National Ghost Hunting day is Sept. 24. In honor of the holiday, here are some of The Scribe staff’s spookiest supernatural experiences.
Abby Aldinger | Opinion and LOTB Editor
I was about 10 years old, and I was sleeping over at a family friend’s house. Their dog, who often slept on the beds, was lying next to me (or so I thought) on my pull-out bed, because I felt him moving. When I tried nudging the dog over a bit, he wasn’t there. It scared me a lot, because next to me was a huge lump of blankets, but no dog. The door was closed too so there’s no way he could have left without me noticing.
Kate Marlett | Copy Editor
When I was in high school, I took a dual enrollment course called “Introduction to Archaeology.” For one of the assignments, I was required to visit a cemetery and observe how gravestones have changed over time and the social stratification that could be observed there. I arrived at the cemetery in the mid-afternoon of a lovely fall day. The sun was shining and there was a light breeze. I think it was one of the most peaceful moments I have ever experienced.
Alexis Markusfeld | Reporter
My grandma lives on a property up in rural Texas and has a giant forest growing (the city used to be huge and bustling so a lot of the time you’d find old bricks, bottles, etc. that were way out of date and there’s a lot of abandoned buildings) around her house. One time, my cousin and I were taking pictures and kept seeing blue circles (in bright daylight) floating around in them: turns out, ghost orbs. Those woods were kind of known for ghost activities in the town though.
Mike Foley | Artist
Well, I do often end up walking under street lamps and they’ll go out right as I go under them, and there was one time I was closing the UCCS Game Room and out of the corner of my eyes I saw a very tall black silhouette of a woman with really messy hair. When I left, I felt like I was being watched.
Neako Hallisey | Artist
The thought of seeing a ghost sounds cool and exciting. However, when you experience something your mind can’t explain, that perception changes. What I’m about to tell you is what changed it for me.
I grew up in the mountains by Aspen, CO. In that region of the state, you’re surrounded by lots of cute little towns and farmland. On the way to my house, there is this really large farm, and beside it is this tiny, white cabin right next to the side of the road. According to my parents, there was this man who used to live there. He never talked to anyone, no one knew his name, nothing of the sort. All he would do was suntan every day outside of his house and burn himself to a crisp. I was too young to remember anything about this man, I just knew where his house was.
However, I do remember when he died. For weeks no one had seen him. He had just suddenly stopped suntanning, and no one decided to check on him until buzzards started swarming his house. When he was found, he had already been dead for a while. They were never able to figure out what the cause was.
After his passing, no one did anything with his house. To this day, it still stands there off to the side of the road, empty. Or is it empty…?
In the fall of 2017, I was driving home from a Halloween party (yes, I was sober). This was around 11 p.m., so I’m driving along a dark mountain road, with no source of light (besides the headlights from my car of course). As I approach the small white cabin, I notice something in the window: a pair of bright reflective eyes. At first, I thought these eyes belonged to a raccoon or a cat, but they were way too big to belong to an animal that small. When my headlights start to shine brighter on the house, I see that the eyes belong to a dark and shadowy human silhouette. I couldn’t tell if the eyes were looking at me but whatever it was, creeped me the HELL out. Not to mention that I’m seeing this in a dead guy’s house. I don’t stick around to figure out what it is, I step on the gas, and drive the rest of the way home with the hairs standing on the back of my neck.
I grew up watching shows like “Ghost Adventures” and “The Haunted,” always having a peaked interest in the paranormal, thinking seeing a ghost would be awesome. After this experience, I don’t feel so brave anymore.
Do I think I saw a ghost? Absolutely. Every time I drive past that house, I avoid eye contact with the window.
Header graphic by Lexi Petri.