Got Ghosts?

My little sister is in town, which means new story ideas are sure to come. A couple years ago we drank too much vodka and watched 80s television--a fortunate event that resulted in The Tales of the Underlight's first hero, burn-scarred warrior Wesley Haukon. But my sister is not only my '80s TV pal, she's also the only one of my close friends who will watch horror movies with me. I'm not so big on slasher films; if there's a serial killer in it you can count me out. But I love a good paranormal horror--particularly if ghosts are involved. And I've heard great things about today's release The Conjuring. I'm particularly excited because it looks like a throwback style to the old 70s horror flicks with their slow build terror. My favorite kind!

Anyone else planning to see The Conjuring? I did a little behind the scenes research. Like a lot of horror movies, this one claims to be "based on real life events." But, uh, so is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a movie based on a guy who wasn't in Texas and didn't use a chainsaw. So I took the claim with a grain of salt. But when I heard the protagonists of the show were real life paranormal investigating duo Ed and Lorraine Warren (most famous for having investigated the Amityville Horror) I decided to take a deeper look. This movie, depicting the Perron family's horrifying encounter with an evil presence haunting a farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island, sounds like it might somewhat match up with "true" events--or at least the events as claimed by the Perrons and Warrens, depending on your take on ghosts.

Personally, I don't know what I think about ghosts. I love Ouija boards and can consistently get them to work. Once, to my panic, after I asked the board who we were talking to, it answered, "You know." Eek! I have one non-Ouija ghost encounter to share. It's easy to explain away, I think, but I still remember it with a happy chill.

Back in college I went to New Orleans with my university choir for Jazz Festival. It was just after 2 a.m. and several friends and I were leaving Bourbon Street on foot to head back to our hotel. Earlier in the evening one friend and I had gone on a Haunted History Ghost Tour --which was a lot of fun, if you're ever in NOLA and looking for something spooky to do!

Our path to the hotel took us past Jackson Square, with St. Louis Cathedral presiding in its eerie, Spanish-Colonial splendor. The alley beside the cathedral had been one of the stops on our ghost tour, so my fellow "ghost hunter" and I hauled everyone down it to tell them about the spirit of the priest haunting the site. We prefaced the story as our tour guides had by explaining, "A ghost encounter usually has three elements. Most people are familiar with two: the drop in temperature (cold spots) and sounds that have no source or cause (like rattling chains). With this ghost, the bells of the cathedral can sometimes be heard even when they're still. What most people don't know is that before the sounds and cold spots, the first sign of a ghost is usually--" At this point, a friend wrinkled her nose and announced, "Does anyone else smell incense?" My fellow ghost tour member and I exchanged glances, and he continued, "As we were saying, ghosts have scents and this one's is incense. You can smell it right before he show up." I started to smell the incense, too, coming from the sacristy door. At two in the morning. We all ran screaming from the alley!

Anyone else looking forward to The Conjuring? And do you have any personal ghost stories to share? I'd love to hear them!