Sometimes ghosts can be the worst SCs...

[Marlowe]

Marlowe, you do tell the greatest stories!

What a life you have led.
Every day must be an adventure for you.

It's mostly because I do mildly inadvisable things without really thinking through the consequences. Plus, it's not that I don't think something could ever happen... it's that I honestly do not give a damn. Life's too short not to do something because of what "might" go wrong.

I don't know, I decided a few years ago that I was done saying "no" to stuff. I will try anything once, no matter how much it scares me... which is how I ended up holding that baby alligator in Louisiana! (it wasn't exactly a wild one - a friend of mine who lives on the bayou rescues abandoned alligator babies and raises them till they're big enough to survive on their own.) I also pet his big alligator (oo-er, matron ) which was AMAZING. Or the time I dropped everything and went on tour with my friend Dom's band for three weeks... or the time I sold a piece of art and promptly used the money to fly to Portland to meet someone I'd only ever known online... and who I actually ended up dating for six months and moving over to live with! (you know, until it turned out he was cheating on me with FIVE other girls. But it's OK. I got my revenge. Never have I been so glad that 1) he buys his toothbrushes wholesale in pack of 50, 2) he only changes his toothbrush every six months or so, and 3) he hadn't cleaned his toilet in the five years he'd lived in that flat.

(Also, his neighbours LOVED me. I made sure they knew why I was leaving. I heard that he actually had to MOVE HOUSE because his fellow condo residents were so pissed at him. )

My motto is, if in doubt, go for it. What's the worst that can happen?

...Then again, I could really do without those airgun pellets in my leg from the time I stole that flag off a lamppost... although it does make a fun story whenever I have to have an MRI

[Amanita]

Here's one of mine-
I've always been an urban animist, almost as long as I can remember. Other Pagans speak of being able to sense animal or tree spirits, I've been able to sense a presence from large structures, especially Skyscrapers. I've found a few others like me, but we're a rare breed, it seems. Like we're tuned into a slightly different frequency on the spiritual level.

When 9/11 happened I was living in Toronto, and I had a job interview that day. So I had to go downtown. After the interview, I didn't head home right away- I went right to the downtown core. At one point, I went into the lobby of First Canadian Place- a large skyscraper that I seemed to be particularly attuned to. I used the lobby payphone to call a friend of mine, and after that, I leaned up against that marble lobby wall. All of a sudden, I felt a powerful sensation, like somebody was hugging me from behind, wrapping their arms around the bottom of my ribcage. It didn't hurt any, and I knew it wasn't a panic attack. Let's see- I wasn't panicking, nor was I having any trouble catching my breath. It just felt like somebody was hugging me from behind, almost as soon as my back hit that wall. And mentally, I could sense a powerful "Please don't go!" vibe.
It was as if that massive skyscraper was just as scared as a lot of humans were that day, and just wanted somebody there for comfort, someone who would understand. So I stuck around on the property for a little while, as long as I could without making security suspicious.

For a day or so after 9/11, strange things happened around the house I was living in with several roommates. Things flying around, strange noises that nobody could explain, etc.

[Ree]

Marlowe, you do tell the greatest stories!

What a life you have led.
Every day must be an adventure for you.

[Marlowe]

The other story I don't feel right sharing right after this one. Mostly because it's something that seems right out of "The Shining."

Please do, I'm anxious to hear it


Your first story sounds like what I think my grandmother is up to, although I also think that maybe she wants to see what me and my sister are doing and how my mum is getting along. Then again, I don't know. She was a very disturbed lady when she was alive, from what I've been told.

[Eevie]

There are a few stories I have that stick out in my mind...

The first one being when I was only 4 years old. My maternal grandfather (We call him Grandaddy) died suddenly while driving at night, ran into a streetlight. We believe he had a heart attack. Being so young, I really didn't grasp the concept of death, all I knew was Grandaddy wouldn't be coming back. So I never really was all that upset. My mother, however, was very close with her father. She took it really hard, since he was all she had left as far as parents go. (My grandmother died of breast cancer far before I was ever even a thought, when Mom was only 15, I believe.)

Now Grandaddy was always very protective of my mother, seeing as she was his youngest child. After the funeral, mom began smelling a strange oder around the house. A sort if smoky smell. Grandaddy never smoked, but he had that smell to him for whatever the reason. The smell was so close that Mom thought he'd made a surprise visit until she had to remind herself that he died. And location of these smells were even stranger. In the living room, backyard, and garage, all places you could usually find Grandaddy if he came to visit. It occurred to my mom that he was checking up on her, just as he always was. The third time she smelled the smoke, she cried out, "Daddy, I'm okay! There's no need to worry anymore! I'm okay!"

With that, the smell immediately disappeared, and she has never smelled it since.

The other story I don't feel right sharing right after this one. Mostly because it's something that seems right out of "The Shining."

[celticgrl]

On a related note, the ghost of Mary Surratt, one of the Lincoln conspirators, is said to haunt the Fort NcNair Officers Club. The Officers Club is next to the site where she was hanged. The story goes that her footprints can be seen in the snow each year on the tennis courts that now occupy the hanging site. She has been seen several times in the Officers Club.

I have heard about that and would love to see it for myself. I love anything paranormal

[Ironclad Alibi]

All these stories are great I have a few of my own. However the one I will share is actually my mom's story.

She was born and raised in Washington DC but moved away when she was fourteen one summer she went up to visit her brother who was still living in there and got a summer job at Ford's Theater they were just locking up when they heard the distinct sound of a gun shot and went running into the main theater then heard a thumb. She swears up and down to this day what they heard was JWB shooting Lincoln then jumping from the balcony to the stage.

On a related note, the ghost of Mary Surratt, one of the Lincoln conspirators, is said to haunt the Fort NcNair Officers Club. The Officers Club is next to the site where she was hanged. The story goes that her footprints can be seen in the snow each year on the tennis courts that now occupy the hanging site. She has been seen several times in the Officers Club.

[celticgrl]

All these stories are great I have a few of my own. However the one I will share is actually my mom's story.

She was born and raised in Washington DC but moved away when she was fourteen one summer she went up to visit her brother who was still living in there and got a summer job at Ford's Theater they were just locking up when they heard the distinct sound of a gun shot and went running into the main theater then heard a thumb. She swears up and down to this day what they heard was JWB shooting Lincoln then jumping from the balcony to the stage.

[paintballworker]

I've only my had two encounters...both with the same 'person'(I don't want to call him a ghost) but separated by thousands of kilometers.

/background: I live in Ottawa, Canada and I'm Half-Scottish/Half-Irish, trust me this kinda makes sense).

The first time I saw this man I was helping a friend home after a night of hard drinking. It was almost 2am, I'm dragging a very drunk, fun-sized*, angry redhead to a cab and I spot this older Gentleman standing outside the Federal Building on Sparks Street. He seemed to be looking at a plaque, he spotted us, tipped his hat and walked away. I don't pay it much attention until a few years later.

Im over in Dublin for a family reunion, and two of my cousins are discussing urban myths and ghosts, and the youngest is talking about how some Irish ghosts just want a drink. I'm listening in, when out of the corner of my eye, I see the well-dressed Gentleman. I spun around, but there was nothing there

I told a friend when I got back to Ottawa about, he laughed and said it was probably D'arcy McGee.

/professor mode/ Thomas D'Arcy McGee was an Irish-Canadian politician that has the singular distinction of being the only Federal-level assassination in Canadian History, (leave it to the Irish to get that in first)

I'm still confused as to what he might have wanted..

*(her words, she's 5 foot, redheaded and Irish/First Peoples).

[Marlowe]

I wish we had doctors like that here...I have/had a friend who was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia and forced to take pills because the doctor caught him talking to his grandpa's ghost.

He was a very odd doctor. He was from South Africa and had spent a ton of time during his PhD hanging around with native groups that still had a very real interest in shamanism... so maybe he was more open minded than most. I'm glad I went to him rather than anyone else, anyway.

Maybe the reason his grandad did that was because he could tell your friend was scared and he wanted to comfort him, not thinking it through? I know my grandma always showed up when me or my sister was sick or in trouble. One time, a less understanding doctor tried to check me into an inpatient ward (she was evil, she grabbed my case because she was doing research and thought I'd be interesting, and then forced a diagnosis on me that was incorrect. Then, when I told her I was done with her stupid questionnaires and so on, she tried to admit me I heard from the Dr in charge of the ward, who let me go as soon as he met me and actually took me off this woman's patient list because he was so angry, even though he didn't see outpatients and had to make special dispensation for me, that she had a LOT of problems around then... notes going missing, lightbulbs burning out, strange noises etc etc... so clearly grandma was as pissed as he was

[Dentarthurdent]

I went to the session, spent two hours in there, and when I came out the doctor told my mother that "she's not ill, she's gifted."

I wish we had doctors like that here...I have/had a friend who was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia and forced to take pills because the doctor caught him talking to his grandpa's ghost. His grandpa's ghost tricked him into believing the doctor left the room, then started a conversation. To what end, I have noooo idea. But that friend stopped talking to me shortly thereafter. It wasn't a "I don't want to speak to you again", it was just like he dropped off the face of the earth. The only thing I know for sure (from talking to his ex-roommate) is that he got evicted around that time, and I also know he's alive and well because he started a new Facebook account. This was a couple years ago, and I'm still very torn up about it because he was a brilliant teacher of the magical arts, for the short time he taught me. And, you know, he was my friend.

So... has anyone else here had any ghostly SCs come to visit? And what did you do?

Not SCs specifically, though I could tell you stories about SC ghosts from a friend who leads ghost tours on an island. I'll tell you one of my own, though. I was living with my best friend in a huge condo building, and one night we took the dog out and went near the tennis court. There was something there, and we both talked to it and found out it was a guy who'd died on his way to pick something up for his wife/gf/so. He was on his way to the store to get a cup of baking soda for a recipe she was making, and had either been struck (on foot) by a car or been in a crash with another vehicle (while driving). It was too sudden to really register, and he'd been wandering up and down the road there (not ALL ghosts are stuck in a specific location) and had gotten lost, and had taken a seat on our bench and apparently got kind of stuck to it. He was very unhappy. We resolved the issue by putting out a cup of baking soda and telling him he was welcome to it. That cup of suspicious white powder had to weird the neighbors out if they saw it.

[dakhur]

I've been followed by a . . . . well, I call him 'Harvey' (what else?) and he's always seemed like a Sprite or Puk.

He first turned up when I worked for BP on graveyard shift about 10 years ago.

It was a brand new station, so no previous buildings were there. One night, I was filling shelves and fridges, when the doors of the fridge popped open. I walked along the bank and ran my hand alone them, closing them, but they popped open again behind me as I passed.

Then it got weird.

Bread would tumble off shelves, the walk-in freezer switch would click off (not the safety switch, the manual on-off switch) and other odd stuff. Anyway, one night I got fed up, and stood in the middle of the store and said, in a firm voice "Harvey! Stop that!" And that was it -- he was named.

The pranks continued, but nothing evil. Just naughty. One morning I mentioned him to the store manager and area manager that he'd been particularly misbehaving that night, and they laughed. Next thing, every single pump on the forecourt signalled, without any customers present. The look on their faces was worth every moment.

Anyway, Harvey followed me every time I went to a new station. He seemed to like playing with fridges and pumps. When I left that job and went to the next one, he followed me there.

I've always pictured him as a small Aboriginal boy, about 10 years old, who was lonely. Then one day I came alone and gave him a name and that was it. He's never bad, just mischevious. It'll be interesting to see if he follows me to my next job.

[wolfie]

In our local pub, I am told that occasionally pints of Guinness (only Guinness!) left temporarily unattended fall as if someone was trying to pick them up but didn't have enough strength to hold them...

Sounds like that ghost's a cheap drunk - can't hold his liquor.

[EricKei]

Everyone, just a reminder: if you feel the need to make a disclaimer to the effect of "This might belong on Fratching...", it does. If you think your comment is on the fence, PM Rapscallion or one of the mods BEFORE you post it, please. If you wish to discuss or debate the religious implications of supernatural visitations, that goes on Fratching, as well.

In the meantime, please divert the thread back to the original topic, ghosts, whether of the SC variety or otherwise.

[Emmeileia]

I used to own a beautiful 1910 school house which was haunted. I often heard children giggling when I was alone, and sometimes two adults (a man and a woman) speaking quietly in the living room. We also had a ghost cat, which would often jump up and sleep on my bed. I could feel him shuffle around and settle down and purr. Once I woke up and saw him on my pillow. I thought he was my (live) cat and went to pet him and my hand went right through. I miss that house so much. I always felt comforted and welcomed by it.

I've also been visit by the ghosts of some of the dogs I have cared for. Most of them just stop by to say 'hello' it seems. There was one incident though, where I was very upset and frightened and a friend of mine who is sensitive asked me "Who is the dog who is with you? They are worried about you..." I asked them what the dog looked like, and they described my Katana-girl. She had died a year previous of cancer, and had had a stroke before that so she was always recognizably lopsided. My friend had never seen Katana.