Who here has seen a ghost?
I have not.
Thank goodness.
I am not very brave you see and the thought of coming across a wavering ghoul sends chills up my spine. They say you have to be open minded to see one. I don’t know if that’s true, but as far as I’m concerned, I’m a closed book on the matter.
I do not believe in ghosts.
They do not exist.
Even in places which are reputed to be haunted, I have still never seen one.
Once however I did come close.
Below is my near miss ghost story.
Back in the mid 90’s I traveled with friends to Cornwall. Upon arriving in St Ives we decided to set down roots in a hostel for a few days. One night in the dinning room I happened to overhear a conversation going on beside me.
‘Apparently this hostel is haunted,’ one girl said to another. ‘Many years ago two guys got in a fight over some girl, right here in this very room. Things turned violent and one of the guys grabbed a knife then stabbed his companion in the belly with it. The injured man bled to death on the kitchen floor. Ever since people have reported seeing ghostly shadows around the place, objects moving around by themselves, and unexplained noises.’
The next twelve hours were somewhat torturous. I kept glancing over my shoulder expecting the unexpected. I had to abandon my shower before I even stepped into the cubicle because I got the spooks. Later on in bed I really needed to go to the toilet but the thought of going anywhere in the dark by myself …well there was just no way. You can’t imagine my relief when the sun finally rose the following morning.
That’s pretty much it. We left the hostel some hours later and headed back to London. No ghosts to speak of.
Some years later I retuned to Cornwall and stayed for a week or so. Once again I saw no ghosts. I did however buy a book called Ghosts Of Cornwall by Peter Underwood.
The novel is a collection of short stories about notorious ghosts lurking around Cornwall. The stories did not scare me in the slightest, in fact they kept me riveted right to their grisly ends.
I thought maybe I was cured.
Turns out I was wrong. Last weekend I bought Stephen King’s book, It. Loving it so far…only once have I snapped the light on in the middle of the night…scared for my life.
One last thing. Many years ago I was involved in a seance. Half way through it this strange noise started up…like music from a horror movie. And let me tell you, it chilled me to the core. Here’s the thing about seances –