The unexplained
Staff writer
(Editor's note: The following story includes the unusual experiences of several individuals. The Marion County Record merely relates the experiences, and does not express a belief or disbelief in the paranormal.)
Halloween, or All Hallows Eve, as it is traditionally known, rose from the belief that the souls of the dead return to earth the evening before All Saints Day which is observed Nov. 1.
Most of the frightening events which occur on Halloween today are the result of macabre decorating or costuming. However, some people have had frightening paranormal experiences, which can occur on any given day of the year.
According to a 2001 article concerning a Gallup poll, Americans belief in the paranormal, the occult, and out-of-this-world experiences had increased over previous decades.
In that poll, 33 percent of Americans said they believe in ghosts, three times the number who said they believed in the 1970s. That poll also showed 22 percent believed in witches, twice the rate of those who believed in the 1970s.
Belief seems to be much higher among younger Americans than older Americans. The 2001 article showed that 54 percent of Americans ages 18 to 29 say they believe in ghosts, while only eight percent of senior citizens, 65 and older, believe.
However, just visiting with people it appears a number do believe and have had paranormal experiences. Conversely, it also appears the ones who don't believe think the ones who do have something wrong with them.
Because of that, when several people — who had experienced unusual events — were contacted they were reluctant to have their names attached to a "ghost story." So, we compromised and the following ghost stories are told using pseudonyms. Of the four, all are from the Marion area or have Marion ties.
Two had frightening experiences while two had comforting experiences. Here are their stories.
The haunted house
A young couple with a newborn baby boy, Dan (now in his late 30s) and his wife Sheryl moved into their two-story bungalow-style home in 1989.
Built in 1901, the home had two bedrooms upstairs where the family slept. Access to the upstairs was gained by climbing a wooden staircase to a landing in the middle, turning and climbing the remainder — creating quite a few steps.
One night — several weeks after moving in — Dan was at home with the baby while Sheryl was at work. Since she worked nights, Dan usually expected her return sometime between 10:30 and 11:30 p.m.
He had already gone to bed and was sleeping with the family cat at his side when he heard footsteps climbing the stairs.
"I heard this 'creak, creak, creak,' which is what the steps did whenever anyone was climbing them," Dan recalled. "The cat heard it too. She raised up her head and looked. I thought Sheryl had come home."
The door to the master bedroom was mostly closed — just cracked open enough to hear the baby — when all of a sudden the door slammed open with such force it bounced off the dresser located behind it.
"I felt a blast of cold air and the cat took off with a 'Mrroww!' and ran out of the room," he said.
Although he finds it funny now, Dan said the most interesting part was there was a pair of Sheryl's underwear hanging on the doorknob, (which he says weren't there before) swinging furiously back and forth like a pendulum.
"Sheryl is so neat, believe me, her underwear would never be hanging on the door," he said.
The blast of cold air couldn't be attributed to a gust of air from an open window or door either.
"No one was home and it was cold out so we had the windows shut," he said.
Although nothing like that ever happened again, Dan said they often heard footsteps on the staircase during the night. Also, anytime the cat had to climb the stairs she would "fly up as fast as she could" screaming with a "mrroww," he recalled.
The noise stopped when Dan began remodeling the home.
"I started ripping out walls and ceilings and it stopped," he said. "We've never had any problem since."
The couple's experience was not unique. The home had been used as a rental for years. One previous male occupant told Dan he would "never step foot in that house again," while a former female occupant told Sheryl she "couldn't imagine" how they could possibly stay in that home.
"People told me they would try to get out of bed, but felt like something was pushing down on them. We never experienced that," Dan said. "But I always kind of had the feeling something was there and the cat was spooked until the day she died."
Today, the family still lives in the home.
"We've been here ever since and nothing's happened," he said with a laugh. "I guess we were too noisy and scared them off."
A haunted mill
Ashley, now in her late 40s, was about 10 years old when she and a group of younger kids from the neighborhood were sitting on her front porch one quiet, still summer night.
The house was located about a half-block away from a mill built on a creek. The mill was occupied at the time by a seed company.
On the porch, some of the youngsters were moving back and forth in the porch swing when one noticed a low-hanging cloud hovering just above the ground outside the mill.
"It wasn't a foggy night and it wasn't humid, but this cloud started shifting around, changing shape," Ashley remembered. "And we noticed a strange noise. It wasn't recognizable like the wind."
Intrigued, the children began walking toward the mill, but as they moved closer the shape became more opaque and appeared to be backing away from them.
"We were about 200 feet from the mill when it started moving toward us," she said. "We got nervous, turned around and started walking back home. We were trying to ignore it so we'd just look over our shoulders every now and then."
The children began walking faster as the shape began closing in on them. But when they were within about 30 feet from Ashley's front porch the shape changed again slightly and retreated.
"I went inside to get my mom and she wouldn't come out," Ashley remembered. "She thought it was just us kids being stupid."
Ashley managed to coerce her 15-year-old brother to come out instead. Then, he went inside and brought out both of Ashley's parents.
Feeling courageous with the adults watching, the children again began moving toward the mill.
"But the closer we got it seemed to just pull in on itself — like its shape was being vacuumed inside itself," she said. "It came together and just disappeared.
"My parents yelled at us to 'get back here right away' and we couldn't play outside anymore that night," Ashley said. "It definitely took them by surprise."
Ashley said she looked for the shape often in succeeding years, but never saw anything again. Although she no longer lives there, she still owns the home.
"I don't know what it was. A man committed suicide there on the railroad tracks just outside the mill when I was about four years old," she said. "(The experience) still makes the hair on my neck stand up today."
Comforting visits
Eileen, a woman in her 20s, said she has two paranormal experiences which brought her comfort in times of stress.
The first occurred just after the death of her grandfather while Eileen was lying in bed one night crying.
"I was dreading that without Grandpa we wouldn't have the Christmases we had while I was a little girl," she said. "I was very upset and crying."
All of a sudden, the faces of Eileen's grandma (also deceased) and grandpa appeared in the oval mirror of an old dresser.
"They were smiling at me, letting me know everything would be all right," she recalled. "Then I fell asleep. But it was so real. I knew it wasn't a dream."
A second incident occurred later when Eileen, as a young married woman, had moved into her grandparents' home — a structure which had been in the family five generations.
"I was in the kitchen washing dishes when I felt the presence of my grandma. I felt a cool presence. I can't explain it," Eileen said. "But it never bothered me."
Besides the feeling, other strange things occurred in the home. One evening, she and her husband were watching TV in the dark when the touch lamps kept turning on.
"At first I thought it was the electricity, but it kept happening. I figured it was Grandma thinking it was 'too dark in here' and we needed to turn the lights on," Eileen said with a laugh. "But it really freaked my husband out."
Eileen said she often felt her grandmother's presence near her son's crib. "I felt Grandma was watching over him," Eileen recalled. "I would feel her in his (baby's) bedroom and in the kitchen all the time."
Eileen said her grandmother's visits stopped after her second child was born. "I think she realized we were OK and she didn't need to watch out for us anymore."
Eileen had another unusual experience following the sudden death of her uncle. Distraught over his death, she cried and cried. Looking out the window one night she saw someone standing under her yard light.
"It was my uncle smiling at me," she said. "Then he turned and walked out of the light and was gone. And I wasn't upset anymore."
Eileen said she believes the visits from relatives were meant to let her know they were OK in the afterlife and she would be fine without them.
Life long experiences
Molly, a woman in her mid-40s, said she has had several paranormal experiences over her lifetime. Her experiences, however, have never been frightening.
"When I was a child I used to think there were other people in the room with me. I always felt there was some other presence. It wasn't really scary. I just felt it was there.
"In my pre-teen years from time to time I'd feel something in the house with me when I was by myself," she said.
Living in an old school which had been remodeled into a home, Molly said she would wake at night and hear children's voices as if on a playground.
"It gave me a good feeling," she said.
One of the legends in her community while growing up involved a haunted cemetery where apparitions could be seen at certain times.
"People would say they'd seen flashlights in the cemetery and we heard stories of animals being run over near there that would jump up and walk away," she said.
"Of course, animals are often hit, then crawl away to die," she said.
However, Molly said she did see the "lights" in the cemetery. Today, paranormal researchers say those lights or orbs commonly appear on film and even digital photography, showing the presence of a spirit.
As an adult and the mother of a newborn, Molly experienced other paranormal phenomena from time to time.
"We were living in an older house and I'd hear a baby crying. But when I'd go into my baby's bedroom she'd be asleep. I thought I was dreaming," Molly said.
Later on, she learned a baby had died in that house a number of years earlier.
Later when her daughter was about 18 months old, Molly often would hear the tot babbling. "I came to realize she was talking to someone or something."
The experiences then stopped until a few years ago when Molly was living in another older home and new unusual things began taking place.
"My cupboard doors would be open, when I was sure I had shut them. My curling iron would be turned on. I'd hear footsteps on the front porch. The TV would turn itself on and off during the night," Molly said. "It was never anything I was afraid of and I never had a feeling of dread."
Molly said she is a Christian and has never gone "looking" for unexplained activity, but yet has felt it at times.
Molly said she believes people who are open to believing can see or feel things, while those who adamantly deny the existence of the paranormal will never have such an experience.
"I've worked in older buildings and not been scared to be there alone. But other times I've just entered a building and been scared to stay and left," she said.
"I'm intrigued by it. To me it's another reminder that there are many things out there we don't understand."
