ghost story

The Musical Ghost

~ Tara Theresa Hill ~ Leave a comment

Thanks to Michelle from Northern Vermont for this story!

Many old houses in New England are home to the dead, as well as the living.  In some cases, the ownership can be traced back to one or two families that have lived in the same neighborhood for generations.  This leads to the current owners accepting the spirits of the previous residents as being connected to the house.

Michelle’s father-in-law’s home is over one hundred years old.  It’s a two-story house with a full attic and basement.  The house has furniture, antiques, phonographs, paintings, and firearms from as far back as the mid-1800s.  The large home was built by Michelle’s father-in-law’s uncle, Nathan.  Uncle Nathan is known for ‘haunting’ the house.

In 1993, Michelle and her husband, Shawn, went to visit his father for Christmas.  Michelle’s father-in-law worked as a volunteer firefighter, so there was always the chance that he would be called away in an emergency.  In the middle of the night, Michelle awoke to the sound of piano music coming from downstairs.  She woke up her husband.  Shawn said that he could hear the piano music too.  Then the music stopped.

They heard footsteps walking across the floor and the carpet, and over to Shawn’s father’s desk.  Shawn sat on the edge of the bed, holding his gun, and wondering if he should go see what was going on.  At this point, they were worried that someone had broken into the house.  The footsteps continued up the stairs and then halted on the landing next to the grandfather clock.  Just as suddenly as it had all begun, the strange noises ceased.

The next morning, Shawn asked his father if he had received a fire call late that night.  His father said that he had not.  Michelle and Shawn told him everything that had happened.  That’s when they found out that there hadn’t been a piano in the house for many years.  According to Shawn’s father, Uncle Nathan enjoyed playing the piano when he was alive.

Media Announcement:

I recently did an interview with Tim Weisberg of Spooky Southcoast: Paranormal Radio Podcast.  We talked about my interest in hauntings, why I write ghost stories, and discussed theories on the paranormal.  Be sure to catch the show on SpookySouthcoast.com: Episode 524 – The Ghost Post – Tara Theresa Hill.  

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, 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!

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Spook – Official Mascot for The Ghost Post – Copyright 2017
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A Spirited Reunion

~ Tara Theresa Hill ~ 2 Comments

Thanks to Jessica from Florida for this story!

Jessica met her best friend, Barbara, during their freshman year in college.  They lived a couple of rooms down from each other.  The two young women only had one class together, but they made efforts to meet up for meals and hang out.  They hit it off so well that they decided to dorm with one another the following year.

Jessica was going to school out-of-state.  The airfare was too expensive for her to fly home to Florida for just a few days, so she planned to stay in the dorm over Thanksgiving break.  She’d see her family for Christmas and the long winter break after classes were over.  Even though Jessica knew that she wasn’t going to be the only one staying in the dorm over the holiday, she couldn’t help feeling a bit homesick.  When Barbara heard about the plan, she invited Jessica to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with her instead.

Barbara came from a large family.  Compared to the apartments that Jessica had grown up in, Barbara’s house was like a palace.  Jessica had fully expected to stay in Barbara’s room or to bunk down on the couch, but they actually had a guest bedroom ready for her.  Barbara’s family was so warm and welcoming that soon Jessica was feeling right at home, despite still missing her parents.

Thanksgiving Day arrived.  Everyone was up early, cooking, and getting the house ready.  Barbara cheerfully introduced Jessica to all her relatives.  Jessica did her best to try to keep all of their names straight.

At some point during the evening, she noticed a woman wearing a lavender-colored dress sitting in the corner of the room.  The woman had short, chestnut-brown hair, dark eyes, and round cheeks.  She was smiling and laughing at everyone’s stories.  Jessica couldn’t remember if she had met her earlier.

Jessica was about to approach the woman, when Barbara grabbed her by the arm.  She and her cousins were going to go roast some marshmallows and wanted to know if Jessica wanted to join them.  Jessica nodded and went to get her jacket from the coat closet.  When she came back through the living room a moment later, the woman in the lavender dress had vanished.  She shrugged, figuring the woman had gotten up in the few seconds that she had been out of the room.

The relatives left at 9:00pm.  Then Jessica helped Barbara and her family clean up.  Barbara and Jessica stayed up late talking and watching movies.  Exhausted, Jessica figured that she would fall right to sleep once she got in bed, but she kept tossing and turning.  After an hour of this, she decided she might as well try to do some of the homework that she had been putting off.

Putting on her robe, Jessica grabbed her textbook and went downstairs to the kitchen.  Maybe some warm milk would help make her sleepy.  She microwaved a mug of milk and then sat down at the kitchen table to do some reading.  She had only gotten through a paragraph or two, when she heard humming.

Jessica’s back was to the living room entrance.  Turning around quietly, she saw a shadowy figure moving around in the room behind her.  Jessica carefully got up and crept over to the alcove.  The woman in the lavender dress was walking around the living room and humming quietly to herself.

Suddenly, the woman turned around and padded up the stairs.  Jessica followed softly behind her.  She watched as the woman walked down the hallway, peeking into each room, and smiling.  The woman continued to do this until she reached the room where Jessica was staying.  Then she opened the door and went inside.

Jessica stood stock still.  She didn’t know what to do.  Didn’t the woman know that she was sleeping over?  Jessica stood there watching the doorway, but the woman never came back out.  Finally, she mustered up enough courage to go and look inside.

The room was empty.  Jessica searched every corner.  She even checked under the bed.  She knew that the woman had never come out of the room.  There was nowhere for the woman to hide.  She had just disappeared.

At this point, Jessica was pretty sure that she had seen a ghost.  She couldn’t sleep in that room knowing that the woman might suddenly show up again.  Pulling the blanket and a pillow off the bed, Jessica went downstairs and slept on the living room couch with the covers pulled up over her head.

When Barbara and her parents found Jessica asleep on the couch the next morning, they asked if something was wrong.  Jessica told them about the woman she had seen at the party and then again at night after everyone else had gone to bed.  Barbara looked over at her parents.  She went upstairs and came back down with a photo album.  She flipped through a few pages, and then passed the album to Jessica.

“That’s her!” Jessica pointed to the picture of the woman that she had seen last night.  She was even wearing the same lavender-colored dress.  “Who is she?”

Barbara’s mother was crying at this point.  “That’s my sister, Joanne.  She died from cancer last year.  This was our first Thanksgiving without her.  It was always her favorite holiday.”

Barbara’s mother was comforted that her sister’s spirit had still been able to join in the family celebration, even if she hadn’t been able to see her.  Everyone figured that Joanne had chosen to appear to Jessica.  Since Jessica had never met her, she would be able to convince everyone that Joanne had really been there and was still watching over the family.

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

 

Grandma’s Necklace

~ Tara Theresa Hill ~ 2 Comments
silver-locket-photo
Photo Credit – Tara Theresa Hill

Something like this happened to me once, so I decided to write a story about it.  Hope you enjoy!

Sarah was an imaginative child.  One of her favorite games was dress up.  She loved to put on her mother’s clothes and jewelry and pretend that she had been magically transported back to a different time period.  The only piece of jewelry that Sarah wasn’t allowed to play with was her mother’s silver locket.  The locket was oval-shaped with a floral leaf pattern.  Her mother rarely wore it anywhere, so Sarah didn’t understand why she couldn’t wear it instead.  One day she asked her mother, “Why can’t I wear your silver locket?”

Her mother put down the book that she was reading and gestured for Sarah to join her on the couch.  “That locket belonged to Grandma Rose.  It is one of the few things she owned that I still have left.”

“But I’ll be careful.  Don’t you trust me with it?” whined Sarah.

Sarah’s mother sighed.  “It’s not that I don’t trust you with it.  It’s just that it is too precious.  This isn’t a piece of costume jewelry, Sarah.  I would be devastated if something happened to it.”  Seeing Sarah’s disappointed face, she said, “It was my mother’s favorite necklace.  If it gets damaged or lost, it can’t be replaced.”  She put an arm around her daughter’s shoulders.  “Do you understand?”  Sarah nodded, but she didn’t really get it.

A few weeks later, her mother was away at a conference.  While her father was busy working on a project in the garage, Sarah crept up to the door of her parents’ bedroom.  She tiptoed up to her mother’s large, ebony-colored jewelry box and lifted the lid.  A shiver passed over her shoulders.  Sarah knew that she shouldn’t be doing this.  The pretty, silver locket felt cold in her fingers.  Fumbling with the chain, Sarah put on the necklace, closed the jewelry box, then snuck out of her parents’ bedroom before anyone could notice what she had done.

Sarah went down the block to visit her friend, Katie.  When she got there, Katie smiled, “Hey!  Want to see my new dollhouse?”  Sarah rolled her eyes.  Katie was always showing off some new toy.  “That’s kid stuff.  I have something way cooler than that.”

“Oh, yeah?  What is it?” asked Katie.

Sarah reached under her shirt to pull out the silver locket to show Katie, but it wasn’t there.  “Oh, no,” moaned Sarah.  “What’s wrong?” asked Katie.  Sarah unclipped the chain from around her neck and examined it.  It was bare.  “My mother’s locket!  It’s gone!” wailed Sarah.

“Where did you last see it?” asked Katie.

Sarah put the chain back on.  “I came here right after I took it out of her jewelry box.”

“You mean you stole it?”

“No!  I just borrowed it.”

“Did you have permission?” asked Katie.

“Not really…” mumbled Sarah.  “But that doesn’t matter now!  I have to get it back before Mom gets home.”

“Then we’ll have to retrace your footsteps.  It must be somewhere between here and your house.  Come on!  I’ll help you search for it.”

The two girls spent over an hour looking all over the block.  They even checked inside Sarah’s house.  The locket was nowhere to be seen.  The girls went down to the front porch.  It was starting to get dark out.  “I’d better head home,” said Katie.  “It’s almost dinner time.”

“Okay.  Thanks for your help,” said Sarah.  “I’m going to keep looking.”

“You’re welcome.  I hope you find it soon,” said Katie.

“Me too.  Mom’s coming home tomorrow.”

Sarah went back into the house.  After dinner, she went into the living room and grabbed the old family photo album.  Sitting on the couch, she flipped through the pages.  Baby pictures, birthday parties, Christmases, and graduations flashed by along with candid photos.  She stopped at a picture of a greying woman sitting in an armchair reading a book.  She was wearing the silver locket.  Grandma Rose looked back at Sarah over the top of her book.  Sarah had never met her maternal grandmother.  Grandma Rose had passed away three years before Sarah was born.  Sarah knew her mother had been too brokenhearted to name her after grandma, so she had given her “Rose” as a middle name.  “Sarah Rose…” she murmured her own name.  Then she had an idea.

Going into the storage closet, she pulled out three small candles.  She found a lighter and a small ceramic plate in the kitchen.  She filled a glass of water and placed that on her dresser along with the plate and the candles.  Then she took Grandma Rose’s picture out of the photo album, brought it into her bedroom, and shut the door.  Making sure it was a safe distance away, she placed the photo by the candle.  Her mother had taught her about praying to her ancestors and now seemed like as good a time as any.

Kneeling in front of her dresser, she started talking to Grandma Rose.  She told her all about the events leading up to the loss of the locket.  When she was finished, she said, “No matter what happens, I promise to tell Mom and Dad what I did.  I know it was wrong.  I just really wish that I could find the locket so that Mom wouldn’t be sad.  She loves you, Grandma Rose.  If you can hear me and there is anything that you can do, please help me find it.”

As she stood up, Sarah heard a soft, metallic swishing sound and felt something settle on her neck.  She looked down.  The locket had reappeared on the chain.

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

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

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