Ghosts and More
October is time for gggghosts!By Thomas Freese, Storyteller and Author of Shaker Ghosts from Pleasant Hill, Kentucky and also Fog Swirler & 11 Other Ghost Stories
Yes, pipes moan, houses creak, and the wind pushes bare branches, screech, screech, screech against the window. I don’t want to discourage rational inquiry and skeptical observation, but…we are not alone. I’ve collected some 300 ghost stories in the past ten years, and let me tell you, ghosts can appear anytime, anywhere to anyone. Newsflash—it need not be an October night in a Victorian mansion for grandma or Aunt Maude to pay a visit. But, you protest, a man’s home is his castle, so why should he share it with a spooky spirit from the past? Well, maybe the ghost was there first. So as with the British and other old cultures, learn to appreciate all the non-rodent residents of your home. How quickly we tire of talking about the weather, particularly with the endless summer of heat of 2007. And what better way to spice that holiday event than by sharing some true or fantasy tales of the ghosts among us.
Perhaps you don’t yet believe in ghosts, and that is fine. You can go watch basketball while the rest of us retire to the kitchen to speak in hushed voices how spirits appear in bedrooms, send lights floating around the house, intervene with encouraging words and help, touch with chilling hands, hide household objects, appear in photographs, generate pleasing scents like perfume or the familiar smell of Dad’s pipe smoke, and rock that chair back and forth, all night. Humbug! You say, and perhaps in some cases you are right. What could be a greater ancient tradition of haunting, than the ever-present companion phenomena of hoaxes? Yet still the stories persist, tales of haunted dorm rooms, disappearing figures at historic homes, and figures who rise up from cemetery plots. We love to be scared, but not too much.
What if you find your darling domicile hosts a poltergeist, invisible friend, visiting spirit, or lingering family member? When in doubt, you may hire the religious or spiritual consultant of your choice. Chances are even, fifty-fifty, that their efforts might actually remove the offending ghost. And if you coincidentally decide to sell your haunted home, then you would be wise to consult the broker or real estate lawyer who might suggest you disclose that your house showed paranormal activity. Some houses, with high profile murders, are euphemistically called “stigmatized”.
Surely not in my backyard, remarks the blueblood Louisville native. Ah, the Louisville area is host to five regular ghost tours, and as far as any old house having a recently deceased spirit, it is certainly (how shall I put it) a growth industry. And humans do not have the exclusive rights to the spectral world. There are ghost dogs, cats, horses, and yes, pet birds.
I recently stayed overnight at the Meeting House Bed and Breakfast in Frankfort, KY. Although I personally did not see or hear anything unusual, (I pleaded lack of sleep to the resident spirits before bedtime, and asked to be spared a visit), owners Gary and Rose Burke assure me they and some of their guests are believers through experience. The Meeting House, in Frankfort’s historical district, is just blocks away from the Old Capitol Building and a short walk from the Kentucky History Center. The Meeting House is a Bed and Breakfast, Café, and gift shop. The house is a three story brick building, brightly painted and pleasantly landscaped with flowers. I entered through the side, café gate, and walked along a brick outdoor patio that had round tables with umbrellas.
Rose and Gary came from Massachusetts via northern Kentucky to live the dream of owning a B&B. Rose had a café and shop in New York but she bought and refinished antiques for their future B&B. After buying, refurbishing and painting (260 gallons just on the interior painting), the Burkes opened The Meeting House in March 2004 and the café one year later. There are four adjacent tenant homes built in 1890.
I stayed in the second floor Commodore William S. Harris room; the full size bed was plumped with pillows and I found a pewter plate with chocolates. (Two chocolates were made to look like little mice with thin almond shavings for ears). The U.S. Naval Commodore was the original land owner.
As Rose served me some delicious root beer cake, she told me about some of the odd happenings:
“The first unusual thing we experienced in our new home, after we moved in, was when we went to bed one evening in August. Gary was already asleep when all of a sudden we heard a HUGE noise. At the same time we felt a chill in the bedroom and there was the sound of a big rushing wind. It sounded like a Nor’easter! I sat up in bed, and asked Gary,
“What the heck was that?!” It sounded like a storm howling through one of the old houses back East. I said,
“There must be quite a storm brewing outside.” So I walked over to pull the curtain aside and look out the window. There was not a leaf moving. This wind lasted for four of five minutes and then it was gone.
“We host many special events in our house, and we’re often up late, putting things away or doing the dishes. There are many times when we feel the other person walking into the room, and we’ll turn around to talk with them—but there is no one there. I never feel alone in this house.
“We have a Pomeranian named Napoleon. And before Napoleon we had another Pomeranian for 14 years. His name was Camp. And Camp loved to get away, run upstairs to the library. He liked to lie down there, and, since it was the children’s nursery, we wonder if their spirits are still present. Our newer dog does something different. He will sit up, and follow something we can’t see. He turns to watch something at the ceiling as it apparently goes around the room.
“Another man, who was a guest at our old house when Jewett owned the home, came by to visit me. When I opened the door, he asked me,
“Have you seen them yet?” I asked him back,
“Have I seen who?” And the man continued,
“The girls—well I saw them and I’m not kidding you. I stayed in the Harris Room and once, when I slept, I woke up to the sound of children laughing. I opened my eyes to see two little girls at the foot of the bed—two girls who were not there. It scared the you-know-what out of me! I’m not lying!” He swears he saw the little girl’s ghosts. The history of the house said the girls died in what is now the library. Since it was the 1860’s the girls could have died of anything back then.”
I enjoyed the antique ambiance, good cooking and friendly conversation during my stay at The Meeting House. Perhaps it is not so odd that there are “living” reminders with the interactive presence of ghosts, who wish to tell us that history was not so long ago, and those that walk invisible in our hallways and rooms were living, breathing, feeling souls—just like us!
Enjoy your autumn—be blessed with friendship, moderate work and pleasant play. And if you dare, check out the Louisville area ghost tours: Robert Parker “Mr. Ghost Walker” downtown ghost tour (502) 689-5117, David Domine Ghosts of Old Louisville tours (502) 635-5244, Waverly Haunted Tours (502) 933-2142, Culbertson Mansion October Ghost Tours (812) 944-9600, and LaGrange Ghost Tour (502) 408-2766. The Meeting House is located at 519 Ann St., Frankfort, KY, 40601. For reservations call (502) 226-3226.
The Meeting House Bed and Breakfast, Frankfort, KY