marvin finally decided to follow. He wanted answers. Yes, he followed her outside, then he saw her walking slowly beside the tracks. Marvin sprinted after her. He was more concerned about following than being aware of his surroundings and met his death when the 8:30 express came barreling through.
Did Peggy get her revenge? It seems so. Now this Indiana depot, converted bar has Peggy and the bartender in residence. They can be seen playing a cat and mouse game on the railroad tracks reliving his death night after night.
Yes, there have been sightings of Marvin’s meanderings down the railroad tracks . . . some have seen him following the young woman . . . but most just claim to see Marvin . . .
This a true paranormal experience many have shared . . .
Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon
by Sharon | Jul 3, 2018
You’re driving down a road in an older part of town.
You spot an interesting old house.
You want to get out of the car and explore the house . . . it may be haunted . . . do you really want to go inside . . . Are you prepared for what you’ll see?
I’ve always wondered what is worse . . . seeing something . . . or hearing something . . . something you know is there?
You sense it is just a few steps away from you . . . but you don’t know what it is . . . or where it is.
That’s the way Sam felt . . . he just bought a house . . .
His friends joked about it being haunted. Oh yes, everyone knew about the stories, but being a skeptic, Sam dismissed it as paranormal poppycock. He bought the house at an excellent price in an excellent location. It was definitely a dream come true. He was a homeowner!!
His friends helped him move in. It was a busy day for Sam . . . he took all the joking and ribbing about his house being haunted in stride . . . but after his friends left . . . he wasn’t too sure. Sam did fall asleep on his couch . . .
He woke up with a stiff neck, but went up to his bedroom . . . stretched out on his bed and fell asleep.
About two or three in the morning, Sam heard a loud thump . . . it seemed to be coming from downstairs . . .
He was sure it was his buddies who helped him move in. They probably returned to scare him. No way was Sam going to fall for that!!
Sam decided he was going to stay in his bed and let them come to him . . . he reached for his hockey stick, but it wasn’t where he knew he left it . . . He shook away the drowsiness of sleep. He waited . . . tried to clear his mind. Sam realized he was holding his breath. He was listening . . . and he felt his whole body tense up.
He felt a chill. He was sure the room was getting colder. He tried to get out of bed, but couldn’t move . . . something was holding him down . . .
Sam knew this was ridiculous — he was a skeptic . . . there was no such thing as haunting . . . he must be dreaming . . . sleep paralysis . . .
If this was a dream, then Sam was determined to control it. All he had to do was turn on the light, the lamp on the night table . . . Just reach out . . . Sam scolded himself. Shake it off! There’s no such things as ghosts.
There it was again! Bump, thud, scrape. Bump, thud, scrape. Bump, thud, scrape. Oh good, Sam thought, it’s moving down the stairs. He breathed a sign of relief.
Oh my gosh! Sam just realized . . . whatever it was WAS in the bedroom with him and it was holding him down!!
Sam threw back the blankets and reached for the light. The closet door was open — he reached for his hockey stick . . . and crept down the stairs. He noticed he was tip-toeing. So much for being a skeptic . . . he smelled the aroma of coffee. There was a bang of a heavy skillet being put on the stove. He could hear the sizzling of bacon . . .
He was going to rush into the kitchen with hockey stick in hand in a menacing gesture to catch his buddies in the act . . . of cooking breakfast . . .
Then Sam heard singing . . . a woman singing . . .
“Oh what a beautiful morning . . . humming . . . Oh what a beautiful day . . . humming . . . I’ve got a beautiful feeling . . . humming . . . ”
Sam found himself singing along with her, “Everything’s going my way . . .”
He set down the hockey stick . . . he heard the cracking of eggs.
He heard the last line of the song again, “Everything’s going my way . . .”
What? Sam wondered. If everything’s going her way . . . what does she mean?
This was his house!! He picked up his hockey stick walked into the kitchen to confront the intruder.
He flicked on the light. Nothing. Just the lingering aroma of coffee, bacon and eggs. And the faint sound of humming . . . and the bump, thud, scrape echoing as it went up the stairs.
Even for a skeptic, it wasn’t difficult for Sam to realize he did indeed have a ghost living in his house . . . and his friends were right . . . he bought a real haunted house!
Just to rub salt in the wound a little . . . Sam realized how his ghost got the upper hand? He was awake, out of his comfortable bed, branishing a hockey stick in an empty kitchen during the wee hours of the morning.
Now Sam was fully aware of the meaning of the song lyrics: “Everything’s going my way!”
Was that a chuckle coming from the bedroom?
Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon
by Sharon | Jun 27, 2018
There are many urban legends and downright scary stories about driving down a country road — running out of gas, seeing No Trespassing signs, seeing a ghost . . .
This real ghost story is a bit different — and maybe familiar. Yes, there is a ghost involved and a cemetery — an interesting combination.
Normally, I’ve heard, ghosts don’t hang out at cemeteries. They’re busy haunting houses and hospitals, nursing homes, etc. They may be looking for closure . . . and some don’t realize they’re dead. That’s the strange thing . . . when you’re not sure you saw a ghost or not.
Yes, this is my story — one of many real ghostly encounters.
This “ghostly encounter” took place years ago — I would say 35 to 40 years ago. I was driving down this country road, lost in thought . . . and lost.
I obviously made a wrong turn somewhere along the way. There were miles and miles of farm land. Fields of I don’t know what. I did see abandoned trucks and tractors in a field here and there. An old barn falling apart. Yes, there were “no trespassing” signs scattered here and there . . . and an old cemetery. There were a few cards parked outside. There was a funeral going on. I thought I’d stop and ask for directions after the ceremony.
For some reason I parked my car, got out and began walking among the headstones.
One caught my eye, it was overgrown with weeds. I started clearing the weeds away. The date on the headstone was 1849, 100 years before I was born. The death date was my birthday . . .
I felt a chill . . . more like a tingle . . . it wasn’t uncomfortable, but it wasn’t comforting either. The name on the headstone was nothing familiar to me or similar to my name at all — we didn’t share the same initials — just the death day (my birthday) and the year (100 years before I was born).
As I was clearing away the weeds, I was basically talking to myself and wondering who this woman was and what her life was like . . . I also wondered if there was a connection — besides her death day was my birthday with a 100 year gap.
Obviously, I was a bit fixated on it — as I am now recalling my paranormal experience.
I heard a voice behind me. “Hello. Thank you for clearing away my grave.”
I thought I heard her wrong or maybe it was “her grave” in regards to being a relative.
I immediately stood up and apologized for intruding . . . but no one was there. But off in the distance, I did see a woman walking away. I ran to catch up with her.
I was so caught up in what had happened that I didn’t ask for directions, but I wanted to know about the woman who’s grave I just cleared.
The woman seemed very relaxed and spoke of “Margaret”, the woman who died in 1849 as though it was yesterday.
“It was a beautiful day and a lovely ceremony. Paul, Margaret’s husband was devastated. Their four young children — the youngest at home . . . Margaret died in childbirth. It was a girl . . . ”
My head was whirling with questions — was this woman Margaret or the daughter — but that would make her over 100 years old — it wasn’t possible . . . maybe the granddaughter of Margaret???
Would she refer to herself in the third person if this woman beside me was Margaret??
I didn’t care if this woman thought I was a bit coo-coo . . . so I just asked, “Are you Margaret? The woman who died in childbirth?”
She did laugh, but not in a cruel way, “Of course I am!”
Oh my gosh!!! She was a ghost!!! She had to be . . . or she was goofing with me.
“So . . . ” I began, but stopped. I couldn’t take in the fact that I was seeing and having a conversation with a ghost . . . So I did what I do when I’m nervous . . . I started babbling about how I was looking for my grandmother’s house which had been bought and moved out in the country. “I must have made a wrong turn and I ended up here. I found this overgrown grave and started clearing away the weeds . . . and now . . .”‘
“I brought you here.”
“What? Why?”
“You passed your grandmother’s house a few miles back. You wouldn’t recognize it, the beautiful porch is gone and I didn’t think it would be right for you to see it. Keep your memories of how it once was and the good times you shared there with your grandmother.”
And then she was gone!! Gone, gone . . . I didn’t see her walk away, she just vanished.
I did see a ghost . . . she did do me a favor by not allowing me to see how my grandmother’s house had changed with the move . . . I suppose I did her a favor by clearing her grave of weeds . . .
But . . . I believe I received so very much more than she received from me . . . Or, perhaps, it was mutual to a degree of a ghost being able to have a conversation with a living person . . . a conversation, just like one would have with another living person . . .
Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon
by Sharon | Jun 22, 2018
I’m absolutely thrilled by the increase in the number of visitors who have been visiting TwoCansOnAString.com with my Real Ghost Stories. Thank you so very much!!
I have had some strange paranormal activity in my current home. At times I wonder why I’m still here . . . and then again, I realize it is not so much where I live . . . there are always spirits around and I have to learn to get along with them.
I’m fortunate to not have really creepy stuff happen that makes me run out of my home screaming!! But, this has happened to Sandra and her daughter, Mary.
I was at my local coffee house having a normal coffee with my blueberry muffin when I was approached by Sandra. She learned of my interest in the paranormal and how I love hearing the true paranormal experiences of others. And she said she had a great story to share with me . . . and I’m sharing with you.
Sandra and her husband Dan moved into their new home with their daughter Mary in the spring of 2016. It started out as their dream home . . .
There was a lot of work that needed to be done around the house and Dan wanted to do most of it himself. He was between jobs and Sandra was working as an elementary school teacher. Financially they were doing well so they didn’t have any concerns in that area, but Dan started to change . . . little things at first . . . short tempered . . . and he couldn’t get warm. He always complained about the cold.
For many of you alert readers, you’re picking up on the possibility of possession . . . due to the change in personality and the feeling of being cold and not able to get warm.
Sandra suggested that they hire a crew to repair the house and then flip it and find another one. But Dan went off the deep end said some unforgivable things to her. This scared her, she was tempted to leave with Mary, but wanted to help her husband through this.
After work one day, Sandra found Dan on the ground with a deep cut on his leg. She immediately called 9-1-1 and got medical help for her husband. He lost a lot of blood and was near death, but he did survive his injury . . . but his mental state concerned the doctors.
While Dan was in the hospital, Sandra followed through with her plan to hire repair men and get the house ready to sell.
One thing after another happened to the workers . . . tools were always being moved . . . they heard strange sounds along with footsteps . . . but they never saw anything . . . But when the men started getting hurt, the crew refused to continue working and quit.
It is true that spirits don’t like construction . . . but these were merely repairs not any major changes to the house.
There was another crew that agreed to work . . . but things started happening in their homes. The spirits not only were making their lives miserable at work, but also in their own homes.
So, needless to say . . .
That house started to get a reputation of being haunted, but more than haunted — something sinister was in that house and it was out to destroy everyone who worked there . . . including their family.
Dan was taken to a mental institution instead of being released from the hospital to come home. Sandra was embarrassed to say she felt relieved . . .
One night during dinner, the house took on a life of its own — doors were opening and slamming closed, cupboards were opening and banging closed. One would think a massive earthquake was happening . . . but it was the house and the spirits in the house that were causing the chaos.
Sandra and Mary ran out of the house to stay with Sandra’s parents.
She did contact a psychic who wouldn’t step foot on the property. She felt something sinister about the place and suggested Sandra put it up for sale as soon as possible.
Sandra and her father went to the house to collect they clothing and some personal items. Also do some minor cleaning when suddenly her father received chest pains and shortness of breath. The paramedics were immediately called.
He wasn’t having a heart attack, but felt hands around his neck and a knee pressed into his chest. He said it was the strangest thing, but it was real . . . something was attacking him, but he couldn’t see who or what it was.
Sandra felt awful about putting her parents in danger and promptly found an apartment. She and Mary seemed to be doing fine until Mary started getting scratches on her back — scratches like claw marks. She also had bruises that couldn’t be explained.
They consulted another psychic for an explanation and help.
Other specialists were called in. Sandra, Mary, Sandra’s parents and to a degree Dan were interviewed and given suggestions and assistance in getting rid of the demonic entities that were attacking them.
It took time and consistency, but they were eventually free from those entities.
The strange thing was that when things were getting back to normal for Sandra and her family, Dan died and the dream house burned to the ground!!
We can only hope this freed the repairmen and their families as well.
Thanks for stopping by!!
Sharon
by Sharon | Jun 22, 2018
Since this is the beginning of Summer, I thought it appropriate to tell a ghost story about a house in the woods.
I’m creeped out a bit when it comes to property with woods beyond the property line. This seems to be an ideal place for ghosts and sinister behavior by the living . . . But, we are much more interested in the real ghost stories.
It all began when Julie, her brothers and some neighborhood kids decided to play hide-and-seek in the woods behind Julie’s house.
They had played in the woods before, but now it was beginning to get dark and Julie had an uneasy feeling about hiding in the woods.
Of course, everyone teased Julie about being chicken and other names, but Julie stood her ground. The others did decide to play hide-and-seek and Julie went home.
It wasn’t long after Julie set the table for dinner that her brothers, Sam and Kyle came in looking as though they saw a ghost — which they did . . .
According to Kyle, he and Sam were looking for a good hiding place while Tammy counted to 100. Amy stayed with Tammy while she counted. She wasn’t too keen on the idea of going into the woods and hiding.
Sam saw something or someone following them. Not directly behind them, but off to the side, but every time he moved his head to look straight on, nothing was there.
He felt uncomfortable and started to say something to Kyle, but dismissed it and continued walking deep in the woods.
They did come across an old abandoned house. At least they thought it was abandoned since the porch steps were rotted away and the porch roof sagged. They went to the side of the house to look inside through a window.
Then something touched Sam’s shoulder. He quickly turned around to see if it was Tammy or Amy, but it was a man dressed in black. He looked old and had red piercing eyes.
Sam felt paralyzed looking into those piercing red eyes. Kyle called to Sam, but he couldn’t speak or move. He wanted to warn his brother to stay away, but he couldn’t.
Then suddenly, the man disappeared, but the red eyes still glowed through the row of trees watching him.
Kyle pulled Sam away from the house and towards home. Sam could feel those red eyes on him. He tried to tell Kyle what happened, but couldn’t form the words.
But Kyle saw something looking back at him from inside the abandoned house. It seemed to be a woman dressed in white, carrying a lit candle . . . but there was something strange about the angle of her head. And it seemed as though her eyes were black holes and her hands were those of a skeleton.
The boys got back to the edge of the woods just as Amy and Tammy were starting to go into the woods to find them.
“Don’t go into the woods!” Kyle yelled. “It’s haunted.”
Of course the girls laughed, but they were also relieved that the game of hide-and-seek was over. They did go home . . . and Julie, Sam and Kyle’s father told them a story about that old house in the woods.
Originally, it was believed to be owned by a coven of witches. They were into some dark magic and over time each of the witches either moved on or died right in that very house.
Then a young couple with a daughter moved into that house. They were strange. They kept to themselves. They did go into town from time to time, but grew the food they needed and hunted deer and rabbits. They had chickens and their own dairy cows.
When their daughter was old enough to marry, a stranger came to the old house. He claimed to be an old family friend. He did work in town as a blacksmith and also as an undertaker. Strange jobs for an unusual man, but somehow it seemed to work out for the town.
The day of her wedding, the stranger didn’t show up. He just seemed to disappear. Some thought he ran off with another woman or he met up with the ghosts of the witches in the woods.
There was something strange about that man, as the stories were told, he sold his soul to the devil. He stopped working and spent most of his time in the tavern. He drank and played cards. He would get into fights and spend time in the woods when he should have been working.
Whenever he would show up in town, strange things would happen. People who looked at him would get sick, crops and animals would die along the path he walked. There was death and destruction all about him. The town just about became a ghost town had it not been for some of the men who chased him out of town and told him they would kill him if he stepped foot in town again.
With stories and such, it is difficult to know what happened to the man, but people thought he still lived in the woods and was courting the daughter in the old house. But when he didn’t show up for the wedding . . . one can draw their own conclusions.
In the woods, even to this day, there have been sightings of a young girl in a white dress looking for that stranger. And, yes, there have also been sightings of red glowing eyes in the woods.
It could be an urban legend to keep kids out of the woods after dark . . . or parts of the stories could be true. For Sam and Kyle, they believe they saw the young bride in the old house . . . and the devil himself.
Thanks for stopping by!!
Sharon
by Sharon | Jun 20, 2018
This real ghost story hits home a bit with me and you may also be able to relate.
Sophie bought her first home after working for 15 years at her job.
The sad thing was that the room she selected for her home office felt uncomfortable and actually scared her.
I know this does sound strange, but I have a room in my home that feels uncomfortable at times. I feel as though I’m being watched. And . . . as it turned out, back in the late 1960’s a young man overdosed in that bedroom. He didn’t actually die there . . . well maybe, but the paramedics revived him and he later died in the hospital.
But . . . this isn’t my story, but Sophie’s.
As far as she knows, no one died in her house, but there was an elderly couple who lived there since the house was built and they lived out their lives in an assisted living facility. Thus the reason they sold the house to Sophie.
But something was definitely wrong. She would hear whispering voices, footsteps, smell food cooking and doors and cupboards would open and close at various times throughout the day and night.
She felt as thought the house didn’t want her there.
Even when she would leave the house to get her mail or water the flower beds or even sweep off the front porch, the door would be locked when she would return to go inside.
Fortunately, she hid a key outside and later carried a key with her whenever she went outside . . . but the whispering persisted, plus objects and even furniture would be moved around.
While all of this was going on, the elderly couple were alive and well in their assisted living accommodations. So, the previous owners were not haunting the house.
Sophie contacted a psychic to get to the bottom of this.
Evidently there was another house built on the property decades earlier and the residents of that former home were haunting her. The elderly couple were not bothered by them — either they were unaware of them or these spirits didn’t bother them and in turn didn’t bother the spirits.
So, why was Sophie so lucky to get their attention?
According to the psychic, Sophie was sensitive to them . . . and their vibrations or energy were at odds with each other . . . thus causing conflict . . .
And, if you want my two cents, they didn’t like Sophie and were going to make it uncomfortable for her.
But . . . as it turned out, the psychic helped the spirits crossover, thus leaving Sophie alone . . . but she still didn’t feel safe in her home and sold her house and bought another one where she had no paranormal experiences.
In a way I don’t blame Sophie for moving on . . . at least she made the house safe for the new buyers, but one never knows what ghostly spirits are hanging out with us.
Thanks for stopping by!
Sharon
