In my life, I've had a few encounters with the unknown. And though I believe in ghosts, I still am skeptical of most people's claims and look for reasonable and natural causes first. These are a few of my experiences, ones which seemed to have no logic other than supernatural.
Don Cesar Hotel - St. Pete Beach, Florida:
In 2006, I proposed to my now current wife at this hotel. For being almost 80 years old, the hotel is in great condition and truly a beautiful scene from any point on the beach. It's a large pink building and for anyone who lives in the Tampa Bay area, it's the easiest place to recognize on the coast. I believe we stayed on the second floor for three days/two nights. On either our first or second day there, we were sitting on the bed when I felt that odd feeling I've come to know too well. I first saw a bright ball of light appear between the bed and the door to the room. This was during the day, the curtains were mostly drawn shut, and was no light source nor reflective item in that area. Within a minute of that, I saw what looked like the sandy bottoms on one's feet walk across the floor between the bed and the TV. This trail lasted about 6 feet until it disappeared into the wall. That I found odd because the other side of the wall was straight to the outside, with a drop 20 feet down.
At night, in the dining area, the hotel has a "haunting" feeling. Not in a supernatural way, but it's a historic place with a certain ambiance. The lights are dim, there's usually a piano player who plays a few rag time tunes, and there's an overall elegance to the place. You can almost imagine yourself back in the 1920's. Yes, there are ghost stories surrounding the hotel, mostly around the man the hotel is named after and his estranged wife. I also understand the hotel was a VA center during WWII. Is there a connection? I don't know. I can say that everyone of my visits are very pleasant!
Andersonville War Cemetary & Fort - Andersonville, GA
Probably around 1996, my dad took me to Andersonville on our way back to Florida. It was a long trip already and honestly, I wasn't into history as much then as I am now. As you pull up, there's the shell of what once was the fort that was used to hold off Union forces. That itself and the surrounding cemetary is pretty impressive. At the time, there was a museum building to the left near the parking lot. Once inside, my dad was paying our way in when I was browsing some brochures. I felt like I was being watched, that I needed to turn around. When I did, I stared into the entryway of the museum area. Standing behind me at the threshold was a thinner man, about 6 foot, wearing a dark blue uniform, hat, holding a rifle at his side with the butt rested on the ground. He had dark hair and a mustache and just sort of stared at me. What was odd was his clothes seemed to be in color, but his skin was almost grayish. It was like I was looking at a giant photo. I turned back to how I was stationed, looked back again, and he was gone. This was the first full apparition I'd ever seen, but it wasn't scary. I was almost saddened by it.
Not sure what to think about this, I ventured off into the museum and was trying to look for an obvious explanation to this. I watched a film strip which was being shown nearby just in case an image was accidently casted upon the wall. I didn't see him in it or any photo I browsed over. Nothing else occurred there which seemed out of place. As I walked through the cemetary, I tried to explain the issue in my head, but came up with nothing other than I encountered a ghost.
A few years ago, I contacted the person in charge of the museum and site. He explained to me that the area I was once in was no longer open to the public. The building is now used for storage.
Andersonville is known as a brutal prison where many Union soldiers were held under ghastly conditions. 6 Union soldiers were hanged there, one shared the same last name as me. Interesting!
Undisclosed House - Tampa, FL
I won't mention the exact location other than it's in a middle-class, older neighborhood in Tampa. On a few occasions, I was asked to watch the house of someone I knew at the time. I had done this before without incident. However, early 2005, was a different issue. The owner of the house was going to be out of town for 3 days celebrating his one year wedding anniversary with his wife. Now, I'm a respectful person and I hate messing with things or being in someone's personal space, especially when they're not present. But the owner even invited me to stay the night and eat whatever I wanted, which I usually took him up on. Being alone in someone else's house does put me on edge. Besides, his house was odd because it had no A/C, the interior looked its age, and he had a human skull in his office which he stole from UM's science lab in the 70's.
On my second day there, I felt really odd. It was probably early afternoon. There was an overwhelming sensation that seemed so negative. I couldn't put my finger on it. Regardless, I dismissed it and left the house for the day. When I came back that night, it was still there. I tried to get a feel of the place by walking around the house. At first, I figured it was just my ways kicking in, making me feel bad for eating his last burger in the freezer and how he might be upset about it. But this feeling went well beyond guilt. As I made my rounds, I looked for hot spots. There was an awful feeling that hit me when I entered the master bedroom. One thing that seemed odd, that I never noticed the last time I was over, was the number of crucifixes on the wall.
It was about that time, I called a buddy of mine to come over. One, I wanted company, and two, he is sensitive to these things too. I never really told him what was going on or that I wanted him to investigate this with me. As soon as he entered the house, he complained about the awful feeling he had. So, it got to be about 11 at night. We made some food, talked, and I asked him to walk through the house with me. I never once explained to him where I got the terrible feeling or what occurred so far. He told me as we got halfway through the hallway, he noticed the atmosphere change. When he entered the master bedroom, he said this is where it was coming from. I also never told him at this point my neck and back where red hot, to the point the pain was almost unbearable. He confessed the same experience, that it felt like hot lead poured on his neck. At this point, the intensity in the house really picked up.
We went back into the kitchen area and discussed the matter. During that time, I noticed a huge ball of light drift from the entry way of the Florida room, disappear behind my friend's head, and drift into the living room. This light was about the size of a basketball. The curtains were drawn tight and there are so many plants in front of the house, I could shine a lighthouse beacon into the window and you wouldn't see it. As the feeling got too much for us, we made a parting gesture. My friend claimed to have seen an old woman sitting on the couch, staring at him. I exclaimed outloud in certain words that we meant no harm and were only trying to watch the house while the owners were away. Just like that, the feeling went away, the pain was gone, and peace seemed to be restored. Quickly, we left.
The next day, I told the story to the owner and his wife. He said the description of the woman matched the previous owner. Apparently, she was eccentric and did odd things in the house like paint the inside of the toilet bowls blood red and due to her age and condition, eventually was placed in a rest home. She's probably dead by now, I don't know. I never had any problems before until that night. I never went back to the house afterwards. I didn't want to experience it again and the owner and I got into a fight regarding the incident. Apparently, his wife thought my buddy and I were drunk and imagined the whole thing.
I can understand her skepticism, especially if she claims she's never experienced anything in the house, but I felt betrayed because their reaction was so harsh. What she never explained to me was why was it she had so many crucifixes in her room when she didn't before.
I ran into the owner one time since then. Coincidentally, it was at a wake for someone we used to work with. I didn't feel it was the right time to ask, "Have you had any problems in the house since then?" I'm not even sure he still lives there.
To me, this is the hardest story for me to tell because it leaves me in such an odd mood. That night was a physical encounter, one of a negative connotation. It was my worst experience with the paranormal.
My dad's house - Lutz, FL
Once again, another undisclosed house. My dad's house is the remnants of an old foundation and structure which he grew up on. It does include a huge add-on which was part of its restoration process in the late 80's/early 90's. Otherwise, the house sat vacant for decades. There are many odd things that happened in this house. It's hard to begin really because they got filed away as "it happened again."
Also, I will point out that I didn't live there, but I was there a few times a week for visitation. Now, some things can be easily explained if left on their own, but coupled with everything else that happened in the house, it's hard to tell. The small things were the lights would flicker, the channels on the TV would flip around, or the dogs barking hysterically and then immediately be silenced. Those are varied instances with possible explanations and it's hard to say whether or not it had to do with the supernatural. Once again, the house was old, it was in the woods, who knows. That's too many variables to calculate.
My half-sister did live in the house for a while. Though she's not the most rational person in the world, she did confess to having some experiences as well. I didn't know this right away. Nor did I know its history until I talked to her.
The room I stayed in was part of the original house. It was down a long hall which branched from the kitchen/dining area and where the original living room was. I already had a hard time getting to sleep there because it wasn't my house. At night, it would sound like something coming closer to the bedroom, starting at the old living room to about where the dining table is. Now, it didn't sound like foot steps. There were no hard bangs against the wooden floor. Imagine more of a constant pressure being rolled across it. The floor would creak in one direction for a few minutes, then seem to go back to the living room. Much to my chagrin, I found out my dad's sister passed away in the house in the 60's. She was bound to a wheelchair and her death was a result of her health defects.
Once again, there were a lot of electrically-based incidents in the house. Faulty wiring? I assume that was replaced when the house was rebuilt since almost everything was gutted. I know I did have my alarm go off for no reason at all one night. About 2 AM, I had just laid down. Within minutes, my alarm sounds out as loud is it can. For some reason, it was beeping and playing the radio at the same time. Not a feature of the alarm.
One night around Christmas, I was on the back patio with some kid who got invited over. He and I had escaped the party inside and were standing near one of the support columns. We saw a white, burst of smoky cloud appear between me and him. At first, I didn't know if it was just me, but he also saw it. I do know there were photos being taken that night, but we were no where near that action, nor in its path. So no flash interference.
The back patio was huge, screened in with a good sized pool. Our cats lived back there with access to get outside if they wanted. One almost hilarious thing is the cats would always want to run into the house, so we got in the habit of bringing food with us if we went outside through the back door. The food was used to lure the cats out of the house and back onto the patio where they belonged. Because of this, the cats would line up at the door if they saw anyone looking like they were going outside. They also did this when no one was in the living room, but it really struck me as odd when I was there alone...the cats would for no reason bolt up to the door as if someone were standing there, then they'd all turn their heads in the same direction, like they were eying someone walking around. This was 3 or 4 cats all repeating the same direction, but no one was there.
After my dad's father passed away, I was worried if the activity would increase since he also lived there decades ago. One night, I was about ready for bed. I turned around behind me and saw what can best be described as if I were standing on one side of a sliding glass door and from the other side, someone threw blue jelly at it. Between me and the couch, there was this blob hanging in the air. I started to dismiss this as me being tired. I turned off one set of lights and I walked through the living room, I saw in the mirror someone seated on the couch. He was tall and thin, like my grandfather. I turned off the last set of lights and said, "It's all yours. I'm going to bed."
Don Cesar Hotel - St. Pete Beach, Florida:
In 2006, I proposed to my now current wife at this hotel. For being almost 80 years old, the hotel is in great condition and truly a beautiful scene from any point on the beach. It's a large pink building and for anyone who lives in the Tampa Bay area, it's the easiest place to recognize on the coast. I believe we stayed on the second floor for three days/two nights. On either our first or second day there, we were sitting on the bed when I felt that odd feeling I've come to know too well. I first saw a bright ball of light appear between the bed and the door to the room. This was during the day, the curtains were mostly drawn shut, and was no light source nor reflective item in that area. Within a minute of that, I saw what looked like the sandy bottoms on one's feet walk across the floor between the bed and the TV. This trail lasted about 6 feet until it disappeared into the wall. That I found odd because the other side of the wall was straight to the outside, with a drop 20 feet down.
At night, in the dining area, the hotel has a "haunting" feeling. Not in a supernatural way, but it's a historic place with a certain ambiance. The lights are dim, there's usually a piano player who plays a few rag time tunes, and there's an overall elegance to the place. You can almost imagine yourself back in the 1920's. Yes, there are ghost stories surrounding the hotel, mostly around the man the hotel is named after and his estranged wife. I also understand the hotel was a VA center during WWII. Is there a connection? I don't know. I can say that everyone of my visits are very pleasant!
Andersonville War Cemetary & Fort - Andersonville, GA
Probably around 1996, my dad took me to Andersonville on our way back to Florida. It was a long trip already and honestly, I wasn't into history as much then as I am now. As you pull up, there's the shell of what once was the fort that was used to hold off Union forces. That itself and the surrounding cemetary is pretty impressive. At the time, there was a museum building to the left near the parking lot. Once inside, my dad was paying our way in when I was browsing some brochures. I felt like I was being watched, that I needed to turn around. When I did, I stared into the entryway of the museum area. Standing behind me at the threshold was a thinner man, about 6 foot, wearing a dark blue uniform, hat, holding a rifle at his side with the butt rested on the ground. He had dark hair and a mustache and just sort of stared at me. What was odd was his clothes seemed to be in color, but his skin was almost grayish. It was like I was looking at a giant photo. I turned back to how I was stationed, looked back again, and he was gone. This was the first full apparition I'd ever seen, but it wasn't scary. I was almost saddened by it.
Not sure what to think about this, I ventured off into the museum and was trying to look for an obvious explanation to this. I watched a film strip which was being shown nearby just in case an image was accidently casted upon the wall. I didn't see him in it or any photo I browsed over. Nothing else occurred there which seemed out of place. As I walked through the cemetary, I tried to explain the issue in my head, but came up with nothing other than I encountered a ghost.
A few years ago, I contacted the person in charge of the museum and site. He explained to me that the area I was once in was no longer open to the public. The building is now used for storage.
Andersonville is known as a brutal prison where many Union soldiers were held under ghastly conditions. 6 Union soldiers were hanged there, one shared the same last name as me. Interesting!
Undisclosed House - Tampa, FL
I won't mention the exact location other than it's in a middle-class, older neighborhood in Tampa. On a few occasions, I was asked to watch the house of someone I knew at the time. I had done this before without incident. However, early 2005, was a different issue. The owner of the house was going to be out of town for 3 days celebrating his one year wedding anniversary with his wife. Now, I'm a respectful person and I hate messing with things or being in someone's personal space, especially when they're not present. But the owner even invited me to stay the night and eat whatever I wanted, which I usually took him up on. Being alone in someone else's house does put me on edge. Besides, his house was odd because it had no A/C, the interior looked its age, and he had a human skull in his office which he stole from UM's science lab in the 70's.
On my second day there, I felt really odd. It was probably early afternoon. There was an overwhelming sensation that seemed so negative. I couldn't put my finger on it. Regardless, I dismissed it and left the house for the day. When I came back that night, it was still there. I tried to get a feel of the place by walking around the house. At first, I figured it was just my ways kicking in, making me feel bad for eating his last burger in the freezer and how he might be upset about it. But this feeling went well beyond guilt. As I made my rounds, I looked for hot spots. There was an awful feeling that hit me when I entered the master bedroom. One thing that seemed odd, that I never noticed the last time I was over, was the number of crucifixes on the wall.
It was about that time, I called a buddy of mine to come over. One, I wanted company, and two, he is sensitive to these things too. I never really told him what was going on or that I wanted him to investigate this with me. As soon as he entered the house, he complained about the awful feeling he had. So, it got to be about 11 at night. We made some food, talked, and I asked him to walk through the house with me. I never once explained to him where I got the terrible feeling or what occurred so far. He told me as we got halfway through the hallway, he noticed the atmosphere change. When he entered the master bedroom, he said this is where it was coming from. I also never told him at this point my neck and back where red hot, to the point the pain was almost unbearable. He confessed the same experience, that it felt like hot lead poured on his neck. At this point, the intensity in the house really picked up.
We went back into the kitchen area and discussed the matter. During that time, I noticed a huge ball of light drift from the entry way of the Florida room, disappear behind my friend's head, and drift into the living room. This light was about the size of a basketball. The curtains were drawn tight and there are so many plants in front of the house, I could shine a lighthouse beacon into the window and you wouldn't see it. As the feeling got too much for us, we made a parting gesture. My friend claimed to have seen an old woman sitting on the couch, staring at him. I exclaimed outloud in certain words that we meant no harm and were only trying to watch the house while the owners were away. Just like that, the feeling went away, the pain was gone, and peace seemed to be restored. Quickly, we left.
The next day, I told the story to the owner and his wife. He said the description of the woman matched the previous owner. Apparently, she was eccentric and did odd things in the house like paint the inside of the toilet bowls blood red and due to her age and condition, eventually was placed in a rest home. She's probably dead by now, I don't know. I never had any problems before until that night. I never went back to the house afterwards. I didn't want to experience it again and the owner and I got into a fight regarding the incident. Apparently, his wife thought my buddy and I were drunk and imagined the whole thing.
I can understand her skepticism, especially if she claims she's never experienced anything in the house, but I felt betrayed because their reaction was so harsh. What she never explained to me was why was it she had so many crucifixes in her room when she didn't before.
I ran into the owner one time since then. Coincidentally, it was at a wake for someone we used to work with. I didn't feel it was the right time to ask, "Have you had any problems in the house since then?" I'm not even sure he still lives there.
To me, this is the hardest story for me to tell because it leaves me in such an odd mood. That night was a physical encounter, one of a negative connotation. It was my worst experience with the paranormal.
My dad's house - Lutz, FL
Once again, another undisclosed house. My dad's house is the remnants of an old foundation and structure which he grew up on. It does include a huge add-on which was part of its restoration process in the late 80's/early 90's. Otherwise, the house sat vacant for decades. There are many odd things that happened in this house. It's hard to begin really because they got filed away as "it happened again."
Also, I will point out that I didn't live there, but I was there a few times a week for visitation. Now, some things can be easily explained if left on their own, but coupled with everything else that happened in the house, it's hard to tell. The small things were the lights would flicker, the channels on the TV would flip around, or the dogs barking hysterically and then immediately be silenced. Those are varied instances with possible explanations and it's hard to say whether or not it had to do with the supernatural. Once again, the house was old, it was in the woods, who knows. That's too many variables to calculate.
My half-sister did live in the house for a while. Though she's not the most rational person in the world, she did confess to having some experiences as well. I didn't know this right away. Nor did I know its history until I talked to her.
The room I stayed in was part of the original house. It was down a long hall which branched from the kitchen/dining area and where the original living room was. I already had a hard time getting to sleep there because it wasn't my house. At night, it would sound like something coming closer to the bedroom, starting at the old living room to about where the dining table is. Now, it didn't sound like foot steps. There were no hard bangs against the wooden floor. Imagine more of a constant pressure being rolled across it. The floor would creak in one direction for a few minutes, then seem to go back to the living room. Much to my chagrin, I found out my dad's sister passed away in the house in the 60's. She was bound to a wheelchair and her death was a result of her health defects.
Once again, there were a lot of electrically-based incidents in the house. Faulty wiring? I assume that was replaced when the house was rebuilt since almost everything was gutted. I know I did have my alarm go off for no reason at all one night. About 2 AM, I had just laid down. Within minutes, my alarm sounds out as loud is it can. For some reason, it was beeping and playing the radio at the same time. Not a feature of the alarm.
One night around Christmas, I was on the back patio with some kid who got invited over. He and I had escaped the party inside and were standing near one of the support columns. We saw a white, burst of smoky cloud appear between me and him. At first, I didn't know if it was just me, but he also saw it. I do know there were photos being taken that night, but we were no where near that action, nor in its path. So no flash interference.
The back patio was huge, screened in with a good sized pool. Our cats lived back there with access to get outside if they wanted. One almost hilarious thing is the cats would always want to run into the house, so we got in the habit of bringing food with us if we went outside through the back door. The food was used to lure the cats out of the house and back onto the patio where they belonged. Because of this, the cats would line up at the door if they saw anyone looking like they were going outside. They also did this when no one was in the living room, but it really struck me as odd when I was there alone...the cats would for no reason bolt up to the door as if someone were standing there, then they'd all turn their heads in the same direction, like they were eying someone walking around. This was 3 or 4 cats all repeating the same direction, but no one was there.
After my dad's father passed away, I was worried if the activity would increase since he also lived there decades ago. One night, I was about ready for bed. I turned around behind me and saw what can best be described as if I were standing on one side of a sliding glass door and from the other side, someone threw blue jelly at it. Between me and the couch, there was this blob hanging in the air. I started to dismiss this as me being tired. I turned off one set of lights and I walked through the living room, I saw in the mirror someone seated on the couch. He was tall and thin, like my grandfather. I turned off the last set of lights and said, "It's all yours. I'm going to bed."
Thoughts on the matter:
I think the person experiencing the haunting is partially responsible. Why? Because other people can live somewhere and experience nothing. So, it's either a person's overactive imagination or it just takes the right person to see and hear the supernatural. Not everyone is open to these matters. Perhaps some people are a beacon, like a light in a dark tunnel for the supernatural to gravitate towards? Perhaps certain types of people trigger the encounter and set the spirit off?
Paranormal investigators like Jason and Grant of the Ghost Hunters take this subject from what I feel is the best point of view. They and their team believe in the supernatural but they are interested in hard proof of it. Getting to the truth is what they call debunking, or proving a claim of a haunting as a natural occurance. 80-90% of all claims can be debunked or otherwise proven as natural. However, a small group have no explanation and perhaps are beyond the physical realm. I tried to take the same approach to my own encounters. So, if you read this, please don't look at these as just another Southern Tale.
