Monday, October 18, 2010

The 'Haunting'

Since this is October, I figured chatting about all things paranormal (or mildly related to it) seemed appropriate for my blog days. Despite my love of this time of year, a seriously freaky thing happened to me a few years ago, not too long after I’d gotten married. At the time my hubby and I were living in Swansboro, NC, just north of Camp Lejeune. Brief factoid: Ever read Nicholas Sparks’ The Guardian? I haven’t but apparently the story takes place there. It’s an adorable little coastal town rich in history. Anywho, somehow we’d managed to get a house right downtown within walking distance of everything. They were always having cool festivals so it was perfect. I know the word ‘old’ is relative but the house we lived in was fairly old (maybe late 1800s/early 1900s) and while I loved it, there was always an odd vibe to it.


The house was a small two bedroom place with all (real) hardwood floors. The kitchen and living room were separated by swinging doors and the living room and bedrooms were separated by an arched entryway. In that arched area, I’d hung a cute, ornate antique-looking lantern which was purely for decoration. A tiny tea light came with it so I left it inside it. One night the man and I were bundled up on the couch watching a movie (the heat in the place sucked) and the tea light flared to life. Holy crap, it scared the hell out of me. You ever get that really sick feeling and your whole body turns cold and hot? I still shiver thinking about it.



I thought for sure the man was playing a trick on me (even though he was sitting next to me and we lived alone). I punched him in the arm and started to yell at him until I saw the horrified expression on his face. My husband—a former Marine (sniper) who earned his nickname Tracer from running directly into enemy fire in the dark of night and the only thing his peeps could see were tracers flying all around him—looked ready to run out the front door and never come back. Not that I blame him. I think if our fireplace (which barely worked) had flared to life, we’d have both probably hightailed it, but in the end we just blew out the candle and it never mysteriously lit after that. Looking back maybe it’s not soooo scary, but at the time I found it hard to sleep the next couple days. Later we found out that the lady who had owned the house had died there so who knows what that little fire-flare was all about.



Anyone have any ghost stories or just creepy paranormal stories? Please share!

14 comments:

Kaylea Cross said...

Holy hell! I've never heard that story before, but it would have scared the crap out of me too.

I don't have a paranormal story, but I do have a creepy one. Years ago there was a rape and murder here in our area and the cluprit was on the loose. Police told us all to be on the lookout for this particular man, whom they thought was hiding out in our area. At the time I was living alone in a big house on a 2.5 acre property complete with a barn and horses.

Well, one night in October I went out to feed the horses. As I was pitchforking hay into their feeders, I heard a noise overhead. I froze for a second, thinking it might be raccoons or something. But then I heard it again--a kind of rhythmic creaking like someone might be walking overhead in the hay loft. My dog was with me, and he perked his ears up too, so I knew it wasn't just my imagination.

Now in my defense, I wasn't immediately suspicious there might be a rapist/murderer up there. I just thought some neighborhood kid might have snuck in there for whatever reason.

I took the pitchfork and climbed a few rungs up the ladder to the loft, and saw a man's black and red checked flannel shirt hung on a peg on the wall. With no dust on it. So someone had to have put it there recently. And the footsteps had stopped.

I yelped and leapt down, dropped the pitchfork and my dog and I sprinted all the way back to the house where I locked every door and window as I called 911. When the police arrived they checked out the loft and found booted footprints in the dust on the loft floor. But whoever was up there had vanished and they never found them. Needless to say, I didn't sleep very much that night.

Cynthia Eden said...

Oh, creepy!!! But it's totally you're own ghostfacers episode.

Lori Brighton said...

Cool story! Although I'm kind of more impressed with the fact that your husband was a sniper. That's kind of hot. lol.

Kaylea, that is one freaky story!

Katie Reus said...

Holy crap, Kaylea! Your story is by far scarier. I can't believe you went up a few rungs on the stairs. I'm shuddering thinking about that. Real life monsters are scarier than would-be ghosts! At least you had a pretty sweet weapon in the pitchfork ;)

Katie Reus said...

Cynthia, I would pay to be on a ghostfacers episode, lol!! But only if Sam and Dean were there. And now I'm totally singing that song in my head.

Katie Reus said...

Ha! Thanks Lori *g*

Anonymous said...

I don't know what I think about ghosts, but something drove me up a wall when I bought my 100+ year old house.
The first week we moved in, windows kept opening up- and these are heavy, sticky old type windows-some painted shut from years of painting them.
My children were in diapers so I know it wasn't them, they couldn't even reach the windows. The hubster was working and I'd go upstairs to put away laundry and find the windows all open. I shut them all, go down stairs and when I would return hours later the windows (6 of them) would all be opened again.
I don't freak out over stuff like that- I grew up in an old house and I guess you could say it was 'normal' for us to have weird crap happen.
I closed all the windows again and this time I yelled to whatever was in the house to "Knock it off" and that was it. It stopped.
Other stuff happened, but whatever "it" was, it never opened another window! LOL

I swear, true story.

:o)

MsM

Wynter said...

Very weird. My daughter saw a man at her Girl Scout leader's house once (100 year old house). She ran to the woman and told her and the leader told her what he looked like. And she was right. My daughter was so creeped out by that, she didn't like going to meetings anymore and quit the troop shortly after.

Katie Reus said...

Dang Elizabeth, I like that take charge attitude! Ghosts don't mess with you ;)

Katie Reus said...

I don't blame her Wynter! That's pretty freaky :)

KC Burn said...

I wish I had a paranormal/ghost story. When I was a teen, my friends & I used to hang around in cemeteries at night. Not a dang thing happened, not even a cold chill. But then, I have a personal EM field that messes up electronics... maybe it messes with whatever ghostly frequencies might be around me, too!

Nancy J. Cohen said...

That is creepy. Maybe the lady's ghost was welcoming you to her home.

Katie Reus said...

That's funny KC! :)

Katie Reus said...

That's a nice way to look at it, Nancy. A lot less scary :)

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