I don't deal with ghosts very well

[momophile]

I'll be staying at a hotel this weekend that has a reputation for being haunted. It was not my idea, but is instead for work. I don't really handle the whole ghost thing very well. They kinda scare the hell out of me.

Do you have a ghost story?

Any suggestions for keeping ghosts away?

:scared:

[ghostsofgiants]

1. Best way to keep away ghosts...

Is to remember that they don't exist. (And if you have trouble with that, keep in mind that, folklorically speaking (I totally just made up the word folklorically, haha) ghosts don't harm people and generally can't hurt you.)

On the topic of ghosts stories though, I checked The Haunting Of Hill House out of the library today on XemaSab's suggestion. Should be fun.

[momophile]

3. okay. so if I see one or feel one

I'll just close my eyes and say "you don't exist!"

oh boy, I hope you are right on the them not existing part.

:hi:

[ghostsofgiants]

5. I'd recommend doing something to keep your mind off of it.

Maybe watch a movie or something. Definitely don't watch The Shining though, haha.

[momophile]

9. I'd have a problem staying at the Stanley Hotel

any long hallways there would scare the crud out of me!

[fizzgig]

15. the stanley is so beautiful

i wish i could afford to stay there for a few nights

[JTG of the PRB]

16. I'm going to try and stay there sometime soon.

At least, I'm going to TRY. I've never been there, and I've lived within 40 miles of it all my life. I've been to Estes Park plenty of times, but I've never stayed at the Stanley Hotel.

[fizzgig]

19. i had drinks up there last december

the only time i've ever stepped foot in there. they've got ghost tours around halloween, i think...i'd love to do that

[momophile]

20. I think I heard here on DU

that one of their TV stations shows The Shining 24-7. That's funny. But creepy.

[fizzgig]

21. that is kinda creepy

and i'd probably watch it, too

[Danger Mouse]

22. all work and no play..

[fizzgig]

26. makes homer something something...

:D

[ghostsofgiants]

29. Go crazy?

[fizzgig]

30. don't mind if i do

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

23. OR The Ring.

:rofl:

[ghostsofgiants]

27. Or 1408, haah.

[johnnie]

12. I think they do exist

But that's just me.

[WildEyedLiberal]

28. "folklorically"

I'm so incorporating this into my daily vocabulary :rofl:

[ghostsofgiants]

31. Haha, woo!

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

55. You'll definitely be folkloradorable!

nt

[Shine]

2. Just tell 'em to go toward the Light.

:D

[momophile]

4. oh yeah! just like miss boobs on that show!

my husband loves those boobs, er, I mean that show.
:hi:

[JTG of the PRB]

6. Sort of a story...

It wasn't a direct encounter though, just a very creepy thing. First, a little back story to set the mood...

My high school in Boulder has a series of tunnels under the building. legend says some of these tunnels connect with the University of Colorado, but nobody has any conclusive proof. Anywho, the story goes that back in the 1930's, the school prom was being held in the school cafeteria. A group of friends, several boys and girls, decided to sneak away from the dance and disappear in to the tunnels for some fun.

The friends decided to play Hide and Seek in the dim tunnels, thinking the atmosphere was perfect for such a game. One person was selected as being "it," and one by one, the found all their friends. Except for one, that is - a lovely girl wearing a lavender dress and lilac perfume.

When repeated calls for her to come out of hiding went unanswered, the friends panicked. They told some of the school authorities what had happened, and the police arrived a short time later to perform a search. They searched for an hour or so before finally finding the girl in one darkened tunnel, laying on the ground in a puddle of blood. As you can imagine, she was dead.

The prime suspect instantly became a janitor who spent much of his time in the tunnels and was said to be a little unstable. The police searched for hours for him, but he knew the tunnels better than anybody else and was never seen again. The case was never truly solved. It was said, however, that her spirit still lingered in the tunnels under the school, and you would know she was near because you could smell the lilac perfume she was wearing that fateful night.

Fast forward to fall, 1999. I was a junior at Boulder High School at that time, working in the theatre department. Boulder High's theatre is built above the still-accessible tunnels and has a few access points. I was doing set construction for a play, and it was about 9:00pm at night. There were only a handful of us left, and I had gone understage to put away some lumber scraps to begin cleaning up for the night. It was beyond eerily quiet downstairs that night.

After I put the load away, I walked out into the understage area with the lockers and dressing rooms to head back upstairs to finish up for the night. As I was about to turn to the stairs, I froze in my tracks as the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Glancing in the direction of the tunnel, I suddenly inhaled.

In the air was a faint hint of perfume that hadn't been there before. Lilac perfume.

Upon smelling it, I must have freaked out or something. I turned and ran up the stairs, taking them three at a time to get back along other people so I wouldn't be alone. I came to the edge of the stage, gasping slightly, terrified out of my mind for a moment before I finally calmed down.

I suppose it's possible the ghost story is an urban legend, but I swear I smelled that perfume that night...

[momophile]

8. good story

do you think the tunnels connect to Macky Auditorium and that maybe the ghost of the poor gal murdered by the janitor at Macky in the 60s hangs out with your lilac-perfumed ghost?

I'm in Louisville. Hi neighbor.
:hi:

[JTG of the PRB]

10. Howdy neighbor!

That's the most likely place that the tunnels might connect to. When I was a senior we got to go inside some of the tunnels under Boulder High. They were uncomfortable to say the least. Lost of crawling on uneven cement on hands and knees.

As for the Macky girl, who knows? I'm sure they could have parties down there, though it's not exactly where I'D like to spend my free time.

[momophile]

11. I've heard about the tunnels under CU

and the rats are supposed to be huge!

[fizzgig]

17. i didn't know about those tunnels

creepy story

i'm up in fort collins and one of the things kids loved to do in high school was to get into the tunnels that run near csu...you couldn't get me into those for love nor money

[Blue-Jay]

7. A ghost was recently caught on a nanny-cam.

Be prepared to be freaked out a little bit:
http://videoblazer.net/videoblazer/index.php?option=com_seyret&Itemid=26&task=videodirectlink&id=787

[Danger Mouse]

13. oh man...

so much for sleeping tonight! :scared:

[texanwitch]

14. That's funny.

Thanks for the laugh, I needed it.

[momophile]

18. I had to have my husband watch the video first

and he watched it all serious. then he turned to me and said it wasn't scary and that I should watch it.

too funny.

[texanwitch]

24. I think that ghost was in a lot of pain.

Should have cut some holes in that sheet.

[GreenPartyVoter]

53. Dang! Somebody call TAPS!

[mentalsolstice]

25. Yes, we survived the ghosts

We stayed at a B&B in the St. Martin parish of LA. We were the only guests at the time...we experienced heavy footsteps on the stairs, plus unexplained lights.

My recommendation is to have good friends around you.

[momophile]

35. fortunately, I am sharing the room with a coworker

so I will have a friend there.

Thanks.:hi:

[LaraMN]

32. Um, duh...

:D

[momophile]

36. yeah. except I don't have one of those

and I don't think I can get one before tomorrow night.

but thanks anyways.:hi:

[mvd]

33. Here's what I would do

Remember that like in life, most ghosts won't hurt you or try to scare you. And unlike the living, they can only frighten you to death. Don't let them scare you.

[momophile]

34. I guess I've seen too many scary movies

and it seems like sometimes ghosts CAN hurt you. Like throwing stuff at you or dropping lamps in the bathtub with you. Should I find myself in company with a ghost, I'll just try to tell myself that they don't normally hurt people.
:hi:

[The Straight Story]

37. Is it the Buxton Inn by any chance?

Really cool place.

[momophile]

38. nope, thankfully.

I did a quick google search on that one and it looks like it would scare me nearly to death!

I'll be staying at the Hospitality House in Cripple Creek, Colorado. An old hospital - great!:sarcasm:

[The Straight Story]

41. I stayed at the Buxton Inn 3 times total IIRC

Really cool place, good food, and yeah - a tad spooky.

[YDogg]

39. I stayed in a supposedly haunted hotel for several nights last May ...

... and Mrs. YDogg wouldn't let me touch her. She was afraid of ghosts watching us. Damn ghosts.

[momophile]

45. that's funny!

but it makes sense to me.:hi:

[MorningGlow]

40. Oh cool

What hotel? What kind of ghost?

As for your concern--are you able to see ghosts? Have you had an encounter with a ghost before? It makes a difference--I tend to be kind of "open"--ghosts can see me and therefore bug me--but not everyone is visible to a ghost.

Also remember that not all ghosts interact with people. Some are just echoes of their former lives, kind of coexisting in time, but going about their business, not knowing they're dead.

Personal "been there, done that"...At a hotel in New Orleans, had my bed shaken like there was an earthquake (but nothing else in the room was shaking). And yes, I was completely awake. I was freaked out by it, but because I'm a witch, I figuratively slapped my own wrist at my chickenshit behavior, because if I can't cope with ghosts, who can?

So the next day I went out and got me some accoutrements. If you are really uncomfortable in the room (not all ghosts haunt all hotel rooms), you can try this. It seemed to appease the ghost I ran into. I bought a purple votive candle (purple is a high vibrational color) and a stick of incense--sandalwood or frankincense work best. I put them both in one of the hotel drinking glasses (deep enough so I didn't have to worry about the candle) and lit them. I sat on the edge of the bed, took a few deep breaths, and reached out spiritually to the ghost. (I found out from the desk clerk who it was so I could envision her better.) Because the ghost is a cranky former owner of the home-turned-hotel who wants to know who's sleeping in her house, dammit, I politely asked if she would mind if DH and I stayed in one of her lovely rooms for the night--that we meant no harm and would be gone in a few days. Never had any trouble that night or any subsequent nights. (And yes, we went back to the same hotel the following year!)

[momophile]

47. I'm not sure if I am the kind who can see ghosts

I've never seen one before whereas several of my family members say they have over the years.

The hotel is an old hospital, the Hospitality House, in Cripple Creek, Colorado. I guess in general Cripple Creek has a lot of ghosts. I'm not sure what I'd do if I did see or feel one - scream or say "coooooool." I'd probably scream though, since I scream over spiders all the time.

I like your purple candle suggestion. If I were staying for more than one night I would definitely go prepared, but since I don't even know if my room will have a ghost I guess I'll just wing it. And hopefully my coworker roommate will keep me good company.

:hi:

[MorningGlow]

51. I hear you

I went through the same thing before I became a witch. A friend and I were traveling through England and stayed at the centuries-old George and Pilgrim Inn in Glastonbury. It's really small--only eight rooms or something--and the only room that had twin beds was the "Monk's Cell", which also came with a ghost. I thought it would be cool, but I ended up being totally paralyzed with fear all night and barely slept. (Nothing happened, though.)

For the record, I can't see ghosts either, despite all my training. I can feel them around, and I can see shadows go past a window or on the other side of the room out of the corner of my eye, but I never saw, to paraphrase Ghostbusters, a fully formed apparition.

:hi:

[snailly]

42. It's odd that I just read this

It sounded like something stomped up my steps about an hour ago. We have a finished basement (ranch house) with a sliding door but it hasn't been opened in months. My dog and I just sat here staring at the kitchen stairway with a wtf look for a while. We've had many crazy things happen in this house so it really didn't surprise me, just a "wtf now?" feeling. I make sure my daughter's closet door is closed at night because it will slam shut randomly if not. There are many more examples I can give but after 8 years of this, I'm kind of used to it.
I don't know if the land we are on is unsettled geologically or what. There has to be a logical explanation for this.

[momophile]

48. I wouldn't do well with frequent noises

you are much braver than I am!
:hi:

[crim son]

43. I envy you.

As long as the ghost is not pissed off, then I think the experience would be interesting. How to keep it away? Constant noise? I couldn't say.

[momophile]

49. I think I'd be too scared to sleep

if I knew there was a ghost. What if it is a pissed-off ghost?
:hi:

[Matariki]

44. I worked in a haunted inn once, in Bar Harbor Maine.

I would just talk to them like they were people who lived there when I encountered them. Ask them how they were doing and what not.

Ghosts don't seem to realize they're dead. I think to some extent they are an energy pattern of a person that repeats certain habits from their former life. Very often they can't really see you either...


Watch that movie The Others with Nicole Kidman sometime.

[momophile]

50. okay, so maybe if I do see one he/she won't see me?

I hope that's true. I'd pee myself if I made eye contact with one.
:hi:

[Ariana Celeste]

46. I don't have any stories but,

when I get freaked out about that sort of thing I listen to an album I really enjoy to help me get to sleep, usually with headphones so that it's all I hear.

[triguy46]

52. No need to worry about ghosts...

It's your house you need to worry about. Measure the interior dimensions and compare them to the exterior dimensions. If the inside is bigger than the outside, you're in deeeeeepppppppshit. Read "House of Leaves" and you will no longer fear ghosts.

[cobalt1999]

54. How can you be scared of something that doesn't exist?

I've been in lots of "haunted" houses, hotels, places. I've never seen anything that could even be construed as a ghost. Either they don't exist or they are sure scared of me. Since I'm not that scary, they must not exist.

[tigereye]

56. I'd kind of like to stay in one of those haunted hotels in Gettysburg

but my kid said no...

maybe the ghost would be more scared of you, than the other way around....


I did live in an old house after college, where there did seem to be a presence of some sort. It was a huge old house and every now and then when no one else was there, I could swear I could sense a presence or catch something out of the corner of my eye. Never saw anything though, or heard doors closing or anything more than the usual creaking of an old house.

[anarch]

57. I don't like those things either...my cousin used to have one out in his yard

and that thing was mean! It'd try to head-butt me every time I walked by. And that thing would eat just about anything...trash, tin cans, what-have-you. I guess the only good thing about it was that it kept the grass short, out by the tree that it was tied to.

[candycom]

58. No but I would like to have a paranormal experiance!

I know it sounds crazy but..........I do!