Hauntings

Well, it's October and since my favorite holiday (Halloween!) falls in this month... and also because it's a month filled with chills and scary stories... this is a good time to tell this tale! I have always had a belief in the spiritual world... being that some spirits do not cross over (for whatever reason). Some have tried to argue with me before that being a Christian I shouldn't believe in "such nonsense." I quickly remind them that in the Bible spirits/apparitions/ghosts are mentioned... not to mention there is a Holy Ghost in the Blessed Trinity. Anyhow... moving along... I have had a few encounters that have solidified my belief in ghosts.

The first real one was after my Grandpa's suicide when I was in 6th grade. A couple weeks after his funeral during the night I had a visit from his spirit. This may sound totally crazy to people... but I have told this story to family members, and they all believe what I say to be true. I was asleep... and because of my paranoia (which I have had for MANY MANY years) I sleep with my bedroom door shut. Well, I was awoken by a very BRIGHT light... my door was wide open, and it looked like someone was holding a halogen lamp behind the person in my doorway. Once my eyes adjusted I could see my Grandpa standing in my doorway... in his suit which he was buried in. He smiled very calmly and sweetly at me... and said, "Goodbye, Miss America" (this was his nickname for me). After he said goodbye, his image faded away... as did the light... and my door was shut... no longer open. I firmly believe his spirit came to say goodbye to me considering the way his life ended (he did not leave any sort of note behind for us... that whole situation is another story which I may get into around the anniversary of the time of his passing in early Dec.).

Okay, next story is from when I lived in my apartment off Blanco Rd. My roomie Jamey and I each had encounters with the spirit. We never SAW this spirit... but we heard it... frequently for a long time... and then after we had been there for about a year, the encounters faded until we no longer had them. It started out with a "knocking" noise. For several weeks we'd be in the living room watching tv and such and hear this knocking... loud and close enough that it sounded as if someone was at our door... we lived on the second floor and the stairs to our door ONLY went to our door (we were in an end apt). You could always hear even the most light-footed person coming up or going down our stairs... It was very harmless interaction... but still unnerving. Well, then one night a friend of ours came over... and some guy she had started dating and his crew stopped by... we could hear this terrible knocking... We knew it wasn't our neighbors below because we had heard them leave for the evening... Jamey and I just exchanged glances knowingly. The guys started complaining of the noise... the answer to this was louder banging noise... and immediately after they left, we no longer heard it. There were a couple other times that "questionable" people came over and this would occur... but never with people that we genuinely felt we could trust, like close friends and family. The most crazy encounter was the last big one that we experienced in that first year at the apt. We had both gone to bed... and all of a sudden I began hearing this banging coming from the other side of the apt. where Jamey's room was (our rooms were on opposite sides of the apt). Not long after Jamey was in my room with her pillow... she said the banging was coming from inside her closet... and she could see the door trembling with every bang.... it was as if someone was stuck inside her closet and trying to get out. She slept in my room that night... and from that point on the happenings dwindled away until they disappeared.

The last is the most scary/chilling of them... and I didn't even experience it firsthand. My best guy friend's (Ricky) older sister and BIL went to stay at the Myrtles Plantation in Louisiana... it's supposedly the most haunted place in America (which was why they booked a room for a night). They were booked in a 2nd floor room (it's a 2 story structure) and there was one other couple staying in the building. The couple that runs the place don't live in the building, but elsewhere on the land in a small cottage. Well, they settled in and were planning on walking around the grounds at night... so they decided to get a little rest/relaxation. Marta was reading a book, and Jeff was taking a nap... or trying to at least. While they were both on the bed (Marta reading, Jeff napping) the end of the bed started moving... and they felt as if a small child was jumping up and down on the bed. Jeff complained and Marta was looking in horror at the end of the bed where she could see something pressing into the mattress repeatedly...! They were both pretty shocked... but still weren't completely convinced. They briefly met the other couple staying in the house, and learned this couple was going out to eat dinner and would return later... Jeff and Marta were getting ready to go walk about the grounds and take pictures and all.... well, as they were getting ready to leave the room... they could hear footsteps above... like on a wooden floor... pacing. They both knew all that was above them was the rooftop, and were becoming more convinced there was spiritual life at this place. They went and walked around the grounds for a bit and came back to the room. The next morning, Jeff got out their video camera and asked Marta to tell the tales of what happened the afternoon/night before. She did, and they went about their day... they left and went on to the French Quarter and continued taping other things. When they returned home from their trip, they told us their short story about what happened at the Plantation and got out the video tape for us to watch/hear the story. We were SHOCKED at what we found.... in the beginning of the story, you could hear Marta... but slowly white noise (pure static for the audio... even though the video was fine) covered up the details of what she recounted.... then the white noise slowly faded away so you could hear the very end of her story saying, "that's what happened... and we were proven right..." We thought maybe something had just happened to the tape and that the audio was cutting in and out.... but then the very next taped thing was from the French Quarter... and the audio was TOTALLY fine... you could hear all the noise from the crowd the entire time and on through the rest of their tapings. So, apparently... someone... or something... didn't want their story to be told.