Readers' Stories of the Paranormal

Pushed Down the Stairs 
My ghost story is a little humorous now that I think about it, but I was spooked for a long time afterwards. Back in 1982 there was a popular restaurant in Rockledge, Florida called Gentleman Jims. You can read about it in one of the haunted house guides. The story was that a woman had been murdered on the railroad tracks that were just yards from the restaurant. At the time of her murder in the 1920s, it had been a pub. I was asked out on a double date by a guy that I had a huge crush on and we all agreed to go to Gentleman Jims because there was a chance that we would see something other worldly. Besides, they also had great food. We arrived at the restaurant after dark and had to go up a long, narrow flight of stairs and sat down and had a really great dinner. We did see the lamp over the salad bar sway continuously all night. That was one of the ghostly happenings, so we were pleased and felt that we had gotten our money’s worth. As we were getting ready to go down the stairs, I told my date to get in front of me because I was known to be a klutz and didn’t want to fall down the stairs. So they all got in front of me. We were all making jokes about the ghost and feeling pretty frisky. As we were going down the stairs, I felt a huge shove against my back and fell down the stairs, my wonderful companions moving aside to let me make my way down on my own. As I got to the bottom I noticed that there had been no one behind me on the stairs. Bewildered, I stood up and the hostess told me that I had been pushed by the ghost for not taking it seriously. The hostess then told me, “Miss, your dress is open.” I looked down and sure enough my button-down dress was completely unbuttoned all the way down. The ghost had gotten the last laugh. I never went back. – Melanie S.

Haunted Apartment 
I have reason to believe my apartment is haunted, but I don’t know for sure. I live in a very well-insulated complex – very sound proof except for the windows (you can here the kids playing outside). It’s just me and my fiancé Rob that live here. It started about three weeks after we moved in. Rob and I were in bed asleep when I heard what sounded like the front door had been kicked open (very loud). I woke Rob up, terrified that we were being robbed and I told him to go check. He told me the door was fine and that it was even locked. He even checked the neighbors and they were fine too. The next thing was when I was home alone and there was a really loud sound that sounded exactly like our computer and all its equipment had fallen off the desk and on to the floor. I run to check and everything is just fine. The next occurrence was me at work on the computer and I hear a knocking (like someone would knock on the door) only it was coming from the hallway. I check the door anyway. No one there. – nemesis9

Angel Encounter 
I had been reading a book by Richard Webster titled Spirit Guides and Angel Guardians. As I came to the end of the book, I began to feel very sad. I could remember, when I was younger, feeling as if my angel was always by my side. Somehow, as adulthood and responsibility took over my life, I seemed to lose that feeling. I began to wonder if my angel was near me anymore. I asked him if he would somehow show me that he was still there. At this same time, I was having problems with my car. I also had a surprise party to go to that evening. I decided the simplest thing to do would be to borrow my mother’s car. I stopped at the health club and planned to go straight home from there to shower. I thought that I would simply stop at my mother’s on the way to the party and pick up her car then. But for some reason, I found myself going right to her house after my workout. When I arrived, I found my mother on the sofa. She was too weak to walk and had been trying to focus well enough to call me at home to come and get her something to drink. Now, while my mother is in her mid-seventies, she is of overall good health, and this episode was alarming me greatly. I called the paramedics. It was later found that she had hemorrhaged from her kidney. If I had not stopped by that night, or had stopped when I originally had planned to, she would have died. Several days later, as she lay in the hospital, I left work to be with her. She had been very upset by some test the doctors wanted to do and I was in a panic. As I drove (rather recklessly) down the road, I heard a voice in my ear. It said, “Why do you worry?” Those four words said more than this whole e-mail does. It told me I wasn’t alone, that my angel was there, and that he was the one who had led me to my mother that night. – Onedrbunny

House of Flying Objects 
I live in an older home in very rural Tennessee that has been added onto at least five times (two times by my family). On three occasions, witnessed by several people each time, objects have flown off the wall into the middle of the rooms. These include a brass plate, a clock, and a guitar (which was broken in the fall). The guitar was secured to the wall in such a way that it had to be lifted out and then up to remove it. Each time we have built on, strange noises have come into the house for a time, again witnessed by several people at the same time. These include footsteps going across the room (very clearly heard close by), rattling in a closet (no kidding!), and loud bangs in the living room. Also, right after we moved into the new bedroom suite we had built on, my husband saw a sudden large flame illuminate the bathroom area and then suddenly extinguish itself. I know he wasn’t making it up, because I saw his fear. He said it shot up through the floor and then was gone. – Marilyn L.

Voice on the Tape 
I was listening to the Art Bell show. They had a guest host who had an interesting experiment for people to try. The experiment consisted of taking a tape recorder with a new blank tape and setting it down in an empty room and saying, “Is anyone there?” before pushing record. I decided to try this. I had a microrecorder that didn’t record well, which I figured would help me to know if it were real or not (anything that recorded, that is). I put the recorder on the far side of the living room and said, “Is anyone there?” and pushed record and quietly tiptoed back to my PC. I had already turned everything down and kept as quiet as possible to make sure the recorder trick worked. I really didn’t expect anything to happen. After about 45 minutes, I walked quietly over to the recorder, turned it off, and rewound it. After 15 minutes I suddenly heard “hello” on the tape by a very speeded up and childlike voice. I nearly screamed it was so unexpected. I continued to listen to the rest of the tape, and after another 15 or so minutes of static another sound emerged: a speeded up sound like that of someone laughing or sneezing. – Lessa B.

Unheeded Warning 
On October 30, l995, as my husband and I raced our way along the San Diego, Ca. freeway to be on time for the birth of our future goddaughter, a voice in far back of my mind kept bothering me while I drove. I could clearly understand what it said, over and over again. “Accident. Accident.” Although, it made me quiver somewhat, I disregarded it, thinking it was just my nerves. As we stopped in a gas station to ask for directions to the hospital, the voice just got louder. I decided then to let my husband drive. As we were about to get off the freeway, the voice literally yelled at me, “Accident!” and it was the then when a car on the left lane hit us on the passenger’s side. No one was seriously wounded, however. – Lockhart

Thieving Ghost 
My daughter and I have lived in this apartment for about three months. We have both felt like someone has been watching us, and have seen “something” out of the corner of our eye and, of course, there is never anything (or anyone) there. Well, we have been finding things missing, and one of those was her sheet music. It was missing for at least two months. This last week she had a dream, and in her dream she was in bed asleep, when her door opened up and in through it came a light. He said that he came to apologize to her, and that he had hid her music, and that she would find it under her night stand. When she woke up she looked and there it was. Her night stand has to be lifted to put anything under it! She has also been missing her bible, and I decided to try and talk to him while my daughter was away. I asked him if he hid her bible, and that if he did to please return it. When we got home from church, it was lying on her bed! – Curlyfry

Close Encounter on 377 
In November of 1998, I was traveling to work on highway 377 north from Granbury, Texas to Fort Worth, Texas. It was still dark at 5:00 a.m. As I was passing the Willis Ranch, on my right I noticed a glowing reddish pulsating light, that appeared to be behind the Willis Ranch and near some large power lines. I could see beams of lights, like laser beams, being shot up into the sky. I tried to call 911 but could not get an answer. I had WBAP AM radio on waiting for the news. The news room immediately asked if anyone was passing near Benbrook, Texas and had seen strange lights to please call the newsroom. Benbrook was about ten miles ahead of me on the same highway. After three attempts, I reached the newsroom on my cell phone. I identified myself as a deputy sheriff, and that I was going into work when I observed this strange light source near the Willis Ranch. The gentleman ask if I had seen anything else. I explained that I did see a small aircraft, possible a high-winged Cessna, flying toward the light source. He said that was their spotter plane. As I was about to explain about the beams of lights shooting into the sky, I lost all of the electrical systems in my car. My radio went off, my lights went out, my engine shut down, and even my cell phone went out even though I had it on it’s own battery power. I had to coast to the side of the road. When these weird events were taking place, I felt an energy hit me on the top of my head and run down my body to my feet. It didn’t hurt, but felt like someone had poured warm oil over my head. I recovered in about three minutes. I checked my watch. I hadn’t lost any time. My car started right away. My radio had lost all of its programming. My cell phone came back on and was usable after I unlocked the code. However; I did feel confused for a few moments. I was knocked off the radio so I couldn’t explain to the newsroom what had happened. I decided not to tell any of my fellow officers, because I knew no one would believe this story. When I arrived at work, three officers said they heard me on live radio. They said others had called in identifying the same thing I saw. This made me feel better that I was not the only one to see this. That afternoon I called the radio station again to see if anyone could explain what I saw. They said it was still a mystery. The newsman seemed to have lost interest and did not want to talk any more concerning this. To this day I have not been able to find out anything else about this. – R. Joseph L.  

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