Ghostly Phone Calls: Redux

This has been such a popular article, I wanted to repost it so that people could catch up and read all the stories others have left in the comments portion. THANKS to all of you who have left your stories!!


I was in the middle of a super spooky book about exorcism and demons when the phone rang. My cell phone, which I only use for emergencies or when I travel was ringing, and since all my friends knew I was at home in Kentucky, there really was no reason for it to be ringing. Yet here it was. Playing “Sweet Child O Mine” by Guns and Roses, shaking me out of my fiction induced state of horror. I picked up the phone and said “Hello.” In return I got a barrage of language in a foreign tongue. Not just foreign, but, like Super Foreign. It was some form of Arabic I would say from the sounds of it, and after a minute or two trying to interrupt the conversation, I suddenly got a thought about the connection to what I was reading. Was my reading about demons conjuring up some kind of freaky phone call that I didn't understand? I freaked myself out. Although this call was probably harmless, it did get me thinking about ghostly phone calls.

Ghostly phone calls can be anything from a phone ringing without any sound on the other end, to the voice of a dearly departed loved one on your answering machine. After my mother died I frequently had my phone ringing with no one.. actually, more than that.. an absence of anything... on the other end. After this would happen a few times in a row, I would talk to my mother in the space of my empty living room and the calls would stop. I know I am not the only one who has had ghost calls like this, and here are a few stories I found online to share with you.

Sleepless Nights and Ghostly Phone Calls

Here's the story of my haunting. In the summer of 2000, when I was 11 years old, me, my mother, and her boyfriend all moved to a small house in the town of Deal, New Jersey. Despite it's small size, The house was quite luxurious with it's tastefully decorated rooms, dual sink bathrooms with Jacuzzi bathtubs, and it's unique features, such as the old record player in the family room. My mother and her boyfriend stayed in the main part of the house, while I got the whole second floor to myself. You would think a nice luxurious house with the whole second floor to myself would make a kid happy, but I wasn't. For some odd reason, I could never really warm up to the place. I wasn't in the best situation either, me and mom or me and her boyfriend would get into fights every day about one thing or another, and I was always getting picked on in school.

My life was really going downhill. I would wake up, get teased for six straight hours at school, come home either pissed or sad, get in a fight with my mom and her boyfriend, and lay awake in bed either enraged or crying, and that was a good day for me. However, anger and sadness weren't the only things that kept me up at night. For some reason, I always felt oddly uneasy in my room, or floor rather, at night. It was like the way you feel when you go to bed after watching a really scary movie; you know nothing's going to happen, but you lie awake scared that there's a monster under the bed anyway. So, I did what anyone else would do, blamed it all on my own imagination and ignored it.

Then, just when my life couldn't get any worse, the frightening oddness of the house dramatically escalated. I began to notice that the upstairs floor of the house was always freezing cold, no matter how high the thermostat was set, my insomnia was to the point where I had to take benadryl just to get a few hours of sleep at night, and I would always feel the room getting darker. It wasn't the lights actually dimming; it was like the darkness was coming into the room rather than the light coming out of it.
This is the part of the story where I stop believing that it's just my imagination and start to question whether it could be something more. If I told my mother that the undead inhabited my room, she would probably have sent me to the crazy house, so I was forced to live with the demonic presence in my floor of the house, until things went too far.

One night while I was lying awake in bed, I saw this glowing green light in the shape of a clawed hand appear in the middle of my room, stay there for about second, then disappear. It took me a few minutes to even register what I just saw. I was completely terrified, all I could do was sit up in my bed, stare wide eyed at the walls of my room, and wish that the sun would come up. After that incident, I considered going to live at my father's house. However, it would take one final incident to push me over the edge.

It was about two weeks later when I saw something again, something far worse. I was lying awake in my bed again when I heard what sounded like feet shuffling across my floor. My mother and her boyfriend were both asleep so it couldn't have been them. The pair of shuffling feet became two pairs of shuffling feet, then two became three and three became four until shuffling filled the whole room. I was frozen with fear once more.

Then came the voices. The voices weren't the usual inaudible whispers you would expect to hear from ghosts, but rather the jumble of voices you hear when you're in a crowded place where everyone's talking and you can't make out what any individual person saying. Just when I thought things couldn't get more terrifying, they did. I heard a bunch of phones ringing all at once. It couldn't have been a real phone because there were no phones on the second floor. In the midst of all this shuffling, talking, and ringing, one voice rang clear. It was the voice of a woman.

She picked up one of the phones, said hello, and then I heard her say "yes sir, the file is ready." Then, just as suddenly as it began, everything stopped. No more talking, no more ringing, no more shuffling, just silence. After that, I moved into my fathers house quicker that you can blink an eye. Ever since I moved, I feel no more uneasiness; I sleep sounder than a baby, and the only demons I stay awake watching are the ones on Inuyasha. It's been four years since I've seen that house, and when I look back on it all I sometimes wonder why the hell would a ghost be talking about some damn paperwork?
 -Mandy. (story from http://www.guardiantales.freewebspace.com/Sleepless.html)

Another freaky story...

On a very warm summer afternoon, I was alone in our house and was taking a nap on the sofa in our front room. I was having a strange and melancholy dream about my brother who had died a little over a year ago. I don't remember the details of the dream but I remember that he kept telling me a certain number over and over and over again! When I finally woke up, the number was still sticking in my head... it was a seven digit number. After several minutes I realized that the string of numbers was a a very familiar phone number. I just couldn't place the number at first. Then, suddenly, I realized that it was the phone number of my grandparents who lived in San Diego. They had died over ten years prior. My deceased brother and I were very close to them and often called them to talk when we were in our elementary school years ( which is why it was such a familiar number! ). I don't know if it was because of the heat or because of the lingering emotions brought on by my dream, but I got a crazy notion to call the number.

The phone on the other end rang four or five times, and then someone answered. My heart started racing, because I was expecting a message that the number had been disconnected! I really didn't know what to say... so I asked, "Is Dottie there?" ( Dottie was my grandmother's name. ) There was a pause, and then the voice said, "Who IS this?". I said, "This is David." Then there was what I would describe as surprised laughing on the other end of the line. Then the female voice chuckled "Oh my God! It's been so long!" I asked, "Who is THIS?". The voice sounded slightly perplexed and she said, "Why, it's Nana!" ( That is what my brother and I used to call my grandmother. ) Only our family and my uncle and his family knew that we referred to her as Nana! I felt my stomach getting queasy from fright and disbelief, and I squeaked out "Nana?" The voice said, "Yes! It's so good to hear from you David! Let me go get your Grandpa. He's out in the 'Rumpus Room' out back." My grandparents had a part of their garage in the backyard that had been converted to a full bar with a pool table and couched in it, which they referred to as their "Rumpus Room".

The line got very noisy, then there was a squealing sound, and then the line went dead. I felt a mixture of relief from the creeps I was getting from talking to my long-since dead grandmother and disappointment that I didn't get to talk longer to her, or at all to my grandpa. I have called the same number again in the recent past and got the message that "This number is no longer in service.." I really don't know what to make of that phone call. It seemed that the person really was my Nana. It sounded kind of like her voice -- but younger than what I remembered -- and because she knew about the "Rumpus Room"... Is it really possible to make a phone call to the Other Side? Story from http://www.castleofspirits.com/stories02/otherside.html Got your own ghost phone call story? Share it here.


photo by mscaprikell flickr.com

The Voice at the Stairs Part 1

When I turned 17 years old, my interest was renewed in things spiritual, and psychic. The Ouija board again became part of the entertainment for my high school friends although I showed it more respect than I had before.

Around midnight one evening, my boyfriend, two girlfriends and myself hung out in my basement listening to albums and telling ghost stories. I snuck up the darkened stairs and retrieved the Ouija board from the dining room closet without waking my mother whom laid sleeping in the other room.

I brought it back to my friends and we began to try it out. Wondering if we could still get any answers from the neglected spirits, Tim and I laid our hands on the planchette.

The details of what we asked seem blurry to me now, except for the final questions of the night. My friend Liz had lost her father many years before. She never talked about it, but we knew it was a painful memory for her. Having been raised by strict German Catholics, Liz was a weekly church attendee, and really very wary of the use of Ouija and what it meant to talk to spirits in this way. She sat at a distance from the rest of us on the floor until the Ouija called her name.
“ I have a message for Liz” the board spelled out.

Liz shook her head, not wanting to hear it, but curious and well meaning; we encouraged her to allow us to go on.
“ It’s from Poppa.” The board spelled, and then continued to spell a few words in German. None of us except Liz spoke or knew it.
“Tell them to…” Kathy spoke out as the letters turned into words “Tell them to STOP.”
Quickly Tim and I raised our hands off the board and all four of us suddenly felt a chill go down our spines.

“ Diane!” my mother shouted from the top of the stairs that lead down to the basement.
Surprised to hear my mother’s voice so late, I jumped up and ran to the base of the stairs.
“ Yeah?”
“Are you kids playing with that Ouija board?”
“Yeah!” I replied, now stunned that she somehow knew this.
“ Put it away.” She said, appearing somewhat harried.
“Why?” I wondered.
“I was just woken up by a voice in my room. It said, Tell Them to Stop!”
We packed up the board, and I said goodnight to my friends, promising to get together the next day to discuss what was happening.
I brought the game upstairs and went to bed.
I awoke the next morning to find a crucifix hanging over my head, and the Ouija board packed away, again with a rosary atop it. Mom never did tell us where she hide it, and we never touched it again. At least not that particular board.

Stay Tuned for Part 2. The Next Day.

Photo by extranoise Flickr.com

Exorcisms and the case of Annaliese (Emily Rose)

Updated: 
Some of the recent Paranormal State episodes have involved demonic possession, a condition either believed to be myth or fact. Movies like “The Exorcist” dramatically illustrate what can happen during a demonic possession, but also portray the eternal struggle of good vs. evil in such a way that some people cannot believe it to be an actual real occurrence.

Although exorcisms seem to be so far removed from ordinary life, I think that people would be surprised at the commonality of the event. It would not take much research to find a priest in your area that either can or has performed an exorcism. I met a local priest who, when asked, admitted to being present at an exorcism, but other than saying he strongly believed in good and evil and demonic possession, he was unwilling to discuss his experience. He said it was frightening.

Exorcisms like the one shown in the “We are Six” episode of Paranormal State show that truly removing a demon is difficult work. The movie “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” shows that a demonic possession does not always have a remedy and the final result can be tragic to the host. The real story of Annaliese Michel, whom the movie is based on, is even more disturbing than the film portrayal.

According to reports from the actual case, Annaliese was possessed by several demons including Lucifer, Judas Iscariot, Nero, Cain, Hitler, and Fleischmann, a disgraced Frankish Priest from the 16th century. Although four people were convicted of negligent homicide in the case, some of Annaliese’s injuries included the ligaments in her knees rupturing due to the 600 genuflections that she performed obsessively during each exorcism session. A genuflection is an act of reverence consisting of falling onto one or both knees (called a "double genuflection.” She was exorcised 67 times in 10 months.

Whether you believe she was really possessed or truly a victim of human negligence, the case is significant due to the amount of photography and audio evidence. Check out more photos and evidence from the case at chasing the frog.com
Be sure to check out the audio of her speaking in tongues here it is SUPER creepy.

So, do you believe in demonic possession?

The First Ghosthunt? The Drummer of Tedworth Case

You can barely swing a dead cat these days (not that I advocate that,) without hitting a ghost hunter, but paranormal researchers go back in history well before our more “enlightened” time.

Perhaps the first recorded ghost hunter and paranormal researcher’s exploits were published in 1668 under the title Sadducismus Triumphatus. In it, Joseph Glanvill, a clergyman, describes poltergeist activity related to a drum confiscated from a musician during a legal case. The plaintiff in the case received the drum as part of his settlement (or to punish the drummer) and began to report typical poltergeist activity including drumming, moving objects and unexplained noises. Much like the Amityville case of our day, the Drummer of Tedworth case became well publicized amongst citizens of the British Isles.

Glanvill examined the case, and indeed witnessed activity himself. He ruled that the drum was haunted, although others from that time believed the drums owner had used witchcraft to put a curse on the drum so that it would wreck-havoc in the new owners home.

Other investigators cropped up to look at the case and it was later believed this activity was a hoax and that the home owner had people knocking on walls outside while ghost hunters were inside. Of course, they didn't have all the bells and whistles modern day ghost hunters have, so it’s hard to blame them for their possible misdiagnosis.

Real or false, paranormal activity has intrigued and challenged men’s intellect since early days and the fascination continues. Perhaps Glanvill broke ground for all of us fascinated with the mysteries of this world and the next.

Greener Pastures: Pets in Spirit.

Those of us who love our pets know they are as much a part of the family as any human is.  Our constant companions, pals and best buddies, when our pets pass away, or worse yet, if we have to make a humane decision to euthanize, we grieve.

Recently a close friend of mine had to make this type of decision. Her beloved dog of 13 years suffered with arthritis and after three years of helping him to stand, laying awake at night to listen for him should he be pacing in pain at night and taking him about in a wagon when he couldn’t walk his usual routes anymore, she finally made the decision with her family to put him down. 

She and I cried together over this painful decision process, and then afterwards, she was inconsolable. Still unsure as to whether or not she made the right decision, missing her best friend so greatly; I reached out to the other side to see if her pet was all right on the other side and to see if there was anything I could offer to her to help her understand that her pooch was at peace.

As I entered a meditative place I looked for Murdock, her dog, on the other side.  I saw him running, and playing in high grass, as he wasn’t able to do in years past. He was happy, I could see that.  I tried to communicate with him, not in words, but in the pictures and impressions that I communicate with all spirits.    He showed me that he remembered being brought home by my friend when he was a puppy. He remembered someone speaking Spanish.

He also told me that he was with my friend’s stepfather, who had passed away about a year before.  I knew the man’s name, but didn’t really know if he had much interaction with the dog in life, as they didn’t live in the same city.  In my mind I saw Murdock, the dog, running around the stepfather (David) joyfully, playing, really by himself, while David merely held his hands out to him.  Murdock lay down in the grass beside him, and I knew that they were together. 

A few days later I traveled home to visit my friend and share her grief and listen to her stories about Murdock’s last days.  We cried.  As usual I hesitated to tell her my thoughts and impressions about Murdock, as my psychic abilities were not something we really talked about at length within our friendship.  I felt compelled though, so I dove in.

“I have to tell you something…” I said sheepishly and she just smiled slowly, as if she was preparing herself for a revelation.

“I set out to look for Murdock on Monday night, I knew you said you were going to take him to the vet on Monday, but I wasn’t sure if you went through with it, so I looked for him on the other side.  I found him.” 

I then relayed the rest of my impressions, including my images of Murdock and her stepfather together.

“Interesting. As far as the Spanish goes, my friend Maria was with me when I got him. She is Spanish…the thing with David is kind of weird Diane, David wasn’t really close with Murdock…” 

“I know…” I said, I had gotten that impression as well…. “ I am just telling you what I see… but overall, you have to know that Murdock thanks you for what you did for him, and that he is always going to be your Boy…”

We cried, embraced, and I left shortly thereafter.

The next day I got a phone call from my friend.

“ I have to tell you something,” she started, “after you left last night my Mom called, and I told her what you said about Murdock.  I told her what you said about him being with David, (her Mothers second husband.)”

“After I told her what you said about them being together my Mom was really amazed. She said she had been praying for David to find Murdock and be with him…can you believe that??” 

“Wow.”

I guess David, or someone, heard her prayers. 

The reason I am sharing this story is this: I just wanted to remind any of you out there that your pets do have spirit, souls, and energy that passes out of this life and into the next.  Their personalities are not lost when they die, and they do live on as do we all…just in another form.

Do you have a ghost-pet story? Please share it here….

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image:  Some rights reserved by Nena B.

The Morality of New Haunted Attractions: The Villisca Axe Murder House

I recently watched an episode of "The Dead Files" where the investigators checked out the familiar Villisca Axe Murder House in Iowa.  I say Familiar, because this is not the first time this home has been investigated. 

The first time I heard about this haunted home and it's history was when it was investigated by the Ghost Adventures team. They went there on behest of the home owners who grew up there (as I recall) and were truly tormented by their memories of the noises and experiences they had there.  The guys went in respectfully when trying to communicate with the murder victims of this horrendous crime scene.

So, what's the history? Ah, well, if you are unaware, in 1912,  8 people, including children, were killed in their sleep, one by axe, the rest by the back of the axe head. The crime is still unsolved and infamous by its brutality and young victims.

What's changed? Since the Ghost Adventures team investigated, the owners of the home have turned it into a haunted attraction.

What's my beef? I dunno. Is it too soon? Is it because of the young victims? Is it because of the blood dripping font on the sign out in front of the house that disrupts my calm?

My question to you.... Is it ethical, moral even, to turn a crime scene like this into a tourist attraction?

How is it different than the Lizzie Bordon House, you might ask... Well, in my opinion, it is because it doesn't involve children first of all.
If it was presented in a different way, would I feel better about it?  I don't know. 

here's the official site:  http://www.villiscaiowa.com/

What do you think?

image:

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Some rights reserved by Jennifer Kirkland

The Powerful Energy of Anger: The Opera Man

Sometimes its not always disembodied spirits that can haunt, or create drama in the psychic field. As an Empath, I could also pick up strong emotions in others, and feel the echoes of past trauma or emotionally charged exchanges in homes and around objects.

People who have very strong emotions are at times able to project those thoughts out into the universe to be picked up by the Empath. My experience with the “Opera Man” was one of these times when a person still physically on this earth was able to connect with me in a psychic – and negative way.

A group of friends and I went to visit a dear friend in another state. We were all looking forward to the getaway, having felt burnt out in our jobs, and in our personal lives as well. We were at a fork in the road of our lives, and didn’t even know it. All of us, at various stages in our careers, in various degrees of involvement in unhealthy relationships, we were taking a break together to further develop our friendships and trust in each other.

Lily was fairly new to our “group” having only worked with us all for about a year, and enjoying our monthly “diner’s nights” whenever she could. She seemed like a confident professional, with the soul of an injured bird. We could all tell Lily had had a rough life, although we weren’t sure of the details. She remained somewhat skittish, both reaching out for our friendship, and holding back from hurt she must have experienced before. Her coming with us on this trip was a huge step in trust and friendship, and we all wanted to make sure she had good times and many smiles while we were away.

After a short plane trip, and drive to our final destination, we all sat back and relaxed and caught up with our old friend. As usual, Lily mostly listened and absorbed, offering advice and information only when drawn out by one of the others.

As we chatted, my psychic journey was discussed. The group was split. Two friends believed and wanted to hear more as the weekend went on, the other two, Lily included, were more skeptical and uncertain as to what they believed I was really experiencing and feeling.

Finally, as the night grew old, we went to sleep in two rooms, Lily and Carol, the other skeptic in the living room, Myself, Mary and Kay in the bedroom. As I laid my head down and adjusted myself on the floor, I began to hear music.

“Do you guys here that?” I asked my roommates in the small bedroom.
“ Hear what?” Kay replied.
“ I hear opera music? You don’t hear the opera music?”
Kay laughed as Mary laid her head against the floor, trying to determine the origin of the noise. “ I don’t hear anything.” She declared.

As quickly as the words left her lips, the music I heard grew louder and I felt a weight pressing down upon me. “I think there is something wrong” I panted out, as I felt a pressure, a presence on me, trying to get inside.

Suddenly I felt chaos. I felt pressure, heard the music and felt a strong angry energy around me and on top of me. I felt as though I was being punished, or abused because I had done something wrong.

“What should we do?” Kay shouted.
“Help me, help me…” I stuttered as I madly began to practice the things I was taught about protection and the power of the white light.

Having just discussed these things with my friends, Kay and Mary immediately joined me in creating a dome of white light around us. Eventually the attack ended. I was afraid to sleep, but had asked for greater protection to get me through the night. Exhausted I fell asleep.

The next morning I awoke to the sound of whispered voices in the living room. Kay was telling Lily and Carol what had happened the night before, about the opera music, and my attack.

Lily listened intently, quietly until Kay finished.

“You know, Michael didn’t want me to come on this trip.” She stated, talking about her live- in boyfriend. “He really didn’t want me to come.”

“He listens to Opera music, sometimes, when he is drunk, when he gets mad…” she continued quietly. “He listens to Opera music when he hits me.” She finally said.
An hour later, the five of us sat quietly, absorbing all the stories of abuse and fear that our new friend had finally felt safe enough to tell us about. She was planning on leaving Michael, but wasn’t sure how, and was afraid of him.

“Do you think that was him, last night, Diane?” Kay asked me later in the kitchen.

“It was him,” I replied, ”He knew she was with us, he must have been angry, and his anger is so powerful it can take form. We have to help her get away.”

Looking back, I am not sure if what I experienced was a form of astral projection (sending ones spirit out while remaining connected with ones body) from Michael, or a very strong Empathic connection, reading Lily’s own memories and fears. Whatever it was, it was powerful, had shape and energy, and made believers out of the women who experienced it that night.

Photo by Energetic Spirit flickr.com

Hauntings at Lakeview Cemetary: Cleveland pt. 1. Garfield Monument

Recently I had the pleasure of walking through Cleveland Ohio's historic Lakeview Cemetery. Final resting place of famous Ohio sons like Elliot Ness and JD Rockefeller, it is also the location of President Garfield's memorial chapel and mausoleum. Not only is this monument an outstanding example of fine architecture and religious artwork, you can visit Garfield and his family under a gold dome. You may be taken aback when you first see the flag-covered coffin of Garfield, lying there next to his wife and the ashes of other family members, but the wrought iron gates that surround him give you a sense of the importance of this quiet and perhaps forgotten President.

It may be no surprise that President Garfield is said to haunt this location and show himself to visitors. He was assassinated, giving him that extra reason for coming back to a perhaps unresolved life. He is also said to have been very interested in the paranormal during his life, and often spoke of communicating with his deceased father via seances.

According to Cleveland writer Nathan Paige:

"Garfield, who would partake in seances to communicate with his dead father while in office, was said to have predicted his own death. Shot by an insane man in July 1881, only four months after having been sworn in, Garfield was even reported to have identified the killer and the method of murder beforehand.

More puzzling to doctors was the fact that Garfield lingered for 2 1/2 months before dying from the gunshot wound. Some say that Garfield's spirit had already left the body and had started wandering.

It has been reported that the wandering continues even today. Some stories may seem far-fetched, like the one where the ghost of Garfield partakes in a game of chess with John Rockefeller, moving tombstones like pieces on a chess board in the darkest hours of the night. (According to experts who have investigated the "Matter of Moving Tombstones at Lake View," this explanation has been determined to be the least plausible.)

Other stories, however, have been proven to be true. In 1979, it was reported that a man, identifying himself as Garfield, called the fire department to inquire about a fire on the grounds that had yet to occur. When a fireman mockingly scoffed at the inquiry, "Garfield" then said: "But I did not say that the fire had already happened--it is going to happen." Ten days later the maintenance roof caught fire at Lake View.

That day, visitors to Garfield's monument reported seeing a "brilliant force" streaming through the air. It was accompanied by two male voices, laughing."

No matter if you believe in the life after, the Garfield Monument and the Lakeview Cemetery are definitely worth seeing if you are in the area. Stay tuned for more ghost stories from this breathtaking location.

Click here to see Nathan Paiges original blogpost.

Back to School Special: Haunted Schools

Back to School Special: Haunted Schools

Although the normal goings on of grade or high school is frightening enough, haunted schools take the usual Monday meat loaf scare up a notch. Attached to various stories of depressed students, psychotic teachers or overly loyal custodians, it’s hard to separate fact from fiction when it comes to haunted school buildings. Here are a few worth checking out.

Lourdes High School: Chicago IL

Located at 4034 W. 56th Street, Lourdes High School has been the fodder for ghost-hunting teens in the area for decades. Reports of unexplained footsteps, voices and music have been documented by teachers and students and provide plenty of spooky taunts for incoming freshmen.

Huron High School: Ann Arbor, MI

Focused around the school’s theater, frightening apparitions and paranormal activity here is attributed to the death of a student in the 1970s. According the story, a student fell from the catwalks that run above the stage and died. “Mary” now makes her self known to students by presenting herself in the guise of a girl in pink and enjoys adding her name to prop room wall… upside down and 17 feet up… about where she started her tragic descent all those years ago.

Holy Rosary Catholic School: Kenosha, WI

The library is busy day and night at this school and flying books, along with unexplained footsteps haunt this otherwise quiet location. The computer lab seems to be a hotspot here, possibly due to the availability of energy to use to manifest phenomenon.


Finally, enjoy this video clip ‘True Ghost Story: The Haunted School from Daily Motion.com, and good luck with the new school year!

photo by Rob Shenk

Titanic: Hauntings as Big as the Ship Itself.

The Titanic. One of histories greatest tragedies, which has broken the hearts and captured the imaginations of people for decades, has, without surprise, incorporated some paranormal elements into its tale.

The great drama around the Titanic sinking would lead most investigators to believe that current places associated with the event would play host to spirits of the people lost to the ocean, and they would be right. A recent trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia allowed me to visit the Fairview Lawn Cemetery which is home to some of the sorry souls whose bodies were brought there, and a current traveling exhibit of Titanic artifacts reminded me of rumored haunting of the items presented.

Although some have said that the Titanic graveyard in Halifax is haunted, I did not feel the presence of any spirits there, although the area had a heavy atmosphere around it, making the viewer feel as if his own brothers and sisters were kept there. Although I didn’t see any Titanic spirits there, there were a few from a well-known Halifax explosion roaming the cemetery.

The Titanic exhibit has been investigated and documented by many sources including the TAPS ghost hunting team from the SCIFI channel. Apparitions and disembodied voices and footsteps have been reported at many locations on the Titanic exhibit tour and volunteers who work the exhibit tell of feeling an eerie presence around them while walking through the artifacts. I am visiting the exhibit soon and will report on any spirits I encounter there.

Check out part of the Ghosthunters episode on the traveling exhibit here or catch the exhibit as it travels to your area to decide for yourself.

Haunted Nova Scotia

Haunted Nova Scotia

As I ready myself for a trip over the border I was investigating some possible haunted locations to check out in Nova Scotia and wanted to share my results with you.

Nova Scotia is a small island like community at the edge of Canada alongside the Atlantic Ocean. Scenic and historic, this wind blown location has its share of ghosts. Here are a few of the locations you might want to check out.

Cape Breton: Fortress of Louisburg

Visitors have reported a few ghostly interactions at this historic location including the weeping apparition of a nurse and poltergeist activity around the King’s Bastian Bakery. Echoes of past battles can be heard on quiet nights including gun and cannon fire and the screams of soldiers.

Caledonia Mills: The Mary Ellen Spook House

Legend has it that Mary Ellen was an adopted child whose presence at her new home was met with unexplained fires, a demon dog and ghostly footsteps where no one walked. Unique for the early 1900’s, the family’s home was investigated by parapsychologists who used automatic writing to make contact with an unnamed dark entity. With no resolution, the home mysteriously burnt to the ground. Beware if you visit this location as the story goes that the devastating fires that felled this historic home follow visitors who take a relic of burnt wood back to their home.

Halifax: Five Fisherman Restaurant

The building goes back to the 1800’s and was home to a few schools and one mortuary. The mortuary helped lay to rest several victims of the great Titanic disaster as well as helped deal with the numerous victims from the Great Halifax Explosion that claimed 2000 lives.

Ghost stories are shared on the restaurants webpage and include the following eerie notes.
“Many of the staff of the Five Fishermen Restaurant are so used to odd occurrences that they wouldn’t even bat an eye when a glass flies off a shelf with no one near, or when cutlery on a table shifts then falls to the floor by itself. There are many sinks in this building, and with so many sinks come many taps… taps that like to turn themselves on and off with no human assistance. One server related a story about being there late at night and he was sure he was the only one left in the dining room. As he was checking the lights near the salad bar, he heard someone go through the swinging doors leading down into the kitchen. He turned quickly enough to see the doors swing shut, but on further inspection, he could find no other human presence.
Another waitress tells of being there late at night. As she nears the grand stairwell that leads down to the Maitre’d stand, she sees a gray apparition, a fog-like mass moving down the staircase… she chose not to linger.
Many staff members can relate to you the feeling of passing through cold air pockets on the warmest of nights, or the sensation of what it feel like to have a spirit move through you. Nor is it uncommon to hear voices, especially your name being whispered or even called out when there’s no one else around.

In the middle of one busy night, a server was using the credit card machine when he felt a tap on his shoulder, trying to finish what he was doing before turning to respond he felt a second tap… “Whaaat!” he turned, impatiently, to find no one there.
In behind the salad bar, the Five Fishermen has a private room (The Captains Quarters), commonly referred to as the P.R. by the staff that works there. One night, after all the customers had left, a waiter passed the PR and heard two people arguing, the voices of a man and a woman he says. When he went to investigate the commotion, the voices stopped – the Captain’s Quarters was empty. On another occasion a server, the last in the building, was locking the doors and turning out the lights. When she approached the PR, she noticed someone enter it. Relieved that she had not locked the sole remaining customer into the building for the night, she entered the Captain’s Quarters and checked it thoroughly, but found the room empty… how odd considering that the entrance is the only exit!

One day in the middle of the summer, on a sunny afternoon it fell to this certain young fellow the task of setting up the salad bar. He would arrive at 3:00 in the afternoon. The salad bar items were brought from the floor above o four large trays, through the swinging doors, around the bar to the salad bar area. On one of his passes he heard a loud crash, but because his hands were full, he could do nothing about it. Upon returning for the next load, he decided to investigate the noise he had heard. When he looked around the corner of the bar, he found several pieces of an ashtray on the floor. He bent down to retrieve the pieces and when he stood up he was looking directly into a mirror, and in the mirror he could see the reflection of an old man, walking away from him down the aisle. He was tall with long gray hair and was wearing a long black coat that seemed to be from another time. Startled, for he was sure he was the only person in the restaurant, he turned to see who this could be but there was no one there. When he turned back to the mirror, the image had disappeared. Thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him, the brave young fellow shrugged and returned to his duties.

Several years later, the assistant manager was having a conversation with a customer on the phone at the station across from the salad bar. Again it was 3:00 in the afternoon and he was the only one in the dining room. At one point he saw an elderly man standing on the landing below. “Excuse me sir, I’ll be right with you.” After he finished his conversation he went to see how he could help this gentleman but couldn’t find him anywhere. He wasn’t on the landing, and he wasn’t in the foyer below. He checked the doors, and they were locked so there was no way anyone could get in. Later on that evening he described this odd experience to some of his fellow staff members, one of who was the same young fellow who was setting up the salad bar several years before. “Was he an older gentleman with long gray hair, and was wearing a long black coat, like an outdated greatcoat?” Apparently they had both encountered the same apparition!

It was late one night as another server was resetting her section, looking forward to going home. Suddenly she heard a loud tapping coming from behind her. When she looked around she couldn’t establish where it was coming from, so she returned to her work. Again she heard the tapping, this time she surmised that it was coming from the window across the room. As the restaurant is high on the second floor, she found this to be very odd and slightly disconcerting. She went to investigate, and as she approached the window she could see a misty gray shadow hovering outside the window. She hesitated but eventually gained the courage to continue forward. By the time she reached the glass pane, the image was gone.

Most of these occurrences seem to happen before the restaurant opens or after it closes when there are few people about, but not always. This final story took place in the middle of a busy night. A hostess was in the process of showing a young couple to their table, when she stopped at the salad bar to explain its offerings. Suddenly she felt a harsh brush against the side of her face, but when she glanced around she could detect no cause for it. She finished sitting the couple and upon returning to the hostess stand the Maitre’d asked, “What happened to your face?” There was a red handprint on her cheek as if she had been slapped, though if you ask her it was nothing so violent. In fact, the antics that have occurred at the Five Fishermen Restaurant seem to be just that, mischievous, maybe, unable to ignore, but in the end harmless. “ (from www.fivefishermen.com)

So, bring your ghost hunting equipment when you cross the border into Canada and relay your experiences here when you get back.

The Cyber-Psychic Connection

I have been doing a lot of email psychic readings lately, and I know a lot of people may wonder how that works. With normal readings I do, I have to get a “grip” so to speak of the persons energy in order to make a connection. I then am able to read their energy to determine health issues and answer questions about future developments in their life and lifestyle. During readings in person I may be able to connect with the persons spirit guides and relatives who have passed away. Doing it via email is a bit more difficult.

An email reading is basically all about making that connection with the person long-distance. I usually close my eyes and imagine that person and try to find them in the universe. A photo of the person helps me to connect and gives me an anchor on which to meditate. From there the reading is very much the same, including all the basic information people look for, plus communication with loved ones who have died. Communication with a person’s “spirit people” is almost the easiest thing I do during an email reading, as location is no barrier to the spirit world, and they simply present themselves to me wherever I am.

One thing that is an interesting development in the email readings is that the information I receive is often typed with my eyes closed, much like “automatic writing” in the historical sense. Automatic writing is basically giving up your conscious control over your writing and although it’s typically done via hand script, email readings are a natural use for this type of communication.

I request no further information from my clients other than a photo, and I encourage anyone who has any reading of any kind to limit the amount of information they initially give their reader to avoid what is called “cold reading” scams. Thus far my email readings have been as successful as my personal readings, and it’s interesting to me how the psychic reader or psychic medium has evolved along with technology.



Photo by sling@flickr\flickr.com

Haunted Dolls: The Creep Factor

I was watching an episode of Destination Truth last night and they covered this haunted island full of super creepy dolls. I know I have talked about Robert, the Haunted Doll in the past, but this episode got me thinking about dolls and their penchant for getting all hauntified.

The island from Destination Truth was in Mexico, and the story went that a young girl had drowned there, and people began leaving dolls to comfort her. Of course, these dolls are now all battered and decapitated, leading to a spectacular vision of “Yikes.” The “Truth” team did experience some possible paranormal experiences there, including a doll opening her eye. Follow this link to watch the episode about the Haunted Isle of the Dolls.

Robert the Haunted Doll is a creepy tale of a man and his personal doll fixation, blending a traditional haunting with tales of voodoo, and is covered ad nauseam on the internet. Mandy, the haunted doll, however, may be a new story for you.

Mandy is a 100 year old doll that was donated to the Quesnel Museum in British Columbia. A typical tattered doll, the woman who donated her told the museum curator that she was often awoken at night to the sounds of a baby crying. She had no baby, and tracked the sound to the room the doll was in. The noise stopped once she got rid of the doll.

Museum staff have claimed that since the dolls arrival poltergeist type activity has occurred including objects being moved, as well as electronic disturbances, like people’s camera batteries draining. Some even claim that the doll moves and changes positions.

No reason for this dolls haunting has been discovered, so is it just the “old doll creepy factor” or is it the spirit of a past owner come to play with the living? Do you have a creepy haunted doll story? Share it here!

Back to School Special: Haunted Schools

I’ve written articles about haunted places all over the world and they all have one thing in common. Every place I have ever written about has had at least one haunted school.

Be it grade school, high school or college, nearly every state in the US and other places abroad has a haunted school. It’s no wonder why. Schools, like hospitals, are jam packed with residual energy, and if the school has been home to a particular tragedy, spirit students may feel most comfortable in their old school setting. Psychics have no trouble hearing the residual energies in a school, the ringing of bells, the laughter of children, the opening of doors and thrumming of feet in the halls, but ghost hunters really enjoy the more active intelligent haunting that occur in many old schools. Here are some particularly infamous haunted schools for your consideration.

Lourdes High School, Chicago IL

This active school has no shortage of reports from teachers and students about eerie music, disembodied voices and footsteps in empty hallways. No particular reason for the spirit activity is identified.

Eastern Illinois University – Charleston, IL

A female ghost lovingly referred to as “Mary” seems to reside in the female dormitory called Pemberton Hall. Lots of poltergeist activity is reported including electronic equipment being turned on or off and the rattling of doorknobs. The hauntings are attributed to a legend of a dorm counselor named Mary who was supposedly killed at the school by a custodian in the early 1920’s.

Metz Elementary School in Austin, Texas

This building that was built in the early 1900’s was scheduled to be torn down due to age and size and apparently didn't agree with the ruling. Construction workers reported hearing children’s laughter, having equipment failures and odd writing appearing on forgotten chalk boards. Eventually the building was leveled, but the events that occurred there and the documentation by early journalists in the area make it one of the most well known school hauntings written about.

Got a haunted school story to share? Please tell us your tale in the comments area. Meanwhile, check out these haunted school YouTube links:
Chester Haunted School
George Wright Haunted School

Photo by www.flickr.com/photos/joelf/430142535/

I've Got Your Number

Numerology is the belief that our lives are intertwined with the universal language of numbers. Numbers are thought to generate our life path and are determined by the number of letters in our names or our birth dates. An easy and fun way to get a horoscope style reading, there are plenty of places online for you to investigate the basis of your personality, past and future. Here are a few to check out.
Go to: http://www.sanatansociety.org to get your psychic number based upon Indian beliefs. You input your birth date and it will automatically calculate your numbers. Meanings for your unique numeric identity are listed there as well.

Next,check out the Psychic Numerology-Master Numbers web site and with a few calculations you will be on your way. This is a pretty comprehensive web site with plenty of information that may inspire you to take an even closer look at numerology.

If you want one more opinion, check out stargaze.com. A more traditional approach, you put in the month you were born then browse to find your exact date. Comparing all the numerology sites may give you a good overview of your motivations in life and what the future might hold.

Image by: www.flickr.com/photos/valeriebb

Preston Castle and The Ghost Adventure Team

Ghost Adventures, the Travel Channel series I love to hate is back with new episodes. All set to be irritated, I sat down for the season premiere waiting with bated breath for the rude antics of Zak Bagans and crew. I have to say, they must have mellowed since last season.

Sure, Zak still carried a leather whipping strap around with him and threatened the Juvenile delinquents and young criminals with his "new supervisor"y techniques, but all in all, I would have expected worse from him.

The location was great.

Preston Castle in California, an old abandoned and decrepit facility had plenty of personality and the prerequisite shady past. Not only were young offenders apparently mistreated and some died under mysterious circumstances, one of the most active spirits haunting the place is said to be the spirit of a house keeper whose brutal murder on this site was never solved.

After a tour by a local ghost hunting leader, the team unnecessarily "locked" themselves into the establishment and began collecting evidence of both auditory and physical manifestations.

There were some scratches, and some really far fetched EVP translations, but the creepiest thing about this episode was the supposed possession of Zak himself.

I have to say, I liked the kinder, gentler more possessed Zak, who inexplicably began to hum, smirk and communicate with the female housekeeper from the past. Eerie and yet not fully developed in the episode, we never see him actually come out of the trance like state, but obviously later we see him donning his trademark dumbass hat, so apparently he's back to normal.

All in all this episode was worth watching for both the fruitful location and the apparent possession. If you missed the premiere episode check out highlights online at the Ghost Adventures website or watch your travel channel listings for repeated episodes.
You can make arrangements to do your own ghost hunt at Preston. Click here for more information about Preston Castle.

Photo by atomicpuppy68 FLickr.com

Zak is Back

If you have been missing (missing hating that is) Ghost Adventures, the Travel Channel has been posting a mini series following a Bob Mackey ghost hunt the guys did with some other ghost hunting enthusiasts.
During their original go-round with this famous haunted location, Zak suffered a well deserved back scratch from what he deemed was a "demon." In the web-episodes the gang invites along a man-of-the-cloth to help with the demonic presence. Predictably, the Reverend or priest gets into the act of calling out the spirit and suffers a little reminder that one should always mind their manners when dealing with those on the other side. The ghost hunting tag-alongs seemed to get their money's worth on this adventure as I am sure you'll agree.
Love em or hate em, they are entertaining during the mid season drought of ghost hunting shows. Check out the broadcast here. Ghost Adventures Web Episode

Ghost Photography

Ghost photography is the practice of attempting to catch ecto-plasm or ghostly apparitions on film. Whether you believe they are dust particles in the air, faulty camera lenses or true spirits caught on film, the Internet has hundreds of these images online for your judgement.

Ghoststudy.com has a large group of ghost images online plus some handy tips on how to take your own ghost photography. Follow this link to check them out for yourself and learn how to create your own.
Ghoststudy.com

Got any ghost photos of your own? Email me and I will post them here!

The Spirit in the Machine:Ghosts on YouTube

YouTube has made stars of everyday folk by allowing all of us to post our home made videos online for others to enjoy. Ghost hunters and of course hoaxsters also take advantage of this format to spread the word about their own hauntings, or to pull the leg of their cyber audience. Sometimes cheesy and obvious in their trickery, sometimes intriquing and mesmerizeing, ghost recordings can at the very least be entertaining for YouTube fans. Got some time to kill and want to see some spooky videos, here are some to check out.

Ghost in the closet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfTihjLCBww
Looks superimposed to me, but see if it gives you a shiver.

Amityville Ghost video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk79cV4sHKQ
Interesting clip from a History Channel show about the Warren's and their video from the Amityville house. Worth watching.

Ghost photo montage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6trH81xpko
Nice montage of some classic ghost photos.

Ghosthunters TV show montage of evidence http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gjtvx2UfIc
Nice grouping of evidence from TAPS investigations.

Got a favorite YouTube ghost video? Share the link here!

A Haunting Story: My Personal Experience

I shared an office with a woman named Jennifer. She and I saw things differently on many subjects, but we had mutual respect and affection for one another, having shared an office and many work hours together for over 5 years. Jenny knew about my psychic tendencies, but being a Christian had many misgivings about dipping into the world of ghosts’ spirits and lost souls. Although we talked about it occasionally, we usually avoided all controversial subjects such as politics, religion and seeing dead people.
On a Tuesday in December that all changed.

I walked into our office that morning, expecting to see Jenny on the phone already, or munching on a donut from the snack machine. Instead I found her assistant rummaging over the top of her desk, shoveling through the “organizational system” Jenny used to plan her daily activities with her clients.

“Hi Beth, what’s going on?” I asked as I took off my coat and sipped from my morning diet Pepsi.

She turned to me, looking more harried than usual. “Mary sent me down here to find Jennifer’s schedule. She won’t be in for a while.”
“Is she sick?” I asked, knowing deep down it was more than that.
“No,” she replied, “ she had to drive to Minnesota, her mother had a bad car accident. They don’t think she is going to make it.”

Knowing what a close relationship Jen had with her Mom, I knew this was going to be bad. The next day we got the news that Jenny made it to the hospital only minutes too late to say goodbye.

A week went by, as Jennifer tied up loose ends in Minnesota, and we covered her sessions in Milwaukee. I thought of her a lot, and of her mother, who I had never met.

Jen returned to work the following Monday, we embraced, we cried, and I offer whatever weak solace I could. I wanted to do more for her, and I told her so.

That night, I was offered a chance. As I lay down to go to sleep, the room illuminated by a small night light behind a dresser, I began to do my protection meditations, and contact my spirit guides to thank them for their help, and to ask for further guidance in my quest to communicate. As my eyes drifted open and closed I suddenly felt a presence standing next to the bed.

My eyes opened wide and I saw the perfect black silhouette of a woman. She was about 5’6 medium build, and stood over me in silence.

I wondered who she was and received the answer that she was Jennifer’s mother, and she wanted me to pass along a message to Jen.

Knowing Jennifer’s feelings about me and my connection to the spirit world, I refused. I didn’t want to upset her, or open any fresh wounds with talk of visits from her mother. Although some people would have found it consoling, I thought that coming from me in this manner would only confuse and upset her.

The next night Jenny’s mother was back. Again, she stood at my bedside and made her request. Again I refused, asking her to go to her daughter directly, or through dreams to give her a sign or message.

Night after night I received the visitor. As nights passed, Jennifer’s mother became more insistent, and suddenly I found myself in the middle of what can only be described as a haunting.

Each night as I would lay down to sleep, she was there, standing over me, making me afraid to surrender to sleep, and potentially lose myself in the process. As I would begin to drift off I would see her more clearly. Suddenly I would be outside myself, and see my self and my surroundings in a spotlight. I could feel the energy in the air; I would feel chaos around me. Objects flying through the air, I would feel afraid, and out of control. I would have to shake myself to break the hallucination, but it would come back each time I tried to drift off to sleep. After about a week of this, I realized I had to appease this spirit and do what she asked. I had an opportunity later that night, as Jennifer and I would be at a work dinner together.

After the dinner Jen and I walked out to our parked cars together, discussing the evenings events. As we approached her truck I turned to her and began to broach the subject of her recent loss.
“Jen, can I talk to you about your Mom for a minute?” I said.
She looked down at the street, “ Sure.”
“Listen, you know about my “psychic tendencies,” and I have to tell you, I have been getting messages from your Mom for about a week now.”
She said nothing as I continued, “I haven’t wanted to say anything to you because I wasn’t sure how you would take it, and I didn’t want to upset you.”
“No, that’s okay, Diane, what have you got?”

I explained to her the events of the last week. I began with a description of the silhouette by my bed, with the persistence of the message, and lastly with the message from her Mother. “She just thought it was really important for you to know that she loves you, and that it didn’t matter that you didn’t make it to the hospital in time to say Goodbye. There are no good-byes Jenny, she wanted you to know that. She also wanted to let you know that she is around you still, and that you do feel her, and you should trust your own instincts there. Basically, she is okay, Jen. She is okay.”

Jenny looked at me, and laughed a little. “Diane, this is weird, but over the last week I have been praying and praying for my Mom to get in touch with me. I wanted to hear from her so much, and I was asking her to contact me somehow. She found you! You are right, I have felt her around me, but I think because I have been so upset, I haven’t seen her signs.” She continued, “My brother got a sign from her the other night. He was driving home at night, and was thinking about her. He, too, wanted a sign, and just as he thought that, he saw her face at his windshield! He couldn’t believe it! I really wanted a sign from her too… and now I have gotten it. Thank you.”

We embraced, and I felt an immediate calming around me. As if Jenny’s Mom was with us in the parking lot, and was finally at peace, having consoled her daughter. As I drove away from her that night, I realized that I had purposely avoided this conversation with Jenny. That perhaps I could have helped her sooner, but I had chosen not to. It was that night that I made the decision that in the future, if I received a message, I would pass it along. That I would be a communication device, if I could, and would try not to censor or control the messages that I received. It was then that I truly began my journey into mediumship and the paranormal.


Photo by artiefischer flickr.com