The Intergalactic Highway

In the US, we are fast approaching Halloween on the 31st of October (I have been lead to believe that not many other coutnries celebrate Halloween, but correct me if I'm wrong). Halloween is my favorite holiday (I know...HOW cliché!). I thought that in the spirit of the holiday (pun intended), we might have some fun sharing ghost stories for awhile (until we run out of ghost stories or until Halloween approaches...whichever happens first).

You may disagree, but I believe in spirits. Maybe there is some scientific reason that some people see them and others don't: Maybe some people give off certain energy that others don't or maybe it's the mind playing tricks on you. Who knows? It could be anything. But when you lose someone, sometimes it's a great comfort to believe that a noise or a familiar smell is your loved one coming back for a quick visit. For a while, I thought about pursuing parapsychology in college, but I decided I wasn't smart enough for that and there are so few schools that offer studies in that field that it just wasn't worth it to pursue. But I've been on a ghost hunt before and it was a ton of fun! I also have a ouija board that my mom won't let me use.

So, here is one of my experiences (I have a few so I will just share one for now). I was about twelve or so when this first happened. I had recently been diagnosed with scoliosis (a curvature of the spine for which I had been fitted for a back brace that I wore for about two years or so) and I had also recently been to a girl scout camp where we had been discussing people we lost in the past. My grandmother had passed away when I was young...I think I was about six or so. I didn't really understand what my aging grandparents were going through and my brother and I always kind of avoided going to their house. I remember being very disturbed and distressed at the funeral, so they took my brother and I to my other grandmother's house (he was like four so he probably doesn't remember any of this) until everything was done. When I was explaining all of this to the other girl scouts, I remember saying something about feeling guilty for not being closer to her and not enjoying what little time we had together.

Anyway, I had been sleeping one night when I was inexplicablly awakened from my sleep. I lay in bed for a few seconds before I caught a faint scent of something minty. The smell grew stronger after a few moments and then slowly began to disappear. It was almost as though someone was chewing a minty flavored gum and walked into my room and then turned around and walked away down the hall. Now, I will be the first to admit that I did have Winterfresh gum in my room, but it was in a drawer across the room covered up by a bunch of junk. There is no way I smelled it through the drawer, through the stuff that was on top of it and from all the way across the room! No one else in my family typically chews gum, so I had no explanation for this.

The next morning, I described the event to my mom who explained that her mother (my grandmother who had passed away when I was six) always chewed Freedent gum which had a minty scent to it. She was really just messing with me...I mean, it was true what she said, but she wasn't inclined to believe it was my grandmother come back from the grave. That was until I came home from school that day. On the walk home from the bus stop, I found a gum wrapper along the edge of my lawn....the brand of gum was Freedent....the same brand my grandmother used to chew. My mom freaked out when I told her.

Was it really my grandmother visiting me? Who knows? But it seemed to have come just when I needed some comfort....right after being diagnosed with scoliosis and right after admitting out loud for the first time that I felt guilty for not being more supportive and understanding of what she was going through towards the end of her life. It was almost as if she was letting me know there was nothing to feel guilty about and that everything would be okay. It has happeend several times since then and each time the smell wakes me up at night and I always quietly whisper: "Thanks for visiting, Nanny! I've missed you!" I'd like to think it is her coming to visit. I don't remember much about my grandmother and I wish I had been closer to her.

Now, my mom always kind of shrugged off the story as me either dreaming or trying to scare her. That was until I left for college. One day she called me and told me that SHE smelled the winterfresh gum smell just like I described....faint like someone was walking towards her chewing it, then real strong like whoever it was just stood there a while, and then growing more and more faint like they were walking away.

Like I said, I have more experiences, but I'll wait on those. It's your turn now!!

Alright I wrote this, but my laptop wanted to be a pain in the skidplate! So now I had to re-write it. *shakes fist* Anyways, *screams* I was just thinking of starting topic just like this. How awesome, great minds think alike, right? Haha I think so. And I totally believe in ghosts, spirits, demons, other worlds everything.

Alright I have a few stories, so I will tell you my experiences:
1. Okay my mother works about 45 minutes away and does usually 5am-1:30 shifts, in this case that was her shift. So we have her bedroom, her bathroom, and the computer room, and a spare bedroom upstairs, well those are the rooms with doors. And downstairs there’s; laundry room, my bathroom, spare bedroom, and my bedroom. I have a split shift job, so my hours are 5:30-8 in the morning. Before I leave every morning I shut all the doors, that I just listed. When getting home around 8:10, I usually open the computer room door, because that’s where the puppy stays (in his kennel). And all the doors are wide open! I can understand a few doors not staying shut, but really, all of them? That happens quite often, and I know it could be the doors, but all of them? I know for a fact my mom’s door, you need to like slam shut until it clicks to close it. And I do that every morning. (Bare in mind, it’s just me and my mom who live in this house.)

2. I hear random voices, but usually my mother’s, but it’ll be when I know she’s not home. Usually just saying my name, so I will walk to the stairwell and start screaming back. No answer, so I look in the garage and her car is not there. Eerie!

3. Alright some of you know about my cat, Mia. She was my best friend and I was a huge mess when she died, we had to put her to sleep. She died as she was about to be 16, and I was 17. So she was my everything, my world. I see her from time to time. But one time in specific is when I was laying in my bed, and I was half awake half asleep. I heard her purr and even touched her fur. Yeah I know what you’re thinking, you were dreaming, Dark? No because I remember lifting my head and shoulder up and smiling at her. Which is interesting, because I was wishing I could see her again, and have her sleep in my bed like she used too.

4. Alright on Monday, as I was at one of my jobs, the split shift-nanny one. I saw a white transparent object walk down the stairs and through the front door. And I couldn’t say anything because I didn’t want to startle the kid I was watching. It was just a blob looking object.

5. That same day as number 4, just a few minutes after; I placed my HALF filled monster energy drink. The 550ml e one into the fridge to keep it cold, when we were at piano lesson, from 3:30-4:10ish. Well at this time it was 4:12 or 4:13. I grabbed my monster energy drink and it was completely full!! WTF!? I kid you not! The girl’s mom, and step dad were in the hospital, and I locked the door before we left for piano. And no one else was there.

6. Now this one I don’t know what to think. My puppy will not stay in my room; he’s comfortable in every other room in the house but not mine. He whines a lot, he will jump on my bed and shake a lot. I kinda think it’s because that was my cat’s turf, and I wonder if her spirit like kicks him off or something.

I know what I hear, and see. So I am fully on board with thinking their are ghosts out there. Some things can't be fully explained.

On Samhain 2007, the year my life-long family dog Honey passed away, I was outside doing my ceremony when my mom and brother came back from walking our new dog Patrick. For once Patrick didn't follow them straight inside and decided to hang around outside my Circle area instead. I was just finishing putting the fire out when I noticed him turning his head from side to side, as if watching something dart from the front gate around the corner of the house to the back gate and then back again.

In Wicca, Sahmain (commonly known as Halloween) is a festival to honor those who have passed that year and can also be a chance for the departed to come back and visit; I still firmly believe that Patrick was watching Honey, as in her youth she used to run laps around the corner of the house at that time of night in exactly the manner that Patrick was "watching" the yard.

Ghost stories... Oh man... Where do I even start? My mom, great grandma and I are sensative to the paranormal. They could see spirits but I can only sense them. We've always lived in between two cemetaries.

Let's see, at my mother's house, we have incidents with the lights and tvs turning on and off by themselves. We try to recreate it but we can't. Mom sees people in the house all the time. One time it was an old man in our recliner. There was a skeleton woman in her room once. There's a little girl that haunts o ur area between the two cemetaries. Someone actually stopped, complete stranger and was freaking out, told our neighbors that they saw a little girl jump off their roof. We have so many stories its crazy.

I was just informed today, by my dad's mom, that we have ESP in our family. So my dad never really doubted me, but he thought I said stuff to gain attention. But after he told me that quite a few of our family members have experience the same sort of things as myself, he apologized and now understands it. I tell you guys; it's like everyday it's something new... So I can kinda relate to what your saying Cubic.

Dreaming of something that will happen, and like clock work with a couple of months it'll happen. Or something along the same line will happen.

Wow, you guys all have great stories!

Let's see I have a few more.

1. My friend Ricky visited my friend Liz and I one weekend at college. We had to take him back to his place after his visit, but we decided to stop at Liz's house before hand. Our friend Chris went with us only because he had a thing for Liz. She wanted to see the house one last time before her parents sold it. The whole trip was completely bizarre.

When we got there, Ricky and I had been sitting in the back seat together and he was really not thrilled about going in. He said he saw Liz's brother in the house and since he and her brother did not get along, he wanted to stay outside. Liz responded saying that no one was in the house. When we got up to the house, all the blinds on the windows were split in half right down the middle. We only saw a few broke at first so Liz initially thought it was the movers that did it...once we got inside we saw moer blinds broken down the middle in the exact same place.

Liz thought maybe it had been a squatter so we searched every single room of the house to see if we could find him (or her). As I turned a corner, I saw a figure in the hallway. It was there only for a split second and it was only a shadow, but I later got the feeling that it had been a young child that I was looking at. Why I had that feeling I have no idea. Now, I didn't mention anything at the time because it happened so quickly that it didn't really frighten me or startle me so I didn't really think much about it.

When we got up the steps to the second floor, we took note that all the blinds on the second floor were broken too. That was about the time that Chris mentioned the idea of spirits. His theory was that if the spirit was lonely then maybe the blinds were broken because it would look out the windows to see if anyone was returning. Not sure about that theory, but in response, Ricky and I said, "Oh! The kid!" Apparently he had the same feeling about it being a child that I had.

Liz refused to acknowledge any possibility of it being a spirit. So to change the subject, we went to the basement. But as soon as we got down there, the rest of us wanted to go. We hadn't felt such a foreboding feeling in the rest of the house...just the basement. But Liz kept saying that nothing was there. We didn't press the subject until I collapsed about five minutes or so later. I don't know why I just felt really sick to my stomach and my chest felt tight. We decided, whether it was a spirit or not, we were leaving. Ricky had to carry me up the stairs. Once on the ground floor, I felt just fine almost immediately.

That was really the only time I really saw anything. Usually I just get a feeling or a strange smell or sound.

2. In one of my dorm rooms at college I think I had a ghost. One night during band camp, I put my sheet music down on my desk. I put it right where I could see it. Then I went to sleep. When I got up the next morning, it was gone. I looked all over, but I didn't find it...even while packing things up at the end of the year. I STILL haven't found it. And sometimes my window shade would go up or down on it's own and my fan would inexplainable change speeds. My friend and I named my ghost Clarence. I kind of miss having him around.

3. @ Darkshadow14, one of your comments really stood out to me...

Darkshadow14 wrote: 6. Now this one I don’t know what to think. My puppy will not stay in my room; he’s comfortable in every other room in the house but not mine. He whines a lot, he will jump on my bed and shake a lot. I kinda think it’s because that was my cat’s turf, and I wonder if her spirit like kicks him off or something.

I have this issue MYSELF with MY OWN room. For whatever reason sometimes I get this really weird vibe in my room and I cannot sleep there. Not all the time; just sometimes. Lately, it's been okay. But for a while I was sleeping in my brother's room while he was at college or I slept in the basement as far away from my room as possible. I also tend to dream lucidly and have very vivid nightmares in there. Ever since I was a kid, I've had weird nightmares. In any other room of the house, I rarely remember my dreams, I rarely dream lucidly, and I rarely have nightmares.

4.

Dreaming of something that will happen, and like clock work with a couple of months it'll happen. Or something along the same line will happen.

Speaking of dreams, I've done this too. Except, it's usually not me. One time I had a dream that I was looking for something to wear and then the lights went out. That morning, at breakfast, my mom said to me, "I was getting dressed this morning and the lights went out." I know there have been at least two or three other times that this has happened, but I don't remember the circumstance. Also, in January or February of 2001, I did this really elaborate project about a made-up country. We had to draw their currency, their flag, write about the history, and make up holidays...the works! It took forever. Anyway, one country I made up was "Dead Soldiers Day" and I made it September 11th. On September 11, 2001, an airplane flew into the World Trade Center towers in New York City forever making that day remembered as Patriot Day.

Gee, you guys sure have had some interesting experiences involving the paranormal! Kind of makes my own experience seem rather unexciting by comparison. But here goes..

As I mentioned in another thread, I've always been a dog person. Yet few of the dogs got as close to me as Ruby, a tiny little red furball of a Pomeranian. Before I progress with the story, I would like to share some tidbits about Ruby's tragic past.

As is often the case with small dogs, Ruby was brought up in a kennel that was the home of many pomeranians. The owner always loved each and every one of her dogs, they were essentially her life especially since her marriage was failing. This lady had a daughter and she was going through a divorce from her second husband, the daughter's step father, after the daughter had started accusing the step-father of molesting her. It was all under investigation at the time, but regardless she was trying to move on with her life and continue caring for her daughter and all her dogs.

The (ex) husband, however, wanted to get back at her and he did so by the worst means he could possibly come up with; through her dogs. One by one he took the tiny poms out into the shed in the back, where he raped (and destroyed) a number of them before he chopped their heads off. The woman found out and rounded up the 4 or 5 dogs she had remaining (out of a total of around 20) and frantically shipped them off to friends of hers so the husband could not track them down.

Ruby was one of these few surviving dogs, and we came to adopt her (without knowing her story at the time) from the friend who had taken her in. The previous owner died of cancer (probably sped along by a broken heart..) soon after. But again we really did not know at the time.

Ruby was such a precious little dog, with so much personality. She immediately took a liking to me and would follow me everywhere. She would sit in front of the bathroom door while I was in there, she would sleep in my bed (always on my pillow or even curled around my neck), and she would dance with joy every time I came home or when she got fed. In short she was the joy of my life at the time. She had such a personality. For instance I used to sleep in the top bunk bed so in order to get up there if I had gone to bed, she would run up to my mom, bark at her as if there was a fire, get her to follow, look at me, look at my mom, back to me.. Until my mom lifted her up into my bed. At which point she would bark a very distinguished 'get out!' bark at my mom.

She was 4 years old by the time we got her, and I like to think the next 5 years were the best of her life. Unfortunately she was not a very healthy dog and she frequently got uterine infections, which always went away after giving her penicillin. The final time she got an infection, she seemed to be getting better again. And the night before she died everything seemed fine.

When I came back from school the next day my dog did not come to greet me at the door with her little dance. I found her in the living room, with my dad on the phone with the vet. She howled in pain when I picked her up and I noticed bleeding from down there. Seemed like her uterus had finally collapsed. We had to take her in for emergency surgery. The vet sedated her and we waited in the waiting area for any news. I never did have time to prepare for the fact she would never wake up again.

Anyway.. I was completely heart broken after the fact. I cried and cried for at least a couple of weeks straight. I kept having vivid dreams of opening my eyes in bed and she was there, on my pillow, looking at me. And in every dream she would stick her tongue out, lick my cheek, and then slowly just fade away.

About a month later I was sitting in my room, for once thinking about something else, and all of a sudden I swear I could smell her. And I felt this intense sensation of peace, as if she was moving on to be reborn or moving into a new phase of the afterlife. Oddly I never had another dream about her again after that.

We ended up contacting the lady we had adopted Ruby from to see if she had any more dogs we could adopt and obviously told her Ruby had passed away. That's when she finally told her the entire story about Ruby's past. To this day I hope that man burns in **** for what he did..

At any rate soon after we adopted another dog from the same person. This one had grown up with her so she had never had to go through what Ruby did, but amazingly she (Toya) ended up having a very similar personality.