Piano World Home Page Forums Restricted and Archives The Coffee Room Do you believe in ghosts?

Most of my friends and relatives are convinced that ghosts do exist. Some claim they have seen one, or more than one.
I personally do not believe in ghosts, but I find it difficult to convince a believer that they are crazy or that they were not feeling well when they supposedly saw a ghost.
What do you think?
Has anyone seen any?
Any ghost stories?

La Llirona.(The Night Cryer) It is a story that circulates in New mexico and Mexico, always associated with a bridge somewhere at some spooky place outside of town where a woman had a wreck and they never found her baby who was riding with her. Some nights she returns to look for the baby and wails loudly. Sometimes they say you can see her. A Flamenco song has even been written about her.
Years ago we liked to tell our friends the story and take them out to the bridge late at night where an accomplice would be waiting covered with a sheet. Upon our arriving the accomplice would come from under the bridge and scare the wits out of everyone. I never actually saw her.
The closest thing I ever came to the supernatural was when I dated a witch. She nibbled on my ear and I turned into a Motel.

I don't believe in anything non-scientific unless I see it myself - I'm a skeptic.

However, that doesn't mean I completely discount the possibility of those things which I haven't personally seen (i.e. ghosts, UFOs, ESP, etc...)

My favourite ghost stories are those of M.R James - very old but very good.

I have never seen a ghost but I have many experiences which are sometimes called "psychic", for example much inexplicably precognitive detail in dreams, visions and so on. I also have a lot of those ones where you have the sensation of leaving your body and floating around.

My wife claims she sees ghosts in the house from time to time. I certainly don't think these things should be ignored. I am not what J.B. Priestley called a "nothing but" man, but neither do I construct artificial, semi-religious theories to "explain" them.

We don't really know what consciousness is yet. Perhaps some of these "crackpot" events hold important keys to understanding how our brains function. We won't learn anything by sweeping them under the bed because they don't "fit in".

I'm also a skeptic, but I do have lots of fun with it. I love a good haunted house movie and I also enjoy watching History Channel's "Haunted History."

A few years ago, my husband and I went to Gettysburg where we stayed at a B & B and toured the Battlefield & other civil war sights. About 8:30 or so in the evening (this was in the Fall, so it was already dark), we passed the Battlefield National Park and I talked hubby into turning in. He only drove to the first memorial before he turned around and left! Naturally, I couldn't help teasing him.

I'd love to stay overnight at The Myrtles Plantation, which is supposed to be one of the most haunted homes in the United States, but hubby refuses to do that, too. So, I've promised myself a graduation present--that me and my daughters (April, are you with me??? Your sisters already said that they'd go ) are going to spend at least one night there. Actually, it's a beautiful place, dating back to the 1790's. I think it would be a lovely trip, even if we didn't see a ghost! :p

Lyn

My wife believes a ghost stole her wedding ring. Of course, I have a different view on the matter but who knows. I could be wrong.

I once lived in an apartment in an old whaling captains house in Swampscott, MA.
It was a an old victorian with a "widows walk".

The apartment took up a second and third floor of
one half the house.
The dog I had at the time (a 90LB German Shepard/Collie mix) used to stand at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the open hall and bedrooms, the hair on his back standing straight up and a deep growl coming from his throat.
He would be shaking and half whimpering at the same time.

Sometimes at night when I was walking down the hall to the bathroom I'd pass through a spot where I'd suddenly feel cold and clamy (yet there were no windows or drafts in the area).

On a number of occasions incense burners sitting on a shelf (hey, everybody had them back then) would suddenly fly across the room and crash on the floor.

On the first floor there was a room with double doors leading to it. The doors had full length glass panels in them. Every once in a while one of the doors would just open by itself (I checked with a level, they were hung properly).

Did I every actually see a ghost there? No
Do I beleive there was one? You Bet!

After all...
I can't see a breeze, but I can feel it and I know it's there.
I can't usually see the rays from the sun, but I can feel there warmth and I know they are there.
I can't see my daughters love, but I can feel it and I know it exists.

Would I like to see a ghost someday?
Sure (well, um, I think I would).

Frank B.
Piano World

Yes! Yes! A millions times yes I do believe in ghosts!!!!! I have heard strange ghostly voices on tape that I made over the summer in the middle of the night, and heard a million ghost stories (and have a few of my own), the fact that my grandma tells me stories of a haunted house that she lived in when she was a child, My Aunt used to live in a haunted house that I hear stories of (she was NOT a believer in ghosts until she lived in that house), MY OWN HOUSE is haunted, and I've even seen a ghost before!!!

Okay, it is obviouls too much to write about to tell every story so, I'll just fill you in about my house and some of the strange things that have happend here.

1) Don (my dads friend who rents out out basement) was down there one day he claims to have seen a paper bag, with books in it, lift slightly and then, leaving the books behind, crumple up and move across the floor!!!

2) My dad, home alone one night, tells a story of hearing foot steps, and then what felt like someone pulling a hair out of his head. Thinking that Don or I was playing a clever joke on him, he turned to look. Nobody was there.

3) Before we got out new refridgerator, our old one had a metal handle on it that reflected light from a street lamp just outside the kitchen window at night. Every one in a while, it would look like something had moved between the light on the handle, although nothing that we could see had.

4) While heading out for school one day, about half a year or so ago, I was heading down the hall towards the livingroom when I saw a bright blue flash of light, in the shape of a human like figure, that dissapeared almost at once.

5) Also when getting ready for school one morning, about a week or two later, I had left the bathroom light on. I went into my bedroom. You can see the bathroom light from my room, and the hall way space right in front of the bathroom door. The bathroom light all of a sudden went out. Thinking the the bulb had burned itself out, I went to flip the switch off. When I got there however, it was already in the off position.

6) Ever get that feeling that you're being watched? Well, I do, a lot. But, only when I'm inside my house, especially when I'm home alone. I'll be on the computer or playing the piano when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, I will get the strangest feeling that someone is standing in the hallway, just stairing (sp?) at me. That really creeps me out.

7) A few years ago, we heard a series of loud bangs coming from the basement. My dad and Don, going down to investigate, could find nothing that could have made those noises. It sounded like someone or something banging on the air ducts. My dad blames it on a possible backfire of the furance, although he has his doubts about that one.

8) Every once in a blue moon, we can hear foot steps inside the house, despite the fact that noone else it there to make them.

Well, here is a sample of some of the bazzar stuff that goes on in my house.

In my first two years of college I got my room free by working as a custodian in the Baptist Student Center just off campus. The building was a 3 level - you walk into the front lobby, and there was a short set of steps down to the lower level, and a short set of steps to the upper level. The building was built on the side of a grade, so the lower and upper levels were like a two story building, the with a middle level to the side of it.(Am I making any sense?) On the middle level, the foyer had the two sets of steps to the right, and a long hallway that ran the length of the building. My apartment was at the end of that long hallway.

I had been there about two months when this first happened. I was in my apartment studying when I heard the faint sound of a piano with a group of students singing songs coming through the air vents. Knowing the building was closed for the day, I went out to see how they got in, and get them to leave. As I walked down the hallway toward the foyer, the sound was a bit stronger, but I couldn't tell which level it was coming from, and there was a piano on both levels. I first went upstairs. Nope. No one. Had to be downstairs. Besides, it was clear now that the sound was coming from downstairs. Nope. No one. But it was clear from there that the sound was coming from upstairs. Hmmm.....

I checked every room in the building. No one was there. But the piano and the students singing could always be heard, just coming from some other part of the building than the one I was standing in. I decided to keep it to myself. But I heard it at least 2 or 3 times a week for months.

I had a room mate, a rather large fellow who looked as if he probably could have stared down Satan himself. I wasn't about to mention it to him and have him calling me a chicken. One day we were both in the room studying at the same time, when I heard it again. "Do you hear anything?" I asked. "Do you?" he responded. After a little thought, I decided he *had* to be hearing what I was hearing - it was just too loud. So I said "Yes", and told him what I was hearing. He said "Yeah, I hear it. I've been hearing it off and on for months but wasn't about to say anything in case you thought I was crazy of something." Shortly after that he moved out to live with his girlfriend, and I had to bear this burden alone.....

We never did find the source. The director of the Student Center told us other custodians had mentioned it, but he'd never heard it. I heard it right up until I moved out.

Do I believe in ghosts? Nah. Am I scared natured? Nah. I went to see the Exorcist when it first came out, laughed all the way through the movie, then went home and slept outside on the patio. But I do believe this....... I told that story to girls and had them lined up waiting for their chance to come up to my room with me and listen for ghosts...... (sometimes it would take *all night* before we finally gave up and rescheduled.......

Well, I have heard one story about two ghosts in my grandmother's apartment In California from my uncle. He said he was taking a nap and suddenly woke up and couldn't move. He heard two women's voices and he immediately recognized one of them as the voice of a friend of my grandmother's who passed away some time ago; this friend had a really distinctive voice. So anyway, he tried to move but was inexplicably paralyzed. He heard the voices coming closer and closer to the door and thought he saw two figures that came to the door and then vanished. My grandmother very readily sold the apartment after that.

Anyway, I don't know if ghosts truly exist, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility either. I would like to see a ghost; it would really set my mind at ease about dying (not that I'm dying anytime soon.)

Anybody ever wonder what it would be like to be a ghost? I think it would be a lot of fun. I personally think frightening people is a lot of fun.

OMG!!! Just about an hour ago, my computer restarted by itself!!! I wasn't in the room at the time. But, I could hear the computer beep and when I walked back in, the computer was restarting and checking for disk drive errors because the computer wasn't properly shut down. Wierd, eh?

My first year in undergrad, I lived at home to save money. The commute was about 30 minutes in both directions, sometimes longer with traffic. A good number of times, I had to stay at school late with rehearsals and what not, and would sometimes leave around 11:00 PM. Then, I would drive half an hour home just to sleep and get up in a few hours anyway.

One time I was with my good friend Piete in his room in the dorm and we were talking about this and that. I don't know how I missed it, but when I looked at my watch it said 1:00 AM. I figured that it was worthless to drive home, so he offered to let me crash on his floor, which was OK.

We kept talking, and eventually came to the supernatural. Both of us agreed that it was BS. At one point, we were just walking around the hallways in the dorm, still talking about ghosts and what not at 5AM and decided that it was probably a good idea to go to bed, since we had an 8 AM class.

We happened past an elevator. Pete had the good idea to say, "If there are ghosts, then this elevator will open up right now."

Which it did almost immediately, with no one in it.

I think that we both stood there paralyzed with fright for a good five minutes before running back to his room and slamming the door.

Edit - keep this thread going. The Halloween season is soon upon us!

LoL

Chris, I think that's called a power failure.

Nice stories everyone!! Keep it going.
I myself don't have any ghost stories other than the ones I have been told.
Even though I still do not believe in what we call ghost (i.e. a dead person interacting with the physical world through their soul or spirit), I think there is definitely something supernatural, or maybe it should be called unknown natural. My mom is a psychic, she can read Tarot cards. I never believed in that stuff before I witnessed that a series of things she predicted actually happened. There's a famous thing among Tarot readers that says that Tarot cannot say exactly when the things will happen. A famous Tarot reader in Europe once told my mom that she would become extremely wealthy. So wealthy that she would never be able to spend all her money.
Well that still hasn't happened. But in the meantime, even though I am kind of busy with school, I still go visit my mother every week-end.
JUST IN CASE. If this happens, it'd be nice if she shared with me.

Not many ghostly experiences here, maybe one or two ghastly ones to be left unmentioned. Larry reminded me of a joke though.

What happens if you don't pay your exorcism bill? :rolleyes: ..... You get repossessed. ....what??? ... I should have left THAT unmentioned too? .... oh COME ON, guys!! Have a heart. When I tell these at home, my dog acts just like Frank's and I definitely feel a cold clammy chill from SWMBWUO.** I haven't had to dodge incense burners, but my mug collection is disappearing pretty rapidly. I gotta have SOME outlet!
Bob

**She Who Must Be Warmed Up Occasionally

I was around 10 years old, I was just getting to sleep. The door was open directly ahead of me and the landing/hall light was on. For some reason I felt someone's presenc and opened my eyes. Standing directly in front of me was a woman dressed all in white. Confused, I just said "mum?". She bowed slightly to me, turned round and walked out of the room and turned left. I got out of bed and walked out, went to turn left (which was into my baby sister's bedroom) and the door was shut! Whoever or whatever it was, had walked through a solid door!

OK, so I admit it could well have been a dream, but I'm pretty sure that what I saw was real. I remember at the time I was thoroughly convinced because I fully believed I hadn't even dropped off to sleep by the time I saw the apparition, but I too am a skeptic and the best I can suggest is that despite my belief that I really did see something, my skepticism tells me that I dreamt the whole thing...

When I was even younger than this though, I also remember several times, waking up and walking out of my bedroom to the landing where there was a great swirly object, like a vortex, which for some reason (other than it being in the house? !!!), I was very afraid of. I can't explain this other than to suggest it was a recurring nightmare of sorts.

There is a short article about haunted houses, castles, and bed & breakfasts in the October issue of Reader's Digest (written by Gary Sledge).

Most of them have tours, some allow you to stay overnight.
Winchester Mystery House - San Jose, CA
Myrltes Plantation - St. Francisville, LA
Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast - Fall River, MA
Blehurst Castle - Geneva, NY

Or visit these web sites for more info...

www.hotels.about.com/cs/hauntedhotels/

www.allstays.com/Special/haunted.htm

Maybe you could book a room for Halloween?

Frank B.
Piano World

Okay. First of all, how did you know my first name? I don't recall ever saying it on this board before. Anyway, NOTHING eles in the house went out. Just the computer. JUST THE COMPUTER. No popped circuts, nothing eles plugged into the same power strip as my computer failed, no flashing clocks (and my clock has zero memory). Of course, it could be any number of things. Anyway, read my earlier post on this thread. It has a whole bunch of strange stuff on it.

Apparently, England has more ghosts per square mile than any other nation except Ireland...

I think that statistic says more about the *living* populations of each!

Dave

Haha, thanks
That is so true

"The human race is governed by its imagination."
Napoleon Bonaparte