Proudly Paranormal. Let's Chat GHOSTS!

Welcome! You’ve arrived just in time to enjoy my contribution to a fantastic blog romp called Proudly Paranormal Blog Hop. Thank you again to author, Adriana Ryan for putting this together.

I pondered over what I should chat about today. That it should be paranormal was a given. But how to make it original? How to make it me? Then it occured to me. Simple. Talk about the inspiration behind my paranormal time-travel trilogy…my own house.

So are you ready for some ghost stories? *Grins* Yep, sounds weird but it’s true, I live in a haunted house. 

Here's the scoop. I moved into my home ten years ago. My husband’s great-grandfather built this house for his wife in 1901. This gorgeous Victorian has remained in the family since. Truth told, the moment I walked into the foyer I fell in love. All the original woodwork had been freshly polished. The smell of lemon oil mixed with lilac and billowed past the curtains on a warm spring breeze.

There was absolutely nothing spooky about this house.

Not at first.

I’ll re-tell six quick haunting story blips about my house from previous posts but that’s it. Every year I tell more at Halloween. By this October, I should have a few EVP’s (Electro Voice Phenomena) to share. *winks* It’s sort of a tradition at this blog.

BLIP #1. By far, one of my favorite events took place a week before Christmas of 2003. For some reason, this house becomes super active during late November straight through December. My thought on that? My husband’s great-grandfather liked the holidays and he makes a point of visiting his house.

Anyways, this particular afternoon I had my sister and Dad visiting. The three of us were sitting in the living room chatting when the radio turned on. I ignored it thinking it must’ve been set on a timer or something. We all kept talking. A few minutes later it turned up. Loud enough that we all stopped conversing and looked at the radio. The Christmas song, “Do You Hear What I Hear,” was playing. So I got up, walked over and turned it down. (Turn nob volume control folks. Pretty big turn dial on this radio.) I had just sat down when the volume turned up again.

By this point, the radio had everyone’s undivided attention. I got up and turned it down again and sat. We all watched the radio for several seconds. Sure as heck it turned up again. The spooky part? We watched the nob turn on its own this time! I was getting up to turn off the radio when my Dad shook his head, grinned and said, “Don’t. Obviously somebody likes this song.”

So we listened to the rest of the song. After that I was able to successfully turn it back down. The cool part? As I later discovered, ‘Do You Hear What I Hear’ was my husband’s grandfather’s favorite Christmas song. He’d lived in this house until he was old enough to move out. I ended up writing my free read around that song because of this very event.

BLIP #2. It was probably around midnight one night in 2007 when this event happened.

My office is on the third floor and at the time, carpeted but creaky stairs regardless. I was typing away when I heard a large dog lumber up the stairs. (Two things of note. Decorative curtains separate the three rooms. We have a 100 lb. German Shepard.) The Shepard wouldn’t be on the third floor unless he was desperate to go out. (bad hip). I instantly went to go to him. Opened the curtain. Nothing. He wasn’t there. I shrugged and went back to my computer. Must have been my imagination.

Started typing away again. Heard my husband trudging up the stairs. Sounded a bit heavy footed but I figured he’s tired. Must’ve come up looking for something. So I yelled, “Hey hun, everything ok?” No answer. Okay. I heard him walk across the room next to mine. “Hun?” I yelled again, kinda irked he wasn’t responding. Heard him trudge back across the room. Enough, I thought to myself and headed over. Moved the curtain aside. No one was there. Okay, I’m going insane. Headed downstairs. He’s sound asleep in bed. Headed down to the first floor. The dog’s sound asleep too.

BLIP # 3. Nightly occurrence in this house. Always between 10:30 and 11:00. Someone walks across the 3rd floor. Furnished attic. The footsteps are heavy, like a tall or heavyset man. We just tore up the carpets. Original hardwood floors. Louder now!

BLIP # 4. The day we tore a hole in our kitchen wall to put in French doors. All went well during the day. Yes, it was odd seeing a tarp flapping in the wind, dusting my hardwood floors with sawdust and leaves. But it became even odder that evening. Downright supernatural.

(This event was experienced by my husband (skeptic) and mother-in-law, at two separate times during the early morning hours between midnight and four AM)

The first event happened to my husband who was up late working. He started to hear a rumbling coming from downstairs. Thinking something was wrong he went down only to find the pocket doors shaking in their brackets. Nothing else was shaking so we can nix the Earthquake theory. Shortly thereafter, all the pots and pans in the kitchen rattled for about ten seconds, then stopped. (Try timing out 10 seconds. It's longer than you might think) He said he got the shivers but shrugged it off. Hours later, my mother-in-law was sitting on the couch when the pocket doors right behind her started rumbling intensely. That lasted about five seconds. But it was more than enough time for her to turn and watch them, stunned.

Aye, just another night in my Victorian!

BLIP # 5. One week later, I had my first ‘full body apparition’ experience. While I always believed in the paranormal and had many experiences this event sealed the deal.

I woke up in the middle of the night with a man standing over my bed. He was whitish blue and dressed in some sort of uniform. I also remember that he wore a hat that looked to be either a 20’s, maybe 30’s sort of style. I recall thinking… I'm dreaming. Close your eyes, count to five, then open them, he’ll be gone. So I did. He wasn’t! Damned if he wasn’t still standing there. There’s fear… then there’s fear. I ducked my head and ran from my bed so fast it was ridiculous.

Not sure why I continually respond to the paranormal like this when it’s all around me. Human instinct? Self preservation? Don’t know. None-the-less, I got as far as the hallway before I said to myself, “Where are you going to go? Spirits are everywhere you idiot. Face it.” So I did. I walked right back into my bedroom. He was gone. I don’t think he meant to scare me to begin with. I think he was probably surprised I could see him.

BLIP # 6. Moving on to the tenant’s experience (Lives in a renovated addition to the house that used to be the barn. This is the most violent any spirit has ever become). But I think spirits tend to feed off the high emotional state and energy level of teenagers. In this case it was the tenant’s son and his friend walking through the basement. An object literally flew off the shelf at them. The household also reports disembodied voices and having seen a full bodied apparition walk up their stairs.

Sky here. That’s it for this post. Guess I should get around to some promo, eh? *chuckles* Because of this house I have become more and more interested in paranormal investigating. Can you blame me? It’s no wonder I wrote a trilogy about haunted houses and three sexy ghost hunters. And, because I couldn’t help myself, I tossed in some time-travel, warlocks and vampires.

I’ll leave you with a blurb for both The Victorian Lure (Calum’s Curse: Ardetha Vampyre) and The Georgian Embrace (Calum’s Curse: Acerbus Lycan). Both available now. Comment for a chance to win an Ecopy of The Victorian Lure! BONUS: If you leave a little ghost story of your own in a comment you'll be entered to win The Georgian Embrace as well. :-)

THE VICTORIAN LURE (Book ONE)

Is it true love...or is the magnetic pull just another part of the Victorian's lure?

Dakota Allerton depends on no one but herself, but then she's never needed a ghost hunter. When her dream home becomes a house of horrors that is holding her hostage, her only hope is a Scotsman who investigates the paranormal.

The supernatural is nothing Leathan Stewart can't handle. However, trapped in Dakota's cursed Victorian home, he finds himself falling back in time. Only those who persevere can survive the dark domination.

THE GEORGIAN EMBRACE (Book TWO)

Is it true love or is the allure just another dimension of the Georgian's embrace?

A man with a mission...

Paranormal investigator, Devin O'Rourke, is drawn to Isabel the moment he sees her ghostly image in a picture. While searching for proof of her existence, Devin finds himself in another time, danger lurking around every corner.

A woman in need of saving...

Eighteenth century, Isabel Savol, is on the run. With help from a friend, good fortune finds her sheltered and managing the construction of a house. When a handsome Irishman appears on her Georgian's worksite one day, everything she thought she understood about reality vanishes.

Untapped desire ignites between Devin and Isabel as they struggle to stay one step ahead of the time-warping house caught in Calum's Curse and the werewolf determined to finish the legacy it began.

The Proudly Paranormal Blog Hop continues. Be sure to check out Liv Rancourt’s blog on Saturday. Liv will be giving away a couple paperback versions of A Vampire’s Deadly Delight, as well as a PDF copy, and a Smashwords code for a copy of Bites – Ten Tales of Vampires!