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“Grandfathers Boots”
All throughout my life I have had dreams in which my Grandfather has sat
by my side while I’m sleeping. I remember when I was young having a
dream in which my grandfather told me exactly where his riding boots
were in our house. He said “in the office downstairs, in the left
corner.” I awoke one morning to my father tearing the house upside down
looking for his riding boots. I giggled and said “check the office in
the left hand side corner.” and lo and behold, voila the boots were
there. My father was not amused since I was obviously trying hard to
control myself from a massive laughing fit. I told my father about my
dream the night before to which he replied “so can he tell you what
Apple Computer stock will do?” Needless to say, my Grandfather insisted
that my father hold on to his stocks in Apple Computer!
“Whispers for Duran”
One evening I had fallen asleep in front of the Television downstairs in
the old farmhouse we were living in. I was woken up by a cold breeze and
a whisper in my ear “quick, wake up, quick” is what the whisper said. I
shot up quickly and the T.V. was going from channel to channel, so I
grabbed the remote which was sitting on the coffee table and it was
still changing. I thought a button was broken until it stopped quickly
on “Friday Night Videos” and my favorite band at the time Duran Duran
was on. They had a new video and there was a quick interview. I was
floored and freaking out. Not only because the T.V. had been flipping
channels but now my favorite band was being interviewed. I was ecstatic
and I kept saying “thank you” over and over again.
“Good morning. What’s for breakfast?”
When I was a little girl I remember running downstairs on Saturday
mornings to watch all of my favorite cartoons. I remember walking into
the kitchen on morning and I heard someone say “Good morning” so I
replied a good morning and ran to the T.V. I thought my Dad was in the
kitchen. Well, I sat myself down in front of the T.V. and there were
commercials on so I ran in the kitchen for some breakfast. I didn’t see
my dad so I quietly went upstairs. As I got to the top step I heard the
chorus of snores between my mom and dad, so I turned right back around
and went back downstairs. I got in the kitchen and I heard it again
“Good morning” I remember giggling and I said “what’s for breakfast?”
The cabinet opened and the Cheerios box fell on the floor.
“Lucy”
One morning I was woken up by the sound of someone stomping down the
stairs. I shot up out of bed and ran to see if it was my dad, so I could
see him before he went to work. I ran downstairs and my dad was not
there. I ran back upstairs to peek in my mom and dad’s room. My mom saw
me peeking so I asked where dad was. She reminded me that my father
wasn’t home and to go back to bed. I remember as I walked through my
room I felt like I had to push my way through because it was so windy. I
hid under my bed covers. I heard whispering. I remember shivering in my
bed I was so scared, but I kept peeking out from under my covers. I
heard the door slam and footsteps. My door swung open and I heard a
whisper of the name “Lucy” but there was no one standing there.
“Have a beer!”
One night we had some guests over to the house. My ex-husband was
bragging about himself a lot. One of his new friends asked me if he was
like this all the time and I laughed and didn’t say anything. That same
friend asked me how old the house was and I told him it was built in the
early 1800’s. We were standing in the kitchen chatting and he asked if I
had any ghost stories and I said “oh yeah” right as I said that we both
witnessed a bottle of beer lift up off of the refrigerator and fall
slowly to the floor. The bottle did not break and my guest said “If you
don’t mind, I really need this right now!”
“Weeble Wobble and they do fall down”
We had these old cabinets in the kitchen with latches on them I remember
walking though the kitchen and all of them would open at the same time.
I always thought that was weird until I started to see the chairs at the
counter start to move too. The door to the kitchen used to swing open
all by itself. I used to get in trouble for not putting things away like
scissors. I would always put them away because I hated my punishments (I
was not allowed to watch T.V. when I was in trouble) I would sit in my
room and draw or paint or write or play with my weeble wobbles or my
favorite Lite brite. One day I remember hearing a deep voice saying
“please remember me for doing this.” I sat there and I remember thinking
that if I hadn’t been punished I would not have been drawing or singing
or having fun playing in my room. I had this weeble wobble play set and
the swings started going off without me pushing them. I remember staring
at the set and I grabbed my weeble wobbles and started singing really
loud “weebles wobble but they don’t fall down” and the next thing I knew
the weeble wobbles were lying down and not moving. I remember running
out of my room screaming the song another way “weebles wobble and they
certainly do fall down!”
“One last swing…”
One of my favorite people at my elementary school was an older gentleman
that worked at the school as a janitor. He used to push me on the swings
and would tell me funny jokes and make me laugh all the time. I remember
one day not seeing him around the school. My mom worked in the school as
an assistant teacher and was in a meeting
after school, so I ran out to the swing set. My favorite swing pusher
snuck up behind me laughing and said “hows about a big ol push” I
laughed and said “higher” “take me higher” he gave me the biggest push
and he laughed and laughed he said that he needed to go in the school
quick, that he saw a light that he needed to turn out. I yelled that my
mom was still in there and he went to the door. I never saw him again.
He had died that morning. My mother’s meeting concerned how to talk to
me because I had obviously formed an attachment to him. When I told her
I had seen him and that he needed to go to a light to turn it out. She
smiled sweetly and said “So I guess he’s gone to the light, but I hope
he doesn’t turn it off.” I asked her why and she said to me “He’s gone
to a special light now where he will always be happy and he won’t feel
any pain anymore.”
MY MAINE ADVENTURE, BY CAROL STARR
It was a beautiful early spring day in Massachusetts. My girlfriend and
I were visiting with her sister. We decided to take a couple of days and
drive up to one of our favorite places, Ogunquit, Maine. We have always
loved this one resort located on the cliffs up there and decided to
reserve a room for 1 night! The resort is called The Cliff House and is
located on Bald Head Cliff on the southeastern shore of Maine and was
built back in 1872. Besides myself and my girlfriend, we were
accompanied by her sister and teenage niece. It was April 18th 1999, a
wonderful early spring day and we took the short ride up into Maine. We
arrived at The Cliff House in the afternoon and my girlfriend, Sandy,
and I went to check in. We received our room key and went directly to
the room to check out the view. When we got to the room, we were
slightly disappointed that our view consisted of a terrace, then the
ocean. We went back out to the front desk and asked if we could have
another room with a “better” view of the cliffs. We were immediately
given another room key and we ran up to the new room. The view was
breathtaking! A huge window and balcony above the cliffs. The waves (at
low tide) were lapping at the rocks and we saw a few people wandering
down there amongst the rocks and tidal pools. We ran downstairs and
collected Mary and her daughter, and our bags. We came back to the room
and started to unpack and take photos inside the room. Four women all
excited about staying at this incredible hotel! As we were getting
settled in, taking pictures, I was walking past the table and noticed a
beautiful basket of chocolates. I opened the card and it said “Welcome
Back Carol”. I thought “how odd”, I’ve never stayed here before, but
quickly forgot about it and joined the others in taking pictures and
getting ready to explore the rest of the facility and the cliffs.
We ventured around the hotel, taking pictures of the beautiful antiques,
admiring the furniture, and taking in the beautiful views. We went down
to the cliff and some of us were brave enough to climb down the ladder
onto the wet rocks to check out the tidal pools. We then caught back up
with each other and changed for dinner in the 5 star restaurant at the
hotel. We enjoyed several hours there and had both a wonderful dinner
and an incredible view.
After dinner, we went back to our room and got ready for bed. We all
wanted to wake up early to see the sunrise. We were all fast asleep by
11pm. There are 2 queen beds in the room and I shared the bed closest to
the windows with my girlfriend. I woke up around 1:30 am and looked out
to the cliffs and the ocean. The tide was in and the waves were crashing
on the rocks we had explored earlier in the day. I could see the white
caps of the waves against the rocks below. After a couple of minutes,
something caught my eye on the right side of the rocks. I blinked a few
times to clear my vision and it was still there. I saw a very tall
figure standing on the rocks. I thought this was odd and very dangerous
considering how treacherous this would be. The flood light at the hotel
had turned off at 11pm, but the cliff was illuminated by the moon and
the white caps in the waves. The figure, from what I could see, was over
6’ tall. It was facing out towards the ocean and was headless! It was
wearing a long black Victorian cape, which was blowing in the breeze.
The figure started to move, or I should say, float towards the left of
the rocks, then it moved out towards the ocean! I couldn’t take my eyes
off of this image I was seeing. I saw the waves crashing underneath the
figure and was amazed at how it just floated over the rocks! As the
figure was nearing the end of the rocks and almost to the ocean, I had a
funny feeling and lay back down in bed and turned over. I then heard a
man’s voice tell me “Don’t Turn Around”, along with an eerie feeling
that if I did, something or someone would be standing there. I fell
asleep very quickly.
5:15 AM!!!! The alarm was ringing!!! We all jumped out of bed and
grabbing covers and blankets, went out onto the balcony to view the
sunrise over the ocean. It was a beautiful cool/crisp morning and we all
got comfortable on the balcony. My girlfriend, very hesitantly, started
to talk and she started by saying “You’re not going to believe what
happened last night”!! I froze. I didn’t say a word, but listened to her
as she told us about her early morning encounter. She said that around
3am she suddenly woke up. She said that she was excited because she
wanted to get up and go to the windows to see the high tide on the
cliffs. She got out of bed, and mentioned that I was sound asleep facing
away from the windows. She went over to the windows and was peering out
at the waves crashing on the rocks, when an icy cold breeze went through
her. She was surprised and a little frightened at what she felt. There
was no draft in the room at all, but felt deep coldness surround her.
She hurried back over to the bed and laid down “facing away from the
windows”, and said that she heard a voice tell her “don’t turn around”.
She closed her eyes and went back to sleep.
I sat there on the balcony with chills going up and down my spine.
Should I tell everyone what I had seen and heard during the night? I
decided to tell my story from earlier that morning. We all just looked
at each other. I think we were all stunned by the events, but not
afraid. After all, this is the Maine coast and there have been hundreds
of shipwrecks in the area for many many years. We were all just thrilled
that we had this opportunity to stay in such a beautiful old hotel.
We packed and checked out. I was going to mention our night’s happenings
at check out, but the lobby and the counter was very busy and we needed
to hit the road. After we returned to my girlfriend’s sister’s place, we
pretty much had forgotten about the early mornings events, since the
news was reporting a horrible shooting at a high school in Columbine
during that day.
The next day, we departed for home and promised to get all of our film
developed and also to return soon for more adventures. That evening, I
got a call from my girlfriend asking if I had gotten my film developed
yet. I said I was picking them up the next day. She had gotten her
pictures done along with here sisters’. She seemed very excited and
nervous on the phone. She said that some of her photos inside the room
showed weird lights and spots throughout the room. And that there was a
strange misty or cloudy spot over the top of the bed that we had shared.
I received my photos back from the processor and saw that there were
similar light spots on some of my shots in the room. We were all
standing in different areas and taking pictures of different things, but
in some of the shots, there were circles of light and I could also see a
cloudy mist over top of the bed. We all looked at it and some said you
can see a skull in the mist. We also looked at the photos that were
taken throughout the hotel. There is a photo taken in a hallway. The
right side of the hallway was windows; you can see the light shining
through them. The left side of the hallway is lined with antique tables
and chairs. The photo shows this antique table with a large gilded
mirror on top of it. In the right side of the mirror, there is an image
of what looks like a woman with her hands folded and in a Victorian era
dress. We were stunned and amazed by comparing all of our pictures from
that trip.
The last thing that I want to let everyone know about our Maine
adventure is that, as you remember, we switched rooms right after
checking in, we had the “welcome” basket of goodies that was addressed
with my name on it (even though I’ve never stayed there before), and
that 2 of us had the strange experiences during the night, and that our
photos show strange things on them, the thing that sends chills down my
spine is that our room that we ended up with….”The Room With The View”,
was room number 666!
Believe it!!!
"This Old House"
I was very young when my family had moved into an
old Victorian house in lower Delaware. It was a house that I still think
about with fond memories. The house had a bit of activity in it. Was it
Haunted? I don't know, it sure seemed like it. We later found out that
the house used to be a funeral parlor and that the concrete slabs in the
basement were where they worked on the bodies. The feeling in the house
wasn't foreboding and was quite the opposite. Whatever was in that house
was of a welcoming presence and didn't seem to mind us being there.
Kitchen cabinets would some time open and close by themselves along with
other interior doors within the house. There was only one negative side
effect that came of that house... At this house is where I began having
a recurring dream that stayed with me for several years after moving out
of that house. It was a dream that still to this day I cam remember
vividly. The dream was paranormal of nature and I still struggle to
fully understand its meaning. This is where my interest in the
paranormal began and from then on it became a life long pursuit.
Mark-CCPRS
"Sleepless
Sisters"
I worked in an infirmary for nuns for over 10 years, a very enriching
and rewarding experience. I felt like I was blessed with so many prayers
and so much generosity and kindness.
The infirmary is now over 40 years old and is the cleanest and most
attentive nursing home I've ever seen or heard of......a loving and
doting staff, and grateful, selfless patients....yet even this religious
community is not exempt from unrestful souls. My coworkers and I have
had many unsettling experiences. The most prominent one for me was just
after a particular Sister passed away. This Sister, while I knew her,
was bedridden. I had heard from her peers that in her day she was not
always the most pious of souls. Soon after she passed, from old age,
strange things started happening on the second floor, where she died.
Several nights while working the "graveyard shift", I was required to
walk past the elevator near her room....just as I would pass by, the
door would suddenly open and a cold draft of air would blow through
me....no one was occupying the elevator at these times, and it would
always happen when I began my 4am "rounds"....just the time when Sister
B died. This same occurance happened to other staff as well. Having
experienced that, I was frightened to walk by her empty room, along the
dark hallway, but I was required to, in order to attend to the other
sisters. One night I was particularly "freaked out" about having to walk
by that room, and I kept whispering to myself, " There is nothing there,
There is nothing there...". Just as I crossed her door, the alarm in the
empty room went off, beeping very loudly and sending me running to the
nurse's station absolutely terrified. The alarm had not ever been set by
anyone, as Sister B had no need for alarms while in that room...let
alone one that was set at 4:08am! All the midnight shift staff also
experienced an omnipotent scream that was heard in the front of the
building on our floor as well as the back of the building, apparently at
the same volume at all areas. This happened almost every night for about
2 weeks, until one of the nurses had masses said for the repose of
Sister B.'s soul, shortly after, all this activity ended. Sister B
wasn't the easiest patient to have, but I hope her spirit is at rest
now.
Stay tuned for other "Sleepless Sisters" happenings......
-Suellen, CCPRS
“TIMOTHY”
In 1969, I lived in a small house in Downingtown, Pa. I was 13 years old
and lived there with my mother and 2 younger sisters. The house was
around 75 years old, had a partial dirt floor basement, living room,
dining room, kitchen, full bath, 2 bedrooms, and a full attic.
One night after we had all gone to bed, I heard a noise above me in the
attic. I laid there and listened. Then I heard heavy footsteps walking
from one end of the attic to the top of the stairs. It sounded like a
large person with heavy work boots on. I sat up in bed straining to hear
more, thinking someone had gotten into the attic through the 2 small
windows. The footsteps paused at the top of the wooden staircase, and
then one by one I heard the steps coming down. By this time, I was
sitting up in bed, holding my breath, waiting for some “human” to burst
into my room. The staircase turned in the last few steps and I heard the
footsteps turn. The door to the attic, which was right across from my
bed, was an old wooden door with a latch that you had to lift up to
open. I heard the footsteps turn towards the door and then the latch
moved! I shot out of bed and ran to the next bedroom only a few feet
away. I woke my mother up and told her that I thought someone had broken
into the house and was up in the attic. Within seconds we both went back
into my room with flashlights and opened the attic door. We walked up
the steps to the top and found nothing unusual at all. Just a big room
with a few items in the corner. The windows were shut and locked and
there was no sign of anything being up there. We then checked the rest
of the house and found it to be locked up, safe, and secure.
A few days later, after telling my sister, Cindy, and a few of her
friends, we decided to conduct a séance with an ouija board. We gathered
in the basement of the house and set up a table in the middle of the 3
rooms. The front of the basement was a dirt floor and had the oil tank
in there, the middle room had a cement floor and the stair case, and the
last room was where the washer/dryer was, also cement floor, and a walk
out to the fenced in back yard. The 4 of us gathered around the table.
We had set up another table in the back room where the washer/dryer was.
We placed candles on that table. We blocked off all the windows down
there and made sure there were no drafts. The candles burned evenly and
didn’t flicker at all. We started by asking yes and no questions on the
board. We asked if there was someone in the house and the answer was
yes. We asked for a name and it spelled out Timothy. After several
questions, we asked if they could answer by making the candle in the
other room flicker, which it did. We then told “Timothy” that we weren’t
there to harm him and that we wanted to live there peacefully.
We did go up and down our block and ask some of the neighbors if there
had ever been someone by the name of Timothy that lived in our house,
and one of the elderly neighbors said that there had been someone by
that name that lived there years before and that he was a younger man
and that he had committed suicide there.
After that séance, we weren’t bothered by sounds or bumps in the night.
When we heard something, we would just say hello to Timothy.
Carol Starr
CCPRS
THE FARMHOUSE
My aunt and uncle lived in an old farmhouse located off of Rt. 322
between West Chester and Downingtown. This was a beautiful property set
far back from the road and accessed by a dirt path and a small bridge
over the Brandywine River. When I was a little girl, my family often
visited this huge, warm home. I was only about 8 or 9 years old on one
of these visits. We always stayed in the same bedroom located on the 2nd
floor down a long hallway from the staircase. On one particular night, I
remember waking up and having to use the bathroom, which was located at
the far end of the hallway near the top of the stairs. I got out of bed
and started to walk down the hallway. It was pretty dark, but I could
see. They always left a night light on in the bathroom. I got halfway to
the bathroom, when, I looked to my left, down another hallway that lead
up to the attic, and there I saw an old grizzled man. He was standing in
the shadows at the end of the hallway and he looked right at me. He was
dressed like a hobo with a flannel shirt and overalls. He didn’t say
anything to me, and I was so startled, that I turned and ran back into
our bedroom.
The next morning, I told my parents about the man in the hallway, and
they asked my aunt and uncle if there was someone staying at the
farmhouse that fit that description. My aunt and uncle just chuckled and
said “That was just Old Charley”. When my parents asked who “Old
Charley” was, they said that they didn’t know who he was, but that he
had died many many years ago and that sometimes they saw him at the end
of that hallway.
It wasn’t long after that that my aunt and uncle
moved from that lovely farmhouse, and soon after that, it burned to the
ground. We never got the chance to find out who “Old Charley” was.
Carol Starr
CCPRS
THE OFFICE
I work in an office located in West Goshen Twp., Chester County, Pa.
About 12 years ago I was working late one evening. There’s always noises
and sounds in an office late at night. Things turning on and off, pipes,
etc. This one evening, I was working in my office and I heard some
noises near the front door. I have a glass wall facing out that way, so
I could see that no one entered the building, plus I would have heard
the locks opening in both sets of doors. I sat there for awhile,
continuing my paperwork, when I heard someone call my name out loud. I
got up and walked out into the office area and called out “who’s there”?
I walked around the office and went into the back rooms. The office is
all on one floor with no basement or upstairs, so it only takes a minute
to check everywhere. No one was around at all. I got the chills and felt
my hair standing on end, so I quickly closed up my work and went home.
A few months after my experience, I was talking with my old boss, Mr.
Lucas. He had been the mayor of West Chester from 1958 until 1966. He
was an incredible source of knowledge and information about the area. I
told him about my experience in the office and he chuckled! He said that
he wasn’t surprised that there were things going on that couldn’t be
explained. He said that “in the old days”, when the town was called
Turks Head, that there were hangings done right down the road from where
the office stands and that the area around the office was a burial
ground for the executed people.
I’m still working in the same office and every now and then, I’ll hear a
noise or a sound I can’t explain. My old boss has since passed away.
There are so many things I would have liked to have learned from him
about the history of this town I work in.
Carol Starr
CCPRS
MY FATHERS' TOUCH
The summer after my Father died was a very emotional time for me. He
died rather suddenly and I was only 9 years old. We moved three times
after he died and finally settled in an old duplex complete with a
partially dirt cellar and a spooky attic. One particularly trying day, I
was very upset and went stomping up the steps to the second floor and
threw myself on the bed in true drama queen fashion (of course we didn't
have names for this back then - this was 1969). I buried my face in the
pillow and sobbed uncontrollably for a few minutes. Then I felt a very
warm, comforting touch on my back and shoulder area. I thought that Mom
had followed me up the stairs and was there to dry my tears. I turned
around for my hug and no-one was there! I feel that it was Daddy telling
me that everything was going to be all right. And it was!
Cindy,
Investigator
CCPRS
TIMOTHY - PART II
Hi, I'm the younger sister, Cindy, that was mentioned in the story
above. I clearly remember all that took place in our house. It was a
very spooky place to grow up in! I guess I was about 13 or 14 years old
when I decided to put my bedroom in the attic of the house. The very
same aforementioned attic where the heavy footsteps were heard by my
sister, Carol. I moved my bed, dresser, clothes and everything I owned
up there. I painted and with the help of one of my friends, we built a
bannister/railing at the top of the stairs. On that particular day, I
was painting the trim around the windows and my friend was working on
the bannister when all of a sudden she fell down a couple of the stairs
- not all of them thank goodness! She started looking around and I ran
over to see if she was all right. She said that someone pushed her! She
knew that I was probably 15 feet away from her when this happened. We
looked around for a minute and started working again. There were many
nights up there in that attic that it took all of my strength to stay
put and not run down the steps and crawl in bed with one of my sisters
or my Mom. One night I was going to sleep when I felt someone sit on the
bottom of my bed. I sat straight up and looked and there was an
indentation of someone sitting there but you couldn't see anyone!
Sometimes I would see shadow figures floating across the room and I
would call out but no-one would answer. I would say that I pretty much
got used to whatever was in that attic. If it was Timothy, I think he
liked what I had done to the place!
Cindy,
Investigator
CCPRS |
