Ghost stories, part 1

Ok, I just saw "Paranormal Activity" and ranted about it being the scaries movie I have ever seen.

In honor of that fear, and since Halloween is fast approaching, I thought I'd post a few ghost stories here.

I have always been one to believe in ghosts, spirits, demons, and the like, and I don't much relish the idea of cracking open a ouija board to shoot the shit with those from the great beyond. I give that shit a wide berth, and don't mess with it, cuz I am not exactly down with making them angry.

My earliest memory, one that was and remains to be one of the most formative when it comes to spirts, is a memory of when I was in early elementary school. We lived in a house in Aloha, Oregon (I still remember the address) that my parents had purchased brand-spanking new. When you walked in the front door, you entered the living room. Just beyond the living room was a formal dining area. To the right of the dining room was a bonus room/den; to the left of the dining room was a kitchen that wasn't too terribly big, but spacious enough to be an eat-in kitchen. Off the living room, to the left, was a hall. Down that hallway, there were four doors: 2 on the left and 2 on the right. The doors to the left led to bedrooms; the first door on the right was the hall bath, the second door led to the master bedroom, which had it's own bath. At the end of the hall was a linen closet. My bedroom was the second one on the left, directly across from the master. My room couldn't have been larger than 10 x 12. My bed was in the corner of the room, diagonal from the door. I clearly recall the sheer terror I experienced one night when I woke up in the middle of the night feeling cold. I awoke with a start and literally could not move. I felt as if there was some sort of energy, a malevolent energy that was coming from the hallway, into my room, and towards me as I lay in bed. Not only could I not move, I couldn't breathe (or so it felt); the worst part was I remember I couldn't scream. The feeling lasted for several seconds, before it finally broke; I screamed for all I was worth. Being a young child and feeling all that evil moving towards me freaked me out; I wanted my mommy and daddy by my side.

Several years later, not too long after the movie "Poltergeist" came out, we moved from my childhood home in Oregon to a rented house in Davis, California. You can imagine how unhappy I was to discover that, just over our back fence, was the city cemetery.

As a teenager, you tempt fate, and mock and tease that which really shouldn't be fucked with. I was in 9th or 10th grade at the time, and my aunt and cousins came to visit. One particular cousin was about my age (we are only 9 months apart); we'd grown up spending the summers together and were constantly getting in trouble together. The closest thing I had to a sibling. One summer evening during my family's visit, my cousin and I went out with a couple of my school friends. The moon was close on to being full, so we decided what better time (!!) to go play hide-and-seek in the cemetary.

It was a great old cemetary, as cemetaries go. It had family plots surrounded by raised stone walls; old headstones, the kind that caretakers have to mow around instead of over, and was pretty expansive. There were no lights on the premisis; the only illumination came from the moon and the street lamps outside the gates.

As we were running around, sneaking up and scaring each other to turn and run off into the dark again, I ducked behind an old headstone where my cousin happened to be hiding. As we peered around the edge, I could sense her freeze. An instant later, I saw it.

The ethereal shape of what seemed to be a woman was kneeling at a headstone just a few yards away. Her head was bowed, as if praying. She was dressed in what appeared to be a long, flowing dress. She glowed blue in the dark.

Neither of us spoke, but turned tail and ran, as if racing to see who could make it to the gates first. We didn't scream, maybe we couldn't. We just ran for all we were worth.

Outside the gates, doubled over and panting, we were silent for several moments, trying to catch our breath.

"Did you see that--"
"What was tha--"
"--glowing--"
"--no lights inside--"

Our words finally spilled from us, talking over each other, both of us wanting to confirm, despite our disbelief and shock.

Depsite the numerous inexplicable circumstances I would find myself in over my lifetime, it was the first--and to date, thankfully the last-- true ghost I had ever seen.