BEWARE.
This post is not for the faint of heart. If you have any reservations about the world of the unexplained I suggest you exit out. NOW.
Think I’m joking? Perhaps I should apprise you of the choice tidbit that I am the woman whose errant fireworks display torched a neighbor’s tree and very nearly set his house on fire. Yes, that very woman.
Remember I did warn you.
All right my pretties, let us proceed with this dark tale of smoke and mirrors.
Smoke and Mirrors
Every Halloween the job of escorting my trick-or-treaters around the neighborhood has fallen to me. Why? Because of the unfortunate and supremely untimely DEATH of my husband. The concept of sending our two innocent young children out into the cold dark night on their own obviously wasn’t an option. So I came up with the scheme of hiring our babysitter to sit the house and dole out candy. Imagine my horror one year upon learning at the last minute that She Couldn’t Come. Holy bats. There was no way in Hell that my two costumed souls would happily stay home so I was forced to do the unthinkable. Leave a house unpeopled on Halloween night.
It was obvious I had to leave the candy bowl outside. Untended. All by itself.
It was a symbolic gesture. I knew we’d return to an untouched bowl. Why?
1) What parent in their right mind would allow their darling to climb the two flights of slippery and poorly lit stairs of an obviously empty house to pluck a trick-or-treat from an untended bowl?
2) What child in their right mind would climb the two flights of slippery and poorly lit stairs of an obviously empty house to pluck a trick-or-treat from an untended bowl?
No one. Zip. Zilch. Nada.
Fine. After the spectacularly fun two sugar laden hours of skipping from house to house, watching my littlies banging on doors and holding open their worthy pillow cases begging for treats, we returned to our cold and empty house. Dragging ourselves up the slippery, poorly lit stairs we were treated to the most shattering sight.
The glass candy bowl was not only empty but it was ass over tea kettle upside down!
Not wanting to alarm my little spooks I faintly giggled and gingerly grasped the offending bowl and turned the key to the front door. All was normal inside. Upside down and empty candy bowl forgotten.
I was a fool.
Ok brave souls cast your eyes upon the following photo. It was taken during the annual family fireworks display on our front lawn moments later that very night.
Can you see it? The ghostly profile of our candy thief? Allow me to guide you. Cast your eyes to the top left and you’ll spot his wavy hair. Look slowly to the right and you’ll eyeball the beginning of his profile. His right eye comes into view as does his nose and right nostril.
Now for the undeniable clue that proves we have our culprit. Look just below his chin, under his beard. Yes. Right there. A partially emerged unwrapped candy bar! Boo! We’re not done! There’s someone else captured in this ghostly image. Look at the far lower right, then down the long white bar to the grasping open bony fingers reaching out for the half chewed morsel of chocolate …
Holy candy corn coven of spirits! Chills are shooting up my core as I type. While no other photo has ever captured such haunting visits I know it’s not just smoke and mirrors. I have photographic proof.
Perhaps we are due for another visit. Odd things have happened this week. The first was the eery high-pitched squeal emanating from my always perfectly silent furnace. Yet on the day of the furnace man’s visit? Dead silence. Furnace was perfectly behaved. Then just yesterday the server on this website gave up the ghost. Shut down. For an entire day. Guess what I discovered when it was restored this morning? This carefully crafted post was GONE. It was the only thing missing from my site other than a few comments on a previous post.
This rehashed post that virtually wrote itself the second time around was written with the Finish The Sentence Friday prompt of “One Halloween, I … ” prompt in mind. Thanks so much to our spooktacular hosts Kristi Campbell at http://www.findingninee.com and Stephanie Sprenger at http://
Are you still here brave soul? I commend you. What do you think of my ghostly photo? Have you ever encountered such a haunting experience? Do you believe in the possibility of ghosts or spirits? Or are they just the stuff of smoke and mirrors? If you’d care to spill, I’d love to hear.
54 Responses
Definitely spine chilling and must admit that we were just talking about ghostly appearances with my neighbor sharing her own story the other day with us. But still I totally believe photographic evidence or not stuff like this for sure. And admittedly great way to start my Halloween morning off. So, thank you Kelly and Happy Halloween!
Thanks Janine! A very Happy Halloween to you! I am loving the pics of your Elsa. I hope the weather warms up for your trick-or-treaters and that the rain STOPS here. Pouring as I type.
The perfect Halloween post! This is my least favorite day of the year, but your story has reminded me that Halloween is more than candy, candy, candy! Happy Halloween, Kelly :).
I’m glad I was able to redirect the focus from candy, candy, candy Nicki! As I type the furnace has gone back to howling again. Of course. Furnace man isn’t here!
Kelly, was the smoke there for the fireworks? It could be an optical illusion – not saying it is, cause I do believe in sprits,….but I am skeptical:). Either way, he has a good looking profile – whoever “he” is!
He was a good looking profile wasn’t he? And yes, shshshsssshhhhh I also think it might just be from the fireworks but let’s just keep that weensy secret between you and me. I’ll let you know if he pops by tonight to prove me wrong.
To me the scariest thing would have been the squeal from the furnace. Service calls and repairs are EXPENSIVE! Glad it took care of itself.
Actually it still squeals on and off Kathy! Dead silent when Furnace man was here of course and then a few hours later woke up and began a howlin’ again. Most spooktacular.
I’m not sure about the smoky picture, but I definitely believe in spirits. I heard once that psychologically, how we feel about ghosts, and how we react to seeing one, is a strong indicator of how we feel about death. People who don’t believe in ghosts are in psychological denial that they will die someday. Some are curious, some are scared, and others embrace the concept with open arms.
That is so interesting Michelle. My own mother is a firm, firm believer in spirits as is my niece. Both have seen them. I am becoming a much stronger believer myself as I get older.
I’d be ass over tea kettle if my server went down and gobbled up a beautifully crafted post. I’m glad you were able to recreate the telling of this story. Take that you ghostly goblins!
Exactly Mo. So many of us were affected the day the server crashed. At least I only lost a post and a comment or two. Some folks lost carefully crafted pages. Yikes. I hope you have a wonderful Halloween!
Kelly,
I’m so glad you redid this post and yikes- I definitely saw the profile in that photo. I do believe in spirits and ghosts but the squeal from the furnace would have had me completely freaking out! Yikes! I hope you have a happy, ghost-free Halloween!! And thanks so very much for linking up with us 🙂
Furnace had resumed squealing Kristi. It’s the oddest thing. I have a friend staying with me right now and he can hear it too. Doesn’t happen right away but when you least expect it. Lovely. I’ll let you know if I spot any spirits tonight.
Happy Halloween! I hope T has a wonderful time.
Kel, maybe you could record the squeal on your phone for the repair person. And hey, if it doesn’t record, you’ll know that the squeal was ghostly after all…
I did Harmony! However of course it was quieter and when I played it for him he couldn’t make out anything spooktacular. Will have to do it again when the furnace is squealing in high form. Good Idea!
On a visit to a New Orleans cemetery a few years ago, two of my girlfriends took photos from different angles. Both of their photos had the same white, cloudy light in the same spots. Spirit or no? Who am I to say? But I will say that an unattended candy bowl in my neighborhood will be emptied by trick or treaters long before any spirit could get its hands (?) on it!
Whoa on the white cloudy light in the same spot, Dana. That’s quite something. And in a cemetery yet. As for the candy bowl – ha! I have to say I felt SO guilty doing that. Leaving the house and plopping a bowl out front. It would have been fun to film it – who was the first person to approach it. Did they dump the whole bowl in their pillow case? Or did they leave some for others. Happily I’ll be home tonight. I hope your trick-or-treaters have wonderful, dry weather. It’s teeming with rain here.
Holy Haloween terror Batman!!!
I honestly was waiting for mention of your dearly departed dear Oscar and one of his “tails”. This isclassic spooky indeed.
For now “I aint afraid of no ghosts”
My nephew’s favourite movie when he was little? Ghostbusters. It was painful. His 5 year old piping voice would go over the entire movie. God help you if you were trapped beside him. On and On and On. Your “I ain’t afraid of no ghosts” brought it all back. Ah yes there are so many “tails” I could share about dear O. Did I ever tell you of the time I labored hours over a Martha Stewart “Sushi cake” appetizer? Just putting finishing touches on it when the doorbell rang. Came back to the kitchen to find a good 1/2 of it gone. Gobbled up in a split second. O was on his bed looking ever so pleased with himself and ever so innocent. He didn’t know he had rice clinging to his whiskers, did he? Happy Halloween Janice! Hope you’re visited by lots of spooks and don’t run out of candy!
I am not surprised that the candy was gone when you got back. So I grew up in Jersey and I was so surprised to hear how people in the South would leave their fruits/veggies on the porch with the money sitting there out in the open!! I’m like in Jersey someone would take the money and the produce!
Yes it isn’t really surprising here either Brittnei. Wish I had a camera filming who took what first and if he/she scooped the entire bowl into their bag or left some for others!
oh gosh! that sure was spooky, Kelly
i hope your baby sitter comes today and you don’t have to re-live this moment!
happy halloween and after seeing the above pix…i won’t say boo TO YOU 🙂
No worries on the baby sitting front any longer Ruchira. My two are at college across the country now. But thank you for thinking of it! Happy Halloween to you and BOO!
Happy Halloween! Kids have to trek up two flights of stairs to get to your place? Someday you’ll have to describe those stairs even more. They alone sound terrifying!
Ha! HA1 We live on the high side of the street so the stairs are necessary. Perhaps not as scary as I made them sound?
Oooh, it’s all too scary for me. I’m running and taking cover. Near the candy bowl. Just saying…
Happy Halloween!
Hahahahahahah! Grinning here. My pal is visiting from New Zealand and brought yummy treats that I am handing out. You’d love them I’m thinking. They are delicious.
Great and spooky post ! Wonder if the “ghost ” will reappear tonight ? Happy Halloween !
Thanks Jane. I wonder too! Boo! Happy Halloween to you and yours. May you get lots of trick-or-treaters and not run out of candy!!!
HA! Very cool capture indeed. You did well – the story had me grinning along with you as you went through all the Halloween stress and tribulation, and then YOW! The mystery solved 🙂 Nicely written.
Thanks so much! Now if only I could get the furnace to howl when Furnace Man is on site. Perhaps I should put the candy bowl outside again? Hmmmm…
Another great Kelly story! Verrry spooky, although the flames in this case weren’t as potentially damaging as last year’s fireside tale.
(I was reaching for that fireside tale thing. Does it show? 😉 )
Happy Halloween!
P.S. My blog is still on the kerfluffle. Thanks for letting me know — it may take a day or so to straighten it out.
Hahahah – love the fireside reference. No not quite as damaging as the fireworks escapade. The new neighbors who inherited the tree we torched actually put on a splendid show themselves this year. Didn’t have to leave the comfort of our front window to watch. I’m off to check out your post now. Hear the comment section is back up adn running so looks like our spooky guest has left for spookier shores …
Great story – I saw the man in the smoke – he was very real to me.Oscar is quite the character – probably like my dog ziggy – that pulls books off the shelves and chews the spine
Oh Ziggy! Yes Oscar would have done that – with pleasure. He chewed the bottoms of the spines on my Creative Memory scrapbooks. Just lovely. However the teeth marks have become sentimental souvenirs. He passed away in 2010. Long, long life to Ziggy!
The culprit was super obvious – can’t believe that you were able to capture that picture!!!
Hope you survived all of yesterday with nothing else super scary – sounds like things have been a bit creepy lately!!!
Kim you’re spot on in the spookiness department. Furnace still howling at the oddest of times. However, everything else has calmed down thankfully. Hope your Halloween was a treat!
I’ve seen ghosts and I completely believe… that said, a ghost could’ve been there, but not have tipped over your bowl! 🙂 It would’ve freaked me out nonetheless!
So interesting that you’ve seen ghosts April. Both my mom and my niece have as well. Neither were spooked and found the experience quite relaxing. Is that the same for you?
Considering one was a guy hanging by a noose hanging from the banister, no it was not at all calm. But I also saw my grandma once and that cool.
Oh my. Seriously? That must have been quite a shock to see. The fellow hanging from the banister. I hope your future sightings are of your grandma or another loved one.
I have never encountered a ghostly experience that cannot be explained by my own anxiety playing tricks on me–or practical jokes.
So interesting Scott. I wonder if it’s true that people who are open to the idea will encounter ghosts and those who aren’t as much, don’t. I’ve not seen one either however both my mom and my niece have.
Holy smacks! Zeus ganked your candy. I totally believe in this stuff, by the way.
Thanks for the support Eli! Very quiet Halloween this year – no spooks or unexplained guests or incidents. However – have to say, my furnace is still howling at odd times. Hmm…
Wow! Captured on film and everything. I’m surprised you haven’t guest starred in one of those ghost hunting shows. I can totally see you and your mom going all Ghostbusters!!
Hahahah! My son adores the spooky ghosthunter shows. Not sure if he’d love to see me on it. His grandmother yes, but not mom!
I am glad I did not read this on Halloween because I am a scaredy cat…but…I cannot see the profile! I even had my husband read out the description on his computer while I looked at the photo on mine. But consider the source, I always had trouble seeing the picture in the magic eye posters that were all the rage in the 1980s, too. It’s a curse! –Lisa
Smiling here to learn that you can’t see the profile. I can see it but there are many times when I can’t see things that my kids point out to me. I am ever so much more of an auditory learner than visual. Years ago my husband – Mr. Visual – was chatting with our elderly neighbour. The fellow was explaining in a very thick German accent the death of his wife. My husband totally couldn’t understand a word and kept smiling, nodding and saying “Cool.” Oh dear lord. I stepped in and elbowed him, and then picked up the conversation. Could understand every word. Poor John was so embarassed at his own inappropriate response he would call out to me whenever he saw our neighbor “Kelly look who’s here! Come and chat!!!”
Holy doggie snacking! I believe. I believe.
Kelly, OMG – 50 comments! You have us begging for more, more, more.
I remember that this is one of your favorite holidays and how dangerous you are at this time of the year. And I’m not afraid. I still want to be in your family.
Hahaha! Once again you’ve got me grinning from ear to ear Susan. You’ll be surprised to learn that this year’s Halloween passed by rather uneventfully. Our neighbor’s homes were unscathed and no spooks spotted. Am off now to begin crafting a post about the time my then 88 year old mom treated my then 15 year old son and I to tickets to a marvelous drag queen show. Life is never dull in our family. You’ll feel more than welcome!
I love spooky stories…when they don’t involve me or my house! ?
Right there with you, Kim.