Ghost Stories

Know any good tales of ghostly hauntings?
Ever seen or felt one yourself?

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Review: Cabin in the Woods 8/10

I've had a few strange things happen to me... nothing that a skeptic couldn't offer an explanation for, I guess, but things that made my hair stand on end at the time. I'll tell you one, to get the ball rolling:

I was at work, and standing by my friend Lynda's desk and we were talking about something. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone walk in through the open door. He was about 5'7", older gentleman, short grey hair. Lynda and I both stopped talking in teh same instant and I turned around and looked straight at the door and there was no one there.

I turned back to Lynda and said, "I could have sworn I saw soemone walk in here.." and she said she'd seen it too. She described the same thing I said above - older guy, not too tall.

Odd, hm?

This will be long:

I've got a good story from a few friends. All three are good friends and for the most part are trustworthy. It took place at a construction site in DC in 2002 that my friend Adam was running for his father, who was in charge of the whole job. It was late at night so Adam sent all the workers home, but himself, Danny (his younger brother) and Jeremy stayed to finish up some work on one of the higher floors. This is what happened:

Danny had gone down to his Dad's office on the second floor to get some ulcer medicine (Danny is 19 and already has ulcers, among numerous medical problems, go figure). He was relaxing in his Dad's chair when he heard someone starting to walk slowly towards the door, so Danny got up and positioned himself to jump out and scare Adam or Jeremy, whoever was coming down to talk to him. As he was waiting, the steps got to the door, paused, and then the door's handle (of the bar design) began to slowly and cautiously turn downwards. Danny thought knew this wasn't normal and thinking it was someone who had broken into the site, he ran to the door, grabbed the handle and yanked the door open. There was no one there, but he heard footsteps rapidly running at the far end of the hallway.

He got on the walkietalkie and told Adam what had happened. Adam and Danny are very...stubborn people. They won't bend on something, and Adam was intent on finding whoever had broken in (presumably just a homeless person looking for a place to stay, he said they get those a lot). Adam and Jeremy started to run down towards Danny, as Danny himself tried to chase the sound. All 3 met at one of the stairwells, Adam went down to the first floor and locked the main entrance (the only open entrance to the building), then ran back up to the second floor. Danny recounted exactly what had happened, which pissed Adam off even more. Danny was sure the person hadn't gone downstairs, so since the doors were locked they had to still be in the building.

Then they heard footsteps on the floor above them. They went in pursuit, searched the third floor but didn't find anything. Then they heard footsteps on the fourth floor...Same thing, went up, didn't find anything. Footsteps on the 5th...nobody on the 5th. I believe it was on the 6th floor that things started getting knocked over. Papers were in the air, shelves sliding out etc. Adam began to lock off each floor as they searched it and cleared it, all while hearing the footsteps all around them.

Then on the 4th floor they started to hear the footsteps not only above them, but below them - but they had already locked off those floors, no one could have been on them. Then they started to hear footsteps on the 4th floor, they ran around in a fury trying to find who had broken in and each turn of a corner only greeted them with rolling chairs or papers just knocked off of desks.

Footsteps below them, floor by floor until they reached the first floor, when they heard them in the basement. The basement had no power running to it at the time and at this point they were all freaked out to the point that they gathered whatever weapons they could before they went into the basement. Sledge hammers, exacto-knives and if I remember right, even a gigantic wrench. They went slowly into the basement and did not split up this time.

Adam later told me that being in that basement was the freakiest experience of his life. I can tell you that there is not much that is humanly that will scare or intimidate Adam. He is not afraid to get into a fight, even if he is going to loose (which isn't often). The man has a tattoo across his abs, written in Polish that translates to, "The Blood of the Wicked".

They continued to chase the footsteps without ever finding the source and at this point they were hearing footsteps in almost every direction of the pitch black basement, which Danny counted as at least 6 different people. It got to the point that they knew it wasn't homeless people, that there was something else down there. They all got too freaked out and ran out of the basement.

Here is the kicker; As they left the building, all 3 noticed something on the exterior wall. In about a 3-4foot square space were dozens and dozens of tiny, black handprints; like several children had gotten into the tar and put their handprints all over the wall. Adam said the spot it was in was right between the main entrance and the port a poty, a spot they all passed 20 times a day and not once before had any of them noticed the handprints.

Now, a little bit of a freaky coincedence. I work(ed) at a seafood market called Crosby's Crab Co. Everyone there is a tight group of friends, it is rare that someone works there that isn't a friend of ours. All three of the Kolakowski's work there (Adam, Danny and Scott), Jeremy even worked there at one point. Everyone works on the weekend, but this particular day Adam and Danny couldn't be there because they had a deadline at the site. It was a rainy night so business was slow, everyone who was working was standing around in the back and we were all telling ghost stories. We were telling ghost stories at the exact same time that Danny, Adam and Jeremy were running around the abandoned building in DC, following footsteps of people who were never there, finding dozens of child handprints in tar on a wall. Those two would have normally been at work that night, telling those same stories with us, but instead were 40 miles away experiencing one...

I've heard the story from all 3 people, at seperate times that night, and they all described the same thing. And these are 3 people who aren't normally creative enough to come up with a story this elaborate...

I've got a few more, one really good one, but I'll let some other people post first.

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Horror's Not Dead
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One Halloween Night


The two-story house was big and old. Made entirely of brick, it stood out from the other small clapboards on the block. Each window on the first floor was made of stained glass, right down to the small diamond shaped window on the front door.

The house was dark; not one light flickered inside or outside. It looked as if no one was home. The large full moon, already rising in the inky, black sky, was the only light visible. A wrought iron fence with a matching gate surrounded the house, making it seem as if it was right out the Addams family television show.

"Well, what do you think, Ronnie," I asked my best friend. "Should we knock on the door?"

"I don't know, Sam" she replied. "It looks so dark and deserted. Maybe it's haunted."

We stood outside the gate, wondering if we should knock on that big front door. If we didn't do it now, we never would. We had both agreed that this was

our last year. After all, ten was a little too old to go out for "tricks or treats."

"It does look haunted," I whispered, as if some spirit in the front yard was listening. "Maybe we should wait. It's getting late and you know how my mom worries."

"No," Ronnie said, pushing curly black hair away from her pudgy face. "We have to do it now."

We looked at each other, then turned our eyes back to the big brick house. I wound some short brown hairs around my fingertip.

"Okay" I said, "but we can't stay long."

Ronnie nodded. I reached for the front gate and lifted the latch. It let out a long, loud squeak. We walked up the path and a black cat ran out. As we inched closer to the front door, I felt a tugging at my sleeve.

"Come on, Sammy," Ronnie said. "Let's get out of here."

"Too late," I answered and knocked on the door.

I wasn't sure what would happen next. Maybe Lurch would come out. Maybe a couple of ghosts would escape or some witch would kidnap us and eat us for dinner. There was no answer. I knocked again, this time confident that no one was home.

"No one's here," I said. "Let's go."

And then the door opened. My heart started to pound.

What happened next was something I never expected. A kindly old woman with silver hair appeared. She had the most beautiful blue eyes I ever saw.

Wait a minute! Didn't this all seem familiar? What story was that about a witch disguised as a kindly old lady who wanted to throw two little children into an oven? Or how about that other story, the one about . . .

"Come on in, young ladies," she said and she smiled at us. She did not wait for us to say "Trick or treat."

Uh, oh I thought, I'm not going in there.

But something about her smile changed my mind. Besides, Ronnie was pulling at my sleeve again. She pointed at something inside the hallway. We went in to have a better look.

Inside, the house was beautiful, not at all like the haunted house we thought it was. In the hallway stood a large wooden table filled with all kinds of candies and goodies. Candles burned at either end, giving the room a cozy, warm feeling.

"Go on," the old woman said. "Take whatever you like."

We filled our bags with goodies, thanked the woman, and headed for the door. We were so excited we almost forgot to wish her good night.

"Good night," she said. "Now you young women get home safely." The old woman waved and closed the door.

Outside again, the darkness reminded us that it was late and that we should be getting home. Nothing had happened; there weren't any ghosts, witches, or ovens. Lurch did not even show up.

"Wow," Ronnie said, opening her bag. "That was great...all that candy."

"Yes," I agreed, "I can't wait to go there again next year."

Ronnie nodded excitedly, as we both forgot that we had promised ourselves this would be our last year. We said good night and hurried home.




About "One Halloween Night"

This story is based on two real life incidents. The first was the haunted house. It was this house that my girlfriend and I thought was haunted, probably because it was different from the rest of the houses on the block. The house was further away from where my family lived and my friends and I could only trick or treat around our neighborhood.

I based the inside of the house on a smaller house we visited on Halloween night. It was closer to where we lived in relation to where the "haunted house" was. The woman that answered the door was not old and did not have white hair. It was beautiful inside and the atmosphere put us at ease. We actually felt cozy and warm. The table with all the candies and goodies was real. I had never seen so much food on one table before. There were pennies on the table that we could take for our UNICEF cartons. The woman really did let us choose what we wanted for "treats." That was the first and last time I would ever have that opportunity. It left a big impression on me.

Great stories, OG and susan! Glad Lurch didn't get you.
That's amazing to think of someone inviting trick or treaters in like that. It wasn't that long ago really, but that couldn't happen now, unless the parents were there and knew the person and there were bloodtests administered on the spot. I feel lucky I got to go back when it was just us kids, and we scared ourselves silly and ran home.

it was somewhere in the early 60's when my friends and i went trick or treating, probably 62 if i could pinpoint it...

this was before the razors in the apples or the lsd sugar cubes so you are right, i'm sure that this kind of trick or treating can't be done again...

and yes, everything is supervised now and the children are much much younger than we were back then...

it sure was different growing up with no laptop or desktop computers, no push button or cell phones (only pay phones back then) two cents for bubble gum and five cents for a hershey candy bar, but i'm glad i got to experience it as well....

No ghosts, but plenty of bad experiences involving spirits!!!!!
Namely vodka

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Hey Pepe, would you say I have a plethora of presents?


Toga, toga, toga......


Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbour?

*loud moaning and groaning*

*screams*

*rattling chains*

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*burp*

hee!

Seems like THE GHOST is a spammer!
Hopefully it will get tiring/boring pretty soon!

I'm actually leaving after Halloween because I'll be in Paris modeling my new line of Invisible clothing, but I will make a note of dropping by your house time and time again throughout the year. I won't call, so be prepared.

You think ghosts are scary?
Try scaring a slightly drunk Scotsman, you ain't seen nothing yet!!!

Dude, I am a slightly drunk Scotsman! I'm just also fully dead!

No true Scotsman, dead or alive, would start a reply with Dude!!!
I'm calling you on this one, if you're Scottish prove it, give details of where you're from, otherwise, me and The Blister are gonna get you!!!

I used to be from Rottingberg, Scotland. You've probably never heard of it because it's not a town anymore - I scared everyone out of it through my professional haunting services.

Have you been to the Stirling Castle? That's where I died. I, of course, am obligated to haunt it every now and then.

Come and get me! I can get 80 billion other ghosts to come help me fight off two living beings.

Yep, it's got boring.

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Back on topic...

Something that happened to a friend of mine named Chelsea:

She was staying at her dad's house in PA, which is apparently an oldie that was once lived in (or even owned) by Thomas Jefferson. She has told me two seperate stories that both took place in the basement, but I can only remember this first one. In the basement there is a recess between walls which is about two feet in distance and extends into darkness. At the bottom of these corridors of sorts runs a little trench that is only a few inches wide/deep. While in the basement cleaning out a box of cat litter, she distinctly heard the sound of chains rattling from the darkness between the walls. Being a scaredy cat, she didn't investigate and just ran upstairs.

Coincedently, a few weeks later a historian friend of her dad's had come over to take a tour of the house. Chelsea tagged a long as the historian pointed out various features of the house and made contextual references to certain architecture design etc. Once they got into the basement the man comment, casually, that the trench that ran between the dark gaps in the walls was the anchoring point for chains that were attached to the ankles of slaves, which limited the distance they could move about in the basement...

Freaky, OG. And what a crummy deal for a ghost - dead and STILL a slave.

Well, don't you know?

That's the sound of the ghost working on the chain gang...

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How about you, Mr Last?
Ever met a ghost?


Here's another that happened to me:

About 10 years ago, I was doing summer theater at a very old theater company on the east coast. Old theaters are mostly haunted, I've always heard, but this theater was outdoors and when I heard it was haunted, I didn't put much stock in it. I learned different, by the end of the summer.

The story in the play is a true one. It's about the 120 or so men, women and children who came across the Atlantic in 1587 to start the first English colony. They landed on a small island, now called "Manteo", after one of the local indian leaders, and set up camp. They sent back a representative to England, to ask Queen Elizabeth for help, because their supply ship had sunk on the trip over. Unfortunately, the rep's return was delayed by the Spanish-English war. It was three years before Governor Dare could return to the settlement at Manteo and when he did, the colonists were gone, leaving only one trace: half a word, carved in a tree. To this day, no one knows what happened to the colonists.

The show is performed on the very spot where the settlement was, 400 years before. At cast orientation, during the last week in May, we were told that the island was haunted, that many people had encountered strange things. I chalked it up to the almost weekly cast parties until one evening, late in the summer. At the top of the show, about 20 of us played the ghosts of the settlers, appearing slowly out of a bank of trees and bushes at the side of the stage. We were wearing big cloaks and carrying bundles of belongings.

I was one of four people who walked out from a certain opening in the brush, and we que'd up in a line every night and waited for the cue to go. I went back a few minutes early one night and made sure that the cape I needed later was in it's place (this was something I did every evening, preshow). I knew it was only a few minutes til "places" would be called, so I figured I'd just stay where I was. I heard someone walk up behind me and figured it was John, who walked out in front of me. He and I goofed around a lot, so I stayed where I was, but rather than move me out of his way, he just stood behind me on the path. I gave him a minute to realise I was being obstinant, figuring at any moment he'd say something... nothing. I turned around, and there was no one there. There wasn't even anyone near there! I had absolutely felt someone standing right behind me and there was no way anyone could have been there and got out of sight by the time I turned around. Then I remembered the warning, about 10 weeks earlier, that the place was haunted.

I decided not to hang around in the woods alone, after that and made my way (at top speed) to the backstage area where everyone else was waiting for the show to start.