# Halloween thread - Ghost stories? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 29, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-thread-ghost-stories/842665 "2019-10-29T18:53:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2019, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-thread-ghost-stories/842665/21 "2019-11-02T14:52:42Z")
I’m not sure if I’ve told these here before, but if I did, it was a while ago. My husband and I lived in the Jacksonville, FL, area for about 18 years - he’d lived there before we met. There are 5 bridges that cross the St. Johns River in Jax (OK, 6, but I don’t count the Dames Point because it’s not really downtown.) Coming south on the river, the second one is the [Hart bridge](https://www.dreamstime.com/editorial-stock-image-hart-bridge-jacksonville-fl-view-florida-image77989374). We didn’t usually cross that one since it wasn’t typically along the way we were going, but one day, we had to take it. As we were driving across, I got the creepiest feeling that something wasn’t right - nothing I could explain, but creepy just the same. After we got to the other side, my husband mentioned that he’d gotten a weird sensation as we crossed, independent of me saying anything. Not particularly earth-shattering, but it was bizarre that we both experienced something on that bridge at the same time. And I don’t think we ever crossed it again, not that we’re superstitious… The other was at my work. I was an aero engineer working at NAS Jacksonville. At the time, the engineering building was located in what had been the base chow hall when it was built during WWII. It was night and I was the only one in the building - my turn to support the workers in the hangar in case something came up. I was at my desk, probably checking drawings or something since I was leaning forward, and I got a strong whiff of cinnamon! There was no food on my desk, and the microwave wasn’t on, and, as I said, I was alone. But there was no doubt that I smelled cinnamon - was it the ghost of pastries past?? :eek: For the next few minutes, I looked around, sniffing thither and yon, listening for anything in that old building. The only place I detected it was in my cubicle. And then I saw it. My top desk drawer was slightly open and in one of the front compartments was a pack of Trident cinnamon gum. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2019, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-thread-ghost-stories/842665/22 "2019-11-02T17:53:37Z")
Here’s one I posted years ago. > [@Have you ever seen a ghost?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-seen-a-ghost/767961/22): > > I guess I’ll be the first to admit, yes. I do. And I’ve seen one, or at least the “presence” of one. > > When I was about 8 years old my family lived on a large wheat farm in northern Montana, just a few miles south of the Canadian border. This is the great plains, and the land is very very flat. > > The farm we lived on was divided into “sections,” or plots of land that were a perfect square one mile on a side… kind of like a checkers board if viewed from the air. The farmhouse sat on one edge of a section, and an old homesteaders shack, long abandoned and disused, sat on the edge of an adjoining section ~ 1 mile away. > > One night in October (naturally!) my mother was in the kitchen doing something or other and suddenly cries out for my dad to come in there. My dad (and me and my brother) come into the kitchen to see what the fuss was. Mom was standing at the kitchen window looking east, and in the distance we could see the old shack—or, more accurately, we could see a light in the one of the old windows in the shack. There was no electricity in the shack, no fireplace, the woodstove that had originally been there had been pulled out decades earlier. The light had the yellowish glow of a Coleman lantern, and my dad theorized that a hunter had gotten himself turned around in the snow and somehow stumbled upon the shack and had decided to hold up for the night. > > Now of course this was October in Northern Montana. “Cold” doesn’t begin to describe it. The idea that someone was holed up in an old shack with no door and broken windows was unacceptable, and my dad immediately headed to the garage. His plan was to take his old F-250 4x4 and go get whoever it was that was in the shack. There was nearly a foot of snow on the ground and it was continuing to come down, but lightly. He wasn’t going to let someone say outside in weather like that. > > Now, despite the land being flat there was small coulee that ran across our property, and it happened to run between the main house and the shack. This meant the access road dipped down into a little draw made by the coulee before rising up again. I don’t remember why, but I accompanied my dad as he headed out to rescue whoever was in the shack. As we left the house and followed the access road along the section lines, we could clearly see the glowing window off in the distance. > > However, as we dipped down into the coulee, the old shack slipped out of view. Even though it was dark we knew where it would be on the black horizon when we crested the little draw again. > > Except… it wasn’t. Dad was taking his time driving through the snow on a small, one-lane dirt track across the edge of a wheat field, so we were in that draw for maybe a minute or 90 seconds. But when we finally got back onto the flatland the light was simply gone. It was dark out, and I mean _dark_. We couldn’t see anything other than the scattered snowflakes in the headlights. > > Dad continued down the section line until he could turn and follow another one to the shack, maybe another quarter mile on. When he pulled up to it we could see that there was nothing there. No vehicle, no footprints… nothing. > > Dad reached under the seat of the pickup and pulled out a big 4-D cell MagLite and hopped out of the pickup. I remember rolling down the window and sticking my head out, watching him walk toward the shack. He was wearing big rubber Wellington boots that somehow seemed to be extra loud in the snow. Dad hollers out every few steps, seeing if anyone answers. I’m sitting in the cab shivering, hoping dad will just walk up the doorless shack, get whoever is inside outside and take him back to the house for a hot coffee and a warning not to trespass on our land again. But dad doesn’t do that. Instead he makes a big circle around the shack, his footsteps fading away, then getting louder as he makes his way closer to the pickup… then away again as he circles the shack. > > I finally see him shine the light into one of the widows and look in the building. He stays that way for maybe thirty seconds before walking back to the pickup. He climbs back in, tosses the flashlight on the dashboard, and turns the pickup around, heading back for home. I ask him what he had seen, but he simply hushed me. I remember listening to the windshied wipers as we made our way back, sans passenger. My dad never spoke a word on the way back, and the ride was silent except the crunch of snow under the tired, the hum of the engine and the windshield wipers. There was no wind, no storm, nothing else… just black silence. > > When we got home my dad told me to go to my room and shut the door. I did so, but laid on the floor listening at the crack at the bottom. I heard dad give my mom a play-by-play recap of what we had done. He then said that when he walked up and shone the light in the window, the shack was completely undisturbed. Decades of dust, dirt, animal nests, broken mason jars, and all manner of junk still littered the floor, just as it had for years. There were no tracks inside, no wet footprints, no undisturbed snow. The shack was as untouched as it had been since the last occupants had left in the 1940’s. > > Yet not half an hour earlier all three of us had seen a gas light flickering in the window. We did not hallucinate it. Someone, something, had been in that shack. ---
**Author:** ![runningdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@runningdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runningdude)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2019, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-thread-ghost-stories/842665/23 "2019-11-03T23:26:10Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Furbys are freakin’ weird. … > It chirped in the car with no batteries. Weird. Capacitors. Capacitors are freakin’ weird. (Source: taught an electronics class) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-thread-ghost-stories/842665/24 "2019-11-04T04:04:48Z")
^^^I knew there must be a logical reason it made noises with no batteries. But still as I was leaving the donation center I looked in my rearview and a guy was tossing said Furby in a trash dumpster. They knew, yes they knew. Evil, I tell you. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-thread-ghost-stories/842665/25 "2019-11-04T04:11:31Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > Here’s one I posted years ago. That was a great story: So what was it? Anyone? My speculation is that since it was snowing someone had been in there, had lit a lantern, then left. The lantern was still burning but by the time you arrived it had gone out. You said your Dad never actually went back in. It’s possible he might have found a warm lantern. I dont know, what do you all think? ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-thread-ghost-stories/842665/26 "2019-11-04T04:49:17Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > That was a great story: > > So what was it? > > Anyone? > > My speculation is that since it was snowing someone had been in there, had lit a lantern, then left. The lantern was still burning but by the time you arrived it had gone out. You said your Dad never actually went back in. It’s possible he might have found a warm lantern. > > I dont know, what do you all think? The moon setting behind the shack. Just on the horizon, then disappearing. Or some light in the distance that just happened to be behind the shack and shining through it. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-thread-ghost-stories/842665/27 "2019-11-04T05:32:33Z")
The snow around the shack was undisturbed. It was at least a foot deep at that point, anyone who arrived at the shack by any means other than parachute would’ve left tracks. Snow was still falling, so no moon. While there were farms / houses behind the shack, that’s true in only the loosest sense of the word. Our farm was 3000+ acres, most of it on the far side of the shack. The next building with electricity was 6 miles away. Believe me, I’ve been over every possible scenario and nothing makes sense. There was no human in that shack and no way one could’ve been in there recently without leaving copious evidence. There was no other “normal” source of light either. I really don’t believe in ghosts. But I will never be able to understand what I saw that night. I actually visited the old farm both last year and this year. This year I took pics of the shack. I’ll try to post them tomorrow. And show y’all on Google Earth what I’m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-thread-ghost-stories/842665/28 "2019-11-04T14:38:04Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > The snow around the shack was undisturbed. It was at least a foot deep at that point, anyone who arrived at the shack by any means other than parachute would’ve left tracks. > > Snow was still falling, so no moon. > > While there were farms / houses behind the shack, that’s true in only the loosest sense of the word. Our farm was 3000+ acres, most of it on the far side of the shack. The next building with electricity was 6 miles away. > > Believe me, I’ve been over every possible scenario and nothing makes sense. There was no human in that shack and no way one could’ve been in there recently without leaving copious evidence. There was no other “normal” source of light either. > > I really don’t believe in ghosts. But I will never be able to understand what I saw that night. > > I actually visited the old farm both last year and this year. This year I took pics of the shack. I’ll try to post them tomorrow. And show y’all on Google Earth what I’m talking about. Ok, Interesting. Yes, it makes no sense. Even “ghosts” doesnt because then it would probably be repeating and you’d see an odd shadow or maybe a physical presence. But just a light inside ONE building? That doesnt seem to fit the pattern of a ghost. Truly a mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-thread-ghost-stories/842665/29 "2019-11-04T14:48:40Z")
There’s a couple of mystery “lights” around these parts. Notably one is down an old abandoned railroad track. It’s been explained as 'swamp" gas. Whatever that is. I just know as a teen we went out looking for it and saw it. Scared the crap outta us. Never did that again! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-thread-ghost-stories/842665/30 "2019-11-04T15:27:23Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > The snow around the shack was undisturbed. It was at least a foot deep at that point, anyone who arrived at the shack by any means other than parachute would’ve left tracks. > > Snow was still falling, so no moon. > > While there were farms / houses behind the shack, that’s true in only the loosest sense of the word. Our farm was 3000+ acres, most of it on the far side of the shack. The next building with electricity was 6 miles away. > > Believe me, I’ve been over every possible scenario and nothing makes sense. There was no human in that shack and no way one could’ve been in there recently without leaving copious evidence. There was no other “normal” source of light either. > > I really don’t believe in ghosts. But I will never be able to understand what I saw that night. > > I actually visited the old farm both last year and this year. This year I took pics of the shack. I’ll try to post them tomorrow. And show y’all on Google Earth what I’m talking about. Thank you! I consider yours the best “ghost” (or whatever it was) story. I grew up in the country, and it resonates perfectly with me. You see strange things sometimes, and even if they have “perfectly logical explanations”, you almost never find what they are. When I go back, and I’m out at night, I DO NOT look towards abandoned farmhouses. Just in case there might be a light… ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-thread-ghost-stories/842665/31 "2019-11-04T15:53:17Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > The snow around the shack was undisturbed. It was at least a foot deep at that point, anyone who arrived at the shack by any means other than parachute would’ve left tracks. > > Snow was still falling, so no moon. > > While there were farms / houses behind the shack, that’s true in only the loosest sense of the word. Our farm was 3000+ acres, most of it on the far side of the shack. The next building with electricity was 6 miles away. > > Believe me, I’ve been over every possible scenario and nothing makes sense. There was no human in that shack and no way one could’ve been in there recently without leaving copious evidence. There was no other “normal” source of light either. > > I really don’t believe in ghosts. But I will never be able to understand what I saw that night. > > I actually visited the old farm both last year and this year. This year I took pics of the shack. I’ll try to post them tomorrow. And show y’all on Google Earth what I’m talking about. Very good story. I like the telling/writing of it. The interesting part is that it was not just you who saw the light. Could your father be asked now what he saw on the far side of the shack? Is it possible someone was already in the shack for the entirety of the snow storm (so no footprints), and your father encountered someone (who had a lamp), and just let them stay there? I also enjoyed **pullin** ’s black cat story. Very good - and good in the telling! ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-thread-ghost-stories/842665/32 "2019-11-04T16:10:10Z")
OK, I’m a total skeptic, but… About twenty years ago, I was driving down a main road commuting to the city. When stopped at a light, I looked across the intersection at a gas station where a badly wrecked car was sitting off to the side. It was obviously undriveable, but there was a long-haired young woman sitting in the passenger seat. I watched for a moment, looked at the light, and then looked back at the car to see that she was gone. Cut to the chase: the car had been involved in a fatal wreck earlier in the day and the passenger had been killed. I saw her picture in the paper the next morning and she looked very similar to the woman I saw sitting in the car earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2019, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-thread-ghost-stories/842665/33 "2019-11-04T20:37:18Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Very good story. I like the telling/writing of it. The interesting part is that it was not just you who saw the light. Could your father be asked now what he saw on the far side of the shack? Is it possible someone was already in the shack for the entirety of the snow storm (so no footprints), and your father encountered someone (who had a lamp), and just let them stay there? > > I also enjoyed **pullin** ’s black cat story. Very good - and good in the telling! Yes, it is odd the Dad told her to go up to her room to talk to the mother in private. What did he see? Why did he do that? The only thing I wonder is since he only pointed his flashlight inside thru the windows, and didnt actually go inside, could someone have been hiding inside? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halloween-thread-ghost-stories/842665.md?page=1)