Do You Believe in Ghosts?

Okay, so we’re getting closer to Halloween, and as I may have mentioned it’s one of my very favorite days of the year.  I love Halloween.  My mom is something that my sister and I like to call a “Holiday Hoarder.”  She’s the typical southern mom who goes absolutely berserk around the holidays, so needless to say, the two of us grew up in a house where Halloween is a pretty big deal.  

One year, when I was really little, we were Trick-or-Treating wish some friends around their neighborhood.  A man walked up to us and hissed, “Devil worshipers.”  My mom looked him straight in the eye and said, “Yeah.  You should see what we did to the cat.”  

This deep and profound love for Halloween naturally spawned a keen interest in the paranormal, especially ghosts.  Every year, my entire family would gather around the television and watch all the haunted house specials.  I read all those true paranormal encounter books.  I loved the idea of hauntings and phenomena that couldn’t be explained.  They fascinated me as much as they freaked me out.  

The other night, I had dinner with my friend who is also an author.  Of course, we ended up talking about our books and he asked me a question.  ”Do you believe in ghosts?”

I was somewhat loathe to answer, because I know that a lot of people would think me crazy, but the honest answer is yes.  I believe in ghosts.  

I used to think I didn’t.  I used to think that I didn’t believe in demons or witchcraft or any of that hokum, and a part of me is still skeptical.  However, just because I’m not one hundred percent sure, doesn’t mean I’m going to mess around with it.  

For example, I used to think that Ouija Boards were just silly little games that twelve-year-old girls used to ask “the spirit world” if Jimmy liked Susie or if Penny was going to be the prom queen.  However, one night, I was at a friend’s house and we decided to break out her Ouija Board.  We sat the board down on the ground and we began the ritual.

We asked if there was anything in the room with us, if it was evil, and if it wanted to hurt us.  All the answers to the questions were “Yes.”  It may have been my imagination, but I was beginning to freak out a little.  It didn’t help that my friend’s cat was on high alert and staring directly into the corner of her bedroom.  We asked the spirit if it would leave.  The answer again was “Yes.”  

And just like that, the cat’s eyes followed something right out of the room.

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of that, and to this day, I’m still not sure if we actually contacted something or if Ouija Boards are just silly little toys.  I can tell you, however, that you won’t catch me playing with a Ouija Board again.  I’m of the mindset that if there is something out there and you invite it in, it will come.  

My entire family has also experienced unexplained activity around our house.  It’s not surprising.  This house has seen multiple deaths, people and animals.  

Once, my mother was alone in the house.  It was right after my birthday and there and I had one of those giant mylar balloons that was still full of helium, hovering a good five to six feet in the air.  My mom was in the den, neither the heater nor the air conditioner was on, and everything was absolutely still.  Then, without warning, the mylar balloon slammed to the ground, as if something had smacked it down, and then floated back up.  

Just a year ago, my sister was alone in her room, when a small photograph of our grandmother (who died in our house and whom my sister is named for), began trembling, clinking against a ceramic statue.  When my sister looked at what was making the noise, the photograph stopped abruptly, as though something had been playing with it and, upon being caught, dropped it.  

Finally, my father, my sister, and I have all seen the same white figure at the back of our hall, near the bathroom.  They were the first ones to see it.  Now, my dad does not joke, at least not seriously.  He’ll try, but he usually cracks in less than a minute.  When he first told me that he’d seen this apparition, I thought he was just trying to scare me.  It seems like something he would do.  But any time he tries to joke or scare me, he also busts out laughing.  He’s still adamant about having seen this figure.  My sister is too.  After they started telling me about it, I knew right then and there that I did NOT want to see it.  

I know, author of ghost stories and I did not want to see this ghost.  Go figure.  

For a while, I thought we (the spirit and I) sort of had a mutual understanding.  I did not want to see him, and he would give me my space.  

One night, however, I was in the bathroom, flossing.  I wasn’t thinking about the ghost.  Heck, I wasn’t really thinking about anything except my teeth.  But then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a solid white figure approach the bathroom door from the outside hall.  I leapt about a foot backwards, not because I was scared of the ghost, but because I was so startled.  As I did, the figure sort of leapt back too and then disappeared, almost as if I had scared it too.  

I was stunned when I realized I had just seen the white figure that my dad and my sister always talked about.  To be honest, I thought it was my mother, dressed in her white sweatshirt, coming to use the restroom.  I haven’t seen the apparition again, though I am happy to say that I am no longer scared of him.  He did startle me, but the idea of him being there doesn’t freak me out anymore.  

Anyway, I may have made a huge mistake confessing all of this.  I’m not sure if I’m crazy to believe in the spirit world or not.  Sometimes, I think I’m as much of a skeptic as I am a believer.  I don’t believe that everything unexplained can be attributed to the paranormal, but I do believe that it’s out there, and that it does manifest itself in our world.   

I do hope that if you have had an experience with anything unexplained, you’ll share it with me in the comments section!  I also hope that if you enjoy a ghost story, you’ll check out Cemetery Tours.  I’m a little biased, but I think it’s a pretty good read, especially for Halloween!  

I also hope that one day, I’ll be able to experience a real ghost hunt, or at least spend the night in a haunted hotel.  

Happy Halloween!