My All Time Favorite Real Ghost Story

by | Jun 13, 2019

This is one of my favorites that my family loves to hear me tell year after year.

Two young women closed up the diner where they worked.

One of the women rode her bicycle to work, the other took the bus . . . but that cold snowy and windy night, Louise missed her bus because she went back to get the last piece of lemon meringue pie. Emma was locking the diner as Louise rush passed her balancing the piece of lemon meringue pie on a plate as she tried in vain to stop the bus.

“Oh what am I going to do?” Louise asked no one in particular.

“Come home with me and I’ll take you home in my car. The weatherman said it wasn’t going to snow tonight, so I thought I’d save some money by riding my bike.”

Louise agreed and was grateful. It was after midnight, cold and windy. And now it was snowing . . .

Emma lived about a mile and a half down a couple of long desolate country roads. With the wind and snow . . . and Louise balancing her plate of lemon meringue pie . . . they walked down the long dark country road huddled together for warmth. Emma had one hand guiding her bike and Louise had one hand balancing her plate . . . of lemon meringue pie.

Ahead of them, they saw an old van slowly turn off the row in the woods.

They watched as the man got out of the van, he stopped and starred right at them . . . then proceeded to the back of the van and to the other side. They could hear his footsteps as he walked a little way into the woods.

Without a word, the young women started walking a little bit faster. They were approaching a curve in the road. Emma motioned to Louise that they were going to turn . . . That was when the man came out of the woods, ran across the road chasing after them.

Louise ran ahead . . . holding onto her plate of lemon meringue pie . . . zig zagging down the dark deserted road.

Emma was having difficulty with her bicycle . . . she decided to pick it up, propped it on her shoulder and ran as fast as she could trying to catch up with Emma and keeping a distance from the man chasing them.

The man reached out to grab Emma’s hair . . . she turned around so quickly and knocked him down with her bike.

As Emma caught up with Louise, they ran across the road and walked in the shadows, trying to catch their breath.

They heard the roar of a motor . . . It was the van!!

The guy must have gone back to get it.

At the end of the road was an old oak tree which divided the road in a weird configuration — a road went to the left and another turned to the right and if you wanted to continue going straight ahead, you had to jog to the left and then to the right. It was dangerous during daylight hours. At night, even if you knew the road, you had to slow down . . . and the man in the van wasn’t slowing down . . .

Just a few feet in front of the old oak tree was a man dressed oddly for the time of year . . . and oddly for this century . . . he seemed dazed and was crying out for help . . .

The young women had already turned to the left and were a few feet from Emma’s front door when they heard the screeching of tires and a loud sickening thump and then a bang . . .

Inside, Emma ran for the telephone and called the police to report . . . a strange man crying for help . . . a man chasing them . . . what sounded like an accident . . .

Whatever Emma said, she got it all out and the police were on their way . . .

On the table, Louise set down her plate with the single piece of lemon meringue pie . . . it had been bounced around a bit, but it was still intact . . . 

Emma made coffee while she and Louise discussed what had happened . . .

“Did you see that man in the road?” Louise asked. “I think he was a ghost.”

Emma nodded on both counts — yes she saw the man and she, too, believed it was a ghost. “I think he saved our lives.”

When the police arrived, they learned about the man in the van — he was abducting women throughout the county.  A police officer confirmed their belief of seeing a ghost. Back in the early 1900’s there was an accident on the road — he and his family were badly injured. The man went to get help in the nearest town, but died from his injuries before arriving.

There had been reports of other sightings of a man walking on the road calling out for help.

As for the piece of lemon meringue pie . . . it was delicious!

I hope you enjoyed this Real Ghost Story and will tell it when family and friends gather— be sure to have a lemon meringue pie handy to share with your guests.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharon

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

How Weird Are You?

by | Apr 12, 2019

Many of us have superstitions. But do they prevent us from doing as we please?

There are the well-known superstitions we’re all familiar with:

  • An apple a day, keeps the doctor away
  • Opening an umbrella in the house is bad luck
  • Friday the 13th
  • Black cat crossing your path
  • Walking on a crack in the sidewalk
  • Throwing spilt salt over your shoulder
  • Walking under a ladder
  • Bewitching hours 9PM to 6AM (times do vary)
  • Wishing on a star
  • Breaking a mirror — 7 years bad luck
  • A rabbit’s foot and a horseshoe are good luck as is finding a four leaf clover
  • Garlic protects you from evil and vampires
  • You can break a curse by turning 7 times in a clockwise circle
  • There’s a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow
  • An itchy palm means money, an itchy foot means travel

Of course I’ve only scratched the surface here when it comes to superstitions. Many people from different cultures have different ones. Some people have made up their own, associating something they’ve done with an event they either want or don’t want to happen. There are even family traditions that could be placed in this superstition category, although they wouldn’t claim it to be.

My point is that we all have strong beliefs about something based on what we’ve learned, heard or done.

I truly love hearing the beliefs of others. They may seem strange, but I respect them.

Carrie’s story concerns her family’s belief that has been passed down through generations.

“Our elders always told us not to be out past midnight, because there were things out in the night between midnight and 5 in the morning that claimed the streets.” Carrie paused.

I don’t know if she wanted a reaction, but I thought it logical that she had a curfew, we all did at one time. I encouraged her to continue.

“If we did enter the house during those hours, we were told to enter the house facing the street, with our backs to the door. That way nothing could follow us into the house.”

Carrie’s generation accepted it, not that they liked it. They saw it practiced by their parents and grandparents. It was just what they did.

Carrie’s children accepted it as a strange house rule, but her nieces and nephews didn’t give it much thought.

One night her niece came home after midnight. She didn’t think about turning around before entering her apartment. She lived alone. She opened the door and locked it, turned off the porch light, turned on the television, went into the kitchen, washed her hands and grabbed a bag of chips, a few cookies and a soda out of the refrigerator.

She settled in front of the television with her snack and watched the end of a program that was playing.

After turning off the television, she returned to the kitchen to wash her dinner dishes and tidy up. Then went to the bathroom, washed her hands and face and settled in front of her computer to check email and her social networks.

By 3 in the morning, her niece decided to go to bed.

While laying in bed, she heard footsteps in the entry. She heard the click of the locks on the door, the click of the switch on the porch light. The television turned on. She heard footsteps in the kitchen, the faucet turn on and the refrigerator door open.

She heard the creek of her favorite chair as the intruder reclined in her chair as she had earlier.

She was sure she had an intruder in the house. She didn’t know why the television was on. If she was going to rob a place, she’d want to be as quiet as possible. And why sit and watch television. This didn’t make any sense.

She didn’t feel brave enough to confront the intruder in her house. She didn’t call 9-1-1, because the behavior seemed so odd.

As she thought about it, the intruder was following her actions a few hours earlier.

She heard the television turn off. The footsteps returned to the kitchen, then to the bathroom. She heard her computer chair roll, the click of the computer turning on. She could see by the glow of the screen (it was in her bedroom), but no one was sitting in front of the computer screen.

Her fear subsided, replaced by curiosity. She turned on her bedside lamp, got out of bed, checked throughout the house, but found nothing disturbed and no intruder. She also checked the locks on the doors and windows.

Puzzled, the next morning she called her mother to tell her of her experience.

The first thing her mother asked was, “Did you walk into your house backwards?”

She admitted she had not.

Her mother’s response was only, “Uh hum.”

Carrie’s niece got the message load and clear. From that moment forward she entered her house back first so nothing from the street could follow her into her apartment, just as her parents and grandparents taught her.

I’m always curious to know just a little bit more about the stories I hear.

What about the “thing” she heard, was it still in the apartment?

Carrie said it was gone. She believed it had a window from midnight to 5 in the morning, then it returned to the street.

She gave me the impression it was like a vampire who had to return to its coffin before dawn, but was it that tidy?

I always have unresolved questions, but I accept what I’m told as fact, since this was not my experience.

My experience, however, has been once something gets into the house, it finds a cozy place to stay during the day and comes out when it wants to interact and cause trouble, but this “thing” must be entirely different.

I hope you enjoyed this Real Ghost Story.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharon

Are You Followed By A Ghost?

by | Apr 5, 2019

Some people seem to be plagued by a ghost that follows them around for years.

Why is this?

I usually think it could be a relative, but I’ve found it has more to do with the positive or negative energy one gives off that attracts spirits to them.

I feel very fortunate to have family spirits around me. I also have some who just like my energy and stop by from time to time to see what’s going on. They’ll play with the lights by turning them on and off, just to let me know they are there.  Sometimes a door will open and close. Nothing creepy or weird about it, at least not in my house.

Linda had the spirit of her best friend’s father visiting her regularly.

“My friend, Susan, and I were inseparable growing up. When her father died suddenly from a ruptured brain aneurysm he would visit in spirit form regularly at my house.”

Susan lived with her mother, but she didn’t have the same experiences at home as she did at Linda’s house.

Linda’s parents didn’t like the lights, television, computers, microwave, etc. turning on and off at odd hours of the day and night. They consults ghost hunters to assist them in solving their problem.

Yes, it was Susan’s father. They never did figure out why he would be at their house rather than their own.

Linda’s family moved several times, but Susan’s father followed them each time.

When Linda’s father got a promotion to move to another state, he thought this would sever the tie, his daughter had with Susan and her father, but it didn’t.

They consulted a psychic to find out what was going on with Linda’s connection to Susan’s father.

All the polite things were discussed between the psychic and Susan’s father. After that was exhausted and the psychic pressed him for an explanation, he admitted he was in love with Linda’s mother.

This didn’t set well with Linda’s parents. They were both kind to Susan and her father, but Linda’s mother never encouraged him in any way.

The psychic encouraged him to move on and leave Linda and her parents alone.

This worked out well for many years, until Linda went to college. There he was again, messing with electronic devices.

Linda lost touch with Susan after they moved out-of-state and found out her father’s love for Linda’s mother.

It seemed he continued to play out his fantasy of Linda, not Susan being his daughter. It may have been the confusion from his brain aneurysm.

Linda wanted to be kind to the confused ghost, but she also didn’t want to encourage him. She consulted a psychic to get him to move on. This worked for several years until she was expecting her first child.

Linda was afraid that Susan’s father’s spirit would go into her unborn child.

Linda’s husband thought she was crazy, but went along with his wife’s wishes. They had the house blessed and the unborn child blessed. Linda wanted to have a barrier between her family and that of Susan’s father’s spirit.

The birth of Linda’s son, was a spiritual experience.

Priests were present as was a psychic and family members. They were to be a barrier against Susan’s father’s spirit and Linda’s son.

Linda’s fears were proved accurate when the lights flickered in the delivery room. Doors rattled. The prayer group held fast to their task of keeping the unwanted spirit at bay. Many were pushed, hit and kicked, but they continued praying.

When they heard Linda’s son crying, they didn’t stop praying.

“My mother and father heard a loud pop, so did the psychic,” Linda said. “Then they saw a white light that almost blinded them. As they squinted, they saw the silhouette of a man walk into the light.”

Susan’s father finally gave up and went into the light.

Linda and her new family have had no paranormal experiences in their home. She is now the proud mother of three healthy sons.

It’s always nice to have a happy ending to a paranormal experience and it’s fortunate for Linda that it didn’t pass on to another generation.

Well … that was interesting,

What do you think? Please leave me a comment below.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharon

Every House Has A Story

by | Mar 21, 2019

We’ve been experiencing quite a lot of rain lately along with thunder and lightning.

This always gets me thinking about ghosts and things that go bump in the night,

Also urban legends along with folklore, superstitions … This got me thinking about the land and the various structures upon the land …

There have been haunted bridges, highways … Haunted groves and of course houses …

Some places look haunted which may not be haunted at all … while a new development or neighborhood does not look haunted … but is very haunted.

How is one to know?

One normally doesn’t know for sure, but I would definitely acknowledge how you feel or the feelings others receive.

I know, many people don’t believe in ghosts or hauntings … but I believe there is a realm where ghosts and spirits do live among us.

There are lots of haunted places around the world … even in the area where you live …

Perhaps even in your own home…

I’ve always found the spookiest of places are houses, schools, churches, shopping malls and stores …

All those places where you would go regularly … It is amazing how many innocent places are indeed haunted.

I’m sure every place has an urban legend where a bride is awaiting her groom … she could be waiting in a house, a church, a road, a bridge … She could be waiting wearing her wedding gown or sitting in a chair with a box of love letters on her lap.

Or looking out a window … on the roof — a widows walk … or even leaving a candle burning in the window …

And … some of those houses or farmland have been bought and is now a church or school or shopping mall … or a store … Yet the ghosts still believe it is their home … 

Something to definitely think about …

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharon