ancestors

Living with Spirits

~ Tara Theresa Hill ~ 6 Comments

Thanks to Toni from Virginia for sharing these stories with me!

Toni has had paranormal experiences her whole life.  Both sides of her family have psychic abilities, so she is used to regularly receiving communications from spirits.  Her earliest encounter happened when she was four years old.  At the time, she lived in a house on Long Island.  Built by a sea captain, it was always dark and creepy, no matter the weather.  One cloudy day, Toni was going up to the second floor via the staircase that led to the maid’s quarters when she heard a woman’s voice call out to her.

“Toni, Dear.  I need to talk to you.”

Toni paused on the stairs, searching for the woman.  The voice sounded like it came from close by, but there was no one around.  “What do you want to tell me?” Toni asked.

“Come upstairs to the attic,” the woman said.

Toni was not in the mood for this.  “Can we do this later?  I want to take a nap.”

The spirit of the woman did eventually come back to speak to Toni, but not until she was six years old.  Even as a young child, Toni was not afraid of spirits.  Her mother taught her to embrace her psychic abilities because it was a gift from God.

After her parents divorced, Toni went to live with her mother, Libby, in Cullowhee, North Carolina.  The house that they stayed in was built by Toni’s maternal grandfather, Joe.  A large house, it has an attic, four bedrooms, a parlor, dining room, living room, and a kitchen.  The house is located on Cherokee land and was constructed using the wood from her grandfather’s various lumber camps.  Over the years, many people have lived and died in this house, so it known to be haunted.

Sometimes Grandpa Joe’s spirit would drop by for a visit.  One time, Toni and her mother were sitting together in the living room.  Toni’s mother had been thinking about Grandpa Joe all day.  As she was sitting there, Toni distinctly heard a male voice inside her head say, “Tell Baby that I’m here, that I love her, and not to be worried.”

Toni said that Grandpa Joe had come through to her just then and that he had a message.  She then repeated the words back to her mother, who started crying.  “Baby” had been Libby’s childhood nickname.  Toni had not known that “Baby” was her grandfather’s nickname for her mother when she received the message.

Another day, Toni was sitting on the front steps having coffee when she heard her grandfather’s spirit calling for her mother from inside the house.  “Baby?  Baby?  Where are you?”

Toni answered him.  “Grandfather, it’s Toni.  Mom is out shopping.  She’ll be back later.”

“Okay.  Tell her that I was looking for her,” he said.  Then she felt his presence leave the house.  Toni let her mother know about Grandpa Joe’s visit when she got home.  Later that night, he came to visit her mother in a dream.

Toni liked to have sleepovers at her house when she was a teenager.  One night around nine o’clock, she and her girlfriends heard footsteps coming down the stairs.  No one else was home with them at the time and they didn’t see anyone standing there.  From the bottom of the steps they heard a female voice call out, “Toni, Dear.  It’s time to go to bed now.”  The spirit had a beautiful voice but did not make a physical manifestation.  The girls were so spooked that they were too afraid to stay inside the house.  Instead, they all went to sleep outside in their cars for the night.

During another sleepover, Toni and her friends decided to use a Ouija board.  Toni’s mother was not pleased with this, but she didn’t stop them from holding the séance.  She encouraged them to say prayers for protection though.  The spirit came through the board and told one girl that her boyfriend would have a car accident.  Later, the board flew off the bed and hit the window, breaking it.  Two months later, the girl’s boyfriend got into a terrible car accident just as the spirit had said.  Thankfully, he survived it.

Toni wasn’t the only one who had encounters with spirits in that house.  One evening, Toni’s mother, Libby, was relaxing in her bedroom.  Toni had left for a date and the house was quiet.  Libby could see the stairs from her bedroom.  She heard a woman in heels walking back up the stairs.

“Toni, is that you?” she called out, thinking her daughter had forgotten something.  When Toni didn’t answer, Libby knew that her daughter had left the house.  The footsteps continued up the stairs.  Even though Libby didn’t see anyone, she could smell lavender perfume in the hallway, which was not the kind of perfume that Toni wore.  The room grew cold and the family dog, Pepper, started barking.  It would seem that the female spirit walking around Toni’s grandfather’s house prefers to stay invisible.  Perhaps she is the one who opens the doors and windows, and messes with the lights, even when the house stands empty and the power has been shut off.

Do You Have a Ghost Story?

Send me an email to theghostpostreporter@gmail.com to set up an interview.  I’m always in the mood for a good ghost story! 

Want even more Ghost Stories?

Check out The Ghost Post’s YouTube channel for audio recordings of The Ghost Post.  It’s perfect for camping out, sleepovers, or anytime you just want to hear a ghost story on the go. 

For more ghost stories, paranormal phenomena, and updates, follow Tara Theresa Hill on Facebook and on Twitter at @TaraTheresaHill. 

Are you a paranormal writer, artist, or investigator?

Do you have a paranormal-themed business or Facebook group?

Maybe you just can’t get enough of the paranormal and want to connect with other like-minded individuals.

Then check out my new paranormal advertising group on Facebook, The Paranormal Hotspot: The Market for All Things Paranormal. There is no set promotion day, so you can promote your business, art, or group every day for free. You can also post links to sites where you sell your products or services. Our mission is to help paranormal businesses, artists, writers, and investigators connect with fans and consumers!

Get Your Ghost On!

Check out our CafePress store featuring The Ghost Post’s official mascot, Spook.  We’ve got awesome coffee mugs, t-shirts, and more!

Spook - Official Mascot of The Ghost Post
Spook – Artist Credit – Mara Cordova

 

 

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Guardians Beyond the Grave

~ Tara Theresa Hill ~ Leave a comment

Dear Readers,

I hope that this letter finds you well.  This will be the last blog post for the year.  Thank you for all your support!  I’ve got some more great ghost stories and hauntings to share with you in 2018, so stay tuned.  Enjoy the holidays, and I hope the new year brings you much love, good health, and blessings! 

Happy Holidays and a Blessed New Year from The Ghost Post!

Best,

Tara Theresa Hill

Guardians Beyond the Grave

Maybe it’s just the time of the year, but I always find my ancestral spirits on my mind more during the fall and winter.  I believe that our ancestral spirits both from this lifetime and previous ones are always around, watching over us, and offering help and guidance whenever they can.  Over the years, I’ve had a few amazing experiences with the spirits of my maternal grandparents, Grandpa Freddie and Grandma Tessie.

Grandpa Freddie used to watch me after school when I was a little girl.  I was over his house almost every day.  After my homework was done, we used to sit and read or watch TV together.  Once a week, we would feed the birds outside of his house.  He would sing to me, cook special meals for me, and watch over me while I played.  He was the best grandpa that anyone could ask for.  I adored him and was heartbroken when he died.

After graduating college, I got a job teaching high school English.  Many people have a difficult first year teaching.  In addition to juggling lesson plans and managing a classroom, you’re also dealing with parents and school politics.  It’s a challenging, and often thankless profession.  Couple these obstacles with a failing institution, and you have the perfect combination for burnout.  Within a few weeks, I had a sinking feeling that teaching wasn’t for me.  I did my best, but by the end of the first semester, I was let go.  I refused to give 90s to the students who didn’t want to work, and that apparently with my struggles as a new teacher, was enough to fire me.

Unfortunately, this was just as the economy crashed.  Being new to the workforce, I fell into the category of knowledgeable, but inexperienced.  Constantly scouring the internet for opportunities that didn’t exist left me feeling useless.  I didn’t have any inclination to do the things that brought me joy, like reading and writing.  Eventually, I started to spiral into a deep, dark depression.

Then one night, I had a strange dream.  I heard my name being called from my living room.  I saw the shadow of a male spirit sitting on the couch.  As I approached, the figure turned into my Grandpa Freddie.  I remember that he was wearing trousers with a dark blue flannel, V-neck shirt.  He even had on a fedora.  This is the same kind of outfit that he used to wear when he was alive.

“Grandpa?” I asked in surprise.  “What are you doing here?”

“Tara, you have to stop crying.  Everything is going to be okay, but you have to stop crying so much.  It’s upsetting all of us.”

His answer implied that my other relatives in the Spirit World were concerned, as well.  I was stunned that they knew about it, but I promised that I would do as he asked.  That was all I remembered of the dream, but it gave me hope that things would get better.  Within a few weeks, I had started writing, and then I found a part-time office job a couple of months later.  It is important to note that my grandparents were children during the Great Depression, so they knew what it was to overcome real struggle.

Grandma Tessie died of a rare form of cancer three years before I was born.  My grandfather had little, porcelain bird statues set up around his house that had belonged to Grandma.  I used to beg Grandpa Freddie for stories about Grandma Tessie.  He would tell me that she had been a deeply loving person who enjoyed nature, singing, reading, and helping others.  I always wished that I had had the chance to meet her.

My husband and I had just bought our first home and were having issues with some of the appliances.  The seller hadn’t told us that the refrigerator was on its last legs.  Fortunately, we discovered this before buying groceries.  We ordered a refrigerator that day, but the store said it would take another two weeks for delivery.  Between the move itself and this mishap, we had been eating takeout and microwave meals for a while.

My husband and I are generally healthy eaters.  I tend to be more diet conscious than he is because my body is sensitive to large amounts of salt or preservatives in food.  We were still a week away from getting our refrigerator when my legs swelled up from the knee down.  I discovered this at work and didn’t have time to see the doctor until the next day.

By the time I got home, I was panicking about whether I was going to be okay.  I sat down on the couch, meaning to rest for just a few minutes before ordering dinner.  My husband wasn’t home yet, so I was all alone.

I had just started to doze off, when I felt someone come into the room.  A sweet female voice said, “Don’t worry, Tara.  Everything’s going to be fine.”  I made out the figure of a dark-haired woman wearing a bright yellow dress standing by the couch.

As I looked at the woman, I started to sit up.  “Grandma Tessie…” I said, but she was already gone.  I don’t know if I entered a semi-trance in my sleep somehow or if I was starting to dream, but she came through to let me know that I was going to be okay.

The times that their spirits appeared to me, I was not consciously asking for help or thinking about my grandparents.  Also, even though I had never met my grandmother while she was alive, I still recognized her by the sound of her voice.  While I had seen pictures of her before, her voice is what caught my attention.

The Spirit World has a marvelous ability to tap into our world at just the right moment.  There is always someone out there guiding and watching over us, even if we don’t realize it.  No matter how frightened we may be, we are never alone because love transcends death.

Do You Have a Ghost Story?

Send me an email to theghostpostreporter@gmail.com to set up an interview.  I’m always in the mood for a good ghost story! 

Want even more Ghost Stories?

Check out The Ghost Post’s YouTube channel for audio recordings of The Ghost Post.  It’s perfect for camping out, sleepovers, or anytime you just want to hear a ghost story on the go. 

For more ghost stories, paranormal phenomena, and updates, follow Tara Theresa Hill on Facebook and on Twitter at @TaraTheresaHill. 

Are you one of the following: A paranormal writer, artist, or investigator?

Or

Do you have a paranormal-themed business or Facebook group?

Then check out my new paranormal advertising group, The Paranormal Hotspot: The Market for All Things Paranormal. There is no set promotion day, so you can promote your business, art, or group every day for free. You can also post links to sites where you sell your products or services. Our mission is to help paranormal businesses, artists, writers, and investigators connect with fans and consumers!

Get Your Ghost On!

Check out our CafePress store featuring The Ghost Post’s official mascot, Spook.  We’ve got awesome coffee mugs, t-shirts, and more!

Spook Giant Coffee Mug
Spook – Coffee Mug – Copyright 2017

A Grave Message

~ Tara Theresa Hill ~ 1 Comment

Thanks to Linda from New Jersey for this story!

As mentioned in an earlier Ghost Post, Her Daughter’s Guardian Angel, Linda has psychic abilities.  This often results in prophetic dreams, which frequently spook her family.  This particular incident happened when Linda was in her late twenties.

In St. Raymond’s Cemetery in Bronx, NY, there is a mausoleum that holds several generations of Linda’s family.  Linda’s great-grandfather, Carmine, set this up so that the family would always stay together.  Great-grandfather Carmine’s son, called Papa Nick, was deeply fond of his daughter-in-law, Vera.  Vera is Linda’s mother.  Even after her mother and father divorced, Papa Nick stayed close with Vera.

One night, Linda had a dream where she heard Papa Nick call out.

“Vera, help me!  I’m drowning!”

This dream occurred two times in a row.  When she mentioned the incident to her mother, Vera said that Papa Nick must be trying to tell them something important.  The most confusing part was that while Linda was the one having the dream, Papa Nick kept calling for her mother.

After the second dream, Linda called her father to ask how Papa Nick had died.  Was it at sea or on a boat?  He answered that her grandfather had died of a stroke.  When he asked her what had brought this question up, Linda told her father about the strange recurring dream.

“Maybe you’d better go visit Papa Nick in the cemetery and see if everything is okay.”

Her father promised that he would go check.  The next day he called and explained what had happened.  He had gone to the cemetery to find that a sewer pipe had backed up and flooded the mausoleum floor.  One of the coffins floating in the water was Papa Nick’s.  Thankfully, they found out in time and none of the coffins were damaged.  It just goes to show you that when spirits want to make contact, they will find a way.

If you have a real ghost story that you would like to share with The Ghost Post, send an email with your contact information to Tara Theresa Hill at theghostpostreporter@gmail.com to set up an interview. 

I’m always in the mood for a good ghost story! 

If you enjoyed this article and would be interested in supporting my work, please check out my Patreon page. 

Her Daughter’s Guardian Angel

~ Tara Theresa Hill ~ 2 Comments

Thanks to Linda for this story!

Linda gave birth to her daughter, Amylyn, in December 1974.  Linda’s Aunt Vicky, who also happened to be her godmother, had requested to be the new baby girl’s godmother.  Linda spent seven days in the hospital after giving birth.  While she was there, Linda found out that even though there was a horrible snow storm going on, her aunt and uncle had come from Bronx, New York all the way to Connecticut to see the baby.

When Linda spoke to Aunt Vicky on the phone, she said she was annoyed that they had driven so far and had not even bothered to come and say hi to her.  Her aunt’s response was chilling.  She said that she had wanted to spend time with her new great-niece because this was the last chance that she was going to have to see her.  Linda dismissed this, saying that Aunt Vicky was going to be the godmother and that the baby would be home in a few days.  There would be plenty of time to get to know Amylyn.

Two days after they got home from the hospital, Linda’s mother was over her house when suddenly the phone rang.  Linda has psychic abilities and often has prophetic premonitions.  She gasped, telling her mother not to pick up the phone.

“It’s bad news about Aunt Vicky.”

The phone continued to ring.  The caller rang for a total of three times.  Finally, Linda’s mother said that her daughter was being ridiculous and picked up the phone.  It was Aunt Vicky’s husband on the other end of the line.  He had called to tell the family that she had committed suicide.

A couple of years passed.  Amylyn was now two years old.  One night, her parents heard her crying, so her father went upstairs to see if she was okay.  When he came back, Linda saw that he was shaking and his face was paper white.  When she asked him what was wrong, he said that he wanted to throw up and described to her what he just witnessed happening upstairs in their daughter’s bedroom.

“There’s an angel upstairs rocking our daughter to sleep.”

Linda nodded.  “Uh huh.  You’re crazy.”

“Go and see for yourself.”

Sighing, Linda went upstairs to Amylyn’s room.  She froze at the door.  Aunt Vicky’s spirit was sitting in the rocking chair, holding Amylyn in her arms.  Her husband had never met her aunt, so he didn’t know what she looked like, but Linda recognized her immediately.

When Amylyn was in her mid-twenties she had to have a hysterectomy.  Her parents and in-laws were all in the hospital waiting to see her when she came out of surgery.  During her daughter’s operation, Linda started praying to Aunt Vicky, asking her to watch over her and help her come through the procedure safely.

Fortunately, the surgery was a success.  Later on in the recovery room, Amylyn told her mother that she had had a dream when she was under the anesthesia.  Aunt Vicky had appeared by her side at the operating table.  Taking her goddaughter’s hand, she had said, “I will protect you.”

If you have a real ghost story that you would like to share with The Ghost Post, send an email with your contact information to Tara Theresa Hill at theghostpostreporter@gmail.com to set up an interview. 

I’m always in the mood for a good ghost story! 

If you enjoyed this article and would be interested in supporting my work, please check out my Patreon page. 

When Strange Winds Blow

~ Tara Theresa Hill ~ Leave a comment

Thanks to Amy from West Virginia for this story!

Amy grew up with her grandparents in an old coal mining town.  Her grandfather built the house with his own hands using leftover wood from the church.  Amy’s grandfather passed away before she was born, but she heard plenty of stories about him.  A coal miner, he had also been a heavy smoker and had a reputation for being a curmudgeon.  Amy never felt her grandfather’s presence in the house while growing up, nor did she experience anything paranormal or out of the ordinary.

However, something strange did happen on the day of her grandfather’s death.  Unknown to Amy’s grandmother at the time, he had been crushed between two mining machines.  It was a terrible accident.

Amy’s grandmother was home alone when suddenly the back door flew open.  The gust of wind tore the curtains down in the living room.  When it reached the other side of the house, the front door opened inward, as if someone had pulled it open from the inside.  Then the wind exited the house and everything was still again.  Later, Amy’s grandmother discovered that this incident had occurred at the time of her husband’s death.

Amy still lives in her childhood home.  Things were fine until she did some major remodeling to modernize the place.  Every so often, a great wind blows through the house.  She has checked it out and there are no sources for these drafts.  She has also occasionally seen a shadow.  She is unsure whether the apparition’s presence makes her feel uncomfortable because of a vibe that it is giving off or if it is because of the background knowledge that she has about her grandfather.  Both Amy and her husband have sensed the spirit.  Sometimes the wind leaves the scent of tobacco in its wake, but no one in the house smokes.

If you have a real ghost story that you would like to share with The Ghost Post, send an email with your contact information to Tara Theresa Hill at theghostpostreporter@gmail.com to set up an interview. 

I’m always in the mood for a good ghost story! 

If you enjoyed this article and would be interested in supporting my work, please check out my Patreon page. 

Stay in Bed

~ Tara Theresa Hill ~ Leave a comment

Age eleven to thirteen was a time of great upheaval for me.  My maternal grandfather passed away and my parents separated shortly after.  I switched schools first for bullying issues and then because my mother and I moved to the Bronx so that we would be closer to her store.  That very same summer, my mother’s sister, Roseanne, was diagnosed with lung cancer.  My first week of Junior High school ended with her funeral.

Aunt Roseanne and I were always close.  She knew the type of clothes and toys that I liked.  She was one of the adults that actually listened to what I said when I talked.  She encouraged me in school, listened to my dreams, supported my love for imaginary play, and was always affectionate with me and my mother.  We were heartbroken when she died.

A few months after her passing, I was sitting in my room working on a short story when I suddenly caught the scent of her perfume.  This was not a flowery fragrance that can be mistaken for a scented candle or an air spray.  Aunt Roseanne always wore Chanel #5.  It was such a distinct aroma that I actually stopped what I was doing and spoke her name aloud.

Of course there was no answer, but it had broken through my concentration.  Now completely spooked and seeing how late it was, I decided to get ready for bed.  I didn’t mention the incident to my mom because this had happened to me before.

When my grandfather had first passed away a year earlier, I had smelt his cologne in the downstairs lobby of our apartment building when there was no one around.  The aroma had been centered around my person, not wafting through the hallway, as it would have been if someone wearing the cologne had passed by.  I had been so depressed over my grandfather’s death that mom had brought me to a grief counselor for a few sessions.  When I discussed this event with the counselor, she said that it was common for family members to experience this kind of phenomena after someone’s death.

Smell is one of the most powerful memory triggers.  A grieving person might believe that they smell a specific scent that they associate with their loved one because that soul could be trying to alert them to their presence.  However, some other schools of thought believe that it is actually the memory itself that is triggering the illusion of the aroma.  Growing up in a family that believes in the paranormal, I never discounted the possibility that my grandfather’s spirit could have been visiting me.  I was not consciously thinking of either my grandfather or my aunt at the time that I experienced these phenomena.  Each time the experience caught me off guard and happened when I was alone.

After I went to bed the night that I smelled Aunt Roseanne’s perfume, I felt anxious.  The event had been unsettling.  I sat up, ready to go get my mother, but something told me to stay in bed.  Lying back down, I tried to go to sleep, but couldn’t.  Again, I desired to get up.  This time, I thought I heard a soft voice say, “Stay in bed.”  Two seconds after closing my eyes, there was a loud crash.

Mom rushed into my room.  Pieces of my ceramic ceiling lamp littered the floor.  My desk chair was positioned directly under this lamp.  A half hour earlier, I had been sitting there when I had smelled my Aunt Roseanne’s perfume.  After the mess was cleaned up and I was back in bed, I told mom about the earlier phenomena and then the voice urging me to stay in bed.  Mom and I still believe that Aunt Roseanne’s spirit protected me that night.

If you have a real ghost story that you would like to share with The Ghost Post, send an email to Tara Theresa Hill at theghostpostreporter@gmail.com to set up an interview. 

I’m always in the mood for a good ghost story! 

Lay Me to Rest

~ Tara Theresa Hill ~ Leave a comment

Thanks to Laurel from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for this story!

It had been a year since Laurel’s grandfather had passed away.  It being Samhain, the Wiccan celebration of Halloween, she decided to hold a private circle to bless her ancestors.  Her grandfather had been cremated and his ashes distributed in vials among the family.  Gathering her supplies, she decided to bring one of her grandfather’s vials along to further include him in the ceremony.

Since it was such a lovely, fall morning, Laurel decided to hold the ritual outside.  At the top of a small hill behind her house is a beautiful grove of trees.  Sitting with her back against one of the trees, Laurel began the ritual.  She set the incense burning to cleanse the area around her.  She blessed the herbs that she had brought as an offering to the Gods.  Then she lit her candle and sat back to say her prayers and to meditate.  She had her grandfather’s ashes beside her.

Once she had closed the circle, Laurel began to collect her things.  Then she made an astonishing discovery.  The vial was gone!

“It couldn’t have gone far,” she thought.  “I had it right next to me.”

She started scrambling through the leaves, thinking perhaps that the wind had shifted some of them and hidden the vial.  She couldn’t find it anywhere.  Maybe the Gods were playing a Samhain trick on her?

She looked up at the sky.  “Okay.  I acknowledge that you’re there, but this isn’t funny.  Can I have my Grandpap back now, please?”

As if in response, another thought came to Laurel.  “Grandpap was a trickster in his own right.  What if he was the one who took his vial?”  Laurel felt comforted.  If her grandfather wanted to remain in this special spot by her home, then she would honor his wish.  She smiled, knowing he would always watch over her and her family from the grove on the hill.