Ghost Stories

For Thanksgiving this year, Steph and I decided to go and visit her cousin Kyle and his wife Lori for the long weekend. After dinner, we were all sitting around the table chatting when Lori asked if we really went out ghost hunting, or if that was just a figure of speech.

Steph quickly replied, "Oh, yeah! We definitely go out ghost hunting, and we have had some real chilling experiences."

Lori then informed us that she had a property that may interest us if we were up for a good scare. Since she's a real estate agent, she knows the history of some very strange properties. She informed us that this particular property was originally built as a sanitarium in the 1940's, and it had developed a problem with one of the large furnaces in the winter of 1947.

The furnace was producing a considerable amount of carbon monoxide and, since it went undetected, over a long weekend all but sixteen of the residents and staff were overcome by the gas and died. The sanitarium was closed shortly after and then sold to a company that opened a runaway shelter in the 60s. It closed once again due to strange occurrences, and again sat vacant for five years until a museum was put in. The curator kept hearing moans and seeing dark shapes. The building was once again closed.

After talking about it well into the night, we decided to go and check it out the following evening. It was about 8 p.m. and as soon as we arrived, we could instantly feel the ominous presence of eyes watching us. We were all a little nervous about going in, but all four of us finally worked up the courage.

It was quite an eerie feeling when the door latched shut behind us and we all became sort of jumpy. We walked down the corridor, and I kept hearing music like someone had on their headphones.

"Is someone listening to an iPod? I keep hearing music," I asked.

"I don't hear anything -- are you sure it's music?" Steph asked.

"Pretty sure," I replied.

"Maybe it's a car stereo," Lori said.

"I think we are too far inside to hear a car," Kyle said.

"Okay, I just got some serious tingles down my spine!" Lori said.

As we continued walking, Lori kept looking at her cell phone and when Kyle asked her what was up, she said, "It keeps buzzing, but there is no text."

At this point, we all decided we wouldn't separate and that we would stick together. As we walked up the stairs to the second floor, we felt as though we were being followed. We did not go very far on the second floor when Steph shouted.

"Oh my god! Something just grabbed me!"

I asked if she was sure or just messing around with the rest of us. Yes, she was sure, she said in a tight voice.

As we discussed the incident, we all heard a faint voice that seemed to be saying, "Help us, will you please help us? You can't leave us here!"

At that same time, Kyle was saying, "I think it is time to GO!"

And me, thinking I should prove my bravery, said, "We should stick around a bit..." But before I could finish my sentence, a dark shadow crossed right in front of us

"Kyle's right, it is time to GO!" I yelped.

We turned and went back down the stairs and all the way down it felt as though we were going to be pushed down them. Whatever was following us followed us all the way out the door.

"It's no wonder you can't seem to sell this building," I told Lori.

"Yeah, I don't usually show it at night."

"Daylight doesn't make much of a difference. It still looks creepy even in the sun," Kyle said.

"I don't think that place will ever be sold if those are the reasons it was vacated in the past," Steph added with a shudder.

I sincerely believe that she is right, because to this day, the old building is still empty and there are no offers on it.