Who''s scared of ghosts?

[bookworm21]

Ok, this may make you guys think I''m the weirdest person on the face of this planet, but how many of you believe in ghosts? And how many of you are afraid of seeing one?

I swear that I am a totally sane person, but I''ve always been afraid of seeing ghosts since I was a little girl. I have this fear that if I enter a dark room or something, there will be something staring back at me, and it won''t be human. I can''t watch horror movies, because if I do, I can''t go anywhere in the house alone for at least a month. My poor BF is pretty understanding about that and is incredibly patient with me. As a result, I refuse to watch horror movies; I can''t even hear the audio soundtrack without getting scared. I''m making myself sound like a crazy person here. In my defense, I grew up with many stories that happened firsthand to friends and family. Plus, I lived for 5 years in a haunted house, where it was always cold and dark, where my dad saw ghosts, and other people never really felt comfortable in there.

I saw in a Discovery Channel program that a reaction like mine appears to be because of the release of adrenalin in my brain when watching horror movies, which results in my brain remembering the scenes from the film at the most inopportune times.

So am I the only one who suffers from these fears that seem unreasonable? Does anyone else have these problems?

Please please please don''t flame me. I''m asking out of genuine curiosity to see who else has this same irrational fear. And I am sane. It''s just this fear that makes me seem insane.

 

[marvel]

BOO!

Actutally, I'm intrigued by ghost stories! Can you share some stories? Or, would that freak you too much?

 

[bookworm21]

LOL, Marvel.

Sure, I can share some. I think i''ve posted about a couple of them here before, but if you guys don''t mind me repeating, here goes:

The old house my family and I used to live in for 5 years was haunted. People who came over always commented on how they never really felt comfortable there (we''re talking really good friends and family, so we weren''t offended). The place was never warm, even on the rare 90 degree days we get in SF. It was always dim inside the house, no matter how many lights were turned on or if the sun was blazing through one of the windows. It was like the house just swallowed all the light.

A couple of months after we moved in, I began waking up in the middle of the night, experiencing an unusual paralysis that I never had before. Something would wake me up, but everyone else would be asleep and the house would be completely silent. I would then try to move my arm or my head to get into a more comfortable position, but found that I could not, no matter how hard I tried. Every time I tried to move, there would be a loud ringing in my head. In fact, the harder I tried, the louder the ringing got, to the point where it was painful and I would just give up. This was a nightly occurrence. My sister and I never liked going anywhere in the house alone, because we always felt that there was something watching us. We would turn around quickly and look, but we would never see anything. Nevertheless, we were always looking over our shoulders whenever we had to go anywhere alone. Now, more than ten years later, my sister and I still have nightmares about that house; all of them about us barely escaping from some type of monster or something. And the paralysis never happened again after we moved.

My dad, who casually studies the Chinese equivalent of the occult, saw the ghost of a little blond girl in a blue dress there once. It in the middle of the day, in the kitchen, which is near the back of the house. We were hosting a party for one of my younger cousins, who was about 3 years old at the time, so there were a lot of children over, playing in the front of the house. My dad walked into the kitchen and saw this little girl, who looked to be around 3 also, all by herself and looking sad. Her hair was in pigtails, and her dress was neat, and my dad gently asked her why she wasn''t playing with the other children. She didn''t answer and just stared at him. He turned around for literally a second to place something in the sink, and when he turned around, she was gone. He didn''t hear footsteps or anything that indicated her leaving. So he went outside to make sure the little girl was out there with the other kids, but didn''t see her. He asked my aunt, the mother of my cousin, about that girl, and my aunt replied that there was no blond girl at the party. (This is because my family is Chinese and don''t speak much English, so they had invited their friends'' kids.)

The same cousin, now about 4 or 5 years old, was put to bed one night. Her mother, my aunt, made sure she was sound asleep then went out to the living room to watch TV. All of a sudden, she hears her daughter talking and laughing to someone. My aunt goes into the room, thinking there might have been a burglar or something, and sees no one. Her daughter continues laughing and jumping on the bed. She asks her daughter what she''s doing, and her daughter replies that she''s playing with the man over there and points in front of her. My aunt freaks out, scoops her up to the living room, and calls my parents. This was in a different house.

My BF, a long time ago, played with an Ouiji board with his brother and a couple of friends, in a park at night. I believe they were about eleven or so at the time, and they didn''t think anything would happen. According to my BF, the palette started moving, and they all started accusing each other of moving it; they were all nervous and a bit scared, since they all had only one finger on the palette and it appeared as though everyone was touching it *very* lightly. They started asking questions. And one that he remembers the most clearly was "Are you good or evil?" The spirit answered evil. Of course, they couldn''t just all break off and leave, because people say that if you do that before the palette moves to "good-bye," the spirit will take possession of one of the players, usually the person who breaks away first. Well, this girl freaked out and broke away. And all of a sudden, she started ranting about nonsense, scaring her sister, who tried to lead her away. The girl just kept ranting and crying for no apparent reason. They all helped get her home, but apparently, it took a while before she was normal again. My BF is convinced that it was the spirit that took possession of the girl.

There are a few more stories, but I''ll add them later. I have to go jogging before the sun sets.

 

[moremoremore]

Na, it''s ok. Tyra Banks is afraid of being confronted by dolphins...and you know how that happens every day LOL... So you''re normal in comparison! LOL

 

[monarch64]

I''m really not afraid of ghosts. But then, I''ve never had a personal experience with one, so I don''t know...

When I was little, my dad used to take my brother and me on long drives in the country. He''d stop at old abandoned houses and (I know this is awful!) make us walk around inside them and say, "see, we aren''t scared of ghosts!" I think this was his way of desensitizing us...he also used to take us to scary movies, like "Children of the Corn," I must''ve been about 6 but we grew up on a farm and had cornfields all around so it really freaked me out. I don''t think I''d be real comfortable walking through a cornfield after dark now. I certainly never did after I saw that movie, lol!

Every year at Halloween some of our friends and DH and myself go to haunted houses. I''m ALWAYS the first one in line of our group, leading everyone through and laughing hysterically whenever the "ghosts" jump out and try to scare us. Everyone else freaks out, but I just crack up. When we went with another couple to see "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" a couple years ago, I had to get up and leave halfway through the movie because I had a giggle fit and didn''t want to ruin it for everyone else!

Ouija board in college: we played it when I lived in a dorm as a freshman. One girl supposedly got possessed because she played by herself one night, searching for an ex-BF who''d died recently. Another girl who was Catholic went around and threw salt all over the doorways of all of our rooms and 9 girls ended up dropping out of school when that semester was over. It was a strange experience, but I never felt "touched" by it or that I needed to leave.

I love a good ghost story, but apparently I''m not equipped with the sense of being in touch with the spirit world...I can appreciate and am interested in stories of those who can, but it just hasn''t happened for me. I''m way more in tune with the living, I guess.

 

[movie zombie]

i get to sf quite a bit....would love to see that house! remember the address?

movie zombie

 

[littlelysser]

Um, if it makes you feel any better, I am so afraid of ghosts and reading about ghosts that I total skipped over the responses where you all shared stories about ghosts. Scared to death. Won''t watch any scary movies that have to do with ghosts...unless the ghosts come from opening up some ancient egyptian thing from a tomb in one''s basement...because I know I won''t be doing that...but ghosts and poltergeists and all that crap...forget it!

And here is the ultimate confession. I was scared by GhostBusters 2. Don''t judge me!

 

[bookworm21]

LOL, Littlelysser, you sound exactly like me! It''s okay about Ghostbusters, I used to love those movies when I was a kid. Strangely enough though, I can''t watch them now without getting scared. But the ultimate movie that''s always scared me and my sis was Candyman. I still can''t look in mirrors when I get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.

Moviezombie, I still remember the address: 1631 27th Ave, in the Sunset. Between L and M. I drove by there recently, and it looks really innocent now, but when we were living there, there were these bushes outside of the house leading to the entrance that added a certain gloominess to the place. They''re gone now.

 

[Kaleigh]

My brother was intrigued by them. We lived in a very old house growing up. He swears he saw one. I never did. But from what I have heard ghosts are misguided souls that haven''t made it to the other side. They don''t mean to cause you any harm. But if I did see one, I''d be freaked!! Thank god they went to my brother instead of me!!!

 

[diamondfan]

I believe there could be something out there sometimes. Sometimes a place just feels not right!

My step sister lives in Boston and had a house that was "haunted". She never felt it was a bad entity, just a benign one hanging around. She never said anything to anyone, though she is intuitive and has that sense, not everyone else does. She has af friend who is very into the paranormal, and she walked into the house when my step sister and her family had been there only a short time. She totally picked up on it. My step sister then did some research on the house and discovered that the owner before the owner she bought it from had died, of natural causes, in the house at an old age. She felt the woman was not ready to let go and was still "there", and when she was ready she would move on!

 

[portoar]

I''ve never seen a ghost, but I did have an out of body experience once that freaked me out for years . . . I went to bed one night, and was having trouble getting to sleep. . . . just lying awake in bed. I decided to get up and get a drink of water, went into the kitchen, got my drink, then went on through to the dining room, where I stood watching the moonlight streaming through with window blinds into the room. . . . just drinking my water, enjoying the peace of the evening. I put my glass back by the kitchen sink, walked back into the bedroom, and flopped back down on the bed . . . onto my own body. I absolutely freaked and tried to scream. But no sound would come out. I tried to move . . . and couldn''t move. I jolted back into my body and lay there in total paralysis (I later found out this is called sleep paralysis, where your conciousness is awake but your body is not) trying and trying to scream and get my BFs attention. Finally I was able to move and woke him up in total hysterics. It took him hours to calm me down, and that experience was so real, so real, it had no dream quality and was different than anything I''ve ever experienced before. It''s haunted me for years.

 

[diamondfan]

Date: 5/4/2006 11:48:42 PM
Author: portoar
I''ve never seen a ghost, but I did have an out of body experience once that freaked me out for years . . . I went to bed one night, and was having trouble getting to sleep. . . . just lying awake in bed. I decided to get up and get a drink of water, went into the kitchen, got my drink, then went on through to the dining room, where I stood watching the moonlight streaming through with window blinds into the room. . . . just drinking my water, enjoying the peace of the evening. I put my glass back by the kitchen sink, walked back into the bedroom, and flopped back down on the bed . . . onto my own body. I absolutely freaked and tried to scream. But no sound would come out. I tried to move . . . and couldn''t move. I jolted back into my body and lay there in total paralysis (I later found out this is called sleep paralysis, where your conciousness is awake but your body is not) trying and trying to scream and get my BFs attention. Finally I was able to move and woke him up in total hysterics. It took him hours to calm me down, and that experience was so real, so real, it had no dream quality and was different than anything I''ve ever experienced before. It''s haunted me for years.

Have you ever had it analyzed? I think it could be interesting.

My dad died when I was 15. I would have weird experiences. The night he died, in the hospital, I woke in my room at the same time he was dying. It was July in LA and HOT. My home had no air conditioning. I had to open windows and run fans and sleep without covers it was so unbearable. Suddenly, I awake from a sound sleep, and I am shaking and feeling like I am in a freezer. I look at the clock, see the time and eventually get warm enough to go back to sleep. A couple hours later my mom comes in to tell me he died. I asked, Did he die at 4:53 am? She looked surprised and said yes. After his death, whenever I was really upset about things, I would have dreams that he was alive and with me. They would be so real that I would wake up feeling like he was still alive. Of course I quickly knew he was dead, but thought that this was his way of reaching out to me in my moments of need. I could smell his cologne, feel his sweater when I hugged him in my dream, but when they were happening they really seemed real. So I would say he was a ghost, but he was trying to communicate with me somehow...

 

[portoar]

No, I never had my "out of body" experience analyzed. Up until then I was (and really still am) a pragmatic person and haven''t believed in near death experiences, out of body, or ghosts, fate, or any of that kind of thing. I''m not impressionable that way, which is exactly why it freaked me out so much.

 

[strmrdr]

When I was growning up friend of mine''s mom had a personal experence with one and has the scars to prove it.
The paper did a write up on it and the experts wouldnt say it was haunted but they all agreed something was there.
So yea I believe in em.
Somethings are best left alone.

 

[SoonIHope]

My family''s summer house was built in 1848 and there have been a number of ghost rumors over the years. Most of them (like you can hear my great-great-grandfather who built the house following you when you go up the stairs sometimes) I thought were kind of fun but didn''t believe in at all. But then my cousin, who was maybe 5 at the time, was in the nursery (3rd floor) alone one time at night, trying to sleep, while everyone else was downstairs. After a little while her parents took her brother up to put him to bed too and found that she was awake sitting happily in her bed. They asked her why she wasn''t asleep and she said it was because she had been talking to the nice lady. They were like whaaat, because she knew the names of everyone in the house, and they knew no one had gone up there. She described an elderly woman with her hair in a long grey braid, wearing an old fashioned nightgown, who sounded exactly like my great-great aunt who was the matriarch of the family for a long time, but died long before my cousin was born. Everyone is now convinced that she saw Mary Lee, who was just dropping in to check up on her family and the house. My cousin wasn''t remotely scared about the whole experience and didnt'' seem to have been dreaming or anything, she was just happily talking to the nice woman. So...I don''t know. That seems pretty feasible to me??

As for out of body experiences, my mother had one even though she, like portoar, was not at all the type of person to believe in them! When I was about 6 she almost died and was in the hospital for several weeks with salmonella. She was in lots and lots of pain and on her worst day there, she remembers being gripped by the worst pain yet, and then she just sort of floated up out of her body, and looked down on herself and felt completely in peace, even though she saw her body writhing in pain. She kind of moved around a bit, and I think looked in the hall or something, then after a minute or two went back down into her body. She remembers feeling completely exhausted after that, but no longer in real pain, and afterwards she quickly recovered much to everyone''s surprise. She also knew some random piece of information (I forget exactly what) that she couldn''t really have known...I think that a doctor was in the hall, saying something maybe? But she remembers being really skeptical of the whole experience but then afterwards thinking, but if it DIDN''T really happen, how would I have known THAT??

Aaaand my last story of this post, which is getting really long! My brother went to China for a year after graduating from high school. He called my parents every so often, but he didn''t have access to email or regular access to a phone so it would often be several weeks in between hearing from him. My mom cried when he left and would sometimes think about how sad it was that she wouldn''t see him for a long time, but mostly she was completely fine about it, and she never once cried or freaked out about him being gone for so long and so far away. Until...one night at about 3 in the morning after he had been gone maybe 8 months, she woke up in a panic, screaming to my dad that she just needed to see him so she could know that he was alright. He tried to convince her that it was just a bad dream but she was adamant that she HAD TO KNOW that he was okay, and was just completely hysterical. Eventually he convinced her that it was just a dream and she went back to sleep and was fine the next day. She remembered it, but wasn''t too concerned. About a week later, my brother called to check in. He started the call with, "Before I tell you this, know that I am COMPLETELY OKAY" and then proceeded to explain that about a week before he had gotten hit by a car in Inner Mongolia, knocked unconscious, and scraped up a bunch, although with no real injuries. He was telling the story and my mom was flipping out a bit, even though he was 100% fine by this point, when she suddenly remembered waking up in the middle of the night. She asked him exactly when it was that it had happened, and they calculated that with the time difference, he had gotten hit at exactly the same time that she woke up in a panic. She didn''t panic or cry about him a single other time in the months that he remained there, so that was the ONLY time she was really worried about his wellbeing. Seems like a little more than a coincidence to me....

 

[allycat0303]

I really, really want to see/believe in ghosts because that would prove to me that after death is just not one giant black hole where you cease to exist. I would love to believe in something more, and a ghost would solve everything. So bring on the GHOST!

 

[SoonIHope]

Date: 5/5/2006 11:23:28 AM
Author: allycat0303
I really, really want to see/believe in ghosts because that would prove to me that after death is just not one giant black hole where you cease to exist. I would love to believe in something more, and a ghost would solve everything. So bring on the GHOST!

Haha, yeah, I''m kind of in the same place as you! I really really think it would be awesome if ghosts really existed but I''m not quiiiiite convinced. But I like the idea! I want to believe it!!

 

[TravelingGal]

Portoar, I have had sleep paralysis happen to me, twice. It''s very freaky to have your mind awake somehow, and your body as heavy as a boulder . The first time it happened, I had to go back to bed with the lights on. The second time, I had heard of what it was, so it didn''t freak me out at all.

I''m not a big believer in ghosts, but I do have a story that I wrote 3 years ago (I travel solo and write about some of my adventures while on the road) of an incident in Ireland. When I sent out the story to my friends and family, a lot of them were pretty freaked out, especially because they know I am not the type to lie or exaggerate. To this day, I still can''t figure out what happened....

 

[SoonIHope]

Date: 5/5/2006 12:04:39 PM
Author: TravelingGal
I''m not a big believer in ghosts, but I do have a story that I wrote 3 years ago (I travel solo and write about some of my adventures while on the road) of an incident in Ireland. When I sent out the story to my friends and family, a lot of them were pretty freaked out, especially because they know I am not the type to lie or exaggerate. To this day, I still can''t figure out what happened....

OHHHHHHH You know you can''t post that and not tell us the story!!!! TELL TELL!!!

 

[AmberWaves]

Well, i wrote about this in my "I am stressed out" thread in BWW... Let''s see, I''ve always wanted to believe in ghosts, and always wanted to experience something. Yeah, until a few years ago.. I was staying at my boyfriend''s house, a house that had had two people die in it. I also remember hearing people say sometimes a ghost will come back to a house they didn''t die in, if it had either very good memories, or really violent ones. Anyway, so his roommate had just had a baby, and we were waiting for her to come home. The day she had the baby, we were messing about with this dolphin thing, it''s supposed to go around in circles, propelled by it''s own gravity (and the battery underneath). So we set it moving, and put it back up on the shelf. Well, the dolphin kept moving until she came home, 5 days (bad c-section). Slowing, then starting up faster... It kept going until we mentioned to each other, "Wow, that thing is still going!" and then we came home and it had stopped. When we checked, it had never had batteries in the first place. That freaked us out. All sorts of things would happen in that house. His roomate''s sister had died right before she got pregnant, so we thought it was her saying hello. In all pictures of the baby, there would be a round light next to him, and it wasn''t always in places you could get a reflection. All dolphin things in that house were bought by the sister who had passed away. And those were all the things that moved, like the gravity thing, and there was a giant fan on the wall that constantly tapped, even when nothing was on, heat/air, windows open, loud noises. I''d wake up in the middle of the night, with something walking past my side of the bed, it was always black, and shadowy. I always assumed it was Paul, walking to his wardrobe (right next to the bed), in the middle of the night. So I let it go until one night it was there, not moving, standing over me, and I asked, "Paul, what are you looking for?" And then I turned and saw Paul in bed next to me, and I was SO scared, I literally pushed off the wardrobe, and smashed into Paul, woke him up crying and shaking. I stayed under the covers and we moved out a month later. I haven''t seen him at our new place, but things do happen. Things go missing, and then I find them in the strangest places, AFTER I''ve already looked. Paul doesn''t move them, and I know the dog doesn''t either! The other day my dog''s food dish lifted up and crashed, spilling his water and kibble, and flipping over the bowls. My dog was so scared he wouldn''t get out of my lap. Then, later that day, a travel mug full of water and ice shook itself. All alone, on a table, that nothing touched. On that same table, a plastic bag was picked up (yes, I saw it) and dropped on the floor. And I know it wasn''t just blown off, something was in it, and I saw it lift, and fall. So that''s what''s happening here. Now if something odd happens, Paul and I say, "Hello, Ghosty!" and let it be. If you guys get the channel SciFi, you should watch Ghost Hunters, it''s a real show, and these people set out to prove there aren''t ghosts in houses, not that there ARE. It''s on Wednesday nights. Sorry I wrote so much!

 

[MINE!!]

Don''t believe in Ghosts. I believe in God and therefore I do not beleive in Ghosts. I beleive in angles and demons, but demons cannot hurt me and angels only have specific missions. Do I think so freaky things happen.. absolutely.. I also think there is spiritual warfare all around us and just beyond the door of reality that we know ..

 

[Dee*Jay]

Several years ago I acquired an old armoire that came out of the basement of a house where the wife had killed the husband in his sleep with an frying pan (literally). Apparently he had been very abusive to her for years and she finally decided to do something about it.

Anyway, the armoire had resided in my dining room area for years, but in the course of a remodeling I had it moved up onto my bedroom to store sweaters and other things. After it was moved I would wake up frequently feeling like I had been shaken awake but I lived alone and there was no one else there.

One night I work up feeling like I was being pulled off the bed toward the armoire. When I finally managed to come fully awake and put the light on I saw that all the covers were off the bed and were on the floor almost over to where the armoire was on the opposite wall.

I had the piece put back down in the dining room after that!

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 5/5/2006 12:06:44 PM
Author: albicocca

Date: 5/5/2006 12:04:39 PM
Author: TravelingGal
I''m not a big believer in ghosts, but I do have a story that I wrote 3 years ago (I travel solo and write about some of my adventures while on the road) of an incident in Ireland. When I sent out the story to my friends and family, a lot of them were pretty freaked out, especially because they know I am not the type to lie or exaggerate. To this day, I still can''t figure out what happened....

OHHHHHHH You know you can''t post that and not tell us the story!!!! TELL TELL!!!

I''d have to dig up the story on my computer, but it''s pretty long (as it''s a travel narrative) and you have to get through a couple of other bits that are related to the ghost story but not the ghost part itself. I think it''d be way too long to post here...

 

[pearcrazy]

I believe in ghosts although I''ve never experienced one. I guess I''m not that sensitive. My MIL used to be the administrator of a plantation house outside of New Orleans. She helped renovate it and stayed a few years after it became open to the public for tours. It was built in the late 1700''s and the original owner had kept slaves and reportedly would hang them in the attic if they were disobedient. The house had been passed down through generations and several family members had died in the home among them several children who died from scarlet fever and some civil war soldiers. She said she had a few experiences with other-worldly things most of them being dark shadows or waves of "cold sadness" that would suddenly pass by her to the point where she says she would feel her hair being blown. Many times it was experienced by her and her co-workers at the same time so that they knew it wasn''t one person imagining it. Some of the tourists would capture images in their photos and send them back to her with a note about having an experience there. She showed me one photo from a tourist of what appears to be a dark shadow of a man standing behind a person in the photo. I visited the house several times while she worked there and I never felt anything at all. Neither did my DH. He set up his video camera to run all night in one of the rooms with the most reported occurences. We have 8 hours of videotape that was recorded. We''ve fast forwarded it but neither one of us has ever watched it in normal speed or listened to see if there are any sounds on it.

BTW, some scenes from "Interview With A Vampire" were filmed in that house and my MIL said she gave Brad Pitt and the director Neil Jordan a private house tour one evening during a break in shooting. She said that Brad suddenly got very quiet and acted like he was cold in one room although he never said anything out loud about it. She also said he was very nice and friendly with her and the other staff, asked tons of questions about the architecture and history of the house. She snuck a picture with him dressed in his costume which was a no-no according to the producers, but he let her take it anyway if she promised not to let it get out to the media before the film was released. She said that Tom Cruise on the other hand only came out of his trailer to film his scene and then immediately retreated back to it without mingling or socializing.

 

[KittenKat]

I love these stories. I am completely fascinated by ghosts/paranormal etc.

When I was 18 years old, and living in a dorm - I had a high school friend pass away. Basically, many of my high school friends all went to the same college together. And lived in the same building. We were a very tight group of girls and guys who''d known each other since we were children.

One morning, one of the guys didn''t wake up. He died of a heart defect that went undetected his entire life. (He was one of my closest male friends. And an angel) In the chaos, I took care of my friends. Hugging them, and wiping away their tears. I didn''t address my own grief at first.

One cold night, I was alone in my room with all the windows open. I started crying in my bed, and asking him WHY he had to go. Telling him I missed him, and telling him I wished he''d hug me.
My hand was hanging off the bed, and suddenly I felt my palm grow warm. It felt as though someone was holding my hand. And there was something incredibly comforting about it.

To this day, I do not know if it was my mind - or my friend. But I really want to believe that friend was giving me comfort - letting me know he was still there.

Ugh. It''s been ten years and I still miss him....

 

[princessv]

Date: 5/5/2006 1:08:03 PM
Author: pearcrazy
I believe in ghosts although I''ve never experienced one. I guess I''m not that sensitive. My MIL used to be the administrator of a plantation house outside of New Orleans. She helped renovate it and stayed a few years after it became open to the public for tours. It was built in the late 1700''s and the original owner had kept slaves and reportedly would hang them in the attic if they were disobedient. The house had been passed down through generations and several family members had died in the home among them several children who died from scarlet fever and some civil war soldiers. She said she had a few experiences with other-worldly things most of them being dark shadows or waves of ''cold sadness'' that would suddenly pass by her to the point where she says she would feel her hair being blown. Many times it was experienced by her and her co-workers at the same time so that they knew it wasn''t one person imagining it. Some of the tourists would capture images in their photos and send them back to her with a note about having an experience there. She showed me one photo from a tourist of what appears to be a dark shadow of a man standing behind a person in the photo. I visited the house several times while she worked there and I never felt anything at all. Neither did my DH. He set up his video camera to run all night in one of the rooms with the most reported occurences. We have 8 hours of videotape that was recorded. We''ve fast forwarded it but neither one of us has ever watched it in normal speed or listened to see if there are any sounds on it.

BTW, some scenes from ''Interview With A Vampire'' were filmed in that house and my MIL said she gave Brad Pitt and the director Neil Jordan a private house tour one evening during a break in shooting. She said that Brad suddenly got very quiet and acted like he was cold in one room although he never said anything out loud about it. She also said he was very nice and friendly with her and the other staff, asked tons of questions about the architecture and history of the house. She snuck a picture with him dressed in his costume which was a no-no according to the producers, but he let her take it anyway if she promised not to let it get out to the media before the film was released. She said that Tom Cruise on the other hand only came out of his trailer to film his scene and then immediately retreated back to it without mingling or socializing.

Was it Oak Alley plantation???

That place is absolutely gorgeous! There is another plantation that is really known for being haunted. It''s called the Myrtles and my fiance and I used to go there last summer to have romantic dinners. Anyway, I think all plantations (and old homes) have lots of history and that contributes to the ghostly feelings experienced there. (not to say that ghosts don''t exist!)

 

[fire&ice]

I believe in ghosts, have experienced some odd things - but believe that most are benevolent. So, I don''t fear ghosts.

 

[pearcrazy]

OK, I do have this experience but I don't equate it with ghosts at all and I'm wondering if any other mothers have had a similar experience. I had lots of problems getting pregnant and had to go through fertility tx. A couple of months before I got pregnant with my first baby, I kept seeing shadows moving out of the corner of my eye. I would turn my head to look and it would be gone. I never felt frightened by it and I used to joke to my DH that that was our future baby checking me out and seeing if he wanted me to be his mommy. I finally got pregnant and didn't see the shadows after that. I told that story to my mom and MIL and they both got a good laugh out of it and thought it was perhaps my hormones going crazy since I was pumped full of them trying to get pg. Two years later and I was getting ready to go through treatment again but hadn't started with the hormones yet. This time I saw both the shadows and sparkles of light out of the corner of my eye. I joked with my MIL that I felt like I was going to get pregnant soon because I was seeing shadows again with flashes of light. Get pregnant I did and had twins. Five years later, long after we were done having babies, I saw the shadows again and sure enough found out that I was pregnant --completely unplanned and unexpected. It was one week after my 40th birthday. We were stunned and excited. Unfortunately, my pregnancy ended at 8 weeks and we decided to take steps to ensure that it wouldn't happen again as we felt like our family should stay complete the way it was. I've never seen the shadows since although my DH does inquire about it. Mostly like "you aren't seeing any funky shadows are you?"

 

[pearcrazy]

Princess V, it was the Destrehan Plantation. I've heard that Oak Alley is even more haunted than Destrehan though! My MIL being on the board of travel and tourism and friends with most of the other admins got us into almost every plantation house in the area and I never got vibes from any of them including the Myrtles.

 

[blodthecat]

Hi Pearcrazy,

Spirits are nothing to fear. We are ''spirit'' but in a body, and you''re not afraid of people!

As someone has already posted, I wonder if you might have experience sleep paralysis (which can be extremely frightening)