Sandy J. Hartwick's Blog, page 3
October 24, 2020
Something in the Closet
This story is from our friend Rich. The story belongs to his wife, but retelling the story dredges up unpleasant memories and terrible nightmares for her and so he sat down with us today and told the tale.
J.’s grandparents lived in an old house in the country in Galt, California. Her grandparents had lived there for a long time–the house was probably built in the 1900’s. There was some conjecture that someone had died on the property, probably in the barn.
J.’s family was a large, Mormon family. When they got together the house was full. At one gathering, while the adults were in another room visiting, J. and her cousins got to playing around; J. was perhaps nine years old.
There was something weird in the closet. Someone got the idea that they should go in the closet and summon whatever was there and ask it to show itself. Three or four of the cousins squeezed into the closet and called, “We invite you to show yourself!”
Something happened and the children tumbled out of the closet. Something had revealed itself–J.’s cousin bore a bruise in the form of a hand print from something grabbing her.
Evidently this was not enough proof for the children, because one of them got the idea to put flour on the floor of the closet. Again they called, “Reveal yourself!” J. saw footprints appear in the flour. It was enough for her and after that, she didn’t like going there. At another time she saw a cross on the wall turn upside down.
Different people saw different things in the house and on the property. As for J. she found that retelling the story brought on terrible nightmares. The worst one was a recurring theme, she was frozen in bed, unable to wake up while a horrible, old man pulled the covers off of her.
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
” There was something weird in the closet. Someone got the idea that they should go in the closet and summon whatever was there and ask it to show itself. “
October 23, 2020
The Pink Man
Photo by Dids from Pexels
“We didn’t believe in this sort of thing before this…”
The Pink Man
When Lori was a child, her family had good friends that they liked to vacation and travel with. The family was similar to hers with mom, dad and two daughters. The daughters were close in age to Lori and her sister.
One summer they traveled to California to go salmon fishing. At the end of a fun day, the kids went to bed in the campers and the parents stayed out by the campfire visiting. Lori was in bed by the window, which was wide open, and she overheard a conversation not meant for her ears. The couple had recently purchased and then sold a home in Denver, Colorado. They began the tale with, “We didn’t believe in this sort of thing before this…”
The trouble began almost immediately after they had moved into the home. Doors and windows would open and close on their own. Pictures would come flying off the walls. For some reason, the ghost particularly hated the maternal grandmother and would throw things at her and the activity would amp up when she visited. But the worst was the nightmares that Charlotte endured. Night after night she would wake them all with screams. When asked about it, she would cry, “There is a pink man sitting on my bed!”
Charlotte’s parents told her that they would wait in the hallway outside her room and she could call them and they would come in and see the pink man. They waited a time and then Charlotte called out, “He’s here.” They entered the room and there was the pink man. It was an apparition that appeared pink due to the streetlights coming through the pink curtains on the window.
The parents were disturbed enough that they arranged for a priest to bless the house. The also had Charlotte blessed, because they had observed her in the yard acting strangely and worried that whatever was in the house might be trying to possess her.
Some research on the home revealed that at one time a happy family had lived there–father, mother and son, but the father had been killed in a tragic accident. Charlotte’s room was the room that the son had lived in and her bed was positioned in the same place as the boy’s bed. The father had often sat on the bed telling the boy stories in the evening.
After the blessings, the activity subsided, but the family still sold the place as quickly as possible and moved out.
October 22, 2020
The Stricker Ranch
Photo by Patrick Hendry on Unsplash (Not an actual photo of the ranch)
Shannon Stowe was the caretaker at the Stricker Ranch the summer of 1996. Shannon explains in her own words, “When I took the job as the caretaker for the summer, several people told me that the house was haunted. It never bothered me, the idea of spirits being around. There were lots of people that died there on the Oregon trail and there’s a small cemetery down the road from the house.
There were several times that I talked to the spirits before I went to bed and said, “OK if you guys are around I’m gonna put this toothbrush, cup or whatever here on the bathroom counter. If you’re around and want me to know that you’re here, move this item so that I find it somewhere else tomorrow morning.” Each time I invited them to move an item, the spirits accommodated and the item would be in a different place the next morning.
You could feel the energy of the spirits around in the home. As the caretaker, I stayed in the back part of the house. The front part of the house is like a museum for people to come in and look around.”
The Stricker Ranch is located south of Hansen, Idaho, on the old Oregon Trail. In 1980, the ranch was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Dating back to 1865, the ranch was an early stopping point for serving pioneers using the Oregon Trail.
The ranch was operated by a German immigrant named Herman Stricker and his wife Lucy Walgamott. The couple let some of the travelers stay in their home and they ran the store. They sometimes had to nurse the sick emigrants. Eventually a cemetery was created near the ranch, because not all of the ailing pioneers survived.
The Stricker Ranch has a great deal of history, but it is considered one of the most haunted spots in Idaho. The state of Idaho has more information in case you would like to check it out for yourself. https://history.idaho.gov/stricker/
October 21, 2020
Spooky in San Francisco
Amelia’s apartment in San Francisco.
Spooky in San Francisco
Amelia Davies moved into her second-ever apartment in 2016 with her boyfriend Sam and another roommate. She was excited, because this apartment was huge compared to her last place. The two bedroom, one bath apartment only had neighbors below and was across from Ocean beach.
After the excitement of moving in had passed, Amelia noticed something about the place that bothered her–the apartment had a long, narrow hallway. It was unusually long and Amelia found the space “off putting.”
When she came home at night the switch by the door would turn on a light that only illuminated half of the hallway. She would have to walk into the living room to reach the switch that lit the rest of the hallway. Arriving home one evening, she turned on the switch and out of the corner of her eye she saw a shadowy figure at the end of the hallway.
Her sister Alethea lived in the area and would sometimes come over and stay the night. Alethea remarked, “I hate this hallway.”
When she stayed the night she would be in the living room on the couch. Amelia found her sleeping with all of the lights on. Alethea was puzzled too, “I’m not usually scared like this.”
Amelia felt as though there was a negative, male presence in the apartment. She felt uncomfortable in the living room and always felt that there was something looking in from the hallway. If she was alone she could not stand to be in the living room by herself and would go to her room.
Amelia detected needy emotions, “At this point I hated hanging out in the living room if nobody was home. I felt very negative, almost needy energy. I’m not really sure how else to explain it, like something stirred in the house when I was home and was angry when I left.”
As time passed, Amelia found she was anxious and having sleep disturbances. More than once she awoke to the sound of someone whispering, “Amelia.” If her foot slipped out from under the covers she sometimes felt something was touching it.
“In reality, four of us were in the apartment instead of three.”
One evening she and her boyfriend accompanied a group of friends out on the town; they came back to the apartment for some drinks. At some point the spooky hallway came into the conversation. Her friend Bobby asked aloud, “Is anyone here with us?” There was silence and then three knocks from the hallway. Bobby quickly launched into a prayer in Spanish. There was no more activity that evening.
A coworker approached Amelia asking if she was okay, because she seemed down. Amelia explained the presence in the apartment. The coworker, a spiritual person, nodded, “I can tell something is attempting to attach itself onto you and drain your energy.”
Her coworker gave her some Palo Santo (Holy wood) sticks for smudging. “Take these and go around the apartment. Ask the negative energy to leave.”
Amelia said this seemed to brighten the apartment and she was able to sleep through the night again.
She was still looking forward to the day their lease was up. On the last day in the apartment, as they were moving their possessions out, they met the neighbor that lived downstairs. They had never seen him before. He stood in the building hallway watching them silently. At last he began to yell at them, “Stomping around! I hear you blasting noise day and night! Lasers!”
He carried on and Amelia wondered about his sanity. She also wondered about the noise he complained about, because they were quiet and none of them were home during the day.
Today Amelia lives in an older, two story home which is quite peaceful–just the way she likes it.
October 20, 2020
Caught on Camera
Photo by Serge Kutuzov on Unsplash
“The ball of light left the room and then came back again before passing through a wall. “
Caught on Camera
D. had owned Pepper for years. The little black dog was practically a family member. Pepper was a rescue and D. was not sure of her exact age. As the years passed Pepper’s vet marveled that the cute canine was still living. Pepper kept on though.
Eventually time caught up with Pepper and the sweet girl passed away in the family home on a soft rug in front of the fireplace. Even though D. had known this day was coming, it was hard on her.
She and her husband had to travel to their ranch in California. They set the security system before they left. The system includes cameras they can monitor, which will record activity in the home and send notifications regarding activity to the phone.
One night on the ranch, D. was missing Pepper terribly and she cried herself to sleep. She was awakened in the night by a notification on her phone from their security system.
D. viewed the footage again and again. A ball of light entered the living room where Pepper passed. The light swooped down and around in a dog-like fashion seemingly looking around the rug where her dog had passed and near that area. The ball of light left the room and then came back again before passing through a wall.
D. waited a long time before she showed her husband the footage. He agreed with her; they both believe it was the small dog’s spirit coming home to check on things.
D. showed me the footage and there is definitely something there. It is an impressive video.
October 19, 2020
Jagged Blackness
J. had two experiences with shadow people. The first one happened at his girlfriend’s new apartment. It was night and she had a large clock that faintly illuminated her room. Adjoining the bedroom was a bath and the clock did not shed any light on it–it was black.
J. awoke with the terrible feeling of being watched. There was no one in the bedroom, but he felt someone was staring out at him from the bathroom. The bathroom doorway was inky black, an unnatural black and the feeling of a bad presence grew.
J. felt certain someone was there, so certain that he drew his gun and yelled at the shadow, “Who are you? What do you want?”
His girlfriend woke up and turned the lights on. There was nothing there.
The second experience was worse. J.’s father and brother had taken him to a shooting school as a gift for his bachelor’s party. At the hotel, J. chose the pull-out sofa as his bed. They all went to bed, but left the hallway light on.
J. slept and awoke in the middle of the night. He looked around the room towards his right and the television. Everything was normal. He looked back to his left and there looming above him was an enormous shadow person. It was so huge and impossibly black.
He could see its legs and arms, but there was no head, only jagged blackness. J. was frozen and couldn’t move. He screamed and screamed.
His brother and father ran into the room guns in hand, thinking that he was being murdered. J. said he saw his brother and father run through the apparition before it faded away.
Photo by Elti Meshau on Unsplash
” J. was frozen and couldn’t move. He screamed and screamed.”
October 18, 2020
Point Arena Spirits
Point Arena is a small town in Mendocino County. The last census tallied the population at 449, making it one of the smallest incorporated cities in the country. State Route 1 runs down main street. The place is made up of a diverse group of people, including surfers, pot growers and more and more tourists.
My Aunt Lorie lived in Point Arena for 32 years in the oldest house in the city. The home built in the late 1860’s, was a tear down when she and her husband moved in. It was built of redwood with square nails and unfortunately, no insulation. It was also haunted.
Lorie said, “The activity in the house seemed to vary depending on the visitors. Certain visitors stirred up things.” One of their daughter’s friends, a Native American boy, lived with them for a time and Lorie noted the activity would always amp up when he was there.
Most of the activity was mild and Lorie and her husband believed that it was perhaps the spirit of a child that was in the house. Often when they were downstairs watching TV, they could hear someone walking upstairs. Usually the footsteps would come half way down the stairs and then stop.
Her husband would feel like something was walking by or that something was touching the bed. On occasion there was the sound of someone trying to open the front door. Of course, there was no one there.
There was only one bathroom in the house. One day, Lorie went to the bathroom and the door was sealed tight. This was unusual, because the door like the rest of the house was old and normally rattled and was loose in the door frame. She knocked and asked, “Is anyone in there?” No answer.
Her daughter had a friend over that day. Lorie went to her daughter’s room and both of the girls were there. She went back and the door had loosened. She tested the door by opening it and then gently closing it. The door slammed shut again as tight and sealed as it was before. This happened several times and Lorie even had the girls come and witness it.
The most impressive incident happened when her sister visited. My other aunt is a practicing Hindu and brings her prayer accessories with her when she travels.
Lorie remembers, “There are some prayers that must not be said in a place where meat has been consumed. I believe she stirred something up.” That night, the rest of the household had gone to bed and the women were enjoying a cup of tea in the kitchen. Lorie had her back to the kitchen sink and her sister exclaimed, “Oh my God! What is that?”
Lorie turned and saw an apparition that ironically resembled one of the green blobs from Ghostbusters. “It was a green mist and when I turned, it rushed out of the room.”
The spirit rushed into the room where her husband was sleeping and knocked over a bookcase.
My aunt and her husband eventually built a new home and moved there some years ago. They sold their old home to the next door neighbors; there has been no news on any further paranormal activity.
The old house in Point Arena.
“That night, the rest of the household had gone to bed and the women were enjoying a cup of tea in the kitchen. Lorie had her back to the kitchen sink and her sister exclaimed, “Oh my God! What is that?” “
October 17, 2020
Knockers and Shakers
Photo by Neven Krcmarek on Unsplash
Knockers and Shakers
M. was about 11 years old when the first scare happened. It was summer and her mom had let her invite her good friend over to spend the night. It was a warm summer night, but the girls slept in sleeping bags on cots. In the high desert, mornings could be on the cool side even in the summer.
The girls fell asleep with stars overhead and the sound of water bubbling in the ditch next to them. M. and her friend were shaken awake. Their cots were being violently moved. At first M. thought it was her older sister playing a trick on them, but when they turned the flashlight on they could see she was across the yard in her sleeping bag sound asleep. They looked all around and under the cots. Nothing. The girls had a hard time falling back asleep; it didn’t help that M. lived next to the cemetery. They settled in and the shaking began again. The flashlight was dropped and the girls made enough noise that M.’s mom called from the house for them to, “Shut up!” M. summoned enough courage to find the flashlight and again there was nothing. The shaking continued on and on and somehow the girls fell asleep! The next morning there was a large impression in the grass at the foot of the cots where something had been lurking.
M.’s second story happened later when she was about 14 . It was a windy night and the shrubs against the house were making their creaky noises. Her father had gone to bed and her mother was watching television in the living room. M. prepared for bed and as was her habit turned off the light and got into bed and under the covers as quickly as possible, trying not to think scary thoughts. M. was prone to horrid nightmares and would sometimes sleepwalk. Her parents would often find her cowering behind a piece of furniture.
There was a knock at her door. M. got up. There was no one there. She asked her mom, but her mom was on the couch and didn’t know what she was talking about. M. went back to bed and again there was a knock at the door. Again no one. She didn’t bother to ask her mom this time. Then the real knocking began. It circled all around the room and sounded like a human hand rapping on the wall over and over again. It went on for 15-20 minutes. When I asked M. why she didn’t get her mom, M. said, “Mom never believed me.”
October 16, 2020
Bodie: A Real Ghost Town
Photo by Daniel Gregoire on Unsplash
“The town is held in a state of arrested decay as a State Historic Park. The place is a natural for ghostly encounters.”
Photo by Stin-Niels Musche on Unsplash
Bodie: A Real Ghost Town
Bodie, California is located in the Basin Range of the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, about 13 miles East of Highway 395 in central California.
Take U.S. Hwy. 395 to State Hwy. 270 and drive 10 miles east until the paved road ends, then continue for 3 miles on a dirt road.
Bodie was once home to over ten thousand people and had twenty seven(!) saloons. The town is held in a state of arrested decay as a State Historic Park. The place is a natural for ghostly encounters.
One worker lived in one of the old houses, and noticed that often things she had in the house were moved in the night. Another worker that lived in that same house had a more frightening experience. She woke up to see a young man with a baseball bat hovering over her. She said, “Don’t you dare!”. And that was the end of that
A tourist came into the visitor’s center very agitated. He said he’d seen the ghost of an old woman in a window of one of the houses. It was broad daylight. One worker looked at that window every time she went by and never saw anything, but she believes in the ghosts, because of all the stories.
Once a park ranger saw a man walking down a street after hours. He started walking after him to tell him the park was closed. The man disappeared before he could catch up.
There must be so many more stories. If you have one you would like to share, please let me know and I will create an update on spooky stories of Bodie.
October 15, 2020
The Haints
Photo courtesy of Charles Deluvio
When she returned she told them, “You have something in this place.”
The Haints
Here is a southern, spooky story.
B.’s grandfather was a tenant farmer that lived in the deep backwoods of Arkansas. She would sometimes visit him with her siblings and he would mention that the “haints” were bothering him.
Later, her grandfather became ill and came to live with her family and again he complained of the haints bothering him at night.
B. became aware of the haints, because they were fascinated with the stairs in her house. Sometimes when the family went up the stairs for the night, she would turn the lights off at the top of the stairs and something would turn them back on with the switch at the bottom of the stairs. The family also noticed that sometimes objects were moved out of place.
B. began to notice weird sensations, the feeling that she was not alone and that someone was watching her. Her grandfather passed away in that house and eventually her family moved to a duplex.
The duplex was a smaller home and B. ended up sleeping on the living room couch; she was about thirteen. One night she awoke and saw the specter of the grim reaper, only instead of a scythe in his hands he had a baseball bat; he was coming right for her.
B. remembers screaming and screaming. Her father ran into the room and when she told him what she had seen, he downplayed it as a bad dream. The bad feelings of someone near or watching continued and often she would sleep with the covers over her head.
When B. married, she and her husband moved to a Dallas apartment, but something moved with them. The presence was still there and B. hated to be alone in the apartment day or night. A friend needed a place to stay and spent the night on their couch. The next day the friend was gone. When she returned she told them, “You have something in this place.” Her friend found another place to stay.
B. endured living in the apartment, but would never sleep facing the door. When B. and her husband began a family they moved to a different home. She still felt the presence. One day when her daughter was about nine she asked, “Who was that man in the hallway last night?” Her daughter described him as about six feet tall and wearing an old-fashioned, western-style, felt hat. B. tried to reassure her daughter that she must have dreamed it or imagined it, but her daughter insisted, “Mom, he looked at me for a long time.”
Shortly after this B. became a Christian and a friend advised her to open her Bible, walk into every room in the house and say the Lord’s prayer. B. wasted no time in completing that task. That was the end of the presence and the haints.
