Conference hydra::dejavu

    
    
    My 'favorite Halloween story' doesn't give me the "creeps" but
    I do get goosebumps....
    
    10 years ago I was pregnant with my first child, expecting him
    in mid-December. Having gained 70 pounds, I was the Great Pumpkin
    personified!
    
    On Halloween Eve, our trip to the store to buy gobblin goodies
    was sidetracked by labor pains.  My little pumpkin head made his
    appearance 24 hours (to the minute) later...
    
    In keeping with the Halloween theme, he promptly turned orange
    (jaundice), earning forever more the nickname "punkin".
    
    Deborah
    
    

    Here goes.........
    
    One night, back in my college days, after a long evening at the library
    studying Quantum Mechanics and Organic Chemistry, I walked back to my
    car via the route I had taken many times throughout my four years in 
    school.  
    
    As I passed the Fine Arts building, I was aware of something rustling
    behind me.  As I stopped and turned around, I caught sight of something
    for only the fleetingist of moments.  At first I was a little nervous
    being female and alone in the dark.  Then, I told myself that no human
    being could have moved quickly enough to get out of sight as I turned
    and I dismissed it as being "the wind and the leaves."  I kept walking,
    only a little faster this time.  As I got the impression that something
    was behind me, I turned again and saw a creature that seemed to be 
    very much human in form but not completely solid in substance.  It
    turned towards me, motioned me to follow it and  started to move
    away.
    
    Being the chicken that I am, I turned, ran as fast as I could and made
    it to my car without another encounter with the "thing."  
    
    What was it?  To this day I don't know.  I always have this feeling
    that something in my life would have been different had I followed
    the "thing."  Did I really see something or was I just fatigued from
    the many days of studying and "hallucinating?"  I don't know.  
    Maybe one day I will meet up with this thing again.  Will I follow it
    if it asks me to?     ........I don't know.
    
    
    Happy Halloween.
    JL
    
    
     

    
    	One quiet late night a few years ago, I was laying in bed in my 
    	attic apartment that a hundred or so years ago had been used as
    	servant's quarters, trying to go to sleep.  I was very relaxed 
    	and very nearly dozing when I heard these tinkling church bells
    	in the distance.  I sat up in bed and they immediately stopped.  
    	As I laid back down, they started again.  Sitting up and laying 
    	down a few more times and still experiencing the same thing, I 
    	finally just accepted it and enjoyed the peaceful sound.
    
    	Laying in the dark with my eyes closed, I felt a presence.  It 
    	was comforting and surprisingly I wasn't scared at all.  I just 
    	quietly remained in my bed with my eyes closed until I heard a
    	soft female voice say, "Carla."  (My name.)  I bolted upright!
    	My first thought was someone had actually entered my apartment
    	but as I looked around I saw that no one was physically there.  
    	After several tense seconds I finally quieted myself and closed 
    	my eyes.  Then directly into my left ear, again, the same voice 
    	whispered my name.
    
    	My feeling was that the voice was that of a servant girl who'd
    	once lived there and perhaps wanted to check me out.  She was in
    	no way threatening, more curious, and I felt her presence again
    	and again while living in that cozy attic apartment.
    
    	Carla
    

    
    The Sunday Worcester Telegram had a story of room 306 at the Barre
    Hotel in Barre Ma. It seems have the presents of a spirit of a woman
    who may have been a former owner of the hotel. Several guests have
    seen her on occation.

    Yes, I read that story too.....the "spirit" supposedley loves to dance
    and each of the people who had come in contact with her the first few
    occasions came out of the room the next morning knowing her name w/o
    being previousley told.  
    
    Sounds like a good place to have a DEJAVU get together for the New
    Englanders who enjoy this notesfile.
    
    The room hd not been rented for halloween night as was mentioned in the
    article.  I wonder if anyone spent the night there and if they  "danced
    the night away"
    
    
    JL
    

    One October many years ago, we drove to a lookout in Monroe State
    Forest to watch the Deerfield Valley get dark from a point high on
    a shoulder of the Hoosic Range.  I's a stone patio, sort of, built
    by CCC in the 30s.  To reach it, we had drive off the road, over
    the right of way under the high-voltage towers, leave the car, and
    walk thru woods down to the cliffedge.  It's a good view north and
    south along the Deerfield River, about 1000' below.
    
    The mountain above darkened the area quickly after sunset, and
    we started back up.  Suddenly we heard loud noises from the rocks
    below.  At first we were curious, venturing closer to the steep
    eastern slope, trying to figure out what it could be, but it wasn't
    visible.  I swear it sounded like a gaggle of 500 pound Turkeys.
    Whatever it was, I wasn't willing to face it with out a light and
    a gun.   As it got louder, we decided not to wait to find out if
    it could eat Volkswagens, and we ran for the car.
    
    I've since found out a wild turkey population is established in the
    area.  They could have been in a small ravine which focused and
    amplified the noise.  I'll have to go back and see.......mwr
    
    

    
    I had just moved into a new apartment in Nashua with my boyfriend and
    about a week after we had moved in, I was coming home from my second
    job, rather late at night and as i passed by the balcony i looked
    inside, noticing the lights VERY bright, and someone sitting on the
    couch, in a red shirt. It appeared as though he was watching tv or
    something so I assumed this was my boyfriend. As I walked into the
    building I couldn't hear the television, and as I walked into the
    apartment, I saw that it was pitch black dark, and my boyfriend was
    sound asleep in the bedroom!!!
    Later that week, on Saturday, my boyfriend had gone out somewhere, this
    was during the day, and I stayed home. I layed down for a nap in the
    bedroom, and fell asleep rather quickly. But what I dreamed of was a
    man, in a red shirt, kinda like something you'd expect a lumberjack to
    wear, a chamois shirt. He looked at me, such an evil face he had, some
    of his front teeth were missing and his face was scarred, i still to
    this day remember the stench that i assumed was his breath, it smelled
    so horrible. He had a wicked laugh, and there was nothing I could do,
    because he had tied my hands together above my head and attached me to
    something up there, but i was too scared to look away from him. Just 
    as he was coming closer, he had run his hand through my hair, and it
    felt slimy against my skin and i remember as he was coming closer and
    closer to me, as if to kiss me, all of a sudden he disappeared and i
    jumped up out of bed, rubbing my wrists, because they were in such
    pain. When I looked down on them, there were deep dark red indentations
    and burns, just like a rope would have made, and within seconds my
    boyfriend walked into the apartment. My theory on why he left was that
    he knew my boyfriend was on his way.
    
    Anyway, i explained this to my boyfriend, who thought i was completely
    crazy, because in his mind there is no such thing. The next Friday
    night, we had been drinking out of my boyfriend's favorite shot glass,
    one that his mother had given to him, and one he was sentimentally
    attached to. We had left it on the counter in the kitchen and had gone
    out to the living room to watch tv. Well, we didn't think about it for
    the rest of the night, but the next morning my boyfriend wanted to wash
    it out, and soon he came in asking me what i'd done with it, to which i
    told him i'd done nothing. It had just simply vanished! We searched
    everywhere, literally tearing the kitchen apart, when I KNEW we had
    left it right by the sink. He assumed I had broken it and just wouldn't
    tell him about it, and got very angry at me. Later on, he went in to
    take a shower, and I walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water
    and there was the shot glass, sitting plain as day on the counter by
    the sink, with a little of the liquid still in the bottom!! So when he
    came out of the bathroom i told him what happened, but he still didn't
    believe me.
    
    The next night I woke up screaming, but couldn't for the life of me
    remember what I had dreamed about. I was trembling and cold and scared
    to death but I had no clue what of. I still to this day do not know
    what I dreamt that night. I don't know if it had anything to do with
    the ghost, but it appears as though it would, as I remember almost all
    of my dreams.
    
    Things kept disappearing then appearing again off and on, but it seemed
    that it was only things that my boyfriend was attached to, and I caught
    glimpses of the ghost once or twice, but he would always disappear once
    my boyfriend walked into the room or nearby. 
    
    Then one night, also on a weekend, my boyfriend and i both awoke rather
    suddenly thinking we heard something in the other room. We thought
    someone had broken in so he grabbed for his knife, then we heard a
    laugh in the dining room, an evil, biting laugh and both looked, and it
    was him, our ghost, standing in the dining room, watching us and
    laughing. 
    
    From then on my boyfriend never questioned it again, and soon
    afterwards we moved out, not sure what the ghost was capable of now
    that he would show himself in front of my boyfriend. 
    

    Re .7:
    
    >................................... But what I dreamed of was a
    >man, in a red shirt, kinda like something you'd expect a lumberjack to
    >wear, a chamois shirt. He looked at me, such an evil face he had, some
    >of his front teeth were missing and his face was scarred, i still to
    >this day remember the stench that i assumed was his breath, it smelled
    >so horrible. He had a wicked laugh, and there was nothing I could do,
    >because he had tied my hands together above my head and attached me to
    >something up there, but i was too scared to look away from him. Just 
    >as he was coming closer, he had run his hand through my hair, and it
    >felt slimy against my skin and i remember as he was coming closer and
    >closer to me, as if to kiss me, all of a sudden he disappeared and i
    >jumped up out of bed, rubbing my wrists, because they were in such
    >pain. When I looked down on them, there were deep dark red indentations
    >and burns, just like a rope would have made ....
     
    It could have been a dream.  Everything, including the "rope burns"
    could be explained by a mechanism similar to that producing stigmata.
    
    However.
    
    Olfactory phenomena generally are not that common in dreams.
    Pain generally isn't either.
    "Slimy hands" are unusual.
    
    Later views of this suggest it's transcorporeal.  If so, it might
    not be a ghost, but something masquerading as a ghost.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    
    re -.1:
    
    How would the rope burns be explained as a dream when in fact, my
    boyfriend saw them on my wrists? 
    Also, what did you mean by something masquerading as a ghost? What
    could it possibly be? I almost wish I had kept the apartment, to 
    find out who or what he was and what his story was. 
    

   Re .9:
    
    >How would the rope burns be explained as a dream when in fact, my
    >boyfriend saw them on my wrists? 
     
    There is a little-understood mechanism, known as the Stigmata Effect,
    where apparently some nonphysical mechanism (probably mind-directed)
    affects the body to the extent of leaving wounds, bruises, and the
    like.  It is not impossible that such a mechanism could have been
    working here.
    
    However, in .7, I pointed out that since both you and your boyfriend
    saw the entity, another explanation seems more likely.
    
    >Also, what did you mean by something masquerading as a ghost? What
    >could it possibly be?
     
    Since it tried to kiss you, it might have been a somewhat malevolent
    incubus.  Or a demon.  Whatever it was appears to have been transcorporeal.
    
    >..............................  I almost wish I had kept the apartment, to 
    >find out who or what he was and what his story was. 
     
    That's assuming he would tell you the truth.  Ghost, demon, incubus,
    or whatever, such cattle are not above telling a lie.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    
    Would it be possible them, if this were a demon or incubus, that
    he might have caused some harm to me if I had stayed?  Is there
    any way to get something like that out of an apartment? 
    
    One thing I just thought of that I forgot to mention earlier is
    that they had redone the whole apartment before I moved in. The
    apartment had just been vacated not 3 months before I moved in,
    but they replaced *everything* right down to the bathroom tiles.
    That is rather unusual and got me thinking later that perhaps
    something had happened in the apartment to the people who lived
    there before me. Is there any way to find out something like that?
    

    Re .11:
    
    >Would it be possible them, if this were a demon or incubus, that
    >he might have caused some harm to me if I had stayed?  
    
    Yes.  Using the rope burns as an example, there's evidence "he"
    already did you some minor harm.  Usually, an incubus is only after
    one thing ("Just like all men!!" :-D ), but if this was one such,
    it seems to have a proclivity for S&M.  Unusual, but not impossible.
    
    >......................................................... Is there
    >any way to get something like that out of an apartment? 
     
    Sure.  Any competent occultist could do it; in the case of a demon,
    a member of the clergy should be able to, as well.
    
    >One thing I just thought of that I forgot to mention earlier is
    >that they had redone the whole apartment before I moved in. The
    >apartment had just been vacated not 3 months before I moved in,
    >but they replaced *everything* right down to the bathroom tiles.
    >That is rather unusual and got me thinking later that perhaps
    >something had happened in the apartment to the people who lived
    >there before me. 
     
    That's a bit unusual, but I wonder whether there's a connection.
    If the owners thought something paranormal was going on, why a
    replacement of interior trappings (I assume even things like sinks
    and bathtubs were replaced) would have any effect on the situation
    seems questionable.
    
    Unless ....
    
    >Is there any way to find out something like that?
    
    If it were something really weird, it might have made the local
    papers.  You might check back issues, although that might cover
    a lot of time.  Or if there are any gossipy folk in the neighborhood,
    one of them might talk.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    
    
    I had tried talking to the neighbors, but they told me that the couple
    that lived there before me kept to themselves. The neighbor across the
    hall said that she thought she had heard them fighting on occasion, but
    knew nothing about any paranormal experiences going on, nor did she
    believe such things exist. See, 80% of the people living in the
    building were elderly, who a lot of times tend to close their eyes to
    that sort of thing. She did say, though, that the couple before me only
    lived there for 4-5 months, then moved out, and that they were
    unmarried.  Coincidence, maybe, since I was unmarried but *living in
    sin* as well.  I keep thinking maybe I should have stuck it out and
    really dug down deep to find out what happened there, but the thought
    of what he could have done to me is rather frightening.  Things only
    seemed to happen on weekends as well, it seemed like Friday and
    Saturday were the days he caused the most trouble.  He did a lot of
    things that you'd expect a poltergeist would, such as stealing articles
    of clothing, jewelery, money, even shampoo once, and returning them
    after you'd exhausted every possibility of where they could be. 
    Perhaps that was just to make me believe he was harmless though.

    
    
    {I've never seen a ghost per-say, but I can't say fer-sure that there}
    { isn't such a thing....  I'm inlcined to believe that there are many}
    { things that are beyond our understanding, and that this (The	 }
    { Paranormal) is just another one.				         }
    
    about 17 years ago...
    
    One night, after having gone to bed, (some where between 10:30
    and 11:00) was starting to fall off to sleep..
    
    Quite suddenly, I noticed a very peculair smell..  My Grandmothers
    house..  (She died in 71, two years prior ) 
    
    Most of us have/had Grannys, in our lifes and probably most of us can
    relate to the recollection of a distinct aroma that you notice when you
    walk into someone elses house, and how each one has is own identity,
    and different from the last..  Not that it stinks, but it's a noticable
    aroma...
    
    Anyhow, I immediatly recognized this smell as the one that I recalled
    always was quite evident in my Grandmothers house...
    
    At that instint, I felt a presence.  so strong by the way that every
    hair on my body felt as if it was standing straight up...  With in
    a second, the panic went away, and even though I still felt a strong
    presence, it at the same time, felt very warm and unharmful.  By
    this time this 'smell' was so heavy and strong that I felt I could
    touch it..  Strange cuz it was all quite frightening, but at the same 
    time, it wasn't..
    
    This smell/feeling of presence lasted about 15 minutes.  During all
    of this time, I was somewhat frozen in bed.. I couldn't move.. (maybe
    some fear, but by no means the feeling of panic that I'd first felt.)
    
    Then as quickly as everything came, it went...  
    
    Now I can't say that it was nothing more than a coincidence, or a run
    away imagination, but everytime I recall this, (even now) it strikes
    a very deep fiber... I can't deny it didn't happen, but can't prove
    it was a supernatural experience.  It certainly was ... something ..
    very unusal, unexplainable, and very strong.

	In the evening, dark and gray,
	A spirited ghost cantered out to play...  


	I was close with a horse family growing up.  We all had horses in 
	common and I would ride with the 2 sons.  I knew them for 10 years, 
	and during that time they had several bizzare things happen to them.
	One of their much loved Thoroughbred jumper's was 'Pharaoh.'  
	Tragically, one year during deer hunting season, Pharaoh was found 
	shot in the leg	in his pasture. It was deeply upsetting for this horse
	loving family to have to put down and bury their beloved horse.

	Valuable horses are often insured, and Pharaoh had been too.
	However, the family underwent some unfortunate events in order
	to collect on their claim.   For some reason the insurance company
	was only willing to pay the claim if indeed the horse had been
	shot in the leg.   No one had a bullet, nor had anyone gotten
	proper proof prior to the horse being buried.  Sometime later,
	the horse was exhumed for analysis.  This again, caused great
	strain on the family.
	
	Some time later, the mother was in the stable, feeding the other 
	horses when Pharaoh 'visited' her and spoke.  Within seconds of seeing
	Pharaoh, the eldest son came into the barn to help with the feeding.  He
	too claimed to have seen and heard Pharaoh.   Roughly, and this
	I heard from the eldest son, told in confidence and sincerity, and 
	now vague in my memory from 18 years ago -  This is what Pharoah 
	communicated:

	He explained that he was all right, and they were not to worry.
	He wanted them to travel to a specific stable in Virginia (he
	gave the specifics), and buy a horse named 'Valhalla.'  

	They found 'Valhalla' at the barn Pharaoh had told them 
	and they bought him.   He turned out to be a top show jumper
	and, is still alive today at the ripe old age of 25.  
	His name, I was told means 'horse heaven.'  
	
	I don't know whether Pharoah made any other 'appearances' since
	I lost close touch with the family.  


	

    Re .15
    
    "Valhalla" is Old Norse for "slain-hall."  It is the home of brave
    warriors who die in battle.  Life in Valhalla is described (in the
    Elder Edda, one of the Norse mythological works) as a non-stop rowdy 
    party.
    
    Earl Wajenberg