Spending the Night in a Haunted House

 

Here's a Halloween costume from years and years ago. I made it for a Costume-Con way back in the day: an Elizabethan werewolf. These days, my idea of a lovely Halloween is to turn off all the lights in the front of the house and watch Rocky Horror Picture Show in the back room.
I was reminded, however, that I did actually at one point spend the night - actually 3 nights - in a haunted house. It was a bed 'n' breakfast in a town in Tennessee where I was researching my Civil War novel Homeland: I arrived late, about 10 pm, and was the only guest because it was off-season. I got in my jammies, got into bed, switched off the light, and I KNEW there was something in the room with me. I had NEVER experienced such a thing before, but I didn't have the slightest doubt what was going on. I turned on the light again and there was of course nothing there.

Turned off the light. There was definitely something there. Turned on the light.

Nope.

Turned off the light. Whatever it was, it was between the bed and the window.

Turned on the light. Slept with the light on. I felt that it was malevolent, but not personal. Had very weird dreams.

Next morning, went downstairs, asked the little old lady who ran the b'n'b, "Uh... Is this house haunted?"

She looked at me with these great big blue eyes and said, "Oh, we've never had any ghosts UPstairs."

(yeah you do lady...)

Later, talking to the docents of a historic house in that town, they asked me where I was saying and I told them, and I asked, "Uh... Is that place haunted?"

"Oh, yeah," both exclaimed, "EVERYBODY in town knows about the ghosts at XYZ House. Did you see the one out by the barn?"

(no I didn't see the one out by the barn and don't want to...)

I slept with the light on the next two nights. It wasn't anything like movie haunted house but wasn't anything like what I'd thought such a thing would be like, but I give that as my Halloween story.

On the subject of spooky stories, my favorite of the vampire series, Traveling With the Dead, will be on sale, US and Canada, digitally through Open Road, Thursday, November 3, $1.99.

I'll tell my other ghost encounter another time.



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