# Plans For Friday Night: Sleep In A "Haunted" Building **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 6, 2008, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752 "2008-10-06T22:23:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752/81 "2008-10-11T04:40:50Z")
Oh, and I second going down into the basement at least one or two more times. Live a little so the dead can live a little, too, **Hal**! ETA: I have a great idea! Why don’t you look at these photos: [http://www.flickr.com/photos/mement0\_m0ri/sets/72157594539535491/](http://www.flickr.com/photos/mement0_m0ri/sets/72157594539535491/) They’ll keep you great company, I promise. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752/82 "2008-10-11T04:44:05Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Ahh, but the only odd thing that happened in the basement was the maintainance guys hearing footsteps overhead…so there’s obviously nothing to be gained by spending any more time down there. No, I’ll just stay up here where the _real_ haunting action is going on. You misunderstand. In haunted houses, the sound of footsteps overhead come from . . . _things . . . crawling on the ceiling._ ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752/83 "2008-10-11T05:16:48Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Be sure to put this tune on your iPod. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3P\_RXfOG\_o](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3P_RXfOG_o) “Atta boy, Luther!” ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752/84 "2008-10-11T05:18:29Z")
Arright…I’m beat…time to see if turning off the lights and sacking out on the couch can awaken the denizens of the spirit world. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752/85 "2008-10-11T05:23:14Z")
_surreptitiously puts white sheet and scary mask away, walks out whistling_ ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752/86 "2008-10-11T05:28:59Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > ETA: I have a great idea! Why don’t you look at these photos: [http://www.flickr.com/photos/mement0\_m0ri/sets/72157594539535491/](http://www.flickr.com/photos/mement0_m0ri/sets/72157594539535491/) > > They’ll keep you great company, I promise. That’s pretty seriously creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752/87 "2008-10-11T05:43:57Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > That’s pretty seriously creepy. Which only means Hal couldn’t have looked at them because he’s: 1. Still able to sleep and 2. Not hearing things in every corner. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752/88 "2008-10-11T08:23:49Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Ahh, but the only odd thing that happened in the basement was the maintainance guys hearing footsteps overhead…so there’s obviously nothing to be gained by spending any more time down there. No, I’ll just stay up here where the _real_ haunting action is going on. I see. I get the picture. Thank goodness you could rely on “the maintenance guys” to take care of the advance intelligence-gathering phase of the investigation. Be sure to credit them in your book. So, since a really thorough canvassing of the basement is a needless extravagance, instead you and Scooby will just stay upstairs and guard the sandwiches. Is that about right? Speaking of nervous dogs, I can only presume that an onsite investigation of the office body closet is also superfluous, seeing as how the office pooch has already investigated it so thoroughly during daylight hours. Obviously if there were any genuine haunting phenomena to be found by looking inside, there’d be more pre-existing manifestations than a simple unholy fear aura that repulses animal life. So we can scratch that off as well, which should streamline the investigation to maximum efficiency. Right. I’ll just pop off and consult my library to see how many other paranormal investigators have relied on the technique of investigating reportedly haunted buildings EXCEPT for the parts they found “really creepy.” ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752/89 "2008-10-11T10:18:33Z")
Humm, I expected a multi-page thread full of terrific tales of terror when I logged in again… This is kind of anti-climactic, folks. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752/90 "2008-10-11T12:00:18Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > This is kind of anti-climactic, folks. Agreed…I slept like a log – right next to the attic door, dead center of where the greatest number of reports stem – with nary a single single odd creak to be heard. Ah well… ---
**Author:** ![bufftabby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bufftabby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bufftabby)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752/91 "2008-10-11T17:11:27Z")
I think this just means the ghosts are scared of you, **Hal**. That’s what they were whispering about. ---
**Author:** ![bathsheba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@bathsheba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bathsheba)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752/92 "2008-10-11T22:55:02Z")
True ghost hunters know you don’t ignore **double-dog-dares**. ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752/93 "2008-10-11T23:14:36Z")
> [@bufftabby](#): > > I think this just means the ghosts are scared of you, **Hal**. That’s what they were whispering about. In Soviet Russia ghosts are scared… wait… nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2008, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752/94 "2008-10-11T23:26:12Z")
This could be awesome. It occurs to me, with a sleeping bag and a pillow, one might sleep comfortably in one of those corpse coolers. One of the best stories ever written about mysterious ghostly noises was Kipling’s “My Own True Ghost Story”. Must-read for skeptics, and I’d recommend it to all your friends who “believe” because of the noises they’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752/95 "2008-10-12T02:49:11Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > This could be awesome. And yet, it wasn’t. > [@](#): > > It occurs to me, with a sleeping bag and a pillow, one might sleep comfortably in one of those corpse coolers. Say! Yeah, that would be pretty cool wouldn’t it? Or, even if not inside the cooler itself, at least nearby! Hell, even sleeping next to one of those things all night would be worth some serious Halloween bragging rights! Plus you’d be on hand to observe and record any manifestations, such as any ghostly footsteps that others might have reported! Or you could spend all night on the second floor, as far from the creepy coolers as possible. > [@](#): > > One of the best stories ever written about mysterious ghostly noises was Kipling’s “My Own True Ghost Story”. Must-read for skeptics, and I’d recommend it to all your friends who “believe” because of the noises they’ve heard. I forget; is that the one where they never figure out what the noise was because everyone was too creeped out to go down in the basement? ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752/96 "2008-10-12T16:08:26Z")
Ya know…everyone in my wife office is all “Holy crap! He _slept_ there? In the area where everyone keeps hearing all that creepy stuff going on? He must be nuts!” But Dopers? Naaa…“Oh, you could’ve found someplace creepier. Hey, there’s a coroner’s office down the street…you should’ve slept there, on the autopsy table, between two freshly-killed murder victims with lots of unfinished business who were coincidentally killed by a guy who looks just like you, while an audiobook of Anton LeVey reading the Necronomicon plays in the background”. You do me proud… ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752/97 "2008-10-12T16:18:22Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Ya know…everyone in my wife office is all “Holy crap! He _slept_ there? In the area where everyone keeps hearing all that creepy stuff going on? He must be nuts!” > > But Dopers? Naaa…“Oh, you could’ve found someplace creepier. Hey, there’s a coroner’s office down the street…you should’ve slept there, on the autopsy table, between two freshly-killed murder victims with lots of unfinished business who were coincidentally killed by a guy who looks just like you, while an audiobook of Anton LeVey reading the Necronomicon plays in the background”. > > You do me proud… I think I have a copy around here somewhere (the book, not the audiobook) I could send you if you want it. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752/98 "2008-10-12T17:00:04Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Ya know…everyone in my wife office is all “Holy crap! He _slept_ there? In the area where everyone keeps hearing all that creepy stuff going on? He must be nuts!” > > But Dopers? Naaa…“Oh, you could’ve found someplace creepier. Hey, there’s a coroner’s office down the street…you should’ve slept there, on the autopsy table, between two freshly-killed murder victims with lots of unfinished business who were coincidentally killed by a guy who looks just like you, while an audiobook of Anton LeVey reading the Necronomicon plays in the background”. > > You do me proud… Hey, I’m just trying to keep the fires of enlightenment burning. And if that means that I am forced to go online and encourage someone else to spend all night exploring the darkest corners of a haunted mortuary, then so be it. I am prepared to make that sacrifice. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752/99 "2008-10-12T18:38:39Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > I forget; is that [“My Own True Ghost Story”, by Kipling] the one where they never figure out what the noise was because everyone was too creeped out to go down in the basement? Nope; it’s a narrative of stopping for the night in an empty building, and not sleeping because of the sounds of a billiards game. Highly recommended. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752/100 "2008-10-12T19:07:23Z")
Wait, you slept? You didn’t spend all night exploring? You didn’t go to the creepy parts? I do give you props for even going, but I must also admit my disappointment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plans-for-friday-night-sleep-in-a-haunted-building/466752.md?page=6)