Bloody Mary Legend

Who can forget the scary story of Bloody Mary, the evil spirit who will scratch your eyes out when summoned? Most people heard the Bloody Mary legend when they were children, listening to spooky ghost stories around the campfire. The tale is still told at slumber parties, campouts, and late-night bonfire parties.

The legend claims that the evil woman can be summoned by chanting "Bloody Mary" into a mirror anywhere from three to one-hundred times in a darkened room lit only by a candle. (Thirteen seems to be the most popular number of chants, appropriately so.) The bathroom is the most popular setting to test out the legend, but other dark rooms seem applicable.

After the given amount of chants, the spirit will then appear in a mirror and claw your eyes out and death will follow. Other variations have her driving you insane or pulling you into the mirror, never to be seen again.

Who Bloody Mary really is remains a mystery. While there are many versions of this story, most accounts point to a woman named Mary Worth, who was horribly disfigured in a car crash. Some people still tell of a witch who was burned at the stake and has returned for revenge, or it may be the devil himself who comes for your soul.

The Bloody Mary Legend saw some rising popularity with a variation of the story in the 1992 movie "Candyman" that used the idea for it's plot. When the characters chanted "Candyman" in the mirror 5 times, he would appear and murder them with his hook hand. I found this movie terrifying! Although I can say that as an adult I generally don't have any nightmares from horror movies, this one I remember vividly -- waking up in a cold sweat, and trying not to fall back asleep.

The movie "Urban Legend" was released to theatres in 1998 and borrowed the Bloody Mary myth once again, for one of it's stories. As if that wasn't enough, 2005 brought us "Urban Legends: Bloody Mary," which was released directly to DVD. There's no doubt, the horrific tale will appear again, perhaps in yet another version with a different twist.

While you may think you're safe from mean, old Bloody Mary, think again... Legend has it that if you are near a mirror in total darkness, she can still come for you, regardless of whether or not you're trying to call for her.

The Premature Burial
by Edgar Allen Poe

There are certain themes of which the interest is all-absorbing, but which are too entirely horrible for the purposes of legitimate fiction. These the mere romanticist must eschew, if he do not wish to offend or to disgust. They are with propriety handled only when the severity and majesty of Truth sanctify and sustain them. We thrill, for example, with the most intense of "pleasurable pain" over the accounts of the Passage of the Beresina, of the Earthquake at Lisbon, of the Plague at London, of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, or of the stifling of the hundred and twenty-three prisoners in the Black Hole at Calcutta. But in these accounts it is the fact - -- it is the reality - -- it is the history which excites. As inventions, we should regard them with simple abhorrence.

I have mentioned some few of the more prominent and august calamities on record; but in these it is the extent, not less than the character of the calamity, which so vividly impresses the fancy. I need not remind the reader that, from the long and weird catalogue of human miseries, I might have selected many individual instances more replete with essential suffering than any of these vast generalities of disaster. The true wretchedness, indeed -- the ultimate woe - -- is particular, not diffuse. That the ghastly extremes of agony are endured by man the unit, and never by man the mass - -- for this let us thank a merciful God!

To be buried while alive is, beyond question, the most terrific of these extremes which has ever fallen to the lot of mere mortality. That it has frequently, very frequently, so fallen will scarcely be denied by those who think. The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins? We know that there are diseases in which occur total cessations of all the apparent functions of vitality, and yet in which these cessations are merely suspensions, properly so called. They are only temporary pauses in the incomprehensible mechanism. A certain period elapses, and some unseen mysterious principle again sets in motion the magic pinions and the wizard wheels. The silver cord was not for ever loosed, nor the golden bowl irreparably broken. But where, meantime, was the soul?

Apart, however, from the inevitable conclusion, a priori that such causes must produce such effects - -- that the well-known occurrence of such cases of suspended animation must naturally give rise, now and then, to premature interments -- apart from this consideration, we have the direct testimony of medical and ordinary experience to prove that a vast number of such interments have actually taken place. I might refer at once, if necessary to a hundred well authenticated instances. One of very remarkable character, and of which the circumstances may be fresh in the memory of some of my readers, occurred, not very long ago, in the neighboring city of Baltimore, where it occasioned a painful, intense, and widely-extended excitement. The wife of one of the most respectable citizens-a lawyer of eminence and a member of Congress -- was seized with a sudden and unaccountable illness, which completely baffled the skill of her physicians. After much suffering she died, or was supposed to die. No one suspected, indeed, or had reason to suspect, that she was not actually dead. She presented all the ordinary appearances of death. The face assumed the usual pinched and sunken outline. The lips were of the usual marble pallor. The eyes were lustreless. There was no warmth. Pulsation had ceased. For three days the body was preserved unburied, during which it had acquired a stony rigidity. The funeral, in short, was hastened, on account of the rapid advance of what was supposed to be decomposition.

The lady was deposited in her family vault, which, for three subsequent years, was undisturbed. At the expiration of this term it was opened for the reception of a sarcophagus; - -- but, alas! how fearful a shock awaited the husband, who, personally, threw open the door! As its portals swung outwardly back, some white-apparelled object fell rattling within his arms. It was the skeleton of his wife in her yet unmoulded shroud.

A careful investigation rendered it evident that she had revived within two days after her entombment; that her struggles within the coffin had caused it to fall from a ledge, or shelf to the floor, where it was so broken as to permit her escape. A lamp which had been accidentally left, full of oil, within the tomb, was found empty; it might have been exhausted, however, by evaporation. On the uttermost of the steps which led down into the dread chamber was a large fragment of the coffin, with which, it seemed, that she had endeavored to arrest attention by striking the iron door. While thus occupied, she probably swooned, or possibly died, through sheer terror; and, in failing, her shroud became entangled in some iron -- work which projected interiorly. Thus she remained, and thus she rotted, erect.

In the year 1810, a case of living inhumation happened in France, attended with circumstances which go far to warrant the assertion that truth is, indeed, stranger than fiction. The heroine of the story was a Mademoiselle Victorine Lafourcade, a young girl of illustrious family, of wealth, and of great personal beauty. Among her numerous suitors was Julien Bossuet, a poor litterateur, or journalist of Paris. His talents and general amiability had recommended him to the notice of the heiress, by whom he seems to have been truly beloved; but her pride of birth decided her, finally, to reject him, and to wed a Monsieur Renelle, a banker and a diplomatist of some eminence. After marriage, however, this gentleman neglected, and, perhaps, even more positively ill-treated her. Having passed with him some wretched years, she died, - -- at least her condition so closely resembled death as to deceive every one who saw her. She was buried - -- not in a vault, but in an ordinary grave in the village of her nativity. Filled with despair, and still inflamed by the memory of a profound attachment, the lover journeys from the capital to the remote province in which the village lies, with the romantic purpose of disinterring the corpse, and possessing himself of its luxuriant tresses. He reaches the grave. At midnight he unearths the coffin, opens it, and is in the act of detaching the hair, when he is arrested by the unclosing of the beloved eyes. In fact, the lady had been buried alive. Vitality had not altogether departed, and she was aroused by the caresses of her lover from the lethargy which had been mistaken for death. He bore her frantically to his lodgings in the village. He employed certain powerful restoratives suggested by no little medical learning. In fine, she revived. She recognized her preserver. She remained with him until, by slow degrees, she fully recovered her original health. Her woman's heart was not adamant, and this last lesson of love sufficed to soften it. She bestowed it upon Bossuet. She returned no more to her husband, but, concealing from him her resurrection, fled with her lover to America. Twenty years afterward, the two returned to France, in the persuasion that time had so greatly altered the lady's appearance that her friends would be unable to recognize her. They were mistaken, however, for, at the first meeting, Monsieur Renelle did actually recognize and make claim to his wife. This claim she resisted, and a judicial tribunal sustained her in her resistance, deciding that the peculiar circumstances, with the long lapse of years, had extinguished, not only equitably, but legally, the authority of the husband.

The "Chirurgical Journal" of Leipsic -- a periodical of high authority and merit, which some American bookseller would do well to translate and republish, records in a late number a very distressing event of the character in question.

An officer of artillery, a man of gigantic stature and of robust health, being thrown from an unmanageable horse, received a very severe contusion upon the head, which rendered him insensible at once; the skull was slightly fractured, but no immediate danger was apprehended. Trepanning was accomplished successfully. He was bled, and many other of the ordinary means of relief were adopted. Gradually, however, he fell into a more and more hopeless state of stupor, and, finally, it was thought that he died.

The weather was warm, and he was buried with indecent haste in one of the public cemeteries. His funeral took place on Thursday. On the Sunday following, the grounds of the cemetery were, as usual, much thronged with visiters, and about noon an intense excitement was created by the declaration of a peasant that, while sitting upon the grave of the officer, he had distinctly felt a commotion of the earth, as if occasioned by some one struggling beneath. At first little attention was paid to the man's asseveration; but his evident terror, and the dogged obstinacy with which he persisted in his story, had at length their natural effect upon the crowd. Spades were hurriedly procured, and the grave, which was shamefully shallow, was in a few minutes so far thrown open that the head of its occupant appeared. He was then seemingly dead; but he sat nearly erect within his coffin, the lid of which, in his furious struggles, he had partially uplifted.

He was forthwith conveyed to the nearest hospital, and there pronounced to be still living, although in an asphytic condition. After some hours he revived, recognized individuals of his acquaintance, and, in broken sentences spoke of his agonies in the grave.

From what he related, it was clear that he must have been conscious of life for more than an hour, while inhumed, before lapsing into insensibility. The grave was carelessly and loosely filled with an exceedingly porous soil; and thus some air was necessarily admitted. He heard the footsteps of the crowd overhead, and endeavored to make himself heard in turn. It was the tumult within the grounds of the cemetery, he said, which appeared to awaken him from a deep sleep, but no sooner was he awake than he became fully aware of the awful horrors of his position.

This patient, it is recorded, was doing well and seemed to be in a fair way of ultimate recovery, but fell a victim to the quackeries of medical experiment. The galvanic battery was applied, and he suddenly expired in one of those ecstatic paroxysms which, occasionally, it superinduces.

The mention of the galvanic battery, nevertheless, recalls to my memory a well known and very extraordinary case in point, where its action proved the means of restoring to animation a young attorney of London, who had been interred for two days. This occurred in 1831, and created, at the time, a very profound sensation wherever it was made the subject of converse.

The patient, Mr. Edward Stapleton, had died, apparently of typhus fever, accompanied with some anomalous symptoms which had excited the curiosity of his medical attendants. Upon his seeming decease, his friends were requested to sanction a post-mortem examination, but declined to permit it. As often happens, when such refusals are made, the practitioners resolved to disinter the body and dissect it at leisure, in private. Arrangements were easily effected with some of the numerous corps of body-snatchers, with which London abounds; and, upon the third night after the funeral, the supposed corpse was unearthed from a grave eight feet deep, and deposited in the opening chamber of one of the private hospitals.

An incision of some extent had been actually made in the abdomen, when the fresh and undecayed appearance of the subject suggested an application of the battery. One experiment succeeded another, and the customary effects supervened, with nothing to characterize them in any respect, except, upon one or two occasions, a more than ordinary degree of life-likeness in the convulsive action.

It grew late. The day was about to dawn; and it was thought expedient, at length, to proceed at once to the dissection. A student, however, was especially desirous of testing a theory of his own, and insisted upon applying the battery to one of the pectoral muscles. A rough gash was made, and a wire hastily brought in contact, when the patient, with a hurried but quite unconvulsive movement, arose from the table, stepped into the middle of the floor, gazed about him uneasily for a few seconds, and then -- spoke. What he said was unintelligible, but words were uttered; the syllabification was distinct. Having spoken, he fell heavily to the floor.

For some moments all were paralyzed with awe -- but the urgency of the case soon restored them their presence of mind. It was seen that Mr. Stapleton was alive, although in a swoon. Upon exhibition of ether he revived and was rapidly restored to health, and to the society of his friends -- from whom, however, all knowledge of his resuscitation was withheld, until a relapse was no longer to be apprehended. Their wonder -- their rapturous astonishment -- may be conceived.

The most thrilling peculiarity of this incident, nevertheless, is involved in what Mr. S. himself asserts. He declares that at no period was he altogether insensible -- that, dully and confusedly, he was aware of everything which happened to him, from the moment in which he was pronounced dead by his physicians, to that in which he fell swooning to the floor of the hospital. "I am alive," were the uncomprehended words which, upon recognizing the locality of the dissecting-room, he had endeavored, in his extremity, to utter.

It were an easy matter to multiply such histories as these -- but I forbear -- for, indeed, we have no need of such to establish the fact that premature interments occur. When we reflect how very rarely, from the nature of the case, we have it in our power to detect them, we must admit that they may frequently occur without our cognizance. Scarcely, in truth, is a graveyard ever encroached upon, for any purpose, to any great extent, that skeletons are not found in postures which suggest the most fearful of suspicions.

Fearful indeed the suspicion -- but more fearful the doom! It may be asserted, without hesitation, that no event is so terribly well adapted to inspire the supremeness of bodily and of mental distress, as is burial before death. The unendurable oppression of the lungs -- the stifling fumes from the damp earth -- the clinging to the death garments -- the rigid embrace of the narrow house -- the blackness of the absolute Night -- the silence like a sea that overwhelms -- the unseen but palpable presence of the Conqueror Worm -- these things, with the thoughts of the air and grass above, with memory of dear friends who would fly to save us if but informed of our fate, and with consciousness that of this fate they can never be informed -- that our hopeless portion is that of the really dead -- these considerations, I say, carry into the heart, which still palpitates, a degree of appalling and intolerable horror from which the most daring imagination must recoil. We know of nothing so agonizing upon Earth -- we can dream of nothing half so hideous in the realms of the nethermost Hell. And thus all narratives upon this topic have an interest profound; an interest, nevertheless, which, through the sacred awe of the topic itself, very properly and very peculiarly depends upon our conviction of the truth of the matter narrated. What I have now to tell is of my own actual knowledge -- of my own positive and personal experience.

For several years I had been subject to attacks of the singular disorder which physicians have agreed to term catalepsy, in default of a more definitive title. Although both the immediate and the predisposing causes, and even the actual diagnosis, of this disease are still mysterious, its obvious and apparent character is sufficiently well understood. Its variations seem to be chiefly of degree. Sometimes the patient lies, for a day only, or even for a shorter period, in a species of exaggerated lethargy. He is senseless and externally motionless; but the pulsation of the heart is still faintly perceptible; some traces of warmth remain; a slight color lingers within the centre of the cheek; and, upon application of a mirror to the lips, we can detect a torpid, unequal, and vacillating action of the lungs. Then again the duration of the trance is for weeks -- even for months; while the closest scrutiny, and the most rigorous medical tests, fail to establish any material distinction between the state of the sufferer and what we conceive of absolute death. Very usually he is saved from premature interment solely by the knowledge of his friends that he has been previously subject to catalepsy, by the consequent suspicion excited, and, above all, by the non-appearance of decay. The advances of the malady are, luckily, gradual. The first manifestations, although marked, are unequivocal. The fits grow successively more and more distinctive, and endure each for a longer term than the preceding. In this lies the principal security from inhumation. The unfortunate whose first attack should be of the extreme character which is occasionally seen, would almost inevitably be consigned alive to the tomb.

My own case differed in no important particular from those mentioned in medical books. Sometimes, without any apparent cause, I sank, little by little, into a condition of hemi-syncope, or half swoon; and, in this condition, without pain, without ability to stir, or, strictly speaking, to think, but with a dull lethargic consciousness of life and of the presence of those who surrounded my bed, I remained, until the crisis of the disease restored me, suddenly, to perfect sensation. At other times I was quickly and impetuously smitten. I grew sick, and numb, and chilly, and dizzy, and so fell prostrate at once. Then, for weeks, all was void, and black, and silent, and Nothing became the universe. Total annihilation could be no more. From these latter attacks I awoke, however, with a gradation slow in proportion to the suddenness of the seizure. Just as the day dawns to the friendless and houseless beggar who roams the streets throughout the long desolate winter night -- just so tardily -- just so wearily -- just so cheerily came back the light of the Soul to me.

Apart from the tendency to trance, however, my general health appeared to be good; nor could I perceive that it was at all affected by the one prevalent malady -- unless, indeed, an idiosyncrasy in my ordinary sleep may be looked upon as superinduced. Upon awaking from slumber, I could never gain, at once, thorough possession of my senses, and always remained, for many minutes, in much bewilderment and perplexity; -- the mental faculties in general, but the memory in especial, being in a condition of absolute abeyance.

In all that I endured there was no physical suffering but of moral distress an infinitude. My fancy grew charnel, I talked "of worms, of tombs, and epitaphs." I was lost in reveries of death, and the idea of premature burial held continual possession of my brain. The ghastly Danger to which I was subjected haunted me day and night. In the former, the torture of meditation was excessive -- in the latter, supreme. When the grim Darkness overspread the Earth, then, with every horror of thought, I shook -- shook as the quivering plumes upon the hearse. When Nature could endure wakefulness no longer, it was with a struggle that I consented to sleep -- for I shuddered to reflect that, upon awaking, I might find myself the tenant of a grave. And when, finally, I sank into slumber, it was only to rush at once into a world of phantasms, above which, with vast, sable, overshadowing wing, hovered, predominant, the one sepulchral Idea.

From the innumerable images of gloom which thus oppressed me in dreams, I select for record but a solitary vision. Methought I was immersed in a cataleptic trance of more than usual duration and profundity. Suddenly there came an icy hand upon my forehead, and an impatient, gibbering voice whispered the word "Arise!" within my ear.

I sat erect. The darkness was total. I could not see the figure of him who had aroused me. I could call to mind neither the period at which I had fallen into the trance, nor the locality in which I then lay. While I remained motionless, and busied in endeavors to collect my thought, the cold hand grasped me fiercely by the wrist, shaking it petulantly, while the gibbering voice said again:

"Arise! did I not bid thee arise?"

"And who," I demanded, "art thou?"

"I have no name in the regions which I inhabit," replied the voice, mournfully; "I was mortal, but am fiend. I was merciless, but am pitiful. Thou dost feel that I shudder. -- My teeth chatter as I speak, yet it is not with the chilliness of the night -- of the night without end. But this hideousness is insufferable. How canst thou tranquilly sleep? I cannot rest for the cry of these great agonies. These sights are more than I can bear. Get thee up! Come with me into the outer Night, and let me unfold to thee the graves. Is not this a spectacle of woe? -- Behold!"

I looked; and the unseen figure, which still grasped me by the wrist, had caused to be thrown open the graves of all mankind, and from each issued the faint phosphoric radiance of decay, so that I could see into the innermost recesses, and there view the shrouded bodies in their sad and solemn slumbers with the worm. But alas! the real sleepers were fewer, by many millions, than those who slumbered not at all; and there was a feeble struggling; and there was a general sad unrest; and from out the depths of the countless pits there came a melancholy rustling from the garments of the buried. And of those who seemed tranquilly to repose, I saw that a vast number had changed, in a greater or less degree, the rigid and uneasy position in which they had originally been entombed. And the voice again said to me as I gazed:

"Is it not -- oh! is it not a pitiful sight?" -- but, before I could find words to reply, the figure had ceased to grasp my wrist, the phosphoric lights expired, and the graves were closed with a sudden violence, while from out them arose a tumult of despairing cries, saying again: "Is it not -- O, God, is it not a very pitiful sight?"

Phantasies such as these, presenting themselves at night, extended their terrific influence far into my waking hours. My nerves became thoroughly unstrung, and I fell a prey to perpetual horror. I hesitated to ride, or to walk, or to indulge in any exercise that would carry me from home. In fact, I no longer dared trust myself out of the immediate presence of those who were aware of my proneness to catalepsy, lest, falling into one of my usual fits, I should be buried before my real condition could be ascertained. I doubted the care, the fidelity of my dearest friends. I dreaded that, in some trance of more than customary duration, they might be prevailed upon to regard me as irrecoverable. I even went so far as to fear that, as I occasioned much trouble, they might be glad to consider any very protracted attack as sufficient excuse for getting rid of me altogether. It was in vain they endeavored to reassure me by the most solemn promises. I exacted the most sacred oaths, that under no circumstances they would bury me until decomposition had so materially advanced as to render farther preservation impossible. And, even then, my mortal terrors would listen to no reason -- would accept no consolation. I entered into a series of elaborate precautions. Among other things, I had the family vault so remodelled as to admit of being readily opened from within. The slightest pressure upon a long lever that extended far into the tomb would cause the iron portal to fly back. There were arrangements also for the free admission of air and light, and convenient receptacles for food and water, within immediate reach of the coffin intended for my reception. This coffin was warmly and softly padded, and was provided with a lid, fashioned upon the principle of the vault-door, with the addition of springs so contrived that the feeblest movement of the body would be sufficient to set it at liberty. Besides all this, there was suspended from the roof of the tomb, a large bell, the rope of which, it was designed, should extend through a hole in the coffin, and so be fastened to one of the hands of the corpse. But, alas? what avails the vigilance against the Destiny of man? Not even these well-contrived securities sufficed to save from the uttermost agonies of living inhumation, a wretch to these agonies foredoomed!

There arrived an epoch -- as often before there had arrived -- in which I found myself emerging from total unconsciousness into the first feeble and indefinite sense of existence. Slowly -- with a tortoise gradation -- approached the faint gray dawn of the psychal day. A torpid uneasiness. An apathetic endurance of dull pain. No care -- no hope -- no effort. Then, after a long interval, a ringing in the ears; then, after a lapse still longer, a prickling or tingling sensation in the extremities; then a seemingly eternal period of pleasurable quiescence, during which the awakening feelings are struggling into thought; then a brief re-sinking into non-entity; then a sudden recovery. At length the slight quivering of an eyelid, and immediately thereupon, an electric shock of a terror, deadly and indefinite, which sends the blood in torrents from the temples to the heart. And now the first positive effort to think. And now the first endeavor to remember. And now a partial and evanescent success. And now the memory has so far regained its dominion, that, in some measure, I am cognizant of my state. I feel that I am not awaking from ordinary sleep. I recollect that I have been subject to catalepsy. And now, at last, as if by the rush of an ocean, my shuddering spirit is overwhelmed by the one grim Danger -- by the one spectral and ever-prevalent idea.

For some minutes after this fancy possessed me, I remained without motion. And why? I could not summon courage to move. I dared not make the effort which was to satisfy me of my fate -- and yet there was something at my heart which whispered me it was sure. Despair -- such as no other species of wretchedness ever calls into being -- despair alone urged me, after long irresolution, to uplift the heavy lids of my eyes. I uplifted them. It was dark -- all dark. I knew that the fit was over. I knew that the crisis of my disorder had long passed. I knew that I had now fully recovered the use of my visual faculties -- and yet it was dark -- all dark -- the intense and utter raylessness of the Night that endureth for evermore.

I endeavored to shriek-, and my lips and my parched tongue moved convulsively together in the attempt -- but no voice issued from the cavernous lungs, which oppressed as if by the weight of some incumbent mountain, gasped and palpitated, with the heart, at every elaborate and struggling inspiration.

The movement of the jaws, in this effort to cry aloud, showed me that they were bound up, as is usual with the dead. I felt, too, that I lay upon some hard substance, and by something similar my sides were, also, closely compressed. So far, I had not ventured to stir any of my limbs -- but now I violently threw up my arms, which had been lying at length, with the wrists crossed. They struck a solid wooden substance, which extended above my person at an elevation of not more than six inches from my face. I could no longer doubt that I reposed within a coffin at last.

And now, amid all my infinite miseries, came sweetly the cherub Hope -- for I thought of my precautions. I writhed, and made spasmodic exertions to force open the lid: it would not move. I felt my wrists for the bell-rope: it was not to be found. And now the Comforter fled for ever, and a still sterner Despair reigned triumphant; for I could not help perceiving the absence of the paddings which I had so carefully prepared -- and then, too, there came suddenly to my nostrils the strong peculiar odor of moist earth. The conclusion was irresistible. I was not within the vault. I had fallen into a trance while absent from home-while among strangers -- when, or how, I could not remember -- and it was they who had buried me as a dog -- nailed up in some common coffin -- and thrust deep, deep, and for ever, into some ordinary and nameless grave.

As this awful conviction forced itself, thus, into the innermost chambers of my soul, I once again struggled to cry aloud. And in this second endeavor I succeeded. A long, wild, and continuous shriek, or yell of agony, resounded through the realms of the subterranean Night.

"Hillo! hillo, there!" said a gruff voice, in reply.

"What the devil's the matter now!" said a second.

"Get out o' that!" said a third.

"What do you mean by yowling in that ere kind of style, like a cattymount?" said a fourth; and hereupon I was seized and shaken without ceremony, for several minutes, by a junto of very rough-looking individuals. They did not arouse me from my slumber -- for I was wide awake when I screamed -- but they restored me to the full possession of my memory.

This adventure occurred near Richmond, in Virginia. Accompanied by a friend, I had proceeded, upon a gunning expedition, some miles down the banks of the James River. Night approached, and we were overtaken by a storm. The cabin of a small sloop lying at anchor in the stream, and laden with garden mould, afforded us the only available shelter. We made the best of it, and passed the night on board. I slept in one of the only two berths in the vessel -- and the berths of a sloop of sixty or twenty tons need scarcely be described. That which I occupied had no bedding of any kind. Its extreme width was eighteen inches. The distance of its bottom from the deck overhead was precisely the same. I found it a matter of exceeding difficulty to squeeze myself in. Nevertheless, I slept soundly, and the whole of my vision -- for it was no dream, and no nightmare -- arose naturally from the circumstances of my position -- from my ordinary bias of thought -- and from the difficulty, to which I have alluded, of collecting my senses, and especially of regaining my memory, for a long time after awaking from slumber. The men who shook me were the crew of the sloop, and some laborers engaged to unload it. From the load itself came the earthly smell. The bandage about the jaws was a silk handkerchief in which I had bound up my head, in default of my customary nightcap.

The tortures endured, however, were indubitably quite equal for the time, to those of actual sepulture. They were fearfully -- they were inconceivably hideous; but out of Evil proceeded Good; for their very excess wrought in my spirit an inevitable revulsion. My soul acquired tone -- acquired temper. I went abroad. I took vigorous exercise. I breathed the free air of Heaven. I thought upon other subjects than Death. I discarded my medical books. "Buchan" I burned. I read no "Night Thoughts" -- no fustian about churchyards -- no bugaboo tales -- such as this. In short, I became a new man, and lived a man's life. From that memorable night, I dismissed forever my charnel apprehensions, and with them vanished the cataleptic disorder, of which, perhaps, they had been less the consequence than the cause.

There are moments when, even to the sober eye of Reason, the world of our sad Humanity may assume the semblance of a Hell -- but the imagination of man is no Carathis, to explore with impunity its every cavern. Alas! the grim legion of sepulchral terrors cannot be regarded as altogether fanciful -- but, like the Demons in whose company Afrasiab made his voyage down the Oxus, they must sleep, or they will devour us -- they must be suffered to slumber, or we perish.

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The Last Ride
by Paul Melniczek

She lifted up her head and peered outside through the frosted window. Wrinkled eyes gazed into the bright sky, and a smile came over the old woman’s face when she saw the full moon, shining away in all it’s harvest glory, a perfect background setting for All Hallow’s Eve.

A loud purring reached her ears as a black cat leaped up on the table next to the rocking chair she was sitting in.

"Yes, my sweets. Isn’t that a pretty night we have in store for us? Old man moon looks down on us with a wink in his eye tonight."

The cat stared at her with deep green eyes, attention fixed on every word.

"You know what this night means, don’t you, Trickster?" The cat let out a soft meow, listening to his master.

"It is the passing of an age, that is what. Many long years, happy memories, but there is an ending to every story, good and bad. Ol’ Madge here has seen it all, yes I have."

The old woman pushed herself up from the chair, one gnarled hand stroking the silken fur of Trickster. There was a creaking noise as old bones cracked within the ancient body, stiff joints groaning in protest at the effort made by her to straighten up.

"Ah, this craggy old girl ain’t what she used to be. Need a dose of the ointment before I go, that’ll fix me for a little while."

Madge walked over towards a large oaken trunk that was filled with an assortment of herbs, spices, animal parts, jarred collections of insects, packaged powders, and numerous other odds and ends. They were the tools of her trade.

Rummaging through the contents, she found a sachet containing some brown colored leaves, and when she opened it a sweet odor wafted outwards.

"Hmm, this will do fine." The crone went over to a wooden cabinet which had vials of liquid scattered about the shelves. She grabbed a tube with a bubbly fluid inside with a purple tinge to it, and then poured the leaves in.

Wispy curls of vapor rose up, and the old woman drank deeply.

A look of revulsion crossed her face at the bitter taste, but she shook it off.

"Not the fountain of youth, but it bestows on me a glimmer of strength, and that is all I need." She smacked her dry lips together, and smiled with glee.

Madge hobbled over to the great stone fireplace that warmed the cottage, and a black cauldron was resting above the burning flames. A green liquid boiled away in a frenzy, fat bubbles oozing from the surface. She stirred the mixture with a metal ladle.

"Double, bubble, toil and trouble!"

"Double, bubble, toil and trouble!’

Cackling with delight, the old woman churned the foul broth with renewed vigor. The cauldron hissed in answer, and the brew began to fizzle over.

"Ha ha, that’s it. A ghastly potion for a ghostly night!"

Madge nodded to herself, and the flames danced before her, casting lurid shadows on the walls of the cottage.

The image behind the cat grew in size, reaching the proportions of a great beast which was many times the feline’s actual body shape.

Trickster growled, his dark mane bristling. The master made a gesture in the air, and the front door burst open as the black cat sprang into the night, the transformation beginning to take place. A howl echoed from the woods outside, and Madge shouted in response, the language old and archaic.

"Rejoice in the wild, my pet. The night calls. Until the sun comes up, when you must return."

A gust of wind blasted against the cottage, slamming the door shut with a loud crash. The old woman’s wizened face had a trace of sadness on it, and she let out a deep sigh.

"It is almost time, must make haste."

Madge opened the closet and reached inside, tenderly bringing out a worn garb, black as the night. A tear trickled from the corner of an eye, moistening the callused cheek beneath.

"So many years, where have they all gone? How will I be able to face the next one, knowing that my time is done?"

She pulled the raiment tightly about herself, cherishing the feel of the familiar outfit. The cloak gave her comfort and security.

"Such little time, and too many things to fill it with, ‘tis a pity."

There was an upper shelf inside the closet, and from this she brought out a rumpled black hat, pointed at the top in the shape of a narrow cone.

"Hee hee hee," she chuckled. "A pointed cone for a crooked crone." She set the hat on her head, and brushed back the strands of silver hair that lay tangled down to her shoulders. She began to feel much younger and stronger, but it was only wishful thinking. Potions could give her a teasing of both, but that was it.

Madge crossed to the other side of the room, wooden floor boards creaking underneath her musty black boots. The heels clicked softly with her passing.

A reading desk sat in the corner, and a dusty tome sprawled along the top. Strange words and symbols were etched onto the crinkled pages, the lettering written in blood. She leafed through until she found the proper incantation, then closed the book with a snap.

"Long ago, I could recite nearly every line of verse in half that script. But now....." The old woman shook her head, again being overcome with remorse.

"More’s the pity, old hag, I’ve had my turn. The wheels of time roll on without stopping, and my moment has arrived to step aside. Only fond memories, no regrets."

The old woman’s gaze wandered the trappings of the cottage, her domain for countless years. Yes, fate had treated her well, there was no denial.

"And now, my friend, who has served me so well these many years. Will you answer the summons yet again, on this night of all nights?

Madge spread her arms wide in appeal, pale yellow eyes closed in concentration. The wind picked up outside, and tree branches scratched against the window panes, bent stick arms moving in wooden animation, responding to the surge of dark power that was building within the cottage.

There was a flash of brilliance radiating from a section of stone next to the fireplace, and a secret panel was revealed. From the compartment emerged a long broom, stark in opaque blackness, levitating towards the old woman.

"Ha ha ha, come to me! It is our time again. The sisters await!"

The broom continued floating, and it came within the crone’s eager grasp as it throbbed with power, pulsating with diabolical energy.

Madge held the broom up triumphantly, and opened the front door. A strong breeze was blowing, and fallen leaves covered the mossy earth. Sinister figures crouched within the surrounding shadows, lurking among the trees.

It was Halloween night, and spirits of the nights had awakened in unholy celebration.

Madge sat astride the enchanted broom, and up she flew to meet with her fellow sisters of the coven. This was her last time as the coven leader, and a new one would be sworn in this Hallow’s Eve.

She gazed up at the awaiting sky, spotting others of her wicked brethren. It was Halloween night, and for the last time, into that magical night, rode the form of the witch, on her last moonlight ride

Events occurring in current home

January 2009 to Current Date.

Added January 17:

As we endure yet another near tragic death in our family, it is during these times that it is apparent that something in our home is feeding off our pain and turmoil.

My oldest son Corey's friend was visiting and we were on the discussion of all that our family has had to deal with last year and our hopes that this year would bring forth new beginnings and an end to all the trauma our family has had to face.  As I described one particular incident to my son's friend, I decided it would be best to just show him where the event occurred.  So, I took him to the former master bedroom (now my oldest son's bedroom).  It was night time, so the room was dark as we entered.  I walked in to the bathroom and before I even put my hand on the doorknob to open the door, an eeriness seemed to overwhelm me.  I brushed it off as just reliving the event as I explained what happened, step by step...moment by moment.  But when I opened the door, there was a sudden, quick flicker of lights.  It was almost as if someone had flipped a strobe light on and off real fast (We were in the pitch darkness, I hadn't even fully entered the bathroom, much less even coming close to where the light switch was....and the lights....all the lights were completely off when we entered the room).  I turned to my son and his friend, asking "Did you all see that?"  They hadn't because they were still just entering the bedroom and couldn't see in to the bathroom.  Hoping that it was just my eyes playing tricks on me, I exited the bathroom, re-entered and exited again and again....trying find an explanation for the flashing of lights..

The very next night, I was sitting in the living room, speaking with my sister after we'd arrived home from the emergency room.  My youngest son Justin was sitting in his gaming chair, facing us....with his back to the rest of the house.  As we continued to all discuss the day's events (the tragedy)....Justin got up and walked over to me and sat on the floor next to where I was sitting.  He sat there with his hand over his mouth, looking towards the television.  I asked him why he moved (from his chair to the floor next to me), he said "There's something in the hall....listening to you talking."  I asked "Something? or Someone?"  He said "I don't know....but I could feel something in the hall, watching me...."  I yelled out "Ok, we've been through enough today, unless you here with a purpose to help or unless you were sent by God, you are not welcome here."  Without realizing that I too must have sensed something, there was a change in the entire environment...a change in the air....if that makes any sense.  If you've ever felt watched or felt a presence and felt the moment it leave...you know exactly what I'm talking about....you know that feeling.  We were back to our conversation, when I did feel something near....as if I were being starred at or watched....so I once again, interrupted our conversation to ask...well, I was more demanding that what ever is around to leave...it wasn't welcome.  And again, there was a total shift in the air....as if someone had opened a window and let fresh air in...or a feeling of relief....it was just a completely different feeling.  I think my sister got a little spooked and decided it was time to head home.  And to no surprise, this all occurred a little after three in the morning.

Added January 20:

A couple of audible experiences to report.  Sunday, the 18th, I was in my office, on my computer.  Justin and my nephew Adam were in the living room playing a video game.  Off and on, I could hear Justin and Adam conversing back and forth….but then out of no where (when it was quiet and no one in the house was talking) I heard a voice say (from right outside my office door) "Ma…Mama." The tone was very calm, yet it sounded almost like it was drained or almost like it was hesitant to call out…like it was afraid of disturbing me or who ever they were calling out to or who ever they thought I was when they called out.  As soon as I heard the voice, I knew immediately…this was not a voice I recognized…the voice was of a very young child. I didn't get a response back, so I got up, walked down the hall to where Corey's room was…he wasn't in there….I went to the living room and there was Corey, Adam and Justin.  I asked them "Did one of you just call me?"  They all shook their heads "no". 

Then, Monday the 19th, my nephew Adam also had an unexplained, audible experience.  He said he was standing in Corey's bedroom doorway, talking with Corey.  He said he heard what sounded like me, behind him, call Corey's name.  He said he thought I was behind him, trying to get in to talk to Corey (because the voice was right near his ear), so he scooted to the side to let me by, but when he turned around…no one was there.  He said he asked Corey "Did you just hear your mom call you?" but Corey hadn't….so he went to the dining room where I was sitting at the dining room table talking with a family friend to ask me if I had called Corey, but it wasn't me. 

Added January 21:

I was physically touched today….actually, I was hit.  Two-thirty this afternoon, I was home schooling Corey.  Our birds (cockatiels) were being out of the ordinary, noisy.  Corey kept trying to quiet them down so he could focus on his lessons….but, they just wouldn't calm down.  So…I got up to go to the bird cage to see if I could occupy them and distract them.  I saw they could use fresh seeds, so I opened the bird cage, reached in to get their food dishes, when I heard a scurrying sound behind me (in the kitchen) and out of the corner of my eye, I saw like just a quick movement coming towards me…then I was hit twice on the back.  The impact of the hits were hard enough to jerk my upper body forward. like shove me and shift my shirt kind of sideways, but it didn't feel like I was punched…it felt more like two open hand slaps on my back.  Two really fast hits.  I turned around to look to see what was going on, only no one was there.  Corey wasn't paying attention to what I was doing, so he didn't it happen….Justin was in his bedroom and my niece Avalon was in the living room resting, so unfortunately I didn't have anyone to witness what had happened and there weren't any sort of marks or hand prints left behind.

Added March 29:

It has been an explosive week…..both personally and paranormally.

It all began the day before (Thursday, March 19th) our little dog Chewy passed away (he was 14 years old).  My sister Regina came over for a cup of late night coffee and to watch television.  John was in the kitchen, Corey and Justin were in their bedrooms, I was in the living room.  As Regina went to sit down on the couch, she said she watched as a young boy (about Justin's size-he's about 5' 4") walk through the dining room, wearing a white, button up dress shirt.  The next morning, I found Chewy had passed away, laying near the area where the apparition of the boy was seen.

Next day (March 20th, the day I found Chewy had passed away).  I was sitting at the dining room table, talking to my niece Avalon.  We were reminiscing about Chewy…the conversation then led in to the complications I had giving birth to both Corey and Justin.  I was sitting at the table, facing the living room and Avalon was sitting directly across from me, facing me, with her back to the living room.  As I was talking, out of nowhere in the living room, I watched as this mass of what looked like fog or smoke began to manifest.  As it continued to form (and it was forming very, very quickly), I could make out what appeared to be the outer area of an arm, the shoulder, it curved inward in what looked like the neck area on the left side of the body…again, in a very thin stream like swirl (the entire area where the face and chest would be was blank)….it arched up, over and down in almost a swirl like stream and then it began to sort of fill in, forming the upper part of the head (where the forehead would be and formed almost the entire right side of face.  I could clearly see the shape of a head, the right eye socket, the cheek area, part of the nose and nothing from there on down.  Avalon could obviously tell that something wasn't right.  Next thing I know, she literally leaped out of her chair, rushes over, grabs on to me and hides behind me.  I told her "Don't panic, I just saw something in the living room." She responded "I know….I could tell by the look on your face."

Same day….Avalon and Corey were in the dining room on Corey's laptop.  I was in my office.  Avalon said while she was watching Corey on the computer and talking…she watched as Moody (our black cat), walked under the table (the table has a clear glass top) and next to her chair.  I can't recall whether she said she reached down to pet her or if she just looked down, but when she did….Moody wasn't there….Moody wasn't anywhere.  She came in to my office to ask me something and when she did….Moody was in my office.  It was then that Avalon discovered what she saw, couldn't have possibly been Moody…she'd been sleeping in my office near my desk for hours.

Four days later (Tuesday, March 24th).  I was in my office on my computer.  I got up to go use the bathroom.  As I exited the bathroom, I saw on the floor, in the hall, near the wall, right out side my office door…Chewy.  By the time I saw him, blinked and turned my head (and I mean I only slightly turned my head)…and it all processed "It couldn't be…I must be seeing things"….he was gone.  It was odd, because what I saw…Chewy….almost looked like a hologram.  He was just sitting there, almost as if waiting for me to come out of the bathroom…..sitting, very, very still.  I shrugged it off as my mind playing tricks on me.  About an hour later, I was in the kitchen preparing John's lunch for the next work day….when Corey came in and said "Mama….I swear, I just heard Chewy.  It sounded like he was either in the hall near your office or in your office."  He said "Think I was imaging it?"  I told him "I don't think so….because I just saw him in the hall, right outside of my office door."

Wednesday, March 25th,  I was in the kitchen, preparing John's lunch for work the next day.  Justin was leaning against the entrance that leads from the hall/living room area and kitchen.  As we were talking back and forth….right in the middle of our conversation, Justin takes a few steps forward, towards me and says "I just saw something in the hall, either listening to us talking or watching me."  He said as he was talking, he happened to turn and look down the hall and when he did….he saw a black figure, close to the wall.  When I asked him what it looked like, he said "I don't know…just a black cloud of smoke, tall like a person….just standing in the hall and then it disappeared before my eyes."

Friday, March 27th.  My sister Rita had come over for a visit.  We were sitting at the dining room table, talking.  I began telling her about our encounters with Chewy.  She said "You're not going to believe this….but I had one too."  She told me how the night before (everyone had gone out to dinner for our son Corey's 18th birthday, then gathered at our home for cake).  She said while she was standing at the table, waiting for the cake to be served, she felt something brush against her leg.  She said it was the same type of feeling she felt many times before when she came over and Chewy came to greet her. 

Added April 17th:

Chewy makes his presence known once again….this time to John (this happened last week...Monday, April 6th)   I was in my office with Justin when we heard John yelling from the living room "What was that?"…."What was...that?"…."Who's making that sound?"…."Who's in there making that sound?"  then before I could even respond, he was standing outside my office door asking "What were you all doing?" He was looking all around on the floor and down the hall the whole time…almost in a panic.  We just sat in our chairs dumbfounded what he was talking about…because we never heard a thing.  Then he started asking Justin directly "Was that you?" "What were you doing?….What were you doing to make that sound?"  Justin looked at me puzzled and I explained to John that neither of us had even gotten up from our chairs and didn't have a clue what was going on.  Justin then said "Maybe it was Corey."  John went to see where Corey was….Corey was in his room on his computer.  I then insisted "Ok, what’s going on?  What sounds? What are you talking about?!"  He said while he was watching television, he started to hear what he thought…he felt….sounded like Chewy.  The were definitely the sounds Chewy used to make and he just couldn't figure out what would be making that specific sound..  Oddly, he claims the sounds came from around the same area both Corey and myself had encounters with Chewy.

Tonight (Friday, April 17th)  Corey was startled by a partial apparition.  He said as he exited his bedroom and started walking down the hall towards the living room, he saw something that resembled either a head or hand shoot out real quick from the bathroom and then shoot right back in.  He said it was very quick...out, then back in.  He thought someone was hiding in there, about to jump out and scare him….but as he slowly approached the bathroom and looked in to see who it was….he found the bathroom totaly empty.

Added May 24th:

Corey's ability to sense, see and hear the energies in our home is becoming more predominant with age.  Wednesday night/Thursday morning…1:30 a.m., I was sitting in my office with Corey.  I was working on my computer, he was on his laptop and we were talking back and forth to one another.  Normally at this time of morning, Corey is in his room, asleep….and something must have been missing him….looking for him.  While we were sitting talking back and forth….out of the wild blue, Corey said to me "I just saw something."  He said he saw what he thought was someone shoot past the doorway of my office, down the hall.  He described it as a dark, misty black figure about five to six feet tall.  He said it moved really, really fast…it just darted by the door.  I got up, looked around a little….sat back down and told him "If you see it again, let me know."  It couldn't have even been 20 minutes later when I saw him jerk his head real fast and say "I just saw something again." Only this time, he described what he thought to be a head peek around the door way and as he turned to look, he saw he pull back, as if to hide or leave.  I got up to go get my emf detector.  I stood in my office doorway and began calling out "Is there anyone here?" "Hello…is there anyone here?"   Then I asked "Are you looking for Corey?" Right then…the bathroom door, slowly started to move…and it stopped about a half a foot from being completely closed. I walked over to the bathroom, pushed the door back open…looked around...I did a sweep of the bathroom…nothing…but as I turned to walk out, as I was about half in the bathroom, half out…the emf detector spiked…went flat and then spiked again.  I did another sweep and retraced my steps just to make sure there wasn't another explanation for the spike…but it never responded again after that.  I waited for a while to see if the door would try to close again or if anything else happened, but it never did.

Added July 1st:

These are the latest events happening in mid to later part of June.  While my son Justin and I were on our computers in my office, I heard what sounded like our back door slam.  Knowing Corey was in his bedroom and John was asleep, I could imagine who would be coming in or going out of the house.  I looked over at Justin and asked if he heard the door slam. He said "Yah, it was the backdoor".  Both Justin and I got up to go see who it was….only to discover the backdoor not only closed, but also locked.  We went back to my office, puzzled over what we heard.  Not even a half an hour later, I had just turned to say something to Justin, when he turned to look at me and suddenly he jumped and gasped saying "Holy crap…I just saw something!" He said when he turned to look back at me, he saw a dark figured, in a hunched over position, shoot past the door way, down the hall, going in the direction of the living room.

    Another incident that happened was, Corey wanted me to take him to the video store to rent a movie. John was already asleep and Justin decided he wanted to just stay home.  While we were gone, he said he decided to surprise me by washing the dishes from dinner.  He said while he was washing dishes, he though he heard the door knob to the front door rattle. He said he turned to look, but it wasn't moving.  He walked over to the door, looked out the glass to see if me and Corey were home….but my car wasn't in the driveway.  So, he went back to washing dishes.  A few minutes later, he said he clearly heard my voice call out his name from the hall area.  He knew I wasn't home yet….didn't want to wake his father, so he decided to go sit on the front porch until we returned home.  When I pulled up in the driveway and got out of the car, Corey took off in the house to put the movie away and to see if his girlfriend called when she got off work.  While me and Justin grabbed the grocery bags to take in, Justin explained to me everything that happened. The next day, after lunch…Corey came in to my office and sat down.  He said to me "Want to know what happened last night?" I thought he was talking about what happened to Justin, but before I could answer him, he began telling me how he had fallen asleep and woke up to what sounded like someone walking in his bedroom.  He said he sat up and looked around….no one was there.  He said he laid back down, but couldn't fall asleep because he kept getting this very uncomfortable feeling that he was being watched.  He said when he sat up and looked toward his closet he noticed something odd…that he said he knew from the first time he woke up, wasn't like that before.  He said his computer chair was pulled away from his desk and was turned facing him…as if someone were sitting in it, watching him.

    The last thing that happened, only happened a few days ago.  I was in the living room watching tv and eating lunch with Corey and Justin.  I got up to go grab my glasses from my office. It was exactly 12:32 in the afternoon.  As I walked down the hall towards my office, just as I got up to my office door….out of the bathroom, comes this figure. It was tall….extremely tall….as high as the top of the door frame….it was a misty…gray looking color and very splotchy….yet it had the distinct human shape.  It just looked like light and dark spots or patches that formed the shape of a person.  By the time I processed what I was seeing and reacted by yelling "Oh my God!" It moved very quickly in the direction of my office and just vanished before my eyes.

Added July 29th:

    Things were really going full force.  It started on July 3rd with Justin seeing a phantom cat.  Justin said while he was walking out of the living room,  he saw a white cat run several feet in front of him, from the grandfather clock in to the kitchen.  We don't have a white cat….so he said he immediately ran to go see what the heck this strange cat was doing in our house.  He found no cat.  Later that night, both Justin and myself were in my office on our computers.  He got up to go grab chips and a soda….but he walked out of my office, he was stopped by what he said were bizarre white streaks of light shooting from the area where the foyer is, near the grandfather clock in to the kitchen.  He called me to come see, but by the time I got up and stood next to him…the lights had stopped. I waited for a good ten minutes with him, but the lights never reappeared.  I went back in to my office, only to have Justin call me back because he saw the lights appear again.  I went back in to the hall…but the lights never came back.

    July 16th I went to sit on the back patio.  It was pitch dark outside, so when I sat down, rather then turning on the porch light, I decided to light the small candle that was on the table next to me.  As soon as I lit that candle….I heard what sounded like shuffling….within minutes, I heard walking on the roof….heavy walking (like someone wearing heavy shoes or boots) and I watched the ceiling as this walking sound migrated from just about center of the roof, towards me and just when it got right above me…it stopped. I was sitting against the exterior wall, so I immediately looked up and out towards the edge of the roof to see if anything jumped off the roof.  I got so spooked, I blew out the candle and went inside the house.  While I was standing in the kitchen, looking out the kitchen window to see if I could see if there was some sort of animal on the patio roof….Justin walked up.  I told him what I had heard and asked if he would go outside with me to see.  We grabbed the flashlights and out we went.  We walked around the entire parameter of the house, but couldn't find anyone or anything.

    About an hour later….Corey woke up, because he couldn't sleep…so he went and laid down in the living room to watch tv.  I heard him shouting "Mama….Justin!" When we went to see what was going on.  He said while he was watching tv, he saw this black circle moving along the floor….how he described it, is exactly what my sister Regina and I have seen on many, many occasions. We have no explanation for what these little dark circles are.  I told him if he sees anything like that again, to call me.  Within in minutes, I heard the front door open and shut.  Then I heard "Mama!"  When I got up to go see what was going on….Corey was standing by the aquarium.  He said while he was watching tv, he saw the dark circle reappear…only this time, it was moving on top of the blanket he had covering himself up as he laid on the sofa. He jumped up to shake the blanket….and when he stood up…he heard noises on the porch…like someone was outside, moving around on the porch.  He walked over to the door….looked out through the glass…but couldn't see anyone there.  He said he opened the door….walked out and stood on the porch, looking around to see if it was raccoons….he said he heard the door knob rattle, like someone was getting ready to open the door and join him on the porch.  But, no one came out…and he couldn't see anything standing on the other side of the door, through the glass. When he walked back in the house, immediately he saw what looked like a young boy run through the kitchen and towards the dining room.  He then shouted for me to come….when I did….I couldn’t find any explanation for everything that he had just experienced.

    The very next night….I was once again sitting on the back patio, smoking a cigarette.  I heard three distinct knocks on the roof above me.  I got up, went in to the house and told John, Corey and Justin "I just heard something on the roof again."  I went back outside.  I was sitting where I could see through the French doors in to the house.  I watched as John, Corey and Justin all jumped up and started flipping on all the lights in the house…it appeared that they were looking for something.   Justin came to the door and said to me "Did you hear that?"  I hadn't heard anything since I heard the knocking sounds on roof a little while before.  He said while they were watching the movie, they heard a loud bang….like something slammed something or something heavy fell in the house.  When John came out to tell me what happened, he said it was extremely loud…yet had a muffled sound to it….but he said what ever it was, it sounded like someone hit the walls with extreme force.

    Hours later, I was in my office, on my computer.  Everyone had gone to bed, except me.  Actually…I didn't realize I was still awake, alone.  I knew Justin had gone to bed, but I didn’t know John and Corey had also gone to bed too.  So, there I was sitting at my computer, when I started to get this very uncomfortable feeling that I was being watched. I kept turning around and looking at my office door to see if anyone was standing there.  Then, I suddenly felt this really cold breeze hit me…it was so cold that when I touched my shoulder, it was freezing…the whole left side of my head was cold…my ear, my hair and my cheek.  It was as someone had opened a freezer door on me.  There was no explanation for the coldness, because the air vent in my office is closed because I usually keep my office window open for my cats to sit on the window sill and look out.  While I was feeling my hair and face, trying to figure out where the cold breeze came from….suddenly I saw a shadow travel along my office wall and disappear near the window…right where the curtains are. It was like something passed through and went out the window.

    On Tuesday night (July 28th)…well actually, early Wednesday morning…I went to the back patio to smoke a cigarette.  While I was sitting on the patio, about 20 feet away from where I was sitting….I saw a little girl walk through my yard.  She was wearing a light colored dress or short night gown…she had shoulder length hair and it appeared she was carrying something…it looked as if she was carrying something…the way her arms were bent in front of her.  She walked right towards where Corey's car is parked in our backyard, near a tree…and then she vanished out of sight when she reached the tree.

Events occurring in our current home

Year 2008

Added January 02:

Only fifty-one hours in to the New Year and already things are going crazy.

Wednesday morning, by the time I got off work, prepared John's lunch for the next day and did a load of laundry, it was nearing 3:30 am.  John had already gone to bed, Justin and Adam both fell asleep on the sofas and Corey and Avalon (both in the middle teens), were still up watching a movie.  I was tired and ready for bed.  I headed to the bathroom…while walking down the hall…I clearly saw Justin's bedroom door wide open.  I got out of the bathroom and found Justin now awake, standing outside the bathroom door, waiting.  I headed to the laundry room to get the last load of laundry from the dryer.  Two of our cats (Ollie and Moody) were laying on the back screen patio….so before Justin went to our bedroom to sleep…I asked him to bring them in.  I don't know why….but for reasons, I did not yet know…..I began wondering where our youngest cat, Autumn was.  We have four cats (Moody, Ollie, Sam and Autumn).  I called her a few times from the dining room….she didn't come.  So…I headed through the kitchen, down the hall…and still, without knowing why…I proceeded straight to Justin's bedroom.  Now…the door was completely closed shut.  But…it was no big deal…..I didn't give it two thoughts, until I reached for the door knob and suddenly became overwhelmed with the feeling and thought "Don't open the door."

I opened the door and there, on a small night stand that sat in the middle of the floor was Autumn.  Her head leaned down, her back hunched as high as it would go and her entire body, waved from head to tail as if something, I couldn't physically see, was petting her.  I watched as a tag from a piece of clothing Justin picked up while we were out Christmas shopping, floated like a magic carpet all around Autumns head, before reaching her face and began stroking her face, in an up and down motion.  I stood there hesitating what to do….because even though I was seeing this weird thing going on…I can't explain it…it was almost like I didn't want to believe it and for just an instant, I convinced myself that that I wasn't seeing this going on…I was only imaging it….my eyes were playing tricks on me.  So, I walked calmly over to Autumn, put my hand over her back, reached out and grabbed the paper tag, that was still floating mid-air in front of her face.  The instant I snatched this tag with my thumb on index finger, it felt like it was soaking wet.  I threw it down on the table, wiped my hand on my jeans and then grabbed Autumn up, turned around and there was Corey standing behind me.  He looked at me and asked "What was that? What just happened?"  I handed him Autumn and asked him to take her out and check her real good to make sure she was o.k.

I stood there, looking down at the table…asking myself repeatedly "Yah, What did just happened here?"  I can't explain it…but even though I couldn't see anyone or anything, I could feel this weird presence near me.  Corey came back to the room and said Autumn appeared to be fine.

Corey, myself and Avalon went to my office so I could figure things out…I know there was no way I could have imagined what happened….yet…I was trying to not only convince them there must have been explanation for it…but also trying to convince myself that perhaps, just perhaps…being so tired…my eyes were playing tricks on me.

So, I headed back to Justin's room to see if perhaps there was a little plastic string attached to the tag and perhaps...this was an explanation to what I saw. Maybe Autumn was chewing on this tiny plastic attached to the tag and that's what created the illusion of this paper tag floating.  But, when I went back to the room...expecting to pick up a soaking wet piece of paper…to my shock…not only was it was completely dry...it had no plastic attached to it and it was icy cold.   I walked back in my office, handed Avalon the paper….told her to feel it…she said it felt like it had been sitting in a freezer.  She handed it to Corey….and I had them both feel my two fingers I touched the tag with....which, of the two...only one remained icy cold.  All the rest of fingers and both hands were very warm.

Avalon was so scared that she asked if she could sleep in my bedroom on the hideaway bed we have in there.  Adam originally went to sleep on Justin's bed….but for reasons we haven't figured out yet…when he laid in the bed, the frame fell apart…and he ended up having to sleep on the sofa bed with Avalon.  

I was lying in bed, still replaying in my head what I'd seen in Justin's room…when I heard Adam yell out "Stop already, I can't go to sleep!"  Avalon leaped out of the bed, ran over to me and Adam grabbed his head, covering his ears.  I asked him "Adam, what's going on?"  He said "Someone keeps calling my name and won't let me go to sleep."  I asked Avalon "Were you calling him?" She shook her head "No."  Adam looked over at my bedroom door, which was open about a two feet….and pointed "Their calling me from over there, from the door."  The only person it could have been was Corey…so I called out to him a few times…no answer.  I got out of bed…walked around the house….checked on Corey…he was in bed.  I came back, closed our bedroom door and asked Adam what happened.  He said "Someone kept whispering my name real fast.  They whispered it about 5 times; until I rolled over to ignore them…then they whispered it again, three more times. That's when I yelled at them to stop."  We all stayed up until John got up to go to work.  Which…he said, even he didn't get any sleep with all the commotion going on.

Added January 16:

I was in the living room, watching TV with my sister Regina.  Out of no where, I was engulfed with the strong smell of soap…..it was so strong that I literally had to pull my shirt over my face to breath.  I said to Regina "God, where's that coming from?"  She sat up and looked over at me, asking what I was talking about.  She said she couldn't smell anything.  I called out to Corey and Justin, to see if they spraying anything (even though it didn't smell like anything I've ever smelled before, other than it had the distinct smell of strong "soap".  As quickly as the smell came, it was gone.  A little while later (maybe 10 or 15 minutes later)….it returned.  Now, I had no type of candles or air freshners or anything like that in the house.  I called out to Regina "The smells back!"  This time, it was twice as strong…so strong that I swear, it felt like I was inhaling particles…like dust or grains of finely ground pepper.  Regina got up and walked over to where I was...now she could smell it too.  She said "Wow…that's strong…it smells like soap or powdered laundry detergent!" Then again, as quickly as it came, the smell was completely gone.  I got up and walked around the entire parameter of the living room, checking every shelf, behind the aquarium…everywhere, looking for the source of where this smell had come from.  I found nothing, absolutely…nothing.  I asked Corey to bring me my emf detector, just in case the smell came back.  Right as rain….about a half an hour later….Regina yells out "It's by me…..I can smell it!"  I couldn't smell it at all from where I was sitting….so I tossed her the emf detector.  She slowly moved it all around her face and body….it didn't react.  She then brought it around between the couch and coffee table and it shot up once, then went back to normal.  After that…the smell went away and never came back.

Added January 18:

My son's guitar teacher, Shelby…myself and my son Justin were in the living room watching TV.  I heard Corey call me to come look at something he found on the internet.  I got up to go see what he was calling me for.  As I came around the recliner, past the fish aquarium, towards my office…..I saw a dark shadow shoot from my office in to the bathroom (which is directly across from my office).  I thought to myself "Uh-huh….I bet he's (Corey) playing a joke…he's gonna try and jump out and scare me."  Well…I walked up to the bathroom, looked in….Corey isn't in there.  I turned around and looked in my office and there he is, sitting at my computer.  I didn't say anything at first….but later that night, just before everyone went to bed, Corey said to me "Mama…do you ever feel like something's in your office?"  I asked what he meant by that (because it was odd he was mentioning this and I saw something apparently fleeing from there.)  I told him "Yah…sometimes. Why, did you see something?"  He said "No, but sometimes, I feel like I'm not alone when I'm in there."

Added February 13:

I'm slow at adding these latest events....but these incidents happened the first week of February to current date:

This happened February 3rd:

I went to bed about 1:30 am.  Sometime in the middle of the night, I woke up to what sounded like someone going "Pssst" "Pssst" "Pssst" in my ear.  I reached over and turned on the lamp,  thinking one of the kids was trying to wake me up.  No one was there.  Then, after I turned the lamp back off and was trying to go back to sleep, it sounded like someone walking.  The sound started near the foot of my bed and migrated around to my side of the bed. Then it just stopped.  Before I could even turn to look to see what the sound was, I felt something under the comforter.  It felt like a cat crawling under it and I felt it lightly brush upwards on the back of my leg.  When I swooshed my foot around to see if it was a cat (because I have 4 cats)...there was nothing there.  Now I was worried and jumped up, flipped on the lamp again and looked under the blanket....not one single cat was in our bedroom. I got out of bed and found all the cats laying in the kitchen...Autumn was laying on the windowsill, Olie was laying on the counter next to the stove and Moody and Sam were on the stove. When I saw Sam and Moody on the stove, I just so happened to look at the clock and it was 3:50 am. So...that tells me this all started happening around 3:30. Which...is the most active time around here (between 3 and 3:30).  I couldn't go back to sleep, so I fixed myself a glass of tea, sat at the table and smoked a cigarette before attempting to head back to bed.

This happened February 4th:

My niece Avalon spent the night, so she could catch the bus early to school from our house.  Because of her many encounters, through out our house, she refuses to sleep anywhere, other than in our bedroom, where she feels safe.  She sleeps on a hide-away-bed sofa we have in our bedroom.  Anyway....in the middle of the night, she said she woke up to me yelling "Stop!"...."Stop touching me!"  She said she sat up on her knees to look over at me and saw me shaking my arm and hand.  She said John woke up too and asked me "Who's touching you?"  They both said I responded "The ghost...they keep touching and grabbing my hands".  I must have been having a nightmare....yet, you'd think as upset as they said I was, I would remember...but I don't.  While adding this incident (today) to our website.....it's odd how this "nightmare" and my shouting in my sleep seems to coincide with the sudden recent activity that is happening in our bedroom.  I can't help but wonder what I thought we "lost" by moving from one bedroom to another, has somehow, someway found it's way to us again.  And our newly found peaceful night's sleep without incident....is now coming to an end.  Only time will tell.

This happened either February 6th or 7th:

After I got off work (which was after 3 am), I got John's work clothes and lunch ready for that morning.  I went to bed….and sometime while I was laying there waiting to fall asleep…I heard someone whisper in my right ear "Kim".  It startled me because; first…the tone of the voice sounded exactly like my son Corey's voice.  Second…I was surprised to hear "Kim" because no one calls me "Kim".  I'm used to hearing everyone call me "Kimber" or "Kimberly" or "Mama".  Anyway….I laid there very still….trying to convince myself that perhaps it was one of the cats or Chewy making a sound…and because I was caught off guard, my brain processed what I heard as my name being whispered.  Well….I heard it again, but this time, it wasn't right up to my ear….when it said my name, it sounded like it came from the corner of the room, near where we have our TV cabinet.  And again…it simply said "Kim".  I poked at John to wake him up.  When he rolled over, I told him "Something's in here….it keeps calling me."  We both laid there, waiting to see if it happened again, but it didn't.  Well....by now, John's alarm clock went off for him to get up for work.  He got up, shut off the alarm and headed off to take his shower.  I laid there; attempting to finally go to sleep when it became clear that there wasn't just one energy present….there must have been at least two.  Because I heard "Is Johnny coming back?" and then I heard a separate sound, which sounded like something else replying "Hmm" or "Mmm".  This tells me…what ever was present…was familiar with John (because only we call him Johnny….his friends and co-workers call him "John")….but it wasn't familiar with me, because it called me by a name I don't go by.

This happened today, February 13th:

Today….I had to run some errands, so I had the kids getting ready.  Justin was in the front shower.  While I waited in the living room….Justin called out to me from the bathroom.  He claimed while he was taking his shower, he saw through the shower curtain (which is clear)….what looked like either a hand reaching in to the mirror or reaching out of the mirror.  When I asked him to show me what he saw…he had a difficult time trying to reenact what he saw….because he said "All I saw was a hand reflecting in the mirror.  I couldn't tell if it was reaching in to the mirror or coming out of it…I just saw the reflection in the mirror."  As he opened his hand wide open and moved it slowly towards the mirror.

Added March 07:

I was in the living room, speaking with Rita and Regina.  I got up to go to the kitchen to grab something to drink.  As I stood up and walked around the loveseat to head towards the kitchen.  I saw what I thought was our cat "Sammy" trotting (something between walking fast and running slow), down the hall, coming towards me.  I smiled at him, because I thought he was running up for me to pet him....but before he reached me (which was about 7 or 8 feet away)....he just faded very quickly in to thin air.   

Added March 19:

Last night, while I was watching American Idol….alone (John and Justin had gone to work on my sister Regina's computer and Corey was in his bedroom on the opposite end of the house with my niece Avalon and nephew Adam, playing his guitar), during a commercial I got up to adjust and tuck the cushions in to the loveseat (they were all out of wack and almost falling off the sofa).  Anyway….I was with my back to the tv…when I turned back around to sit down…for a split second (it was like counting…1…2…slow) I saw a man standing in the dining room doorway.  And I knew immediately I was seeing a ghost, because he wasn't whole like a living person, he was faded….semi-transparent.  He was young….I would say maybe early to mid 20's, short dark hair, tall….over 6ft….because the doorway is 7ft and he was towering almost as high as the doorway…..he was wearing a long coat (like a duster or trench coat and it was opened…but I couldn't tell you what kind of shirt he had on).  The coat was tapered at the waist….it had an hour glass shape.  He was standing there with one knee bent, sort of leaning against the door frame on his shoulder…..it was a very casual, relaxed kind of stand...yet there was something very invasive about it. When I saw him….I was so startled that I don't think I even breathed….all I felt was a sensation like bees buzzing all through my body.  As quickly as I saw him, he vanished right before my eyes.  But he didn't just "poof" disappear….I watched as he faded away very quickly.  Through the rest of the show, I just kept randomly looking behind me in the hall, kitchen and dining room to see if he was still around….but I didn't see him again.  When John and Justin came home and Regina came along…I told them what I saw.  I can honestly say I was un-nerved by his presence….I think because I feel perhaps….maybe…I don't know….he wanted me to see him….and though he didn't do anything threatening….it was the way he was standing there.  Almost as if to say to me "Yah, I'm here…watching you."  Well, nothing else was mentioned about this man, nor did he reappear the rest of the night.  But………something big did happen today.

John saw a ghost.  I've been with this man for almost 28 years…and he has never, ever, ever….physically seen a ghost…that is…until today.  I was in the kitchen making lunch, John walked in from the back door to go to the bathroom.  Next thing I know, John is standing in the kitchen, with this big shocked look on his face.  He tells me "I just saw something….I just saw a ghost!"  I asked him what happened…and this is what he told me: "I came inside to go to the bathroom…when I walked in to the kitchen….I saw, what I thought was Corey walk by the kitchen doorway and go in to the living room.  When I went to the bathroom, I could hear Corey's shower going.  Right then and there, I knew….what I saw couldn't have been Corey….he's taking a shower.  And you're in the kitchen and Justin was with me on the back patio!"  He then went on to say that it was when he realized Corey was taking a shower, what he saw couldn't have been Corey.  I asked him "If you didn't see Corey, why did you assume it was Corey?  Did this thing you saw look like Corey?"   He said "No, it was just a black shadowy kind of figure….but I assumed it was Corey, because who else would it be?"  Well…its official….my husband, has finally seen what we have all been telling him all these years we see.  I can't say that I'm happy or relieved….because frankly….I'm worried what he saw was the same figure I saw in the doorway the night before. And, frankly….I worry what this energy is up to.  Because I didn't get a good feeling when I saw it…and for my husband to see it (assuming it's one of the same)…..it doesn't sit right with me.  To me, this thing is being very bold….and I worry whether it's just something passing through or it's going to stick around for a while and cause problems.   But it's official.....my husband has finally seen his first ghost.

Added March 25 (Update to John's experience on 3/19/2008):

Knowing John and knowing how he responds to things he's experienced in the past (heard and felt)...I wanted to give things time to sink in before prying for futher details.  He's the type that doesn't want to admit he's had a paranormal experience....so he's very vague with details, doesn't like to talk about it and quickly changes the subject.  Anyway, I let things settle before bringing the subject up again.  As it turns out...just as I expected...there was more to the experience than he was willing to admit when he had his first physical sighting.   I just knew he wasn't as rattled over seeing what he said he first saw...I knew there had to be more.  As it turns out....when he first saw this "person" walking from the hall towards the living room....he automatically assumed it was our son Corey.  Because, he said "Who else could it have been?" Well...he didn't just see this thing once...he saw it twice...within in minutes.  He said his second encounter with it was when he opened the door to come out of the bathroom.  He said this thing....came back....passing right in front of him.  He said the first sighting, it looked like a person....the second time he saw it....when it passed in front of him....only a foot or so from his face......it didn't look like a person anymore.  Now it was just a dark mass....like a dark, thick, black cloud of smoke with no distinctive shape or form.  As soon as it passed in front of him the second time, he took off after it....expecting to "find" an explanation to what he saw (I'm assuming he was hoping to find Corey).  When he came around the corner, he found no one....and this is when it hit him...."What the hell was that?"   

Added May 14:

Sorry it's taken so long for me to update this page with the latest events. I haven't personally experienced anything lately....I've just been enjoying the peace, quiet and tranquilty for as long as I can.....but….it hasn't been so peaceful for other family members.

Several weeks ago, my nephew Adam spent the night.  He and my son Corey were in Corey's room watching a movie. I was in the living room with my son Justin, watching TV.  At some point, Adam and Corey came out for snacks.  They started horsing around….goofing off….and I had to shout out "Hey, you two are too loud….we can't hear the TV!"  Well a few minutes later, I hear this blood curdling scream….then a bunch of shuffling sounds.  Before I could react (thinking they were starting to horse around again and getting loud again)….Adam and Corey are standing in front of me and Adam is bent over, all out of breath.  At this point, I was under the assumption all the commotion was them horsing around and Adam got hurt.  Well, after calming him down….he wasn't hurt…he was terrified.  He started telling me that he thinks he just saw a ghost.  This was actually the first time Adam had ever physically seen a ghost before.  From what I gathered from both he and Corey…this is what happened:  Corey was pouring himself something to drink….both him and Adam were kidding around….then I yelled for them to be quiet.  After Corey was finished pouring his soda, Adam turned around for them to head back to Corey's room to finish watching the movie.  As he turned around and was walking towards the kitchen doorway….he saw what he described as a person, dressed all in white run by real fast.  It startled him, so he screamed.  He said at first he thought it was Justin joking around, trying to scare him…so he went to try and catch him.  But when he got out of the kitchen and looked down the hall, there wasn't anyone there.  He said he then looked the other way and saw both me and Justin sitting in the living room.  Still, not putting two and two together, he walked down the hall to see who it could have been.  He got to Corey's room (which is the furthest room down the hall)….but no one was there.  When I asked him to further describe what he saw…he described just seeing what looked like a person wearing fluffy white material that puffed out as it ran by.  The experience really rattled him.

Then.....last week, we were all in the living room watching TV.  Justin got up to go outside….then suddenly….he just froze.  I looked at him, then looked where he was looking….I didn't see anything.  He said when he got up and looked towards the dining room, he saw what looked like a black shadow peeking out from behind the wall, then it just darted back behind the wall.  About an hour later, my sister Regina came over for coffee and to watch TV.  She got up to go to the bathroom.  She said when she came out of the bathroom, for just a split second she saw what looked like someone (she said it looked like Justin) sitting in my office chair. The rooms are right across from one another.  She said it was like she blinked then what ever or who ever were sitting there, just vanished.

Added May 26:

(Click on links to view websites mentioned in this update)

This happened last weekend.  I didn't realize the significance of the event and what followed a few days later until I was talking on the phone with my dear and close friend Todd.  I've been working with Todd Matthews (From The Lost and Found Global Resource Center, The Doe Network, NY Missing, Project EDAN, ColdCases Group, Outpost for Hope, Four the Kids, NamUs, Tent Girl.com , Resurrection 'The Movie' and Investigation Discovery Blog); since 2006, on a show called "Missing Pieces".  The show features crime cases that have been classified as "unsolved, missing, murdered and unidentified".  Oddly, the story of how Todd and I began working together is a story with in itself.  I contacted Todd many years ago after my friend Leslie Rule (Writer of Coast to Coast Ghost, Ghosts Among Us, When the Ghost Screams, Kill me Again, Whispers from the Grave and daughter of true crime writer Ann Rule) introduced me to Todd and the Doe Network (a website filled with thousands of missing persons and cases of unidentified victims).  A few years later, Todd contacted me asking me if I would be interested in featuring on my true-ghost-stories website, unsolved cases involving Grateful Dead fans.  Like a neatly laid out set of dominos, one thing led to another…and we began working together on the internet radio show "Missing Pieces". 

Saturday night, I was laying in bed, trying to fall asleep when I heard what sounded like a female voice somewhere in my bedroom call out.  It didn't appear that she was saying anything directed at me or to me.

It sounded like it was something that was just said out loud in the room.  I couldn't make out what she said…only that it sounded like she had either said two separate words or a word with two syllables.  I sat up…looked around the room….didn't see anyone.  So, I laid back down….and while laying there, trying to figure out what I just heard…what the word or words could have been….again, I heard the woman speak…only this time, she sounded further away, almost as if she had left the room and was talking from the dining room.  I again, sat up….attempted to focus my eyes in the dark room….looked around for a while….looked through my bedroom door in to the dining room to see if I could see anything…but after not hearing or seeing anything…I ended up falling to sleep.

A few days later….on Wednesday night, something else happened and then everything started to make sense.

Wednesday night, just before midnight, I was getting everything ready for John to work the next day.  I ironed his uniform and began packing his lunch for that day (Thursday).  I was at the kitchen sink rinsing off an apple…and out of the wild blue, I started getting the uneasy feeling, I was being watched.  The feeling was so intense and persistent that I looked out the window to see if anyone was outside, looking in.  I looked around…no one was up, except my youngest son Justin who woke up from the screeching of the ironing board as I opened it to iron John's clothes.  He was in the living room, waiting to for me to go bed so he could go back to sleep. John likes grapes also packed in his lunch…so I started pulling grapes from their stems and rinsing them off.  By the time I had all the grapes patted dry with a paper towel and was tossing them in to a sandwich bag…the feeling of being watched had passed.  So…what happened next…totally caught me off guard.  I don't know why….but while I putting the grapes in the baggie, I turned around, facing the dining room and to my shock…for just a brief few seconds, I watched as this figure headed towards me.  I don't know if what I saw was man, woman or child….all I know is that it was a person who was about 5 feet tall, they had short, brownish color hair and whether they were completely naked or their clothing just so happened to be the same color as their skin…I don't know.  But I watched as this figure, looking downward at the floor quickly glided towards me….then they just vanished in the middle of the room as if to disappear in to an invisible doorway, between the glass cabinet and the dining room table.  I also remember that it appeared that they had their hands clinched together, straight down, in front of them and around the back of the head or neck area, there was just a touch of white (I don't know what that could have been…I could speculate, but I didn't see it clear enough or long enough to know for sure.)

My heart felt like it just lunged upwards in my chest and I yelled out "Holy shit…what was that?!"  Justin came rushing through the dining room in to the kitchen to find out what was going on.  Then, just before we shut all the lights out to go to bed, Justin claimed that he'd seen something in the hall around the corner of where you turn to go in to Corey's room.  He remarked that he thought Corey was awake.  We headed down the hall to find out why Corey was up….but we found his door closed and locked.  No one was in the hall.  Justin described seeing what looked like an arm reaching out from behind the wall and then it retreated back behind the wall.  When we went back there….as I said….no one was there. Corey had been in bed asleep for hours before this occurred.

The next day…Thursday, I was on the phone with my friend Todd.  I was telling him what had happened the night before with seeing the apparition in the dining room.  He then said: "You know, the 17th was the 40th anniversary of the discovery of the Tent Girl."  The 17th???  I looked on my calendar and could not believe what I was seeing…the 17th was Saturday…the night I'd heard the woman talking in my bedroom.

What is so strange about all of this is….on one of Todd's visit with my family, he gave me two items that were found with in the vicinity of where the tent girl's body was discovered.  I keep those objects in a glass cabinet in my dining room….exactly in the area where I saw this apparition coming towards me and disappear.  I went to Todd's website where he documents all the details on the Tent Girl case.  I discovered not only was the date significant, but also Barbara Ann Hackman-Taylor (formerly known as the Tent Girl) was 5'1" tall, short brownish hair and her nude body was found wrapped in a tarp like material.  This fit the description of the person I'd seen in the dining room.  Perhaps it's just a coincidence that all the details match; I don't know….but it certainly has me wondering whether my two latest experiences had a connection to the Tent Girl case and perhaps Todd's gifts retain a portion of her energy. (See picture below:)

Added May 29:

Again, something happens in the middle of the afternoon (which is not unusual).  Right after lunch Justin went to take his shower before we headed out to run errands.  I was sitting in the living room, waiting for Corey and Justin.  I heard a door close to one of the bedrooms, then the next thing I heard was Justin say "Whoa, what was that?"  I turned around to find Justin hurrying towards me with a funny look on his face.  He said to me "I just saw something weird in the bathroom."  He then begins describing as he exited his bedroom, he said he turned to go in to the bathroom and in front of the bathroom sink, crouched on the floor was a young boy, dressed all in black, curled up in to a ball, with his head tucked between his knees and his arms crossed over his head.  He said when he saw the boy, he stopped, then stepped back behind the door, to get away from the child.  When he leaned over to look back, the child was then gone..  I asked Justin to go back to his room and retake the same steps and motions he did when he came out of his room and saw this boy.  I noticed that the bathroom light was on and was curious whether Justin had seen this child in the dark and then turned on the light (thinking maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him as he entered the dark room)….but he said "No, the light was on.  I left it on because I was coming back to brush my hair".  So, the room was bright when he saw this figure.  I then headed down to the bathroom to see if there was anything laying on the floor….a clump of clothes or towels that perhaps he mistakened for a child huddled on the floor.  But, nothing was on the floor.  I myself tried walking back and forth to see if I could find an explanation to what he'd seen….but couldn't.   We ended up going back in to the living room to wait for Corey.  While I was sitting on the loveseat (Justin was on the long sofa), I heard what I thought was Corey in the kitchen.  It was just a bunch of noise, like someone was in there doing something….nothing distinguishable.  Thinking it was Corey, I called out "You ready?" But I didn't get an answer.  So I called out again "McDoogle (my nick name for Corey)….are you ready to go?"  No answer.  I looked over at Justin, because he had a better view of the kitchen and asked him "Is Corey in there?"  He said "No one's in there."  As it turns out, Corey was in his bathroom, getting dressed and groomed to leave.  Everyone was accounted for…so I have no explanation for what both Justin and I heard.

Added June 04:

Monday night…well….Tuesday morning around three in the morning after I got off work, I decided to stay up and watch the tv shows I recorded that came on earlier in the day.  I was sitting in John's recliner, watching Danny from the old show "The Partridge Family" on Dr. Phil….when my cat Ollie came walking in to the living room.  He walked over to where Chewy (our dog) was laying in his doggy bed by the window.  Ollie laid on the floor next to Chewy and began rubbing his head against Chewy's head and paw.  I was sitting there thinking how cute it was…thinking to myself "Either he (Ollie) thinks Chewy is another cat or he (Ollie) must think he's (Ollie) a dog."  All of a sudden, at the exact same time, both Chewy and Ollie jerked their heads up and to the side as if they saw something.  I looked over and down to see what they were looking at (because it was only about 2 feet from my feet)….because for all I know a spider or something could be running towards me….I saw a short haired, thin, jet black cat, leaping across the floor about a half a foot off the floor towards a stained glass pedestal lamp on the floor by the wall. I saw the legs stretched out forward, head up and stretched forward, the back feet and tail going outwards. Then it was just….in that leap….it just vanished in to thin air.  I looked around….looked back at Chewy and Ollie…they were still looking in the same direction as I saw the cat, then Ollie got up, sat up and just sat there next to Chewy for a few minutes, then just ran off in the opposite direction.

Added July 24:

It's been a while since I updated this page.  Frankly….we've been struggling with some personal issues and well, things have gotten really tough around here.  So….I've been just trying to find ways to make a little extra money, which resorted to me opening an ebay store and hopefully we'll be able to sell some of our prized possessions to help us get through this rough time.  Anyway….I've purchased a few things over the years from ebay (Christmas gifts, etc.) but never personally sold anything…so I was in my office, trying to figure out how the whole selling on ebay thing works.  I was starting to feel a little distraught that maybe I would be wasting my time and our things wouldn't sell.  So…I leaned back in my chair and….well….as you all probably know…my mother passed away a year ago in May.  So….I started talking out loud, hoping she'd hear me….and help us get through this difficult time.  Well…right about the time I decided to call it quits with reading up on things on ebay….I felt my hair being pulled back away from my neck.  It was a very slow, gentle feeling.  I whipped around, thinking Corey had snuck up behind me to play a trick on me.  But when I turned around….no one was there.  When I turned back around to look in the other direction…as I was turning, out of the corner of my eye, I saw an orange looking color, streak by me….only thing….the area where I saw this color shoot by….was piled with my things I was thinking about selling on ebay and there is no possible way, Corey or anyone else could fit in that space without walking on top of everything.  Well….I thought for a second "Mama, is that you?"  And before I knew it…from my neck up to the lower part of my face, where my jaw area is….it felt like static or electricity…tingling upwards on my face.  I wiped my face real quick to stop the sensation…and I don't how….or….why….but I knew…I just knew in my gut….this wasn't my mother responding to me.  I felt very uneasy for some reason….and I felt the need to hurry up and get out of the room.  So, I shut down my computer to get out as quickly as I could.

    The very next day…..I was in the dining room playing rummy (card game) with my sister Rita and my son Justin.  My niece Avalon was in the living room playing a video game with my husband, my sister Regina and my friend Gail.  My son Corey was in my office.  Well….while we were playing cards…Corey came walking through the kitchen in to the dining room, asking me if I had gone in to the hall and called him.  I told him I hadn't…..he had an odd look on his face and said "Okkkkkkkkk".  We I asked why…and he said "I don't know….I was at the computer and I heard what sounded like you call my name funny…with an accent…..from outside the door."  That didn't sit right with me at all….after the night before, I felt something touching my hair and that urge to hurry up and get out.  But…..it gets creepier yet.  The next day…or I should say the next night…Justin and I were in the living room watching tv.  Justin got up to get a throw blanket to lay down.  As he got up, I heard him say "What the heck?"  He walked around to where I was sitting and said he had just felt someone poke the back side of his shoulder really hard….but no one was near him.  Eventually, Justin and everyone had gone to bed.  I decided to stay up and watch tv.  By 3:30 in the morning, I was starting to really get tired and I hadn't ironed John's work clothes yet.  And quickly…staying up that late isn't a big deal…I usually work until 4 am….so my time clock is a little different. My days and nights are all mixed up.  Anyway….before I got too sleepy, I headed to the laundry room to pull out the ironing board and iron.  I ironed his work shirt….started to iron his work pants, when I heard what sounded like Corey talking.  It sounded like he was a good distance, maybe in my office.  I was almost done with John's work pants, so I figured….I'd finish up ironing and then go see what he was yapping about.  Well…I finished John's pants…and as I was folding them over, I heard Corey's voice again….laughing and laughing.  I thought "He must still be awake….on my computer watching funny youtube videos or something."  Well…I packed up the ironing board and iron, put them back in the laundry room….got John's clothes to hang on a hanger on the bathroom door….saw my office light on.  So, I swung the door open with my foot so I could tell Corey it was time to shut down the computer and head to bed….only….Corey wasn't in there.  The lights were all on, but no one in there.  So…after hanging John's shirt and pants on the door, I walked over to Corey's room…tapped on his door…no answer.  Knocked and knocked and knocked on his door…no answer.  The next morning, I asked Corey about him calling out to me and laughing.  It turned out,  it definitely wasn't him….he'd been asleep already for 4 and a half hours when this all happened.  So…the only thing I can assume is that what ever imitated my voice calling out to Corey, also imitated Corey's voice calling out to me and also imitated exactly…I mean exactly how Corey laughs.

Added August 11:

I don't know what the heck is going on with the doors slamming around here lately…but in the last week….it's happened twice already.

On Tuesday (August 4th), about 4 in the morning, I was sitting in John's recliner, relaxing after cleaning the kitchen, making his lunch and ironing his uniform for the next day.  Justin had fallen asleep on the long sofa.  Every night, he likes to eat a small bowl of cereal before brushing his teeth and going to bed.  So…I woke him up and asked him if he was going to eat his cereal before heading to bed.  He said "Yah"….so off I went to the kitchen to make his bowl of fruit loops.

Well…I'm sitting there, waiting for him to finish up…when I heard what sounded like the laundry room door unlock (it makes a pop sound when the door is locked and it's turned to unlock), then the door started to rattle….and I mean, it was rattling hard like someone got locked in.  It was rattling hard enough for the sign I have hanging on the door to bang like it was about to fall off.  So, I just assumed John had gotten up early....maybe he had an early route for that day....who knows.  But, while I was getting up to go let (assuming John accidentally locked himself in)….Justin asks me "Who's up?"  I told him "Daddy."  So, I start walking to the laundry room, only to discover that the light is off.  It wasn't until I turned the knob and opened the door….found no one in there and the window still locked from the inside that I got suspicious and asked Justin what he heard.....because I've totally lost my mind.....I heard as clear as day that lock unlock and the door rattling something fierce.  He described the exact same thing I heard.  Thank goodness, I had a witness.  Anyway.....

Almost the same thing happened again last night (Sunday, August 10th).  I was in my office….everyone was supposed to have been in bed hours ago….and I hear what sounds like the back door slam shut that leads to the back patio.  I thought to myself "Now who's going outside at this time of night?" Because it was about 3 in the morning.  I get up to go see who it was….only to find the door locked from the inside….and no one wandering around the house....everyone's in bed asleep.  So....I went back to my office, shut down my computer and headed to bed myself.  I ws just too tired to deal with what ever was obvioiusly attempting to really irritate me or play games.   Today...I asked everyone "Did you get up last night and go outside?"  Just as I suspected.....no one said they did.

Added August 13:

Last night….Justin, my sisters Rita and Regina and myself were in the dining room playing cards.  Justin was sitting directly across from me.  I was looking straight at him, waiting for him to take his turn when he looked towards my bedroom and did a double take.  He said to all of us "Did you all see that?"  I didn't see anything when I turned to see why he was looking so intently at our bedroom, taking a second look.  He described seeing something out of the corner of his eye…when he turned to see what it was, he said he saw (for just a brief moment) a man wearing a dark blue suit with a red tie, standing just outside my bedroom door.  In a blink of an eye…the man was gone.  The rest of evening was pretty quiet….that is…until hours and hours later….maybe what I saw was the man Justin saw, maybe not…I'm not sure.  And I know when this happened….it wasn't because I was expecting something to happen….to be honest, I was thinking anything about Justin seeing the man earlier….I was just relaxing, minding my own business.   I was…as I always am…up late, watching tv.  I was just sitting there in John's recliner....when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement in the dining room.  It was pretty low to the floor…so I just turned and looked to see if one of the cats running through....because I was going to call it over to me.  But, it was long gone.  Then, minutes later…..what I saw next was disturbing enough for me to just shut off the tv and head to bed.  I was sitting there…..and I saw….ahhh…I don't even know how to explain it.  I saw some sort of movement out of the corner of my eye (and it wasn't like what I'd just seen before.....this was higher up....much, much larger) and in the process of turning and looking to see  what it was….in almost a fleeting glimpse….believe it or not….I saw what almost looked like a really well rounded.....large…. looking shape….like a person….hunched over….coming towards me full speed.  When I saw it…well, by the time my brain processed that I was seeing something coming towards, I got this rush of adrenalin….my whole body started to just buzz and my heart started to race.  It was there one second and gone the next.  Honestly, I don't even remember blinking….all I remember is seeing this massive form coming towards me….and it couldn't have been more than 7 or 8 feet away from me…..and then just thinking to myself (pardon my language "Oh shit" and then…it was just gone in to thin air.  I immediately shut off the tv and went straight to bed.  I laid in bed…I mean hours, trying to fall asleep…..trying to figure out if what I saw was a person or not.  And between not knowing what to make of what I'd seen and not knowing if anything else would happen, I just couldn't sleep.  Eventually, I think I was just so worn out, I just fell asleep.

Added August 30:

Monday (August 25th) Justin and I were in the living room watching t.v.  Justin shouts at me "Mama...did you hear that?"  I paused the show we were watching.  I didn't hear anything....so I told him I hadn't heard anything.  He said on the wall behind where he was sitting (which is an exterior wall), he heard three knocks.  I got up, looked out the window to see if anyone was outside...didn't see anyone....so, I flipped on the porch light, walked around outside....no one around.

    Tuesday night....again, Justin and I were in the living room, watching t.v. when I heard three very loud, distinctive knocks on the wall.  I looked over at Justin, who was laying on the sofa....he's sitting up and looking at me saying "Did you hear that?"  I paused the t.v., and asked him "Did it sound like someone pounding on the wall?"  He said "Yah, three times."  So....I did the exact same thing I did the night before...I looked out the window, walked around the front porch to see if anyone was outside....I found nothing.  I came back inside and Justin is knocking on the wall, trying to figure out where the sound came from.  I sat back in John's recliner and we both agreed.....of all the areas of the wall that Jusin knocked on, the only one that actually sounded close to what we heard was when he stood up on the back of the sofa, reached as high as he could on the wall and knocked.  It would be physically impossible for someone to knock on the wall from outside, at that height...that's almost 8 feet from the ground.  About 2 hours later....we went to bed.  I was laying in bed and heard the sounds of someone walking around the house, dragging their feet.  Then the sound just stopped in the dining room and I could hear faint sounds of someone talking.  I pulled the covers off....sat up, looked in the dining room...it's pitch dark.  So, I turned on my lamp and got out of bed to see if maybe Corey was still awake and possibly on the phone with his girlfriend or something.  But, when I turned on the dining room light, walked around the house.....Corey wasn't anywhere around.  His bedroom door was closed and locked, which tells me....he was in bed.  I knocked on his door a few times...but he didn't answer.  The next day, I asked him if he had been up and about around 3 in the morning, he said  he hadn't.

    Then, last night (August 29th)....John made a pot of coffee.  My sister Regina came over to watch a movie.  She was in the kitchen, making herself a cup.   I went to the bathroom.  Afterwards, I immediately came in to the kitchen to make John and I our cups of coffee.....only to find Regina scooting to the side, as if to allow me to get to the coffee pot.  She looked over at me, then quickly whipped around....looked behind her.....then looked back at me and said "God, weren't you just standing behind me?  I swear there was somoeone standing right behind me (waving her arms in the space behind her)....I know I felt someone there!"  But, it wasn't me because I had been in the bathroom and everyone else was in the living room watching the movie.

Added September 07:

It never seizes to amaze me how "right on target" animals are when it comes to seeing, sensing or knowing when there is a supernatural presence around.  Tonight I was sitting in the living room watching the football game with my husband John and my sister Regina.  Our cat Ollie came in to the living room….wandering around, looking for a comfortable spot to park himself.  As he came around John's recliner, towards me….I started waving my hand and snapping my fingers to get his attention….when he just suddenly stopped walking in my direction and just stood there….with his head down and his ears pulled back….staring intently down the hall.  I turned around, expecting to see one of our other cats there….but I couldn't see anything.  So…I again, kept waving my hand….calling his name, trying to get his attention, so he would come sit with me.  Eventually, he started heading in my direction…and again…he just stopped and pulled his ears back.   Again…my calling him and waving my hand close to the floor went totally ignored.  I gave up and went back to watching the game.  Well, before I knew it…he had jumped up on to the arm of the love seat where I was sitting.  He romped around a bit, pacing back and forth along the back of the loveseat.  Finally….he laid down, right above my right shoulder…purring.  I kept reaching back petting him….and before I knew it….he stood up and just shot off the sofa.  I watched as he hid under John's footrest on the recliner….peeking around the side, looking down the hall.  I again, turned back to see what was so mesmerizing.  I said to John and Regina "Look at Ollie…he keeps looking down the hall, acting weird"  So…I got up to go see what had him so rattled.  I was walking down the hall, just before I got up to my office and the bathroom….when I saw what looked like someone poke their head out from the wall that leads to Corey's bedroom.  So, I thought "Ah-ha…..it's Corey…..he's going to jump out and try to scare me".  So, I called out "Corey, I saw you."  Expecting at any moment, he was just going to jump out at me.  But, I got no response.  So, I snuck up to the wall, whipped around the corner, expecting to startle Corey (thinking he's hiding there)….instead I found no one there.  Then suddenly the weirdest feeling overcame me.  It's hard to explain, it felt like I was standing there, staring in to the face of what ever was there…only I couldn't see it and I tell you…it physically sent a shiver right up my spine.  Then as I turned around to leave, to go back to the living room….I swear as if for just a few seconds, what ever was there, was right on my heels.  The feeling subsided after a few steps away from that area….but just for a moment, I felt like something was following me as I left.

Added October 04:

Last weekend, my husband and my niece Avalon were leaving the house to go pick up Corey (who had been visiting with his girlfriend).  They both said as they were getting in to the car, they watched as Justin got in to the backseat.   As they started backing down the driveway…they were shocked to see Justin running out of the front door, waving for them to stop (he wanted to go along).  They said they both looked at each other, then turned around quickly to see who was in the backseat, only to find it empty.  When I asked them why they thought it was Justin, they said because what ever they saw was about his size…and besides….who else could it be?  They both insisted over and over, they saw a person walk up to the car with them…and get in to the backseat of my car.

Then….Wednesday (October 1st)….a little after one in the afternoon, I was in the kitchen, making the kids BLT's for lunch.  Justin was in the living room, shouting out to me that he couldn't get the sound on the tv to work.  I shouted back to check to see if the mute button was on.  Well….we continued to shout back and forth, ideas on what could be wrong with the tv…when I saw…as clear as day, Corey...well…someone or something that resembled Corey, walk really fast past the kitchen doorway in to the living room.  Justin shouted out that he still couldn't figure out why the sound wasn't working.  So, I just shouted out for Corey to look at it.  Well….Justin shouts back that Corey can't because he's in the bathroom, taking a shower.  I'm telling you, I had to literally stop what I was doing to go in to the living room to see with my own two eyes that Corey wasn't in there….because I know what I saw…without a shadow of a doubt....I saw someone what I thought was Corey go in to the living room.  When John got home from work, I told him about the incident.  He was all excited because he knew I probably saw the same thing he'd seen months ago.  Someone, the same size and stature as Corey, walk real fast from the hall in to the living room.  When I saw how excited John was, I couldn't help but wonder what that confirmation must have felt like for him, knowing someone else saw what he did.

Later that evening, I was in my office working on creating graphics for a website I'm working on, when Justin came in very upset.  He said he was in his bedroom, looking for his black dress pants.  He wanted to make sure they would fit so he could wear them on Halloween with his costume.  He said while he was standing, thinking about where the pants could be….he said he felt a hard tug on the back of his shirt, near his shoulder.  He said he turned around, ready to yell at Corey for trying to scare him…only to find no one there.

Added October 10:

It has been a wild last couple of nights….I tell you.  As you may already know or have read, our youngest son Justin sleeps in our bedroom at night because he's too afraid to sleep alone in his own room.  We've tried everything….including moving him around from one bedroom to another, including having him share a room with our oldest son Corey…..but something ends up happening and he's back in our bedroom.  Every room in this house has had some sort of history of activity and every room he moves to….he's experienced something in….we all have.  Since we converted the garage in to our bedroom, that seemed like the only safe room in the house….but that didn't last long.  Now…every so often, something happens in there.  Just as it did two nights ago.  I was laying in bed, trying to fall asleep…I couldn't get comfortable, I guess because I wasn't really tired enough.  Well, I had turned over and was facing the small closed in area that was supposed to be our closet or a bathroom….but we never had the money to complete it…so for now, it's just a place to store junk.  Well….I was laying there, eyes wide open, looking towards that side of the room when I saw what looked like a dark mass or shadowy type…glob (it was a good size…not as large as a person, more like the size of a large throw pillow)…..come out of the closet and swoop upwards towards the ceiling.  I looked around the room, thinking to myself how odd that was….but at the same time I was thinking it was probably just my eyes adjusting to the dark room.  Then I heard something, I wasn't sure what it was…it was like just a swoosh sound….it didn't sound like words or anything…just like….I don't know….an odd sound in the room.  Then Justin said to me "What?" I answered him back "What?" thinking that he woke up and he was wondering why I was still awake.  But….he said to me "Didn't you just call me?" I hadn't called him…..and I wondered if what I heard…the swoosh sound, he heard it too, but heard more clearly and thought it sounded like someone calling his name.  I didn't dare tell him that I'd just seen something come out of the closet….so I just wrapped my arms around him and told him that he probably heard Chewy (our dog) or one of the cats.  I knew different, but I wasn't going to tell him.

Well….last night, Justin was in his bedroom watching tv.  He will go in there to play if everyone is awake, but he won't sleep in there…alone.  Well….I was on my computer working….John had already gone to bed because he had to get up at five in the morning and Corey was in the living room.  Justin said as he came out of his room, he heard what sounded like someone in the hall, snap their fingers right next to him.  The area he heard the sound come from….was the small three foot by three and a half foot section of the hall that turns off from the main part of the hall way…that leads to Corey's bedroom (our old master bedroom).  When the hall light is off and Corey's door is closed, that area is pitch black.  Someone could literally hide in that small area or be standing right there and you wouldn't be able to see them….it's that dark.  Well, this is also one of the hot spots in the house…there's an eeriness about that section of the hall, right after you walk past the bathroom…and not only myself…but other people have claimed to see what appears to be someone poking their head out and then leaning back behind the wall, as if to hide…that's just one of the many things we've experienced in that small area.  This is also the area where I got a very creepy evp of what appears to be multiple voices saying "Ask him now" (you can listen to this evp on our evp page).  Well….back to Justin and the snapping sound.  I've knew exactly what he meant by the sound….I've heard the sound before…not come from the same spot he did….but I've heard what sounded exactly like someone snap their fingers to get your attention.  So, I knew when he said it sounded like someone snap their fingers, exactly what that sounds like.  Well…I tried to explain it off to him as probably something Corey was doing in his room…only to discover Corey wasn't in his room, he was in the living room, laying on the couch.  I felt bad because I think Justin didn't think I believed him, because I kept trying to convince him it was probably something else…..and he kept insisting that he knew what he heard. I believe him….but I was just trying to protect him and not frighten him any more than he already was.

Well…hours later, Corey ended up going to bed and Justin fell asleep on the love seat….I was in my office, working on my computer.  It was a little after one in the morning.  We have our home decorated outside with Halloween decorations.  One of the things we have on our porch is a motion activated little ghost looking figure that floats across a rope and it makes a booing sound when activated.  It doesn't go off on a whim.  In fact when we bought it last year at a Halloween store, I almost took it back to the store because I disappointed how hard it was to make this ghosty thing go off.  I bought it hoping to spook trick or treaters when they were walking through the yard, but it took such a massive amount of sound to activate it, I just thought it was useless.  Pretty much you have to blow a car horn or you have to hit it to make it sound off and move.  Well….last year we had it hanging from one tree to another near the walk way…this year, the kids wanted to hang it on the front porch, closer to the door…so when kids knocked on the door it would go off.  Well….we tested it and you'd have to pretty much break our door down to get it work.  But….it does look cute on the porch, so I agreed to let it stay on the porch.  Well…last night, I'm in my office working…and it goes off.  I pulled back the curtains to see who would be on the porch at that time of morning….I didn't see anyone and it's hanging too high and away from the windows for any animal like a cat, dog…raccoon to touch it and I didn't hear anything that would cause it to go off…so I didn't know why it went off.  We also have a sound activated ghost inside the house, next to the front door….this one has blinking eyes and stuff…and pretty much goes off if you laugh too loud.  Well, there I am, working on my computer when the decoration outside goes off again…I again look through the curtain to see if anyone is on the porch….I can't see anyone….then it stops…and not even two minutes later…the one inside starts going off.  I thought maybe the one outside caused the one inside to go off…but then I got to thinking…why didn't the one inside go off the last time the one outside was booing.  Then….it dawns on me how strange it was….it was almost as if someone was on the porch, setting off the one outside and they came inside, setting off the one inside.  So, being I wasn't sure if the front door was locked, I got up to make sure no one came in to our house that shouldn't be here.  I got up, looked around….no one around.  And….as it turns out….believe it or not….both switches on both decorations were turned off.  I can see maybe one going off if the batteries were on their last leg and giving off a surge of energy….but two different decorations….with two totally different set of batteries purchased at two totally different times?  And both in the off position?  Didn't make sense.  That would be a really huge coincidence.  But…..that wasn't the end of it.

After I finished up on my computer….I went to the living room…now it was almost 2 in the morning and the show house hunters comes on at two and again at two thirty.  I love that show…so I grabbed a glass of tea and headed to John's recliner to watch tv for a little bit.  There I am, watching house hunters when I heard what I can only describe as sounding like someone running down the hall, stomping their feet and banging on the walls.  I paused the tv….thinking "What the hell?"  First thought was that the cats were playing and chasing each other….but when I saw Moody laying on the coffee table and I took a couple of steps and saw Sam, Ollie and Autumn laying in the dining asleep….I thought "Crap, someone's in the house!"  Because now I'm thinking about the other stuff that just happened in the last hour in addition to what Justin experienced and it could only be two things….an intruder (which I ruled out) or ghost.

Added October 20:

Last night two things happened....that I just can't help wondering if one had anything to do with the other.  Let me explain.

Last night we had family and friends over watching both football and baseball (In case you're wondering, we were switching between the games, back and forth). Anyway, I had made a pot of coffee.  While waiting for the coffee to finish brewing, I was standing at the sink washing dishes.  It felt like someone walked up behind me.  It's very hard to explain that feeling, unless you've felt it yourself.  I, myself can always tell when someone's sneaking up behind me…..because I can just feel the presence of someone there….entering my space. And I could definitely feel that I was being watched from behind.   Anyway…I was standing there, felt someone come up behind me…I turned around to see who it was…no one was there.  So, the coffee pot started beeping to let me know the coffee was done brewing, I finished up the dishes….turned towards the coffee pot to pour myself and John coffee…when I got that odd feeling of someone being there again. I guess I was expecting to turn around and again, finding no one there….instead I turned around and was startled by our neighbor Gail standing there.  I don't know who was frightened more…her or me.  I let out a scream that just sent her right out of her shoes.  I mean to tell you she jumped so high that she literally was off the ground.  We laughed about it….and I explained to her that only minutes before, I felt someone walk up behind me….just like I felt when she was standing there.  Well…four hours later….I was in the laundry room washing towels.  Justin came in and asked me "Do you know who's birthday it is today?"  I thought about it….but couldn't think of anyone we knew who's birthday it would be.  His birthday was on the 17th and mine was on the 18th….and here it is on the 19th…..but I couldn't think of anyone's birthday being around our birthdays.  He's a big fan of the movie Halloween with Michael Myers.  He has the whole collection.  Well…he answers me "It's Michael Myers birthday."  He asked me how old I thought Michael Myers was.  I had no clue….so I told him "Why don't you look it up on the internet, I'm sure if you found out his birthday is on the 19th, surely they have a year he was born too."  So, off he went.  However long it took for me to sort through the laundry to pick out the colored towels, is about how long it took for me to get that same weird feeling of someone behind me, watching me.  Let me clarify this….as I'm sorting through the colored clothes and towels to pick out the colored towels, I'm grabbing a colored towel as I find it….turning and tossing it on the floor in front of the washing machine…I did this over and over.  But at some point, not only did I feel someone behind me, watching me…I also could see out of the corner of my eyes, someone standing there.  This person, had on very, very colorful clothing.  It almost looked like they were wearing some sort of floral print or some sort of very colorful, busy pattern all over their shirt.  I remember seeing a lot of reds and yellows in the bright patterns.  Well, I stuffed the towels from the floor in to the washer, pull the drawer out where you pour the laundry detergent and fabric softener….still seeing "what I thought was Justin" standing there.  As I turned to grab the bottle of laundry detergent, I turn to "what I thought was Justin" and as I'm turning, I say "So, what did you find out?"…as I'm turning, in a blink of an eye, this person….vanishes.  I called out "Justin…..Justin"  it took him a while….but he finally came.  Now, not only am I realizing that there was no way this person I saw was Justin, because Justin was no where even close, but also Justin isn't wearing anything with those all those colors in his shirt….he's wearing a dark gray Rey Mysterio shirt.  So now I'm thinking to myself "How odd is that?"  What are the chances of me feeling someone behind me earlier and no one being there….then hours later, same thing, only this time, I see someone there.  I can't help but wonder if what ever snuck up on me earlier, returned.

Quick Note: Someone emailed me with a good point.  They suggested that because I was looking at colored towels, my eyes may have been playing tricks on me, making me think I saw something out of the corner of my eyes.  This is an excellent point and I would like to mention that...yes, if you stare at something long enough and look away, you can and will see that shape or color for a few seconds in your vision.  However....in this instance, the colored towels I mentioned I was sorthing through....were solid colors.  They there were green towels, blue towesl, a few pastel towels.....and one black towel....which is now faded and almost charcoal looking.   The colors I saw were very vibrant, bright colors....like you'd expect to find in a Hawaiian shirt or some busy floral pattern.  But this was a good point and I'm glad this comment was brought up for me to better clarify what I saw.

Added November 02:

The three nights prior to Halloween....was quite busy around here.

Tuesday night, it was time to go to bed.  Justin went to the bathroom to brush his teeth before bed and I went around turning off all the lights, feeding the fish and making sure all the doors were locked.  I've done this a million times before…this night was no different that any other night.  Well…I checked the front door to make sure it was locked….came around the corner to go in the hall to wait for Justin to get out of the bathroom, so I could go in to brush my teeth.  While I was standing, leaned against my office door…out of no where, my entire body was covered in goosebumps.  I mean to tell you…I lifted up my arms and I could see the goosebumps raised on both arms and I could feel them on my legs.  No sooner did Justin open the door and walk out…the weirdest feeling came over me.  That feeling of "Run".  So, I told Justin "Go to bed, ok….don't wait for me."  I didn't know what to expect when I came out of the bathroom…knowing at some point, I would be making my way through the house, turning lights back on so I could see where I was going and turning them back off behind me…not knowing what could possibly be following me.  But….good thing is….when I came out of the bathroom….I didn't feel that odd feeling any longer.  That threatening….fight or flight feeling was gone.  So…I pretty much figured "It's passed…it's gone…everything should be ok from here on out." and it was….I was able to go to bed and fall asleep without incident.  Until the next night.

Wednesday night everyone in my family came over to carve pumpkins.  We all get together a few days before Halloween to carve pumpkins. It's usually an all night event because everyone downloads those elaborate patterns from the internet to carve or use patterns from those pumpkin carving books.  Well…I didn't carve a pumpkin because I have a torn tendon in one of my arms, in addition to arthritis and when it flares up, the pain is so unbearable that my doctor has to give me cortisone shots in those areas…and that's no fun…so I just try to avoid doing things that may cause my arm to flare up.  So…while everyone was carving pumpkins, I decided to go on my computer to check email.  Well….no sooner did I come out of the kitchen and turn to go in to the hall…I got that same weird feeling as I did from the night before "Run".  So, I decided to get my camcorder to see if I could see anything there that would be causing the problem.  I would have gotten my emf detector, but someone borrowed the battery from it and it wasn't worth the trip to the store just to get a battery. With gas prices as they are…that 9 volt battery would have cost me six bucks.  No thanks.  Anyway…I got out my camcorder….and right when I turned it on, before I could even switch it from standby to record…I saw on the screen what looked like a white vortex going from the bathroom to my office doorway.  To physically see it through the infrared camera…it looked like someone taking a long piece of streamer or thin light colored cloth and just waving it across the screen.  It was so fast that by the time I hit the record button on my cam….it had vanished.  I set up the cam to record the rest of the night, but all I got was orbs every now and again.  I waited and waited, hoping I would capture that vortex again, but it never returned.

Thursday night.  John and Corey were in the living room watching a hockey game.  I was bored….thinking about asking Justin if he wanted to play a game of cards or maybe invite my sisters over to play Pictionary.  Well….I was laying across the chair in the living room.  My head was on one arm of the chair and my legs were hanging off the other arm of the chair. How this chair is positioned in the living room…it's pretty much the only spot in the living room where you can sit and get a full view of the hall and the kitchen.  As I was sitting there (or actually laying there)….listening to John and Corey talk about the paintings on the goalies' helmets….suddenly, there appears to be someone coming down the hall.  I just assumed it was Justin.  I could clearly see a dark shadow….in the perfect shape of a person.  I could see the shape of the head, the shoulders and it tapered downwards.  Expecting him to come in to the living room at any second, I waited to ask him if he wanted to play cards…I waited…and waited…and waited…but he never came in.  His shadow just vanished by the time it got up to the hall closet door.  I knew he didn't go in the bathroom, because I didn't see the light come on, nor did I hear the door close.  So…he must be in my office.  I waited and waited…he never came out (I didn't see his shadow again afterwards).  So, I got up to go look to see what was taking him so long…only to discover, Justin isn't home. He's across the street at my sisters' home, playing pool.  I asked Corey to walk down the hall and walk back in to the living room so I could get an idea of how tall this figure was….but to my surprise….when Corey walked back down the hall to come in to the living room…his shadow was nothing like what I saw.  Corey's shadow was light…very light gray and it was distorted….his head was just this huge mass and I couldn't even see the shadow he cast around his shoulders or body….his shadow was just a big blob.  I asked him to move closer to the wall….lean his head back…lean it forward…he was in all sorts of positions…but never once, was he able to create the same dark, well proportioned shadow that I saw.

But, I am very happy to report…I stayed home alone on Halloween night because I have a fractured knee and couldn't go out with everyone else trick or treating…and surprisingly…the supposedly spookiest night of year….was totally uneventful.   

Added November 15:

Thursday night (November 13) I was sitting at the dining room table, playing a game of cards with Justin.  Corey was in the living room, on his laptop.  At some point, when I looked across the table at Justin…I saw a dark shadow glide through the living room, past the curtain and before it even reached the other side of the window, it was gone.  This was not a play of light, this was not my eyes playing tricks on me….this was without a doubt…no mistaking it….a shadow in the shape of a person.  It was very dark, but transparent enough that I could just see the curtain through it as it passed in front of it.  It took a minute to sink in what I saw…..and I said to Justin "I just saw a shadow go in front of the window."  and the more I thought about it, the more I started wondering if what I saw was actually inside passing in front of the curtain or if it was someone outside the window and I was seeing them as they passed the window, from behind the curtain.  So, I got up to check.  There wasn't anyone outside.  About forty-five minutes later….things started happening and it only confirmed to me what I saw earlier, must have been a shadowy figure passing inside the room, in front of the window.  John, Corey and Justin were already asleep. I was sitting in John's recliner watching the Dr. Phil show I had recorded earlier…when something caught my eye on the floor in front of me, between the tv and coffee table.  It just looked like jumpy type movement….like something was jumping around.  I can't explain it.  It was like I was seeing what looked like a large, black insect hopping up and down really, really fast.  When I looked down and over, there wasn't anything there.  I went back to watching Dr. Phil….and again, within minutes, something caught my eye again…but when I looked down this time, I saw what looked like a small black cloud or fog forming and as quickly as I saw it just sort of swaying and swirling…it just seemed to consume itself…it just shrunk up inwards…like it sucked itself up and vanished.  I'd had enough at this point….I wasn't sticking around to wait for what ever to happen next, so I went to bed.  I couldn't sleep….I kept sitting up looking out our bedroom door, expecting to see something or someone standing there, watching me.  I just…I can't explain it…felt like something was there watching me.  It may have been just my nerves from the stuff happening before I went to bed….regardless…it was a very unsettling feeling and it was really hard to fall asleep.

Added November 28:

Sorry it's taken so long to update the latest events happening….but I've just been so bogged down with stuff.

Ok….let's see.  Two weeks ago (Wednesday night, November 19th), Justin and I were in the dining room playing rummy.  Justin was sitting with his back to the living room and I was sitting directly across from him.  I looked up at him, waiting for him to take his turn and as I did…I watched as a shadow shot across the window in the living room, then it disappeared out of my view.  I jumped up and headed for the door because I wasn't sure if what I saw was shadow traveling across the curtains inside the house or someone actually outside the house on the porch….and I couldn't take the chance on the door being unlocked and someone just strolling in.  Well…I checked to the door to make sure it was locked, flipped on the porch light, looked out…but no one was there.  What was odd about it was the way it was shaped or the way it appeared to be leaning forward at the neck as it shot across the window.  The head and neck were literally protruding forward, like someone sticking their neck and head out, yet the shoulders and torso appeared very straight.  It just looked really odd.  But….because I couldn't be sure what exactly it was that I saw….a shadow or maybe there really was someone wandering around our front porch…I don't know…I just brushed it off and went back to our card game.

Well….Saturday, the 22nd….we were having a yard sale.  I hadn't eaten any breakfast before setting everything up, so come 11:47 in the afternoon, I was famished.  I came inside to cook everyone hamburgers.  I was standing with my left arm leaning on the counter, waiting for the hamburgers to finish cooking when I saw what looked like a tall, thin person shoot by the kitchen entrance (coming from the living room and heading towards the hallway).  As crazy as it sounds, believe it or not…I immediately followed this thing.  I don't know why, because even though this person was tall and thin like my son Corey, something about it....maybe the hair, I don't know…I just knew it wasn't Corey, but I just had to know for sure.  So….like an idiot, I took off down the hall and sure enough, Corey was no where to be found.

The night before Thanksgiving (November 26th).  My cousin Dean and his 14 year old son Brian traveled from out of state to celebrate the holiday with the family.  Brian wanted to spend the night to hang out with Corey and Justin (our sons) and Avalon and Adam (my niece and nephew).  Now….Brain has spent the night here a million times before and never, ever has he ever had any problems, with the ghosts….why this time something decided to bother him, I don't know.  But, I'm guessing it will be a while before he stays over again….I could tell he was really bothered with this experience…and I have to say, I can't say that I blame him. Well, I was up late, preparing for the holiday….cooking.  Brian had fallen asleep on the sofa.  Two in the morning, I headed to bed because I had to get up early so I would have everything cooked before my family came over for the holiday.  Four thirty in the morning, we woke up to the sound of someone knocking on our bedroom door.  John got up to go see who it was…it was Brian and he was visibly shaken.  He told John "Something's in there….it keeps hitting me and waking me up."  Well, as it turns out, Brian said he woke up to something slapping him on the leg.  He said he looked around…but no one was there, so he just went back to sleep.  He said he woke up again to something slapping him on the leg.  He said the area around his leg was really, really cold.  So…he got up and went to Corey's room, but Corey's door was locked.  So, he went to Justin's room…again, the door was locked.  So…he went back to the living room.  He said while he was sitting there, he suddenly got this very uneasy feeling that something was in the dining room, staring at him.  So…that's when he decided he needed to wake John and I up to tell us what was going on.  Just to be safe, we brought out the roll away bed and had him sleep in our room, so we would be there in case anything else happened.  Nothing did, thank God.

Added December 28:

It looks like we're ending this year with quite a busy month (December).  So much has happening with the activity in our home this month.  Earlier this month I was up alone watching tv.  John and Corey had gone to bed and Justin had fallen asleep on the loveseat.  I was sitting in John's recliner when something caught my eye by the grandfather clock.  It was just a very quick movement, so I turned my head to look to see what it was, but nothing was there.  But I couldn't help but notice this massive shadow that went from floor to ceiling.  I hadn't noticed it there before.  I just sat there, starring at it….this odd shape of what looked like someone wearing a cape and at the top, the shape of a derby hat.  I kept looking at it…it was very still….and stayed there for quite a long time…so I just figured "It must be something in the room casting a shadow, making that shape."  I kept looking around the room trying to figure out what could possibly cast a shadow like that, in that odd shape.  After a while, I just figured it had to be something, I didn't know what…but there was an explanation for it.  So, I went back to watching tv.  And I know I had to be starring at that shape a good five or so minutes…it was a long time.  Well, I'm watching tv and I just so happen to look back over where this shadow was and to my shock…..it was gone.  Right then and there it hit me.  This couldn't have been something in the room casting a shadow, because it should still be there.  I hadn't moved…no lights had been turned on or off, nothing had been moved since I saw it there…so where could that shadowy shape have gone?  So…it was totally un-nerving, the thought that there was this thing, probably standing there, very still…..starring at me, starring at it…and here I was, totally oblivious to it.

The next week, a friend had come by to visit.  I was confiding in him our troubles with my husband losing his job, my medical problems and the problems we'd been having with our mortgage company not wanting to work with us.  I happened to mention to him that I worried that all the problems we'd been having lately I couldn't help but wonder if possibly we were under some sort of negative attack.  Considering the paranormal history to this home…it was just a thought.  Well, he offered to do a cleansing ritual in our home, hoping that it would hopefully alleviate some of our problems.  I was willing to try anything.  So, he blessed and cleansed our home that day.  Three days later, I was in bed and woke up to a loud pounding sound. It was loud enough to wake me up from a dead sleep.  Well, when I first woke up, I couldn't tell where the pounding was coming from…..disoriented, I wondered who would be pounding on the front door or windows trying to wake me up.  I sat up, turned around to get out of bed when the pounding started again.  Three extremely loud pounds….but it was coming from the dining room.  I was putting on my slippers and stopped, thinking "What the hell?"  Thinking back on the whole event, I don't know why I didn't attempt to wake John up….because I did think about getting him out of bed, because I wasn't sure if there was an intruder in our home or not.  But….for reasons, I don't know, I didn't.  So, I tippy toed up to our bedroom door that was cracked open, I slowly pulled the door open to see if I could see any sort of movement of anyone sneaking around our home.  I couldn't see anything, it was just too dark.  I stood there, standing in our doorway, contemplating whether to go in to the dining room or to go back and wake John up.  The weirdest feeling came over me…it was like something was beckoning me to come in to the dining room, yet, something was telling me not to.  I held on to the door, reached in to the dining room where the light switch was and flipped the light on.  I looked out from our bedroom door (never taking even one step out of our room)….I got the strangest feeling something was in there and it was very, very angry with me.  I just felt the most horrific feelings of anger and hate you could imagine.  I hadn't thought about the cleansing three days before….that, that could have possibly angered something…I didn't think about that until later the next day when I woke up.  But, there I was staring in to the dining room, not seeing anyone or anything there, but I could feel it there.  I became so overwhelmed with the feeling that something just wanted to get their hands on me and hurt me that I literally flipped the light off real quick and closed our bedroom door and shot back to the bed. I covered up my head like a little kid…I was so terrified.  I normally sleep with my back to John and facing the side of the bed, but I didn't dare turn that way, scared of what may be standing there, angry at me.  I tell you, I prayed myself to sleep….as soon as I was done praying, I would start right back again.  Eventually, I don't know how…but I did fall asleep.  Then, the next day, I got to thinking about the whole ordeal and that's when it dawned on me that perhaps the cleansing angered something.

I didn't stay up alone for I know a week and a half after that happened.  When everyone went to bed, I went to bed.  Well….last night, I decided to go ahead and stay up to watch some programs I had recorded through out the week.  I was sitting in the loveseat, next to John's recliner, watching tv.  Same thing that happened earlier that month happened again….I saw movement, as if something swiftly entered the living room. I turned to look near the grandfather clock and there was this dome shaped shadow.  It was round at the top and just wide at the bottom….like the shape of an upside down "U".  The moment I thought to myself "God, I hope that's not what I think it is."  no sooner did those words enter my mind….it just vanished before my eyes.  It was like I blinked and then it was "poof" gone.