Are People Here Scared Of Ghosts?

[escargot]

Nobody in Britain believes that could happen, partly because there's no such word as 'subterene'! :lol:

 

[Naughty_Felid]

The older I get the less so. Out of the strange things I've seen the 2 most detailed apparitions were so ordinary I didn't even realize until after they had vanished that there weren't just normal folk.

Sudden things appearing can give me a fright but that doesn't have to be supernatural. You know my missus walks like a ninja and pops up all over the place making me jump.

I've heard 2 things that were paranormal, footsteps and a loud crashing sound and I found them very scary but then I have a certain amount of hyeracusis anyhow.

I never class apparitions as spirits or entities as such and that's why I'm not afraid and the old truism that the living are far more scary than the dead remains.

 

[OldTimeRadio]

Nobody in Britain believes that could happen, partly because there's no such word as 'subterene'! :lol:

Hi, Escargot. You've long been one of my favorite posters here and I'm so happy you no longer have me on "ignore."

My spell-checker wasn't thrilled with "subterene" either, but I've used it ever since discovering it in a old issue of WEIRD TALES 40 years ago.

I'll Google it and see if anthing turns up.

PS. I didn't say it could happen (in Britain or anywhere else), but that I was terrified by the idea. And stories of the ambulatory dead seem to have been fairly common up to the advent of widespread embalming.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Actually, 'Subterrene' exists:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subterrene

I think the word intended was 'Subterranean'?

 

[TonberryKing]

I used to be very very scared of them, but always interested. I'm now in my late 20's and way more interested than scared! Probably partly due to having read this magazine for so many years.

 

[escargot]

I think the word intended was 'Subterranean'?

Yup, I thought it 'subterranean' too, except that the whole point of cathedral tombs is that they're generally above ground, with carved effigies which the over-active imagination might expect to become ambulatory. :lol:

Tonberry, I reckon you've grown out of being scared. I was quite relieved when that happened to me too!

These days I would love to see a nice solid ghost. Or at least a wispy, pale approximation of the human form drifting from the landing and across the end of my bed at 3am, ooer... :shock:

 

[Mythopoeika]

I never class apparitions as spirits or entities as such and that's why I'm not afraid and the old truism that the living are far more scary than the dead remains.

I'm like this too. At the moment, it is impossible for us to know what a ghost actually is. I am constantly amazed at people who spring to conclusions about what they saw ('it was a demon', etc).
Also, I don't know why people are so scared - I can't think of a case where anybody has been harmed by a ghost.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Or at least a wispy, pale approximation of the human form drifting from the landing and across the end of my bed at 3am, ooer... :shock:

Nah, that's just Mr Snail. You need new glasses.

 

[TonberryKing]

I'm pretty relieved too, Escargot! Specially as the place I work seems to be haunted, though I've only had indirect contact with it

And ghosts are scary for two reasons, I think. They're a reminder that we all die, which most of us seem to blot out as much as we can, and they're unknown which, let's face it, is the biggest fear of most people I think.

 

[escargot]

Another good cure for night fears is a Jack Russell terrier. Stick one of those on your bed at night and NOBODY'S going to bother you, alive or dead! :lol:

Having dogs in the bedroom has its down side, though. I used to keep a big dog too and they both loved boiled offal. This made them unusually flatulent, to the extent that I once awoke in a panic from a dream about falling into an open sewer. :shock:

 

[Mythopoeika]

Having dogs in the bedroom has its down side, though. I used to keep a big dog too and they both loved boiled offal. This made them unusually flatulent, to the extent that I once awoke in a panic from a dream about falling into an open sewer. :shock:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :shock:

 

[OldTimeRadio]

I think the word intended was 'Subterranean'?

No, I considered "subterranean" for several minutes before rejecting it in ain favor of a word that may not even exist. It wasn't my cleverest evening.

 

[OldTimeRadio]

the whole point of cathedral tombs is that they're generally above ground, with carved effigies which the over-active imagination might expect to become ambulatory. :lol:

Well, that's true for Lord This and Lady That and old King Such-and-So, but I was thinking of mediaeval monks and lowly clerics who tended to get planted down among the footings. At least that's my understanding.

 

[escargot]

Or at least a wispy, pale approximation of the human form drifting from the landing and across the end of my bed at 3am, ooer... :shock:

Nah, that's just Mr Snail. You need new glasses.

It's been a very long time since Mr Snail's figure has approximated a a wispy, pale approximation of the human form! :lol:

Nothing scares me. 8)

Well, I'm going on a balloon flight in the morning. Expecting that to rattle me a bit. We've all seen the youtube clips. :shock:

 

[Spookdaddy]

...No, I considered "subterranean" for several minutes before rejecting it in ain favor of a word that may not even exist. It wasn't my cleverest evening.

Pssst. Just tell them it's the US spelling of souterrain - picky buggers'll never know.

 

[LordRsmacker]

I have no problem at all with that. It's the idea of being trapped by night in a centuried cathedral while the long-interred dead, solid and very much NON-transparent, creep up from their subterene crypts to pay me a visit that terrifies this Yank.

No problem, you'll probably find a discarded shotgun or a chainsaw lying around nearby, with which to frag them. Hmmm, make a great video game...

 

[IamSundog]

Haven't ever seen a ghost but heard one (so I assert) on multiple occasions in a house I occupied - footsteps - and once recently, in a somewhat famously haunted old hotel I had a door close by itself quite mysteriously and vigorously in the middle of the night. Admittedly not the most vivid experiences....but on all these occasions at first it took me a few seconds just to register that something odd had happened. Then I felt only intrigued and went to investigate, and then felt bemused - "Oh cool, was that 'a ghost'?" I imagine if I woke to a semi-transparent figure watching me in a dark room in the middle of the night it would be a bit more unnerving, but I really think I would be more fascinated than anything else. Because the idea of a ghost doesnt scare me; I've yet to hear any 'reputable' story where a ghost caused anyone harm. They mostly seem to be kind of sad and to lack any real volition, assuming they have any awareness at all.

It's the living I'm afraid of. Plenty of them seem to be only too happy to *@&# you up just for grins.

 

[Hypermetropia]

Scary sightings!

In 2003 I saw three different apparitions, on separate nights, around my bed. On each occasion I let out a long scream that startled me as much as my sleeping husband. My heart raced and I was really frightened. The second one illicited a bigger scream and the final one brought on such a racing, thumping heart, it was audible in my opened mouth. They got the message because I never saw them again!

I think it was the fact that whatever I was experiencing (ghost or hypnagogic incident) it was IN MY ROOM and THREE FEET AWAY! Had I seen something flit across the grand hall of a stately home I'd have been thrilled. I don't believe they CAN harm you as female ghost passed through the left side of my Headmaster as they crossed on an Edwardian staircase.

 

[Mythopoeika]

It's the living I'm afraid of. Plenty of them seem to be only too happy to *@&# you up just for grins.

I agree. I'm a lot more afraid of living people than ghosts.
In fact, expand that to aliens and monsters too. People are more scary.

 

[Hypermetropia]

It's the living I'm afraid of. Plenty of them seem to be only too happy to *@&# you up just for grins.

I agree. I'm a lot more afraid of living people than ghosts.
In fact, expand that to aliens and monsters too. People are more scary.

I absolutely agree. The most frightened and bewildered I have ever been was when I was cornered in the office of a supported housing unit by a resident who wanted 'more medication..... NOW'. Trying to reason with the unhinged is heart stopping!

 

[oldrover]

Years ago I too got cornered by someone holding a broken mobile like a dagger over my head demanding to be taken to Summer Bay...now. I'm still more frightened of the original Alien though.

 

[McAvennie]

Been a busy summer, lot of working abroad and travelling so haven't had a chance to recount this tale…

Was working in Jakarta for a few months and one night had gone out with a colleague and a couple of our interns. The conversation turned to the paranormal and weird stuff that had happened and slowly one of our interns began to explain how she could see ghosts.

We were in Northern Jakarta, near the old Dutch square and port. She explained that most of the ghosts she saw were dressed in old Dutch colonial outfits and often would just be standing looking sad. The bar we were in was quite dark and she had a particular way of looking out the corner of her eye at things or looking beyond you as she spoke to you which I had noticed already before this conversation. I pushed for more details, could they see her looking at them, did they communicate, etc… but she didn't give too much detail - without being evasive on the issue.

In the light of day I don't believe in these things but at night I certainly get the creeps. She explained she had always had the ability, as had her mother, but that she wanted to stop as it was starting to scare her. She also said we all have a spirit that is with us at all times and offered to describe mine - I declined as I knew I'd end up freaking myself out whatever she described.

Finally, she said she could pass her ability to me for a few moments so I could see what she could. Again I declined and after that we moved the conversation on, also because she mentioned she didn't want to upset or annoy the spirits and make them aware of us.

Now, I understand that she could have just been making this stuff up to scare us but she was a very level-headed intern and didn't seem the type to mess around like that. In the light of day I expect nothing would have happened if I had taken the offer to see through her eyes but there is a little of me that regrets not seeing what would have happened (the obvious fear being that it was real and once I'd seen things I'd not be able to unseen or stop seeing them) had I accepted her offer.

I also kind of regret not trying the cobra blood and satay...

 

[Mythopoeika]

I also kind of regret not trying the cobra blood and satay...

No, don't regret that.

 

[James_H]

I am a bit scared of ghosts. I'm not even 100% sure I believe in them, but when it's late at night and I hear noises I do get fairly spooked.

 

[Coal]

No

 

[PeteS]

No

You're being evasive there Coal.

 

[escargot]

I have no problem at all with that. It's the idea of being trapped by night in a centuried cathedral while the long-interred dead, solid and very much NON-transparent, creep up from their subterene crypts to pay me a visit that terrifies this Yank.

Yup, one of those really ancient American cathedrals, like a whole hundred years old.

 

[Coal]

You're being evasive there Coal.

Sure.

 

[Schrodinger's Zebra]

Having never seen a ghost, I can't say for sure but knowing that I'm a complete and utter wuss I think I would probably be scared. But then again lots of things scare me so (like some others have said) it wouldn't just be the fact that they were ghosts.

I haven't really made my mind up what ghosts are, anyway. I like to toy with the idea that ghosts and aliens and such like are all much of a muchness - both manifestations of humans from the past and future, almost like time slips. Maybe it's my OCD making me want to easily categorise but it makes sense to me that ghosts and aliens are one-and-the-same, rather than ghosts being dead people and aliens being visitors from other planets.

I would probably freak out if I woke up in the middle of the night and saw something standing at the foot of the bed, for example.

But in daylight, seeing something at a castle window or something? Probably more intrigued than scared then.

 

[Coal]

Maybe it's my OCD making me want to easily categorise but it makes sense to me that ghosts and aliens are one-and-the-same, rather than ghosts being dead people and aliens being visitors from other planets.

Yep, I think the same.