Sandy J. Hartwick

All the latest from author, Sandy J. Hartwick

A Las Vegas Haunting

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Photo by Guido Coppa on Unsplash

A Las Vegas Haunting

This spooky story comes from Lynn and Matthew; they shared their first spooky story yesterday, “Sammy Sees It.”

Their second story happened in 2003-2004.  Lynn and Matthew began to attend church in Las Vegas and were randomly grouped together with another couple for Bible study. They drove out to meet and have Bible study with B. and his wife.

B. lived in an old area of Las Vegas in the family home that he had grown up in, in fact the street that he lived on bore his last name. This area of homes featured large lots, with most homes on at least one acre.

The home was old style with a sunken living room, sunken master bedroom and lots of old creepy wallpaper. The house had an odd, very long hallway, shag carpet and looked its vintage of 1960’s–nothing had been updated. Out in the back yard were tennis courts and 4-5 random and odd cement slabs. The property was on a large lot.

The house made Lynn ill at ease. It did not help that the home was decorated in renaissance style with various swords in the living room and in the master bedroom there was a full suit of armor, complete with sword. Lynn kept reminding herself that these were nice people that they had met at church.

They held Bible study in the living room, first watching the assigned video and then having a discussion and prayer.

Lynn continued to feel “creeped out,” the home was in the middle of nowhere and everything felt off. The bad feelings continued to grow and to make matters worse, Lynn felt the urgent need to empty her bladder. She knew she would have to go down the long, dark hallway to use the bathroom.

At last she had to go. She walked down the hallway and found the light okay. She entered the restroom, turned on the light and noticed the old, weird 60’s wallpaper.

As she sat on the toilet she had a horrible feeling that she must not turn her head to the right toward the shower and the closed shower curtain. The feeling poured over that she MUST NOT look to her right.

“At this point, I don’t think I could have forced my head to the right to look.” Lynn finished and wanted to wash her hands.

“I walked as close to the wall on the left as I could. I washed my hands, not daring to look right or worse look into the mirror. I turned the light off and almost ran back to the living room.”

I sat down and tried to act normally. There was a knock at the front door. It was 8:30 on a Tuesday night, we were out in the middle of nowhere and down a long driveway–we should have seen whoever it was drive up. B. got up to answer the door. There was no one there. B. said, “Huh? No one there.”

Lynn said, “Maybe it was a ghost?”

B.’s wife said, “Why do you say that?”

Lynn, ” Why do ask why?”

B’s wife, “No, why, did you see something? Was it in the hallway? Was it in the bathroom?’

Lynn told them everything.

B.’s wife, “Yeah, there’s something here.”

Lynn, “What do you mean?”

B.’s wife, “We think this house is haunted. We’ve already had an exorcism.”

She went on to tell them that the activity happened in the hallway, one of the bedrooms AND the shower that Lynn had been too frightened to look at. There were the usual signs of a haunted house, knocks at the door, unexplained sounds and phenomena. She told Lynn that they hoped holding Bible study in the home would stop the activity.

On the way home Lynn and Matthew talked about how creepy the house was –Lynn wondered why their vehicle felt off. It felt like the bad presence from the house was still with them. Matthew felt it too. They prayed. Remembering their earlier experience from their old apartment, Lynn commanded, “Bad ghost, get out of here! You’re not welcome!” The bad feeling passed.

After some time the couple divorced, but Lynn and Matthew remained in contact with B. One day they were in B.’s backyard and Lynn asked him about all of the random concrete pads. B. said, “I don’t know if it’s true, but some say that back in the day the mob buried bodies out here and put slabs over them. Then people would put sheds or tables over the slabs to make it look normal.”

“No wonder your house is haunted B.!” said Lynn.

Lynn says she will never go to that house again.

 

 

 

 

La Llorona

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Photo by Volkan Olmez on Unsplash

My friend M. shares the legend of  La Llorona, the crying woman.  While M. never encountered La Llorona, her grandma used the tale to enforce good behavior.

M. says, “The story varies a little depending on who tells it, but the gist is simple. Basically,long ago, a woman named Maria, married a rich man, with whom she eventually had two children. Then their marriage hit a rough patch–her husband spent less and less time at home, and whenever he was home, he paid attention only to the children.

Eventually, she sees him with another woman. Enraged beyond reason, some versions claim Maria drowned her two children—but she immediately regretted it, crying out, “Ay, mis hijos!” (Translation: “Oh, my children!” or “Oh, my sons!”)

Maria is sometimes said to have drowned herself afterward. But when she arrived at heaven’s gates, she was denied entry, banished back to purgatory on Earth until she could find her lost children. She’s now known as La Llorona, which translates to “the weeping woman.”

My grandma would tell us if we went outside late or by water La Llorana would grab you and no one would ever see you again.

Grandma said that she was punished, because she choose a man over her children. That you could hear her at night calling for her kids.

I don’t know if you notice, but it’s very rare you hear about Latino kids drowning ! We were scared to go near the water !!
If you look up the movie or the story it gives you different versions.”

Your grandma was a tough cookie M.! I probably would never have learned to swim if I heard that story.

 

“My grandma would tell us if we went outside late or by water La Llorana would grab you and no one would ever see you again.”

 

 

 

Something in the Closet

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Something in the Closet

This story is from our friend Rich. The story belongs to his wife, but retelling the story dredges up unpleasant memories and terrible nightmares for her and so he sat down with us today and told the tale.

J.’s grandparents lived in an old house in the country in Galt, California. Her grandparents had lived there for a long time–the house was probably built in the 1900’s. There was some conjecture that someone had died on the property, probably in the barn.

J.’s family was a large, Mormon family. When they got together the house was full. At one gathering, while the adults were in another room visiting, J. and her cousins got to playing around; J. was perhaps nine years old.

There was something weird in the closet. Someone got the idea that they should go in the closet and summon whatever was there and ask it to show itself. Three or four of the cousins squeezed into the closet and called, “We invite you to show yourself!”

Something happened and the children tumbled out of the closet. Something had revealed itself–J.’s cousin bore a bruise in the form of a hand print from something grabbing her.

Evidently this was not enough proof for the children, because one of them got the idea to put flour on the floor of the closet. Again they called, “Reveal yourself!” J. saw footprints appear in the flour. It was enough for her and after that, she didn’t like going there. At another time she saw a cross on the wall turn upside down.

Different people saw different things in the house and on the property. As for J. she found that retelling the story  brought on terrible nightmares. The worst one was a recurring theme, she was frozen in bed, unable to wake up  while a horrible, old man pulled the covers off of her.

             Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

” There was something weird in the closet. Someone got the idea that they should go in the closet and summon whatever was there and ask it to show itself. “

 

The Pink Man

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Photo by Dids from Pexels

 

“We didn’t believe in this sort of thing before this…”

The Pink Man

When Lori was a child, her family had good friends that they liked to vacation and travel with. The family was similar to hers with mom, dad and two daughters. The daughters were close in age to Lori and her sister.

One summer they traveled to Oregon to go salmon fishing. At the end of a fun day, the kids went to bed in the campers and the parents stayed out by the campfire visiting. Lori was in bed by the window, which was wide open, and she overheard a conversation not meant for her ears. The couple had recently purchased and then sold a home in Denver, Colorado. They began the tale with, “We didn’t believe in this sort of thing before this…”

The trouble began almost immediately after they had moved into the home. Doors and windows would open and close on their own. Pictures would come flying off the walls. One evening when the family was out, they returned to find the television on and a shoe over each rabbit ear. For some reason, the ghost particularly hated the maternal grandmother and would throw things at her and the activity would amp up when she visited. But the worst of these things were the nightmares that Charlotte endured. Night after night she would wake them all with screams. When asked about it, she would cry, “There is a pink man sitting on my bed!”

Charlotte’s parents told her that they would wait in the hallway outside her room and she could call them and they would come in and see the pink man. They waited a time and then Charlotte called out, “He’s here.” They entered the room and there was the pink man. It was an apparition that appeared pink due to the streetlights coming through the pink curtains on the window.

The parents were disturbed enough that they arranged for a priest to bless the house. The also had Charlotte blessed, because they had observed her in the yard acting strangely and worried that whatever was in the house might be trying to possess her.

Some research on the home revealed that at one time a happy family had lived there–father, mother and son, but the father had been killed in a tragic accident. Charlotte’s room was the room that the son had lived in and her bed was positioned in the same place as the boy’s bed. The father had often sat on the bed telling the boy stories in the evening.

After the blessings, the activity subsided, but the family still sold the place as quickly as possible and moved out.

 

 

 

 

 

Spooky in San Francisco

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Amelia’s apartment in San Francisco.

Spooky in San Francisco

Amelia Davies moved into her second-ever apartment in 2016 with her boyfriend Sam and another roommate. She was excited, because this apartment was huge compared to her last place. The two bedroom, one bath apartment only had neighbors below and was across from Ocean beach.

After the excitement of moving in had passed, Amelia noticed something about the place that bothered her–the apartment had a long, narrow hallway. It was unusually long and Amelia found the space “off putting.”

When she came home at night the switch by the door would turn on a light that only illuminated half of the hallway. She would have to walk  into the living room to reach the switch that lit the rest of the hallway. Arriving home one evening, she turned on the switch and out of the corner of her eye she saw a shadowy figure at the end of the hallway.

Her sister Alethea lived in the area and would sometimes come over and stay the night. Alethea remarked, “I hate this hallway.”

When she stayed the night she would be in the living room on the couch. Amelia found her sleeping with all of the lights on. Alethea was puzzled too, “I’m not usually scared like this.”

Amelia felt as though there was a negative, male presence in the apartment. She felt uncomfortable in the living room and always felt that there was something looking in from the hallway. If she was alone she could not stand to be in the living room by herself and would go to her room. 

Amelia detected needy emotions, “At this point I hated hanging out in the living room if nobody was home. I felt very negative, almost needy energy. I’m not  really sure how else to explain it, like something stirred in the house when I was home and was angry when I left.”

As time passed, Amelia found she was anxious and having sleep disturbances. More than once she awoke to the sound of someone whispering, “Amelia.” If her foot slipped out from under the covers she sometimes felt something was touching it.

“In reality, four of us were in the apartment instead of three.”

One evening she and her boyfriend accompanied a group of friends out on the town; they came back to the apartment for some drinks. At some point the spooky hallway came into the conversation. Her friend Bobby asked aloud, “Is anyone here with us?” There was silence and then three knocks from the hallway. Bobby quickly launched into a prayer in Spanish. There was no more activity that evening.

A coworker approached Amelia asking if she was okay, because she seemed down. Amelia explained the presence in the apartment. The coworker, a spiritual person, nodded, “I can tell something is attempting to attach itself onto you and drain your energy.”

Her coworker gave her some Palo Santo (Holy wood) sticks for smudging. “Take these and go around the apartment. Ask the negative energy to leave.”

Amelia said this seemed to brighten the apartment and she was able to sleep through the night again.

She was still looking forward to the day their lease was up. On the last day in the apartment, as they were moving their possessions out, they met the neighbor that lived downstairs. They had never seen him before. He stood in the building hallway watching them silently. At last he began to yell at them, “Stomping around! I hear you blasting noise day and night! Lasers!”

He carried on and Amelia wondered about his sanity. She also wondered about the noise he complained about, because they were quiet and none of them were home during the day.

Today Amelia lives in an older, two story home which is quite peaceful–just the way she likes it.

 

 

Caught on Camera

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Photo by Serge Kutuzov on Unsplash

“The ball of light left the room and then came back again before passing through a wall. “

Caught on Camera

D. had owned Pepper for years. The little black dog was practically a family member. Pepper was a rescue and D. was not sure of her exact age. As the years passed Pepper’s vet marveled that the cute canine was still living. Pepper kept on though. 

Eventually time caught up with Pepper and the sweet girl passed away in the family home on a soft rug in front of the fireplace. Even though D. had known this day was coming, it was hard on her.

She and her husband had to travel to their ranch in California. They set the security system before they left. The system includes cameras they can monitor, which will record activity in the home and send notifications regarding activity to the phone.

One night on the ranch, D. was missing Pepper terribly and she cried herself to sleep. She was awakened in the night by a notification on her phone from their security system.

D. viewed the footage again and again. A ball of light entered the living room where Pepper passed. The light swooped down and around in a dog-like fashion seemingly looking around the rug where her dog had passed and near that area. The ball of light left the room and then came back again before passing through a wall.

D. waited a long time before she showed her husband the footage. He agreed with her; they both believe it was the small dog’s spirit coming home to check on things.

D. showed me the footage and there is definitely something there. It is an impressive video.

 

 

 

Bodie: A Real Ghost Town

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Photo by Daniel Gregoire on Unsplash

“The town is held in a state of arrested decay as a State Historic Park. The place is a natural for ghostly encounters.”

Photo by Stin-Niels Musche on Unsplash

Bodie: A Real Ghost Town

Bodie, California is located in the Basin Range of the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, about 13 miles East of Highway 395 in central California.
Take U.S. Hwy. 395 to State Hwy. 270 and drive 10 miles east until the paved road ends, then continue for 3 miles on a dirt road.

Bodie was once home to over ten thousand people and had twenty seven(!) saloons. The town is held in a state of arrested decay as a State Historic Park. The place is a natural for ghostly encounters.

One worker lived in one of the old houses, and noticed that often things she had in the house were moved in the  night. Another worker that  lived in that same house had a more frightening experience. She woke up to see a young man with a baseball bat hovering over her. She said, “Don’t you dare!”. And that was the end of that

A tourist came into the visitor’s center very agitated. He said he’d seen the ghost of an old woman in a window of one of the houses. It was broad daylight. One worker looked at that window every time she went by and never saw anything, but she believes in the ghosts, because of all the stories.

 Once  a park ranger saw a man walking down a street after hours. He started walking after him to tell him the park was closed. The man disappeared before he could catch up.

There must be so many more stories. If you have one you would like to share, please let me know and I will create an update on spooky stories of Bodie.

 

 

The Miner’s Wife

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Photo courtesy of Nathan Wright.

“They liked to party and the more that they partied, the more the paranormal activity increased.”

The Miner’s Wife

There is a house in Bridgeport, California that is haunted, or at least it was back in the late 80’s.  The house is on an unassuming  street  and appears normal enough and just glancing at it would not give you any reason to expect a haunting. The story goes that many years ago,when Bodie (a mining town near Bridgeport) was booming,  a drunken miner came home, beat his wife and then threw her from the second floor window killing her.

One of my friends knew people that lived in the home during her childhood; they reported hearing someone walking up the stairs or the kitchen faucet being turned on, but no one was ever there.

Later, my friend’s brother C. and his roommate rented the house and experienced these things also. They liked to party and the more that they partied, the more the paranormal activity increased. They noticed that sometimes there were indentations on the couch as if someone was sitting there, but when anyone mentioned it, the couch would pop back into place, as if someone stood up. 

One night C. was lying in his bed when a poster he had on the wall began to shake violently, finally flying off the wall and landing on his face. Another night he was upstairs and he could hear someone coming up the stairs. He called out thinking it was his roommate. No answer. When he turned to go check, something screamed in his face. Nothing was there. He packed his things and left the next morning.

Not long after this, his roommate saw the ghost standing in the doorway of the master bathroom. She had long brown hair and was wearing a brown skirt and and a long sleeved, blue shirt.

When word got out about what he had seen an old woman named Eunice approached him and talked to him about it. Eunice had lived in Bridgeport her whole life. She had lived across the street from the house at the time of the murder, witnessed the murder and testified at the trial. When the roommate described the ghost, she said it fit the description of the murdered woman.