#14 Ghost Stories - Olivia

This October has been jam packed.

I meticiously filled the month with seasonal delicacies, long walks down leaf-littered streets, jackets and scarves, and of course, Halloween movies, the cream of the scary movie genre.  But even after watching old cult classics like House on Haunted Hill and new thrillers like Paranormal Activity, I was unsatisfied.  So I picked up an addiction to ghost shows. 

I think I've already confessed this to the blog, but I don't think I've clarified the extent of my appreciation.  Ghost shows are so awesome.  The Travel Channel, The History Channel, The Sci-Fi Channel, and the Discovery Channel have all offered me great moments of intrigue with their shows.  Make fun of me if you will, but regardless of whether you're a believer or not, it's downright fascinating. 

The best part of those shows is the gadgetry.

To sniff out the dead, these dudes use heat sensors (which boggles my mind), voice recorders for EVPs (electronic voice phenomenon), motion sensor cameras, and these machines that let spirits choose words to further communications.  Some of the evidence is hokey.  Some of it is boring.  It's surprising that they can create shows out of some of it.  But on the occasion, these shows produce the unexplainable, or atleast thought provoking questions. 

Do I believe in ghosts?  In short, yes.  I believe in spirits and I believe that some things cannot be explained. But I don't buy a lot of what gets passed around as ghost stories or "evidence."

I have had one personal ghost experience myself.  It happened in my bedroom in my house in Ohio.  My sister and I have always felt uncomfortable in that room.  When we were little, we would run out of that room terrified of a "moose" ... although we all know that's silly.   As we grew older, it became my sister's bedroom and then eventually, it became my room. 

One night, I awoke to a bright light in my room.  It was small and moved around my room.  I couldn't focus on it, thinking it was just headlights from the road, but it lit up the pictures in my room in a strange way.  I sat up, trying to focus on it and it darted behind the television sitting on my dresser, silhouetting it.  That's when I realized this wasn't normal.  With my heartbeat creeping up the walls of my chest to my throat, I groped for the overhead light.  As soon as it hit the switch, flooding the room with electric light, the other light disappeared.

I spent the rest of that night on the couch.

I can't explain that night.  I don't know what it was, but I do know how it made me feel.

I don't think most ghosts, like most people, are here to scare people.  I think we're just uncomfortable with things we're not familiar.  For the most part, ghosts don't scare me. 

And I don't scare ghosts.  It's mutal respect.

Don Replies:
My favorite scary movie is "Poltergeist." I still get chills when the little girl has disappeared into the TV.  By the way, I didn't tell the story in my post about the time I woke up as a young teenager to see this ghostly white form floating at the foot of my bed.  I shook under the covers for an hour or so, but it was still there every time I looked up at it.  Eventually I worked up the nerve to touch it, and it turned out I had turned 180 degrees around in my bed when I was asleep and it the curtains above the head of my bed and not the spirit of some restless soul waiting at the end of my bed.


That's probably what happens with most ghosts.  They turn out to be something else.  Just like that light that moved around your room.  Where was that ghost coming from anyway, a rave?


Love Ya,  and don't forget to turn your clock back this weekend.  Being late for work on Monday?  Now that's scary!