Do You Believe in Ghosts?

Last night, my good friend Suzy came over and we carved three pumpkins with my sons. My boys definitely enjoyed pulling the "guts" out of the pumpkins and designing the spooky pumpkin faces. Once everything was carved, we lit all three pumpkins, turned out every single light and started telling spooky stories to each other.

I think I went a little overboard on my, "something was in the closet" story because both of my sons were terrified and didn't want to sleep in their room.

"I'm scared!" my youngest whispered, tears forming in his eyes.

"Have you ever seen a ghost? Ever?" I asked. I was trying to infuse as much rationality as possible into the situation seeing as it was almost 9:00 and they needed to go to bed.

"No," he replied. "But the Boogeyman might get me."

I told him I'd said special prayers in his room so it was definitely Boogeyman free. And with the two of them around there was only a Boogerman since they're both highly qualified nose pickers. That made them both laugh for a minute, and then my eldest got quiet and asked me, "Mommy have you ever seen a ghost?"

I told him I didn't know, but that there was nothing to worry about in his room since we've never seen any in there.

I suppose I could have lied and said, "Nope, never ever. Never had anything weird or spooky happen to me." But that wouldn't be true.

I try not to dwell on these things too much, try not to think about the elderly man I sat next to in Midway Airport last year, waiting to fly home after my brother's funeral. At first I thought he was psychic when he, without warning, opened his mouth up and unprompted, told me he sorry for the loss of my brother. Our flight was slightly delayed and we ended up having an extensive conversation about death. He was in the "A" group so he got on the plane first. I was in the "C" group and was the last person to get on the plane. I walked past every seat and he was not on that plane. I thought he might be in the bathroom, so once I was free to do so, I strolled the aisle once, twice, three times.

He wasn't there.

How can I tell a six year old that I was always uncomfortable in the last apartment we lived in. I always had the sense that something was watching me, and in the heat of summer, the air would grow cold.

It got worse after my son was born. I was constantly aware of something unfriendly hovering around, particularly when I gave my newborn baby his bath. It often scared me to the point that I'd sing out loud just to calm myself down.

I knew I had to move when I woke up at one in the morning to the stuttering sound the phone makes when it's off the hook. The phone was on speaker so the noise echoed through our apartment. It only took me a moment to realize that the button on the speaker phone needed to be pressed down in order to come on. I freaked out, convinced that someone was in the apartment, and I started screaming. My husband jumped up with his bat, ready to swing at an intruder.

And there was no one there. No doors unlocked, no windows unlocked. Nothing.

These are not the kinds of things to tell a six year-old and a newly minted four year-old. So, I told my sons again that there was nothing to worry about, nothing to fear...and then I let them sleep in my room so that they'd actually go to sleep.

So I could actually go to sleep. Perhaps I'd scared myself a bit as well.

We all know there are plenty of real-life scary things to worry about: wars, famine, disease, domestic violence. But there's that world beyond the veil, the sensations we have, things we're convinced we've seen.

I try to leave that world alone. I don't want to engage with it, even on Halloween.

But I have to ask, do you believe in ghosts? Do you believe in the supernatural?

Comments

thailandchani said…
I definitely believe there is a spirit world. I also believe they are decidedly uninterested in us. :)
Sundry said…
Yow! I have goose bumps, thank you.

I don't rule out the possibility of ghosts or something like that. I've had some experiences of my own that were pretty convincing.

My family used to create our own type of Ouji board with little pieces of paper with letters on them in a circle around a table, then we'd put a glass upside down in the center and rest our fingertips on it. (My sister had picked this up as an au pair in Italy....once they were doing it and the glass flew off the table, hit a wall, and smashed on the floor.)

We seemed to be in contact with some one. I had a sense of some one female deep and faraway beyond our regular guide. My dad didn't really believe, but the thing only seemed to work very well when I was doing it.

One night I was semi-reluctantly helping some friends of my parents ask silly questions at his urging, and I got this message: This is not a carnival. This is not a toy.

It really creeped me out. I have an image in my mind of the female presence deep in the fabric of souls (for lack of a better word) warning me off. I wouldn't put my hands on the glass for groups anymore. A couple of times they were trying to do it themselves and it only seemed to work when I was in the room, not even having my fingers on the glass.

Who knows? I don't play with that stuff anymore. There are some questions that we probably shouldn't ask.
1969 said…
Absolutely. I have seen one. Now that you mention it, I should do a post about it...especially today.

Have a safe Halloween!!!!
Jameil said…
not really. but my friend charles grew up in the country and has more than one very creepy, very believable story about the road leading to his house in the woods.
Jen said…
Hi Liz,
Thanks for stopping by my blog! Yes, I've definitely had some spooky experiences, but I think I'm going to save them for blogging in the next few days... need nablopomo topics, you know! So you write, too? I will definitely be back. I loved your entry today and those are good chillers, although I'm sorry you went through them.
Liz Dwyer said…
Chani,
LOL! I hope they're uninterested in us as well, but I suppose the superstitious part of me believes otherwise. But, it'd be nice to think there's more interesting things on the other side than us mere mortals!

Sundry,
Wow, YOU gave me goosebumps just now with that story. Gosh, I believe those things aren't toys either. I also have a rather terrifying experience with an Ouija board -- I was in the room when two people were playing with it, not touching it at all...and it said I was going to be slaughtered when I was 21. Yeah. Joy of joys right there. But I'll save the details of that tale and how it played out for next Halloween! All I can say is that I really believe an angel was looking out for me one night when I was 21.

1969,
Yes, please do tell! I'm going to come over and see if you shared. I'm so curious. Hope your Halloween was spooktacular and safe as well.

Jameil,
See, I can sort of handle scary things in the city because there's always someone just across the hall or downstairs. But the country...whew, now that scares me! My sister lives out in the boonies and boy oh boy, it's SO dark out there it gives me the creeps sometimes!

Jen,
Thanks for visiting! I definitely enjoyed your blog as well. I know exactly what you mean about needing blogging topics! I think the biggest shift for me this November will be trying to move away from feeling like everything I post on my blog has to be the best thing ever. We'll see! Tomorrow's the big day!
M said…
I definitely believe, though I haven't had any direct experiences myself. My mother and grandmother had some pretty intense stories, though.
Anonymous said…
I have actually seen two ghost. One when I was four or five and one when I was grown up and at the mall. It was weird like the man at the airport. Mine was an old man at the mall in the beauty salon. He said he was waiting for his wife and you know how long it takes black people to get their hair done. We talked for a long time and he gave me some advice that was immensely helpful. At one point when I turned to say something else to him he was gone!!!Scared the ---- out of me. I actually started freaking out in the salon. The advice he gave me was so helpful I actually think he was a guardian angel instead of a ghost.

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