Haunted Objects: Stories of Ghosts on Your Shelf Read online

  HAUNTED

  OBJECTS

  Stroies of Ghosts on Your Shelf

  CHRISTOPHER BALZANO AND TIM WEISBERG

  Acknowledgments

  Special thanks go to those who chose to share these stories with us, and with the world, through this book.

  Chris would like to thank: My amazingly understanding and supportive wife, Jill, and my two wonderful kids, Devin and Ella; Jeff Belanger for finding me another great project; the Spooky Crew for keeping my toe in the paranormal waters; my parents for pictures and support; and my students at Gateway Middle School for allowing me to use them as a sounding board for many of these stories. I would especially like to thank Tim Weisberg for stepping to the steering wheel with me and helping me bring these stories to light.

  Tim would like to thank: my wife, Jennifer, my son, Adam, and the rest of my family; my fellow Spooky Crew members Matt Costa and Matt Moniz; the listeners of “Spooky Southcoast”; Jeff Belanger; and especially Christopher Balzano, who allowed me to get involved in this project and get my mind away from the need to prove the paranormal and back to just enjoying a good ghost story.

  Contents

  Introduction

  Section 1

  The Ghosts You Wear

  Stone’s Dress | Never a Bride | The Little Girls’ Dresses | Some Things Are Better Left Dead | The Belt That May Have Started It All

  Section 2

  Beware of What is Passed Down

  Moving Moments | What My Grandparents Left Behind: Tim’s Story | The Mummy That Sunk the Unsinkable | Uncle Webb’s Tools | The Ghost of Two Christmases Past | Three Ways to Get From Here to There

  Section 3

  The Written Word

  The Lady of the Lake | Her Birth Certificate | Knives and Shadow: Chris’ Story | The Psychic, The Little Girl, and Three Killers

  Section 4

  Ghosts at Play

  The Haunted Violin | Robert’s Rules: Chris’ Experience with the World’s Most Haunted Doll | Claire the Doll | My First Spirit Board: Chris’ Story | Sarah Finds a Board

  Section 5

  Hauntings Around the House

  Bed of Dread | Altered Belief | The Haunted Travel Clock | The Haunted Butter Dish | Don’t Sit There!

  Section 6

  Haunted Jewelry

  The Healing Medal | An Assurance From the Unknown | I Dream of Djinn | Rocks of Love | Raphael on the Headstone

  Section 7

  Off the Wall

  Mirror, Mirror on the Wall | Sacrifice | Masking Evil | The Haunted Painting | Poster Child

  Section 8

  Wrapping Your Head—and Your Hands —Around Haunted Objects

  Getting Attached | Hands-On Experience | Haunted Collections | I Bought My Ghost on eBay!

  Photo Credits

  Glossary

  Online Resources

  About the Authors

  INTRODUCTION

  Our ideas of ghosts are formed by the stories we read or see on television. Sometimes they’re molded by a personal experience we have.

  Ghosts, or more accurately, ghost stories, are everywhere around us, but we do not understand as much as we might think about what a ghost truly is. We fall back on what we have seen on television or heard from others. In investigating ghosts and ghost stories, I’ve even found evidence that implies ghosts learn how to be ghosts based on what the person believed about the paranormal when they were still alive.

  But can an object be haunted?

  My story starts in the library.

  Before the days of after-school child-care programs, I walked about half a mile to the local public library after class. I spent my time between the stacks, pulling out books and reading all types of tales until 5:30, when my mother picked me up. I read about dinosaurs and the universe and about countries in Asia I knew I might never see. There were two books I kept rereading, and looking back, it is not too much of a leap to see how they might have affected the rest of my life.

  The first book was about how to be a private detective. It taught you how to sneak around the house, open doors without a sound, and interview suspects. The other was a collection of stories about unexplained happenings. One story featured a witch’s grave where grass wouldn’t grow, and one was about Daniel Webster fighting the devil on a cliff not too far from where I lived. There was also the story of a painting said to be haunted. It was of a castle with a light in one of the towers that would go on when odd things were happening in the house. If there was no ghostly activity, the window was black; if the ghost was around, the window was lit. There was even a time when a shadowy figure appeared in the window. In each instance, the paint-on window was dry. I was drawn into this story, and since then, my passion for all things unexplained has never left me.

  Looking back, my analytical brain and my experience tell me this story has to be a piece of folklore. I accept there are things in this world I will never understand. Looking for ghosts and researching hauntings and folklore is often about discovering what can be possible based on scientific fact.

  For example, people often say they feel a chill or a heat wave before something ghostly happens to them. Ghost hunters measure changes in temperature, believing the two are connected. The science makes some sense, but it can’t be proven yet. I can handle that as a potential link, but dry paint that appears and disappears? It spits in the face of every scientific fact and pseudoscientific paranormal fact—but that doesn’t make the story a lie.

  Years later, the story about the painting is one I still remember. It was not only the creepy nature of the tale, but also how normal the story started. It was just a picture. My father is an artist, and while I grew up, our walls were covered with framed bits of his creations. Could any of these lure a ghost? No one had died in our basement and I know the house wasn’t built on an old cemetery. I was pretty safe. But those pictures … any of them could be a haunting waiting to happen.

  If I only knew then what I know now. When asking if an object in your house is haunted, it is important to look at what we think we know about ghosts. The honest answer is very little. There are many theories out there, but some come to the surface more than others.

  A spirit is the essence of a person or a moment in a person’s life, somehow trapped in a way we can perceive. It might take the form of what we call a residual haunting—this means the essence is trapped, and lacking any consciousness, it acts like a recording of a moment or a person.

  Think of it like this: A woman gets thrown down the stairs, screams, and dies when she hits the bottom step. Now, every night, at the time of her death, the residents of the house hear a scream and a series of pounds on the stairs and may even see the woman fall. She can’t talk to them or move to a different room. They can’t communicate with her. From a homeowner’s perspective, all you can do is try to change the environment to break up the energy, or accept it and hope it runs out of juice. Keep in mind that some residual hauntings in Europe have lasted for centuries.

  It’s recommended to stay away from dolls and yard sales, and especially dolls at yard sales.

  The other type of ghost is what investigators call an intelligent haunting. This has nothing to do with an actual IQ. It basically refers to a ghost with a mind that is still active and a “body” that can interact with its environment. It may be able to go from room to room, answer questions, and impact its surroundings in a variety of ways. The easiest way for ghosts to communicate is through electrical devices (see Uncle Webb’s story on P. 52), but they are not bound by rules. They can move things, travel from room to room or off the property, and manifes
t in different ways. One day there might be banging on the wall and the next day there might be an orb of light or a shadow in the room. It is difficult to predict what will happen next, although it is important to remember there are few cases in which people get hurt by ghosts.

  There are many types of other paranormal elements that fall outside of these definitions. Poltergeists, which are generally associated with thrown objects and loud noises, may not be ghosts at all, but telekinetic energy from the living. Things like time slips, doppelgangers, and shadow people may not be ghosts, but often occur in connection with other unexplained phenomena in a specific location. Elementals, or spirits created by forces in nature instead of the remnants of living people, are ill defined but still blamed for turning on the faucet when no one is in the room. Then there are demons and dark forces that were never human and seem to have a sinister purpose for being in your house and may even try to possess you.

  Silverware is among the common household items that can hold trapped energy, which can lead to a residual haunting.

  All of this can be confusing, but it doesn’t change the question: Can an object be haunted? The answer is a resounding yes, and there are good reasons why. In many ways, it is almost logical that an object can be haunted, if you accept what we know about ghosts.

  A residual haunting—trapped energy—is more likely to be stored by an item near the event, especially if that item conducts electricity. It becomes almost like a character in the moment of the event. A crystal lamp or a setting of silverware becomes haunted and then replays the moment when the right environmental tumblers fall into place. The object can be moved to another location and when the situation is right, the recording replays, creating a haunting.

  Intelligent spirits suffer from a bit of superstition, which may help to define why an item can be haunted. Many people believe ghosts can’t pass on to the next world until all of their business is in order or they have resolved anything holding them back. Some may not even know they are dead. In these cases, they may use something familiar to hold, to communicate with, and will not rest until cherished items are in the hands of the people who deserve them. These may be objects that best defined the spirits in life, so it only makes sense the spirits can manipulate them in death. For example, a doll played with by a young girl who died is played with by an unseen force after her untimely death; a photograph of a mother is used to inform everyone she is okay; and an heirloom watch disappears when a son decides to sell it.

  The trick is determining whether the item is haunted or just part of a haunting. We decided to chronicle both here, but only in those cases where a particular item stands out or seems to be the center of the activity. For example, there are few places with a richer documentation of paranormal activity than the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast in Fall River, Massachusetts. We could have talked about the candlesticks that have flown off a shelf and hit people or written about the clock in the main room that runs slow or stops completely when other paranormal activity is going on. Instead, we chose the story of a misplaced book trying to communicate with a renegade psychic.

  We should be straightforward about some of the choices we made in this book. The paranormal can be about evidence. In fact, seeing or hearing a ghost is what makes a haunting real for people and what makes paranormal TV shows so popular. But we have never allowed the lack of evidence to get in the way of telling a good story.

  Many people believe ghosts can’t rest until cherished items get into the hands of loved ones, which helps to explain why heirlooms, such as watches, can be associated with paranormal activity.

  We consider all the people who shared tales for this book to be reliable, and whenever possible, we try to back up their claims with evidence (the kind you find in a hall of records or a library). The stories they told are true to them and thus, that makes them true stories. You can’t dismiss their feelings because you can’t duplicate their experience.

  Some people asked that we not use their real names or only use their first names, and we accommodate them. We present them to you, with our framing, of course, and allow you to make a decision on their truthfulness, if you choose.

  Glasses, plates, and other pieces of china may look pretty harmless, and in most cases are, but sometimes these items can become a focal point of a spirit … even a butter dish. Yes, really. See the story on P. 136.

  This book contains true stories of haunted items and classic stories of possessed possessions, with an occasional urban legend and folktale thrown in. Don’t worry, we’ll tell you which is which, but sometimes that’s not really important. A bit of truth lies in each folktale. Think of these stories as personal experiences mixed with superstition, the majority of which are told by everyday people who discovered something in their lives that was not what it should be. Most of the haunted objects are common, household items that, for one reason or another, became the focal point of a spirit. In almost every case, each object found its way into the hands of the people who reported the haunting. You’re left wondering: Did the object choose the person, or did the person help the ghost make itself known?

  That, of course, leads to the next question, one that might be harder to ask but will pass through your mind at least once as you read this book: Is there something on my shelf making those spooky noises I hear when I try to sleep? The answer is probably no.

  The good thing about a book like this is that you can close it when the story is over and go back to the part of your life that believes ghosts aren’t real. But then again, the people in these stories thought the same thing.

  For now, turn to the first story, avoid dolls of any size or age, stay away from yard sales, and put anything you inherit in a safety deposit box.

  — Christopher Balzano

  Stone’s Dress

  One of the more intriguing aspects of any ghost sighting is what the apparition is wearing. Often the clothing helps us place the spirit, whether it is tracing it back to a certain person or to a specific time period. But what happens when the ghost leaves its clothes behind?

  There is a long and haunted history at Stone’s Public House in Ashland, Massachusetts. Captain John Stone built the structure in 1834, when he heard the railroad was going to run through his property. He operated it as a tavern and hotel for two years before leasing it to a succession of innkeepers. Over the ensuing 140 or so years, it fell into disrepair until Leonard “Cappy” Fournier purchased it in 1976. Once he began making renovations, the paranormal activity that had long been whispered about at Stone’s increased tenfold.

  The inn, known as the Railroad House during Stone’s time, is believed to have been a stop on the Underground Railroad. It may also have a more sordid history. There have allegedly been at least seven deaths in the building. The footsteps of some of the victims are often heard echoing throughout the halls, and their spirits are known to move furniture. The first death involved Captain Stone himself, who murdered a man during a poker game and ordered him buried in the basement of the building.

  One of the spirits associated with the location is that of a young girl, who can be seen staring out a second-floor window—a window to a storage room no living child is allowed to enter. Some believe she is the spirit of Mary J. Smith, killed on the train tracks outside Stone’s in 1862 when she was just 10 years old. Although she was immediately brought into the Public House to receive medical treatment, she died shortly thereafter.

  Part of the dress found in the Stone attic.

  Even today, the staff reports hearing sounds of a young girl giggling or crying when there is not one present. There are also reports of the sound of a ball bouncing. But why would young Mary’s ghost want to stay in the place where she met her grisly, untimely demise?

  Her spirit is believed to be attached to the bloody dress she wore that fateful day, and it is allegedly that dress that resides in the attic of Stone’s Public House. How it got there nobody knows, but no one wants to remove it—and for good reason.

  The d
ress is ripped and tattered and stained with dark blotches that nearly everyone agrees appears to be blood. Over the years, it has become infamous among those wishing to check out the ghostly goings-on at Stone’s Public House, but generally nobody—including the staff—is allowed into the attic.

  That didn’t stop one former waitress from sneaking up there and taking the dress out. She took it home with her and was plagued by paranormal activity. She gave it to her boyfriend, who also had bad experiences while the dress was in his possession, even though it was locked in the trunk of his car. Finally, the waitress confessed to removing the dress from the building and returned it to the attic. Neither she nor her boyfriend had any more paranormal issues after that.

  Another piece of the mysterious dress.

  More recently, paranormal investigator Brian Harnois took the dress home while investigating Stone’s for an episode of the Syfy Channel television show, Ghost Hunters, and also reported strange activity.

  Independent paranormal researcher David Francis, who has worked closely with members of the Ashland Historical Society, first read an article about the bloody dress on the Internet years ago written by David Retalic, whom he said knows more about the ghosts at Stone’s than anyone else. Intrigued by a haunted location so close to his own home, Francis began investigating Stone’s and researching the history behind the haunting. The more he dug into it, the more he started to question whether the dress actually belonged to young Mary.

  “I would have accepted this stance on the dress as fact, but as I began to explore the history of the Public House and its many legends, I started having my doubts,” Francis said.

  In April 2008, Francis and Retalic visited the attic. The dress was no longer hung neatly as in past years; instead, it was in pieces that had been strewn about.