Haunted Places - do you have a story?

[Lord Figaro]

My ghost story comes from the house I grew up in. Had three instances of unusual things happening.

1)The first comes on a night my sister, my best friend and I were in the basement and my sister said "let's have a seance (however that's spelled). As the three of us were moving the table into place one of our dogs toys was picked up and flew across the room and hit the wall. We were the only ones down there and all our hands were on the table. So who threw the toy??

2) A few years later I was getting dressed for a baseball game, and I couldn't find my bat and glove. I looked everywhere. So I asked the ghost if they knew where they where to put them where I could find them before I had to leave. I went back upstairs and changed into my uniform. Went back down stairs to the basement. And sitting on the couch was the bat and glove. I know for sure they were not there, when I went to change.

3) In high school, a buddy, his girlfriend and one other friend were down in the basement playing on a Ouija board. My mother had a hanging plant, hanging from a pole in the basement and while we were goofing around the plant started to swing. Not a gentle swing either. My buddy noticed it first and asked if it had ever done that before. We all turned and watched it for a few minutes to see what it would do. The whole time we watched, the swinging plant didn't stop or slow down. It kept a steady swing side to side. I got up put the board away and stopped the plant. That was the last day I ever played that game again.

There tons of other stories from the local area. But those were ones that happened directly to me. 

[CatAshtrophy]

To preface, I'm not sure if I believe in ghosts or not.

My experience is at my church in Fort Worth, TX. I've gone to the church my whole life and have had moments of being creeped out in certain places. Ever since I was little, the atrium and the second floor old the older building in particular would creep me out as well as the chapel area. When I was in high school, I worked in the nursery which was in the basement. I often would arrive early, so I would be down there alone. Sometimes I would think I saw the top of a child's head through the glass window, but when I opened the door, there was nobody there. Very often, I would also hear footsteps, but couldn't ever locate the person walking. My friend worked there too and would get creeped out as well. I wouldn't say I absolutely believe it was a ghost, but it sure did scare senseless when it happened.

My boss at the time also told me that the janitor experienced things too. He would turn the lights of on the third floor. He would close down the chuch, and then get to the parking lot and see that the lights would be back on. He would have to go back in and turn them off. If I'm not mistaken, it would happen repeatedly on the same night.

[jinx]

For people that know me, it's common enough knowledge that I am a believer in the paranormal.  I am, however, a very skeptical believer.  I'm actually a (currently stepping back to take care of other things) member of a newly forming paranormal investigative group.  I've been doing a lot of research and things for them recently, and we're all more or less trying to get our little group equipped to start formal investigations within the next year.

Now, the reason I'm so into the paranormal is...well, it's kind of something I grew up with.  I remember seeing things in my grandparents old house in Columbus, but I was very small back then (around 4).  When we moved to Highland County, I always thought the house was a bit creepy, but I didn't pay a lot of attention to it for a long time.  The utility room, which also had a half-bath, always freaked me out, especially the shower area.  When I got a little older, into my early-mid teens, I would occasionally spot a little girl peeking out from behind the door of the utility room if I was sitting in the family room.  There was also a mirror my grandmother got at an auction when I was about 14 or 15.  Me, my sister, my best friend, AND my cousin all admitted to having seen a woman standing behind us when we'd come up the stairs (the mirror hung at the end of the hall).  Right around my 17th birthday, my best friend and I were at the house alone, and sitting out on the back deck.  We decided we wanted some music, so I headed inside to haul down my stereo.  As I ran up the stairs, Manda heard me scream, came running up to see what was wrong, and saw this, too: The woman was inside the mirror, pounding on it--the thing was actually moving.  I know, I know, it sounds really far-fetched, but I can assure you, I'm not lying, I wasn't on drugs or drunk, and I would never make up stories about my experiences.    Manda and I ran back out to find our friend Jesse in the backyard.  He'd been helping the guy next door put up siding and heard us scream (my bedroom window was open), so he'd come over to find out what was going on.   It was pretty crazy.  O.o

Like I said, I've had off an on experiences throughout my life...but I still won't believe everything I hear.  For that matter, I still don't totally believe some of the things -I- have experienced.  Honestly, if my grandmother still owned that house (she sold it after I got married), I'd talk her into letting my group investigate it, just to see what we could dismiss.  xD

[DonaCatalina]

Arlington - Six Flags Over Texas - In the Texas section next to the entrance of the "Texas Giant" is a yellow candy store. It is the oldest building in the park. It was said that in the early 1900's a young girl (8 or so) drowned in Johnson's Creek. She supposedly can be seen walking the railroad tracks or in her room in the yellow house turning the light on and off or opening the curtain and then closing it. Security guards at night also have problems locking the upstairs door because "ANNIE" feels playful.

[volans]

I have three instances of where I've had encounters.

First  was when I was about... 6 years old. When my parents woke me up in the morning, I told them how "mr joe came to visit me last night" They didn't know what the heck I was talking about. I explained to them that an old family friend, Mr. Joe, had woken me up in the middle of the night because he was so bright. He stood in my window and told me not to worry, everything was going to be alright. He said he was just watching over me, that he always would, and that I should go back to sleep. I told them that he was dressed in white and that I asked him to turn his lights off, cause I couldn't sleep. I said that he laughed and said sure, but that he'd stay with me. My parents basically patted me on the head, said it was a dream and went on about their business. About an hour later they got a call that Mr. Joe had had a heart attack at 2 in the morning the night before and had died.

Second and third happened in the same place. I used to work at an old plantation house, giving tours. It was slow on a... tuesday, I think. o one was there except me and the manager. We were going to an upstairs storage room on the property to get some stuff out and we noticed that a porch light was on. We turned it off, and went upstairs. When we came back downstairs, it was on again, so we turned it off, and took the stuff back to the main house to drop off. We went back and the porchlight was on again. We thought it was odd, but turned it off and went upstairs. Came down again, and it was on. My manager frowned and turned it off and said "I know you're excited about electric lights, guys, but we're trying to conserve energy. Can you please stop?" We came back a bit later and it hadn't turned on again.

in the same plantation, I had gone to use the restroom. I had finished and was zipping up my pants when behind me the toilet flushed and both knobs of the sink turned on. I bolted, lol. I made the yard guy go turn the water off because I wouldn't go back into that bathroom.

[DonaCatalina]

Austin, Texas - Driskill Hotel - people claim that they hear people playing upstairs. They also claim that they feel something touching their face and arms. Some people even say that they see figures in their windows and sitting in chairs.

[Poco the Pirate]

My house is haunted.  Its not very old. It was built in 1977, its a split level house with an addition above the garage thats only like 10 years old. Our lowest floor is the only level completly below ground.  its only two rooms and only one is finished. the next level up is were I sleep.  My room is on the far corner of the house and half of my room is underground so its always cold in the winter and in the summer its hot and my door sticks. The next level is the entrance to the house and the kitchen but that level doesnt go above my room. the next one is the last original level and that is the one with the old master bedroom that sit directly above my room and the room next to mine.  My two little brothers sleep in this room.  the oldest of the two sleeps directly above me and the other sleep above the spare room across the hall from me.  when we first moved in it was august so my door would stick shut but the first couple nights i wouldnt sleep in my room because someone kept opening my door.  my room will randomly get cold in the summer (even when the ac is off) and my brother and i hear people walking between us.  if you sleep in the spare room you can hear people in between the bathroom next to it and the lower unfinished room. Things in our house randomly go missing (part of that is the two inch thick shag carpet in on my floor) but i think that is just the nisse not a ghost. The walking still continues but we've gotten use to it and my door still opens which still kinda freaks me out.  My mom has heard all of these things and my dad thinks we are all crazy.  Its kinda weird living here.

[Baron Doune]

A good friend of mine, Mike O.

His wife died of cancer when she was 36.  Very sudden and very short.

Left three girls behind.  Ages from 5 to 13.

For two weeks the girls keep telling dad how mom was looking in on them from outside the windows.

[DonaCatalina]

Ballinger, Texas  - Texas Burger House Restaurant - This place used to be a burger restaurant but closed down when the owner died. Locals claim that the ghost of the original owner haunts the second floor of the place. The property was sold and it has now been turned into a Mexican Restaurant and the second floor is now used as a storage place but some of the employees have said they get a cold feeling when entering the second floor.

[RumbaRue]

Oh have I got stories!

When I was growing up in a house in Long Beach, Calif. there were a lot of poltergeist activities. I could hear furniture moving in the living room at night, the water faucet in the bathroom between my room and my brother's would turn on and off and the toilet would flush. Footsteps coming down the hall towards my room....I saw weird things too in my room like snakes with glowing eyes and the worst was when a figure like a policeman came out from behind my desk with a gun pointed at me! Yup, yell like crazy for mommy!

Interestingly enough most of that stopped by the time I reach Junior High, but in the 1971 earthquake up in Sylmar, (we felt it too not as bad as up there at the point of destruction) and we all heard this huge crash inside our house. An examination from top to bottom showed nothing wrong.
That was the last time anything ever happen in that house.

Up in Tujunga, California (east San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles) I have no doubt that 'lay lines' cross there. It's a very odd, magical, phsyic area and one of the things that is totally unnerving there are the dogs in the area.
At any time, but mostly at night, the dogs in the area will start barking. And then all of the sudden it stops. I mean dead quite! I lived on Las Lunitas street when I was there.

Also in Tujunga, at the intersection of Commerce and Valmont, (there's an old stone house that's used for meetings and such with a park around it on the corner there) that intersection is like passing through a void. It's like you go through it and seemingly you blank out. It happened to my then husband at night and because of it, a truck coming the other way may have also experienced it and hit my husband's car just behind the driver's seat.
(He got a cut on his head and some bruises and he swore it was a red truck that hit him, but there was blue paint on his car where the damage was done.)

[Trillium]

When we lived in our first apartment in Hawaii I always the feeling of being watched, especially when my hubby was at work.  It was a very small apartment on the bottom floor of a house, next to the garage.  It essentially had a bedroom and a kitchen.  At the end of the kitchen were some sliding glass doors that led to the driveway.   We were woken up one night by a loud crash, it sounded like someone had shattered the sliding glass doors.  We jumped and looked around, found nothing.  We checked with our landlords who lived above us the next day and they didn't hear anything and didn't have anything break on their level either.  A year or so later we moved to a larger apartment two houses down and became friends with the new tenants of our old apartment.  About six months after they moved in, they had the same experience!!!  The wife even felt like she was being watched also.

[DonaCatalina]

Belton, Texas - Wal-Mart - There have been two separate sightings a night time manager was walking by a toy aisle and saw a woman with a Wal-Mart smock on but no one was supposed to be in the area so she stopped and went back to the aisle and the woman was no where to be found. On a different occasion a night associate was in the receiving area and turned to see a little boy, she heard a noise and turned her head away for a moment and turned it back and the boy was gone.

[Cloverpogue]

Being in middle Tn as long as I have, you are always going to come across some haunted history, especially anything involving the Civil War.
Anywhere you read, they always talk about The Battle of Franklin, being the bloodiest battle during the war.

I can remember visiting two particular houses in Franklin: The Carter House and Carnton Plantation. Both beautiful houses and rich with history.
There are several sites listed, well, for Carnton, anyway, because that was one of the main sites for the huge blood bath, The Battle of Franklin.
I can remember visiting the Plantation when I was a child, and always felt unnerved being there.  You can feel the anguish in the air.  I can imagine that more spirits have been stirring in the past 15 years, due to the fact that they built a golf course, separate gift shops, and a neighborhood right as you get there.
If I were a ghost, I think I'd be a little peeved as well, coming there and disturbing my peace.

All that aside, the times that I did visit Carter House, the only place I felt strange, but weirdly happy, was the childen's room, upstairs. I recall that there was a little doll cradle that was about floor level with a broken china dolly in it.
We went in the fall, where it was still hot outside, but a little chill was in the air in the room. I saw the dolly in the cradle, turn my head to look out the window, and then the dolly was gone. I was in the room by myself because I had paused to look out the window, just to soak in the scenery and the group had left me. Yeah, I got out of there pretty fast when I realized I was by myself.

Links if you will: if they don't work, then let me know 
http://www.carterhouse1864.com

http://www/appalachianghostwalks.com

http://www.realhaunts.com

http://www/carnton.org

http://www/hauntedhouses.com

http://www/ghostweb.com

http://www/johnnorrisbrown.com

http://www.prairieghosts.com/carnton

[DonaCatalina]

Does anyone know if the historic hotels in Alpine, Texas are haunted?

Hubby wants to ride out that way on Amtrak and I'd much rather NOT share my room with a ghost.

[Yrose]

Now Dona, your the one that started this tread and you and I have talked about ghost, but you don't want to share a room with one? I tried to at the Myrtles, but had no such luck. I did get a few good pics in a cave on the Natchez Trace on the way back from Rendezvous.
http://s108.photobucket.com/albums/n12/Yroze/vacation%202008/?start=56

Does anyone know if the historic hotels in Alpine, Texas are haunted?

Hubby wants to ride out that way on Amtrak and I'd much rather NOT share my room with a ghost.