I am happy to announce that I have published my first book of fictional ghost stories on Kindle: The Spirit Hour – Volume 1.
Imagine if you could see and hear spirits. What would they say? How would they act? The Spirit Hour is a collection of five stories about the afterlife and how spirits interact with the human characters they meet.
I am also working on a ghost story novel that I am hoping to find an agent for after this draft is complete. Between these writing projects and promoting, I have not had as much time as I would like to devote to The Ghost Post this year. Please be patient. I will resume writing stories for The Ghost Post as soon as I can.
Thank you for your support as I continue to grow and develop as a writer.
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.
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!
I often receive spirit visitations in dreams. My spirit dreams have a subtle difference from my regular dreams. It’s hard to explain, but I feel as if my conscious mind is fully awake when I have these spirit dreams. I have had full conversations with spirits who visit me while asleep. Sometimes I remember everything and can record it in my dream journal when I wake up. Other times, I can only recall how the spirit looked, what they sounded like, and how I felt being around them. While I can never be sure if these dreams are true, I do know that the spirits who appear in my dreams seem as real as when I have had waking encounters with spirits.
In a recent dream, my husband woke me up and said that someone wanted to speak with me. I looked and saw this young-looking, female spirit standing in my bedroom. A white light was emanating from her, which helped ease my worries. Her brown hair was tied up in a bun and she was wearing a long, white dress with a high collar. She reminded me of someone from the Victorian era. For some reason, I recognized her vibration which made me think that I either must have dreamt of her before or have felt her presence around my house. Sometimes I will feel a spirit hanging around my home for a few days before they manage to make contact with me in a dream.
The spirit beckoned me to follow her, indicating that she needed something from the “other room.” I wondered what room she was talking about. Peeking around the corner, I saw that she was headed in the direction of my bathroom.
Upon entering what was supposed to be my bathroom, I found myself standing in a large room with white walls and grey, wooden floorboards. There were boxes stacked everywhere. It reminded me of a large attic that one might find at the top of an old house. The lady walked over to a couple of boxes and told me that she needed them to be “lifted.” My guess was that whatever she wanted was underneath the boxes. I tried to move the boxes myself, but they were too heavy. Calling out to my husband for help, he walked into the room and moved aside the boxes for us.
One of the floorboards was loose and rotted. I bent down to see if it could be removed. The ghost got very excited. There was a small package hidden inside a space in the floor. I kneeled down and pulled it up, passing it to her.
The second I did that, my husband and I were back in our bedroom, but the ghost of the young woman was still with us. I wasn’t sure what else she wanted. She kept walking about our bedroom, as if she was waiting for something. Watching her as she moved about, I felt compelled to say that I knew her because I had seen her in our room before.
The woman turned and smiled. “Now that you have acknowledged that you have seen me, I feel better and can go in peace.”
As she said this, all the light drained from her at once. It was like watching a flower close its petals. One second she was there glowing brightly, and the next, her manifestation had pulled itself into a ball before fading away.
The dream did not end here. I was concerned with how quickly the woman had disappeared, so I called out to her, “Are you sure that you’re okay, now?” There was no answer, so I knew that she had gone. Now, came the weirdest part of my dream.
For some reason, I walked over to my closet door and slid it open. Instead of clothes, the inside was filled with a rosy light. When my eyes adjusted, I saw that I was looking into a hallway with golden walls and a ruby-red carpet. Music and conversation filtered in from a party that was taking place somewhere nearby. I stood there on the edge of this other world wondering what to do, when a young male spirit wearing a tuxedo appeared.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m looking for the young woman who was just in my room. I want to make sure that she’s really okay.”
He nodded. “She’s fine. She’s at the party now.” The way he said this, I got the feeling that the party was intended for her and that made me feel better about the situation. Still, I was curious about this portal that had seemingly opened up in my room.
“You know this is my bedroom closet, right?” I asked the young gentleman.
He nodded again. “Yes, but sometimes it acts as a portal between the worlds. Here, come and see for yourself.” The young man let me step inside.
I stood between the door frame in a T-formation with one foot on either side of the door. I waved one arm inside the door. “So, this is the Spirit World.” I waved my other arm outside my door. “And this is the Living World.”
“Yes,” he answered.
Satisfied, I stepped back onto my side. Just then another male spirit came down the hallway, carrying something in his hands. “Here,” he said. “The young lady inside said that she wanted you to have this.”
I thanked him, took the parcel, stepped back, and watched the portal close. I looked down and saw that the woman had given me a book. It had a golden-yellow cover and appeared to be about “transportation” of some kind. I put the book on my bedside table, meaning to read it later and got back into bed. Yes, it was one of those strange dreams where I wake up in the dream, but am not actually awake.
When I finally woke up the next morning, a few things occurred to me. I really believe that the woman was from the Victorian era. Not only because of her clothing, but because books were expensive and hard to come by back then, so receiving one as a gift was a special treat. Also, I personally love books and am happy that the spirits know that I’m a big reader with a large collection.
Furthermore, I had suspected for some time that my closet was a portal. In fact, the day before that dream, I had placed a goblet of water on my dresser which is not far from the closet. I light candles to my ancestors and spirit guides on my dresser and always put up a fresh glass of water for them. This sends “Love and Light” to them to help them on their spiritual missions in the afterlife. At any rate, this spirit visitation leads me to believe that C.S. Lewis, the author of The Chronicles of Narnia, got it right. Portals to other worlds really do exist and you never know when you might find one.
What do you think? Do you believe that portals to the spirit world or other dimensions exist? Let me know in the comments section below!
To read another story about spirits hanging around my closet, check out: My Cat Sees Orbs.
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?
I have launched a new ghost story magazine via Patreon called The Spirit Hour. I’ll be uploading a new ghost story or the next part of a continuing story every week. For only one dollar a month, you get complete access to all the stories that I post on Patreon.
Also, 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.
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!
In celebration of The Ghost Post’s 1 Year Anniversary, I have launched a CafePress store featuring The Ghost Post’s official new mascot, Spook. We’ve got awesome coffee mugs, t-shirts, and more!
The Ghost Post 