{"id":566,"date":"2013-10-27T21:06:09","date_gmt":"2013-10-28T01:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/katiepfeiffer.com\/blog?p=566"},"modified":"2013-10-27T21:06:09","modified_gmt":"2013-10-28T01:06:09","slug":"a-real-ghost-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/katiepfeiffer.com\/blog\/a-real-ghost-story\/","title":{"rendered":"A Real Ghost Story"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Pendle<\/a>

Pendle Hill Witch #10-<\/p><\/div>\n

It \u00a0is \u00a0irrelevant \u00a0how I \u00a0ended up \u00a0 staying \u00a0at \u00a0a \u00a0ritzy hotel in New Jersey \u00a0back in March of \u00a01990. \u00a0Suffice it \u00a0to \u00a0say, I \u00a0was \u00a0sick with a \u00a0head \u00a0cold \u00a0and \u00a0was ordere \u00a0by a \u00a0doctor not \u00a0to fly \u00a0back to California. \u00a0My \u00a0first night on the East Coast \u00a0had been spent in a \u00a0chain motel without \u00a0incident.<\/p>\n

So I \u00a0was \u00a0very \u00a0sick with a severe head cold, sore throat \u00a0and \u00a0fever when I \u00a0checked into \u00a0the Victorian era, ivy -covered stone building. \u00a0 I was dizzy and fatigued \u00a0and \u00a0craved soup and sleep.<\/p>\n

I \u00a0was sharing a \u00a0room with my \u00a0mother. \u00a0 As \u00a0we \u00a0made our \u00a0way down \u00a0the corridor, I \u00a0noticed \u00a0the \u00a0Laura \u00a0Ashley \u00a0motif \u00a0covered \u00a0everything from \u00a0the walls \u00a0to \u00a0the \u00a0seat cushions \u00a0to the \u00a0comforters \u00a0on our \u00a0beds. \u00a0 I \u00a0ordered \u00a0 room service: duck \u00a0wonton \u00a0soup \u00a0 and \u00a0 lemon- lime \u00a0soda \u00a0for my \u00a0throat. \u00a0I took a hot \u00a0shower, put on my \u00a0pajamas \u00a0and \u00a0crawled into bed. \u00a0My mother \u00a0was \u00a0concerned, but let me \u00a0be.<\/p>\n

In \u00a0the \u00a0darkness hours later, I \u00a0awoke to \u00a0find \u00a0an old \u00a0woman with long grey \u00a0hair \u00a0in an old fashioned \u00a0night gown \u00a0trying to smother me \u00a0with a pillow. \u00a0Behind her \u00a0were \u00a0four \u00a0other \u00a0women \u00a0dressed in similar nightgowns. The look in this woman’s \u00a0eyes \u00a0was frightening. \u00a0She \u00a0seemed possessed. \u00a0 The \u00a0women behind her were chanting “kill her! Kill her!” \u00a0I \u00a0struggled \u00a0with the apparition and \u00a0screamed “NO! NO! NO! NO!”. I knew \u00a0my mother \u00a0was asleep in the \u00a0bed next to me, and \u00a0when I screamed “NO! ” \u00a0the third \u00a0time, she \u00a0turned on the light \u00a0and \u00a0rushed to my side . \u00a0 I \u00a0pointed \u00a0and \u00a0said ” \u00a0there \u00a0was a woman in this \u00a0room \u00a0who \u00a0just tried to kill me!” \u00a0 My mother shook her head and said \u00a0“No. \u00a0You were dreaming. \u00a0You \u00a0have a \u00a0fever and a head cold.” \u00a0I \u00a0responded ” I \u00a0know I am dealing with a \u00a0head cold, but \u00a0what I experienced was real.”<\/p>\n

The \u00a0doctor \u00a0had explicitly \u00a0told my mother \u00a0I \u00a0was not \u00a0to fly \u00a0for another \u00a0four \u00a0days. \u00a0 \u00a0My step father \u00a0was coming to meet us \u00a0after attending a conference in Boston, \u00a0which \u00a0meant I \u00a0had \u00a0to \u00a0move \u00a0into my \u00a0own \u00a0room \u00a0down the hall. \u00a0I \u00a0was scared. \u00a0I \u00a0told my mother ” this hotel is haunted.” \u00a0She \u00a0 laughed \u00a0at me. \u00a0 \u00a0My new \u00a0room in the \u00a0hotel was \u00a0decorated \u00a0exactly \u00a0like the \u00a0first \u00a0one; \u00a0patterns of \u00a0 blue \u00a0peonies \u00a0and pink \u00a0carnations \u00a0were \u00a0everywhere. \u00a0 My mother had told me \u00a0I \u00a0could order \u00a0room \u00a0service and watch cable \u00a0T.V. \u00a0News of the \u00a0tragic Happy land \u00a0Dance hall fire \u00a0 in Brooklyn, which \u00a0killed \u00a0several \u00a0dozen \u00a0people, \u00a0was \u00a0splattered on all the \u00a0stations. I kept going \u00a0back to watching music \u00a0videos \u00a0to forget what had \u00a0happened the night \u00a0before.<\/p>\n

Maybe it \u00a0had been a bad dream. \u00a0Tonight \u00a0would be better, \u00a0I \u00a0told myself. \u00a0 I \u00a0turned off the \u00a0T.V. and \u00a0then the lights. \u00a0I \u00a0don’t know \u00a0how long \u00a0I had been \u00a0asleep \u00a0when I awoke to \u00a0find \u00a0yet \u00a0more women \u00a0with the \u00a0same night \u00a0gowns in my room. I \u00a0quickly \u00a0turned on the lights & the \u00a0T.V. Splashing \u00a0water on \u00a0my \u00a0face , I \u00a0realized \u00a0the \u00a0next few \u00a0ays were going to \u00a0be rough. \u00a0 There \u00a0was \u00a0no way I was going to \u00a0be able \u00a0sleep without the lights on.<\/p>\n

I \u00a0asked \u00a0someone \u00a0in the hotel \u00a0 if the place \u00a0was haunted. \u00a0They \u00a0just \u00a0shrugged. \u00a0I vowed \u00a0that one day I would find out the truth.<\/p>\n

Maybe I could \u00a0discover it \u00a0in Public Records, some kind of history of the building \u00a0before it was a hotel. \u00a0 These \u00a0were the \u00a0days before \u00a0the Internet . \u00a0The \u00a0incident \u00a0never left my psyche. \u00a0Someday. \u00a0Someday.<\/p>\n

Several \u00a0years later I \u00a0moved to the East Coast. \u00a0I was living in Philadelphia and was at a church rummage sale. \u00a0 I noticed two older women \u00a0who appeared \u00a0 to be in their \u00a0early seventies sitting \u00a0in a \u00a0corner of the room. \u00a0I went \u00a0over \u00a0and sat next to them. \u00a0 They smiled and said hello.\u00a0I asked them \u00a0where they lived. \u00a0They \u00a0mentioned the \u00a0town \u00a0where the hotel was located. \u00a0I asked them if \u00a0they \u00a0had heard \u00a0of the hotel. \u00a0They nodded. \u00a0 I paused, unsure if \u00a0I \u00a0should tell them \u00a0the story. \u00a0 \u00a0But I \u00a0knew what \u00a0I \u00a0had experienced \u00a0had not been the result of a \u00a0feverish head cold or a common \u00a0nightmare.<\/p>\n

I \u00a0expected \u00a0laughter to \u00a0erupt. \u00a0Instead the faces \u00a0of the \u00a0women had a look of \u00a0compassion and kindness. \u00a0“We \u00a0believe you” they said \u00a0in unison. \u00a0The hotel \u00a0had been a \u00a0residence for homeless and mentally ill women at the turn of the Century. \u00a0 As they shared the history of the hotel, \u00a0I felt \u00a0myself go pale and my legs started \u00a0to \u00a0shake.<\/p>\n

Several \u00a0years \u00a0later \u00a0 I moved to \u00a0the \u00a0suburbs. \u00a0One of my neighbors \u00a0was fascinated \u00a0by the paranormal. \u00a0I \u00a0shared \u00a0my \u00a0story with her, and when I \u00a0mentioned \u00a0the hotel and \u00a0it’s \u00a0location, she \u00a0got very excited. \u00a0” I have \u00a0a cousin who lives \u00a0in that town! I ‘m \u00a0going to call her right now and \u00a0 \u00a0find out \u00a0if she knows anything about this hotel.”<\/p>\n

For \u00a0years I had tried to \u00a0do research on the hotel. \u00a0A \u00a0well -known \u00a0travel rating \u00a0site \u00a0didn’t mention the hotel being haunted , but it did mention \u00a0the lovely \u00a0rooms.. \u00a0Ten minutes \u00a0after \u00a0my \u00a0neighbor left \u00a0to go home, she called me on the phone \u00a0” I \u00a0just talked to my \u00a0cousin”, she \u00a0said. ” That \u00a0hotel is \u00a0VERY haunted.! It’s an open secret. \u00a0Everyone who lives in that town knows that.”<\/p>\n

Since that time, I \u00a0occasionally \u00a0google the \u00a0hotel to see if \u00a0anyone has mentioned if \u00a0it is haunted. \u00a0 No on has. \u00a0I toy with this idea of going \u00a0back \u00a0for \u00a0an overnight stay at the hotel.<\/p>\n

A \u00a0few weeks ago, I \u00a0created a series of witch paintings \u00a0 I dubbed \u00a0THE PENDLE HILL WITCHES. \u00a0The last \u00a0witch- witch number ten closely \u00a0resembles the \u00a0apparition who tried to smother \u00a0me with a \u00a0pillow.<\/p>\n

Happy Halloween.<\/p>\n

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It \u00a0is \u00a0irrelevant \u00a0how I \u00a0ended up \u00a0 staying \u00a0at \u00a0a \u00a0ritzy hotel in New Jersey \u00a0back in March of \u00a01990. \u00a0Suffice it \u00a0to \u00a0say, I \u00a0was \u00a0sick with a \u00a0head \u00a0cold \u00a0and \u00a0was ordere \u00a0by a \u00a0doctor not \u00a0to fly \u00a0back to California. \u00a0My \u00a0first night on the East Coast \u00a0had been spent in…»<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[697],"tags":[701,721,713,704,698,563,564,722,159,710,709,716,528,66,719,700,699,717,723,54,714,707,177,178,702,708,718,720,711,703,712,715,705,706],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/katiepfeiffer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/katiepfeiffer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/katiepfeiffer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katiepfeiffer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katiepfeiffer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/katiepfeiffer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/katiepfeiffer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katiepfeiffer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katiepfeiffer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}