Survey Says

     Okay guys, let’s take a quick survey:

 Do you believe ghosts actually exist? (I promise not to judge you either way.)

If you believe, have you had a personal encounter with a ghost? (Feel free to share.)

If you’ve had an encounter, how did you feel about it, and why?

And finally, if you do not believe in ghosts, have you ever had an experience that others claimed was ghostly activity, and how do you explain it?

I’d like to have a lot of participation on this one because I’m trying to write an article over different views on ghosts and hauntings.

Thanks!

Proof?

Cruising around the internet, researching, of course, *coughs* I found this question in a forum: Does anyone have proof that ghosts exist? As you can imagine, there was a wide variety in the response. And, while I don’t know what the person who posted the question was looking for, it made me wonder. What do you consider “proof?”

            I know many people point to photo, video, or audio recordings as proof. But I’ve also heard this evidence explained away as doctored material, a trick of the light, or background noise. For me, personal encounters are the most compelling. But, as I discuss in On Haunted Ground, someone sufficiently set against believing in the spirit world can explain away even direct interaction with an entity as “a coincidence.” So, I guess for me, it comes down to having a little faith. Faith that # 1, I’m not crazy, and # 2, this world is bigger and more complex than I’ll ever truly understand.

So, do you believe? If so, what convinced you?

Are you a disbeliever? What would it take to change your mind?

How About That

Did you know that you can look up a list of “symptoms” of a haunted houses online? I’m not sure why this surprised me, after all, you can also find a list of signs you need a new job, have fallen in love, or are addicted to pizza. So, why not? About.com has a list of 16 signs your house may be haunted. They are:

      

Possible Signals

Unexplained Noises

Doors and Cabinets Opening and Closing

Lights/electronics turning on and off by themselves

Items disappearing and reappearing Also called DOPler effect (Disappearing Object Phenomenon)

Unexplained Shadows

Odd Animal Behavior

Feeling of Being Watched

            Stronger Signals

Mild Psychokinetic Phenomena- Actually seeing a door close or light switch off.

Feeling of being touched

Hearing cries or whispers

Cold or Hot Spots

Unexplained Smells

        Very Strong Signals

Moving or levitating objects

Physical Assault

Other Physical Evidence – Unexplained writing, handprints, etc

Apparitions

And guess what? I’ve experienced 15 of these in my own home. And all fifteen are detailed in On Haunted Ground.  What about you? According to this list, what are the odds that your house/office/favorite hangout is haunted?

Cards, Flowers and...Ghosts?

            When you think about February 14^th, I’m sure candy and stuffed teddy bears come to mind. But what about a massacre? The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre happened in Chicago in 1929. The basic story is that a group of gangsters were waiting in a garage for a large shipment of booze, (this was during prohibition) when several men in police uniform busted in, disarmed the crooks, and had them all face the wall. But, instead of arresting them, the “police officers” then pulled out machine guns and shot them all to death.

            Since all of the men killed belonged to the “Bugs” Moran gang, suspicion naturally fell on his rival, Al Capone. But, since Al was in Florida at the time of the murders, he was never convicted.

            Of course, no story about brutal murders that have went unsolved would be complete without ghosts. The garage where the massacre occurred has been torn down, but people still claim to hear the sounds of machine gun fire and men shouting in the area. Supposedly animals get very agitated in the area, and sensitive people feel the overwhelming sense of terror. There are also many purported ghost photos of the area.

            I, personally, have never been there. But if you happen to be in the area, a ghost tour might be a less conventional Valentine’s night out.  J     

A Helping Hand

            As it turns out, even after living in a haunted house for 20+ years, things can still happen that unnerve me. I had an experience last Friday that shook me (and my grandson) greatly.

            First, let me explain that the living room in my house is a later addition to the construction, and there is a single step down to enter it from the rest of the house, and it is floored with ceramic tile. Last Friday, my grandson and I were sitting in the living room floor, playing with his toys when he decided he wanted a different toy that was laying in the hallway. He has mastered going up the step on his own, so I let him go on ahead of me. (It takes me longer to get up off the floor than it does him.) But for some reason, as soon as he climbed up the step he changed his mind about the toy and wanted to come down. He has not mastered going DOWN steps on his own. Before I could react, he was leaning far over the step, inches from tumbling down to smack his cute little face on the ceramic tile. And then… he wasn’t. Right in front of my eyes, he shot backwards at least a foot.

            Of course, it terrified him and he started screaming. Protective Grandma kicked in, and I was furious with the ghost for scaring the poor baby. Coupled with the fact that I’d just seen him moved by invisible hands, I was more disturbed than I’ve been in a long time.

            But when I explained the events of the day to my husband, and later my daughter, they both immediately did what I hadn’t: they thanked the ghost for looking out for the baby.  Later, I thanked our ghost as well. After all, he or she did save my grandbaby from a nasty fall, and I don’t believe he was hurt at all, just surprised at being jerked back so quickly. But I don’t think the image of him sliding backwards is something I will ever forget.

So I guess even when I think I’ve seen it all, I haven’t.

As a side note, I think my grandson would have been just as upset if someone with visible hands had moved him. I know he is aware of the ghosts in my house, and my daughter tells me that he plays with an unseen friend in his own home as well.  

Evidence?

            If there is one thing I’ve learned since opening up about my belief in ghosts it’s that there are about as many different opinions on the subject as there are people to talk about it. One of the most hotly debated issues is capturing a ghost on film. Is it possible? Are they all fakes/shadows/dust? What is the best equipment/method for ghost capturing?

            I will be the first to admit that I don’t have all the answers. But I do have a website. (Did you know I have a website? If not, don’t feel bad. My daughter didn’t even know until last week.) I am in the process of posting some of my own pictures that, unfortunately, we had to cut from the final copy of On Haunted Ground. Of course, I have my own opinions about what the images are. J  But I promise that none of the pictures have been altered in any way, except cropping.  Feel free to check them out and let me know what you think!    http://authorlisarogers.weebly.com/ Just click on the “haunting images” tab in the sidebar. And be sure to check back occasionally, because I have several more pictures I just haven’t got around to posting yet. 

Everyday Haunting

            As you all know, the resident ghosts at my house make their presence known so often that I hardly think about it anymore. But occasionally something happens that I think is worth mentioning.

           

            I watch my infant grandson a few days a week, and I have no doubt that I can’t see all of his playmates. Frequently I’ll catch him laughing at something above my head, or staring intently down an empty hall. But since they don’t seem to bother him, I don’t mind the ghosts playing with him. In fact, I appreciate it. Entertaining a small child by myself is exhausting!

            My grandson is at the age where he is discovering cabinet doors. Pulling open a door and then letting it bounce closed can keep him entertained for quite a while. One day last week I’d just put him down for a nap and tiptoed off to catch up on some housework when I heard the unmistakable sound of a cabinet door bouncing closed. Since one of my grandson’s favorite cabinet doors is just within his reach from his crib, I assumed he’d decided that nap time was over. But when I walked in the room, he was still asleep, exactly where I’d laid him down.

            Not long after I’d returned to my dishes, I heard the door bouncing again. Returning to his crib, I could see that my grandson was still sound asleep. Then I figured it out. My grandson hadn’t been over in several days, and the ghosts missed him. “Okay,” I said aloud. “I know you want to play, but the baby needs to sleep. Please don’t wake him up.” I left the room, and the sounds did not continue.

           

            However, after about an hour, I went to get my grandson up from his nap. As soon as I walked in the room, I noticed that something was off. His crib had been slid about two feet away from the wall. Being a proud grandma, I believe that my grandbaby is the strongest little boy in the world, but I know he didn’t move that crib, especially since he was in it. And since I was the only other person in the house, the only logical conclusion is that the ghosts moved it; perhaps so that they could continue to open the cabinet door without waking the baby, like I’d asked.

What do you think?

Ghosts in the White House--Yeah, that White House

Two of my favorite things combined, YIPPEE history and ghosts doesn't get much better than that.


The most famous address in America--1600 Pennsylvania Avenue--is also perhaps the country's most famous haunted house. Presidents, first ladies, White House staff members and guests have reported feeling ghostly presences, hearing unexplained noises and even running into actual apparitions--even on the way out of the bathtub, in one particularly famous case.
click here for the rest of the story http://www.history.com/topics/ghosts-in-the-white-house

My Turn...

Since I asked you to share your ghostly encounters, I’ve gotten several emails with request for me to share some of mine. So, I guess it’s my turn. 

As I mentioned in the last post, I love staying at the Crescent Hotel. The first time I actually stayed there was for my 20^th wedding anniversary. Since 20 years is kind of a big deal, we decided to go all out and booked the honeymoon suite. After the six hour drive to get there, we checked in and decided to take a nap before going into town. After getting up, we changed clothes and left the hotel to do some sightseeing. Returning a couple of hours later, we found our bed had been made and our clothes were put up. The room was not only clean, but it smelled of lilacs. I thought this was a little strange because I’d never stayed in a hotel that cleaned your room just hours after you checked in. Knowing the hotel was supposed to be haunted I suspected we might be experiencing something paranormal.  At that time my husband did not believe in ghosts so he was convinced “someone was messing with us.”

The next day we were visiting with a staff member and asked them if it was customary for the room to be cleaned after only being there for a few hours. The man smiled and said the hotel staff only cleaned the rooms in the mornings but that sometimes the “out of body residents” took it upon themselves to tidy up the rooms.

My husband, the skeptic wasn't buying any of it. He loved the Victorian charm of the hotel and was in awe over the town—but ghosts—no—that was impossible.  He did however have a hard time explaining how our room would suddenly fill with the fragrance of lilacs and then quickly dissipate throughout our stay.

Ghost Hunters Crescent Hotel

Anyone who knows me knows there’s no place I’d rather be than sitting out on the veranda at the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs Arkansas. I have spent countless nights there. I simply can’t get enough of the hotels Victorian charm and of course its ghosts. Some of you may have seen this footage before when it aired on Ghost Hunters but it’s worth watching again.

Better Late Than Never

I started this blog in 2007. Of course, when I say I started, I actually mean I signed up and titled the page—that’s it—no more.   Now, four years later I’ve decided to mend my wicked and slothful ways and actually post something.

Let me start by saying, as the title of the blog suggest, I love talking about things pertaining to the paranormal, in particular, ghosts. I understand to some the mere thought that ghosts might exist is enough to cause them to run and scream in terror.  While to others, like me, we find the very idea of ghosts intriguing. 

I am an author and my debut novel, Angelina’s Secret, enabled me to combine two of my passions, which is writing and, you guessed it, talking about ghosts. The premise for the book is about a young girl who discovers she can see ghosts. On my facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lisa-Rogers-Author-of-Angelinas-Secret/131145736953879      I asked people to write in and share some of their own paranormal experiences with me. As a result I’ve met several new people and have heard many interesting stories. So for this first post I’d like to do the same here. If you’ve had a ghostly encounter please share it here.