Friday, October 5, 2012

Shadow People


Have you ever seen something out of the corner of your eye and dismissed it, thinking it was your imagination?    Hoping it was your imagination??  Most of the time it is your imagination.   Most of the time.    I've seen those little shadows in my peripheral vision - - a split second snippet of dark movement and then it's gone.   And I think no more about it.  Certainly it was my imagination or something in my eye.  Of course it was.  Wasn't it? 

My husband is not a lover of things paranormal like I am.   We both believe in life after death, but I'm the one who loves to watch paranormal shows and has an EMF detector on my phone - because, well, you just never know.   But his idea of a dream vacation is not staying in room 217 at the Stanley Hotel, hoping to be visited by spirits from the beyond.   Nope, not him.  He'd prefer Hawaii or something.  My husband, however, is the one who had a "real" experience.  Yes, a REAL one.    Hardly seems fair, huh?  

When we (my husband) was in graduate school many years ago, he worked full-time at night for the University doing janitorial work.    He worked in the maintenance building, which was huge.   And he was the only one there at night.   Well, maybe I should say he was the only one ALIVE there.   I and our children would visit him sometimes to break the monotony of pushing a vacuum all night.  It was an old building which had been remodeled, but it was creepy when you were alone at night.   It was big with lots of hallways and doors and stairs and machines making strange noises. 

My husband worked there for five years, and during that five years he would see things out of the corner of his eye - - he could see shapes, a man and a boy.   He could make out blue jeans and a white shirt.   But, then, POOF!  It was gone.   And he thought it was probably his imagination.  

On one particular night, however, he was vacuuming a long hallway, with open offices on either side, as he had done many many times before.  This time it was different.  Above the sound of the vacuum he thought he could hear someone running down the hallway, which was weird since he was supposed to be the only one in the building.   He could hear the sounds of feet or shoes hitting the ground, and it was getting louder and closer.   He turned off the vacuum and looked toward the direction of the sound, wondering who would be there so late, and why were they running?  That's when he saw it.  It.  It was a gray, transparent shape, not quite a person . . . running down the hall and getting closer to him.   The sound was getting louder and he was getting a little freaked out.   He stood there, frozen, watching as the shape flew past him, not noticing or not caring that my husband was standing there.   The sound dissipated as the figure got further down the hall, and then the sound and the figure were gone.    Needless to say, my husband was stunned.   He knew it wasn't his imagination.  He had seen it.  He had heard it.   He looked down at his arms and they were void of color and the hairs on his arms were standing on end.     That was enough for him.   He came home for the night.  

Nowadays, when I watch Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures, The Dead Files, Paranormal Witness and all the other shows like that on TV, my boys laugh and mock me.  

But my husband?   He just looks at me and doesn't say a word.   Because he knows.








34 comments:

  1. Scary! I watch Ghost Adventures, but mostly because the guys on that show are so douchey :-)

    You have an EMF detector on your phone? Have you gotten stuff recorded on it before?

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    1. My sons also mock me for my EMF detector :) When the dog barks at nothing, I take it out and watch it spike, which could mean that there's energy there I can't see or it could mean that it's a cheap app for my iphone! hahaha

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  2. i really have to admit, i have a keen interest in this kind of thing---and during the last couple of years, i have seen things out of the corner of my eye many times--even certain people i know, just sitting there and then of course i look and they are not there--extremely interesting post!

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    1. I really do think there are things walking the earth that we can't see. That sounds creepy. Hope you don't think I'm a weirdo :)

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  3. I'm like you Judy, I'm really into that stuff. My fiance' isn't at all. He won't even watch The Shining with me. I have seen shadows out of the corner of my eye in some places i've lived, and my dad used to tease me that our house was haunted by the former/original owner (it was built in 1889). But I never had any kind of experience like your husband did. How CREEPY!!! Did he quit the job the next day or did he go back? Was the university known to be haunted? Had anyone else had any experiences w/ ghosts?

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    1. He did go back but never saw it again. And I never heard any other haunted stories about the university, but you know -- most places have stories :)

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  4. I am more like your husband, Judy !! :)

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  5. The shadow people ARE real!!! I got goose bumps reading this. Have a great weekend and thank you again for all the freigtening post I am loving it :))

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    1. lol - thanks, Janice, glad you are enjoying them!!

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  6. OMG fantastic...how cool is that?

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    1. Much cooler now that it's years later! haha

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  7. Scary! I don't think I could have gone back.

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  8. First off, LOVE the new blog! I like paranormal things too, even though I'm a little chicken about it. I do like to write horror sometimes, and my stories always have just a touch of the macabre here and there. Your husband's experience is just...wow! Talk about scary. I had goosebumps reading it!

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    1. Thanks! I'm a big chicken myself, but love it! And I don't know how my husband kept going back to work after that experience!

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  9. Ooh, makes you wonder what the story behind the haunting is, doesn't it!

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  10. Love it!!!
    Did you ever look up the history of the place to see what the ghosts were there for??

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    1. No, never did. I think at the time my husband just kind of wanted to forget about it.

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  11. At that point, I probably could of made it down the hallway and out the door, faster than the ghost. Spooky!

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  12. Great post, Judy. Later this month I plan to write about a shadow person I saw in room 217 at the old hotel. (Yes, 217 ... I didn't realize there was a coincidence there until I read this post :) It will go up right before I put up the 13 movies for ghost lovers list.

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  13. Can't say I'm. not I teeny bit envious :) Can't wait to read about your experience!

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  14. OK, I read the first half and then was afraid I'd be creeped out after I saw "Long dark hallway"...

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    1. Long dark hallway can never lead to anything good :)

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  15. Did he go back after that? Did anyone else he worked with ever see anything similar?

    That is so scary, I can't even imagine going through something like that.!

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  16. On an earlier post (which I could not call up through google reader) you asked for comments on the new background. So I'm sharing. :-) The black background makes it hard to see anything else. Feels hard on the eyes. FYI, I've heard and read that light backgrounds are best. :-)

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    1. I'm not sure what background you're looking at, but I and others aren't having a hard time at all. Sorry you are :(

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  17. I share my home with spirits. They don't bother us, we don't bother them. I say hello from time to time but that's about all. The spirits upstairs however are another matter all together. Whoever sleeps up there comes down the next morning scratched all to hell! Just a moment ago I saw a shadowy figure going thru the door out to the toy room.. Eh.. As long as they're quiet and don't come in my room, I'm good. :)

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    1. MiMi - you say it so matter of factly! You live in a movie!!!

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