Ghostbusting is Boring by Delilah Devlin!!!
All right, so I wasn’t wearing the white uniform or carrying an
ectoplasmic stun gun, but I did go on a ghost hunting expedition with
writers from the Diamond State Romance Authors this past weekend and the
ladies of CASPR (Central Arkansas Society for Paranormal Research).
And it was anything but boring, but I couldn’t think of a catchier title.
Yes, it was a very long afternoon and day. But writers are very strange
people if you didn’t know it, and we are forever curious about the world
around us and always on the hunt for a good story to tell.
We invited the CASPR ladies to speak, then had them lead us on a hunt in a
haunted hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The Velda Rose hotel has a history
of hauntings, deaths, and strange occurrences. We learned about how
paranormal investigators, um, investigate. We came armed with cameras and
took pictures of “Ecto-mist”, interpreted unexplained orbs in photos, and
had a great time creeping each other out.
Now, I don’t know if ghosts exist, but I have friends who swear they’ve
seen them. Even though I don’t have any personal evidence or experience,
I’m open-minded and always willing to head out on a new adventure.
We sat in the dark in one room that’s considered a hot spot and nothing
happened. We sat in the spa in the dark and replayed tape that showed an
odd darting light that brushed down my arm and leg. Didn’t feel it. Can’t
explain it, but I’m willing to admit I got a chill watching the replay and
it was fun giggling like a nervous school girl on a camping trip sharing
ghost stories.
We even made a trip to a haunted graveyard, and there the weirdest thing
happened. My sister and I, armed with camera and flashlight, walked up to
a gravesite and shone the light at a worn headstone. I read the name as
“Ghost” to myself, then heard my sister mutter, “Weird name. Ghost.” We
shone the light a second time and saw the same thing again. Then we read
the headstone next to it and read “Johnson.” When we came back to the
“Ghost” headstone, this time, it read “Johnson” as well.
It’s entirely possible we were influenced by our creepy doings of the
night, but I’m holding out for another possibility. I’m a writer after
all.
Have you had any unexplained and eerie experiences?
The ghost of my grandma started visiting me when I was around ten. Usually when I was sad about something. She never talked, just sat beside me, but I could always smell her perfume. Once I felt better, she would leave again. When I hit my teens, she stopped coming, but whenever I smell the fragrance, White Shoulders, my heart smiles.
I can’t prove or disprove the existence of ghosts, but we did have a phenomenal time participating in a “Ghost Hunt” at the old Mansfield Reformatory in Mansfield Ohio. It’s been several years & I’d really like to go back & do it again. :>]
~Lindy
P.S. Part of my fascination was because a good bit of the movie “The Shawshank Redemption” was filmed there.
Caffey!
What a cool experience. My childhood apparitions usually happened right when I was falling asleep and usually involved me ssing one of my parents with long jagged teeth and talons and covered with blood. 🙂 I know, too many zombie movies.
ThatBrunette!
I knoooow! And you sit around for the longest just waiting on shit to happen. If I do have any extra-normal abilities I won’t know it because I can’t help but fidget and chatter.
Oh, ghost hunting is terribly dull! The dullness intensifies when you don’t have any special abilities. I was the skeptic for a local (MD) ghost hunting group a few years ago. The investigations were incredibly dull for me. I usually ended up carrying the equipment or taking notes.
Hi Deliah!
Only one I remember, and as clear as I can, is when I was younger and saw a shadow of a man sitting on the roof, which was next to the window and my bed. Its one of those lower levels of the roof. And I would be upset and told my dad and he said its probably a tree branch and next day cut some down but still there. He then told me that he is probably just watching over me if he’s not bothering me. So after time I started talking to him, sometimes just with my head. Then one day it was gone. I asked my dad why he left and he said because I didn’t need watching over anymore. I really really believe this all. And never left me since!
Rasha!
Your story reminds me of something that happened to my husband years ago when we lived in Florida. He woke up crying and said his father, who was very ill in Ireland, had been in his dream. Maybe half an hour later we got the call that he had died. He’s convinced to this day his father found him to say goodbye.
My dreams kind of predict the major changes in my life (change of job, new guy, etc.) The downside is I mostly do not know what the dream means until its too late. My dreams warned me about my current job and I did not listen. They also predict deaths in the family but I never know who it is, I just know someone will be dying within one month of the dream and it is usually someone close to me.
Amy!
Spooky!! Most everyone with a camera picked up orbs on our trip, but we started at the graveyard holding hands and asking them to appear, which felt pretty weird, but hey, we weren’t leaving anything to chance.
I had one not too long ago. I was talking to a friend on im, when I noticed someone walked from the stove to the pantry. I glanced up again a second later and no one was there. And a couple of years ago, me and my cousin’s wife went to a graveyard taking pictures trying to catch some orbs, but we didn’t.
Connie!
Great story! Bet you two get giggly every time you tell it!
Shayla!
LOVED my massage therapist. Told him to concentrate on my neck and shoulders, but he gave me a full body massage. Told him afterward I needed a cigarette. *snort*
DD! I forgot to tell you what the masseuse in the spa said when I told her I was with the ghost hunting author group. She said one day some people ran into the spa and said they’d seen a woman in a long white dress on the stairwell but when they got near her, she disappeared. The masseuse said they checked out of the hotel when she explained about the ghosts! LOL And we all asked for rooms on the most haunted floor! We are weird! *cackle*
The best things about the weekend for me was spending it with friends and the spa treatment! We need to do both more often!
My sister and I saw the same person standing at the bottom of my bed and across from hers. The only thing is ,was that is was 2wks apart. I described him and she turned white and said she saw him earlier.Did some searching and found out he killed himself 50 yrs earlier in that room.
Hey there, Nancy!
Sounds like a useful gift! You can decide ahead of time whether you want to answer the phone or not. As to the ghost story you’re reading–I’m with you. Even if I’m not enjoying it, I have to go to the bitter end, hoping the writer will redeem himself/herself by the end. I hope your next read is more enjoyable. 🙂 DD
Welcome Delilah. RJR member here. No unexplained or eerie experiences here other than sometimes I know seconds before the phone rings who’s calling me. Occasionally the same thing happens when I think about a friend…they usually get in touch very soon after. I think it’s some internal clock. I usually say to my friend, “so, you got my message”:)
Your newest release sounds a whole lot better than the “ghost” story I just finished by a well known author. I wanted to stab myself with a fork before it was over. I know, I know, I could have just stopped reading it but I’m one of those readers who will finish a book once started….Nancy:)