Ok you knew it was coming. It's almost Halloween. It's time for those stories. Tell 'em, kids! Don't be shy!

This is a true story.

I worked in a Burn ICU as a nurse in Texas for years. Our unit was busy because we were the cachement BICU for all of South Texas below San Antonio and to the Louisiana border. We were an adult only unit because we had a Shriners Burn Institute for children with us in the same medical complex.

We'd had this older woman in her 60's who had recently died in the last room at the end of the unit so that room was empty. We got the call from the Shrine that they were full up but needed to take a child of about 3 who had been in a house fire a while ago and was pretty much recovering well. They needed her space for a critical admission. So we got a crib and a rocking chair and took this kid.

She was cute but her parents never came up there. It was really sad. So the nurses would rock her and play with her when we weren't busy. But strange shit started happening. She'd be standing up in this big metal crib that was kind of like a cage reaching out like she was reaching out to someone in the rocking chair. She'd talk to someone who wasn't in the room. And play dolls with what seemed like an imaginary friend. At least that's what we all thought. But then we started to catch it. The rocking chair would rock on its own when no one was sitting in it. And she kept saying 'grandma'.

We all decided that the elderly lady who had been the last patient in that room and died in there hadn't moved on and was still there. And that this little girl was the only one who could see her.

Oh my, Gina. That would be spooky indeed! I can't think of any true stories right now, but I love it.

I can't be the only one LOL.

OK I have another. This also really happened to me.

In the 1980's, we decided to go to California. I didn't want to commit to a permanent job until I got out there are saw what was available and what the conditions were like. So as a vehicle to get out there cheaply, I took a job as a Traveling Nurse to a hospital called Brotman Medical center in Culver City. It was an HCA owned hospital and had a burn unit that had the distinction of being 'The Michael Jackson Burn Unit' because when Michael Jackson burned up his head filming the Coke commercial, that is where he was treated because that is where his plastic surgeon had privileges. After he recovered he donated $1 million to the hospital to improve the Burn unit. Not a lot by today's standards but in the 80's I guess it went further.

This was a small Burn unit because Brotman was a private hospital and there were 2 other Burn centers in the area, Sherman Oaks in the Valley, and Los Angeles County-USC down in East LA in the barrio. (where I later went to work permanently. LOTS of strange shit happened there).

There was a large room at the end of the unit that used to be a 4 bed critical care unit that was no longer used for patient care because the newer standard for Burns was that each patient needed to have a private enclosed room, so this room was the room that the spent some of MJ's $1 mil on to convert it into a really nice family waiting area with nice plush furniture, video games (what few there were back them, like Nintendo), a stereo system, TV, coffee maker etc.

HCA hospitals at that time had a policy that night shift workers working a 12 hour shift got a full hour break and were encouraged to take a nap if they wanted to. Most people slept in the nurse's lounge, but it was noisy and people were coming in and out all the time and I couldn't sleep in there so one night I said I was going to go down and nap in the empty family waiting area. No one said anything, but 'looks' were exchanged. I took a blanket and pillow and went down there, closed the door and set up on the couch. It was very dark, and very quiet. This room was at the very end of the hall and the rooms around it were empty, no patients, I tried really hard but I couldn't nap. I was laying on the couch, and I started to feel this really oppressive feeling of what I can only describe as 'impending doom'. Then I started hearing noises. The beep of a heart monitor. The wheeze of a ventilator. people moving around. It was absolutely one of the creepiest things I'd ever experienced.

I jumped up and left the room in a hurry. They saw me coming down the hall and it was like, 'We were betting on how long you'd last in there. No one tried to take breaks down there because that room is haunted.'

Apparently they had all experienced weird stuff in that room. Because patients had died in there over the years when it was a 4 bed ICU unit.

The story sounds cool now, but I'm glad it didn't happen to me!

Ugh so creepy.
I think there was a thread on Dave's garden with a lot of amazing stories

When my husband passed away[2022] his niece made a very nice story board for his viewing. I put all the pictures and the entire story board in the spare room, also the dog crate room, for later to scrap book for his mother. This was just after we returned from the service. I had to leave the house for a short while. When I returned the dogs were going crazy barking. This was out of ordinary for them. I ran upstairs and I found all of the framed pictures and all of the information on the story board had been ripped up. The framed pictures were broken with the glass on the floor. I wasn't scared just sad that he had passed too early in life.

Fast forward a few months. I was speaking to his niece on the phone about my husbands first daughter. We hadn't had contact with her since my husband died. The conversation could've been seen as questionably negative in regards to this daughters absence. The next morning a very large mirror I had in the dining area of the kitchen was smashed underneath the dining room table. Nothing in front of the mirror had been moved. Everything was intact. The supports for the mirror were not touched but the mirror was destroyed under the table. The table has a center support running from one end to the other. The mirror -how did it get there? He was listening to that conversation I'm sure!

Fast forward several years. My daughter and I moved to a large older house because my mother had come to live with us. My daughter passed away suddenly and it was a very dramatic situation. My son in law was in shock. I was in shock. The second night after she passed I was woken up by a loud crash. I went down stairs to see what happened. The antique mirror in the hallway had fallen off it's hooks and smashed on the floor. The hooks were still in the wall and secure. My son in law cleaned that mess up. The next day I returned from a chore and there were dryer sheets all over the yard. My daughter had just bought them. The following day I found her bracelet that she had lost. When I had her room painted a few years later the painter broke his paint roller extension while painting her closet. He told me this was the first time in 35 years that he had ever broken his paint extension. Haunted?

I think maybe you do have some residents there. It's an old custom in many cultures that when there is a death, especially of it occurs in the house, that you cover all the mirrors immediately and open a window. Being of Celtic origin, I am not ashamed to say that my family has followed this tradition for generations. You cover the mirror so that the spirit cannot take up residence in it, and stay in the house. You open the window to give the spirit a place to escape to. Perhaps, your mirror was commandeered for a bit.
My paternal grandmother could see souls. She was from the days when you still laid your loved ones out on the dining room table and had the viewing at home. She would sit vigil at the viewing until she was sure the soul had left. No one in the family thought this was crazy. It was a kind of accepted thing for us.

Oh gosh, I would have been shaking if that happened to me, Brenda. I would also hope that their spirits have moved on and found peace.

I'm sure they're both still here. It's ok. I'm used to it and them. And Gins you are correct. Mirrors are a portal for spirits almost an invitation you could say. I found a round mirror curbside one day and snatched it up. I was sure my daughter would love it. It was even bezeled glass which is so much nicer. After getting it home and cleaning it up I got a really weird vibe from it. Not in a good way. It went to someone else who needed a mirror. Couldn't get rid of it fast enough.

Gina covering mirrors after a death is a Jewish custom as well. Plus no shoes in the house. It's called "sitting Shiva". The house where I live now is filled with mirrors. My hallway has 7 doors and4 mirrors. My daughter called it the 3 stooges hallway because of the slapstick routines they did involving doors. Only 2 rooms in the house have no mirrors. The room my mother and daughter passed in and the kitchen.

We almost never wear shoes on the house either. My family has a lot of customs I'm sure other people would find strange. We put coins in the casket to give the spirit 'rattling money'. The majority of my family is/was Christian. But a few of them had pagan leanings lol. I'm sure the church would have frowned. I myself am not Christian and have not been since I was a teen.
We had friends who lived in a new construction house in Spring Tx in the 70's. They had 2 Civil War era spirits that lived with them. Many people not in the family saw them

I also believe that spirits do not die, just physical bodies.

When my dad passed 10 yrs ago, we had a beautiful celebration of life ceremony about a week later and after everybody left, those of us who live here were having dinner, talking about him, and the lights flickered. They hadn't done that before, or since. No other signs of spirits in that 70's-era house.

About 12 yrs ago, I was sitting on my couch and felt someone sit at the other end. I looked over & there was a butt dent there. I said, "Hi." but didn't get any kind of reply. I lived in that house for about 7 yrs, it was built in the 20's. Which I guess I need to say 1920's at this point.

About 18 yrs ago at a different house, built in the 80's, we were downstairs and we (2 adults, only people in the house) heard such distinct footsteps upstairs, we both ran up immediately. Nobody up there.

Around the same time in the same house, my son was a baby at the time and on several occasions, he looked up and started laughing, and following something with his eyes. He was definitely seeing something we could not see.

The house we live in now was built in 1900 and I've always expected to have some encounters with some kind of spiritual entity, I've only heard some unattributed knocking, which could have been from something outside, in somebody else's house. And one time I thought I might or might not have heard footsteps, while home alone, but also can't say that wasn't also something I heard from outside.

In 2017, we stayed in an old hotel in WV, buil t in 1901, that is "known" for being "haunted." I had reserved 2 suites for our group & nothing was said upon reservation or check-in about requesting a haunted or non-haunted room. We would have said non-. None of us are interested in purposely seeking spirits or intentionally seeking "haunted" experiences.

When we got there, it was soon before dusk. DH and I were anxious to look around so we dropped our stuff in 1 room and left immediately to wander. When we got back a few hours later, our stuff was in the other room. My niece and mom said they were too creeped out in their 1st choice so they moved our stuff. LOL! Layout was mostly the same, so we didn't mind.

The next morning, DH said he woke up around 2 AM and something was holding him down, he couldn't move anything. He couldn't see anything but felt like it was an old lady.

The next day he & I went for a self-tour to look around the building and happened to start talking to a guy in one of the hallways. We were standing there admiring a picture on the wall and he said it was one of his. He said he was the resident artist and asked if we wanted to see more of his work in his studio. (Amazing, BTW!!)

Then he took us around the hotel to see some spaces where guests aren't allowed to wander and asked what room we were in. We told him & he said that's where the main ghost does most of her haunting. He said there's a picture of what she looked like to him when he ran into her one night, on the wall in our room. We knew which pic he was talking about . We had noticed it & said to each other that it was kind of a creepy pic. DH told him about his encounter in the middle of the previous night & the artist said that sounds like other encounters with the lady.

I never felt anything creepy or spiritual in the building but it all added up to a very interesting stay, with 3 out of 5 people in our group experiencing something.

@LysmachiaMoon had a great story on her blog around the fall/winter time in 2021/2022 about civil war soldiers, unfortunately I cannot find it.

Cool stuff, Tiffany. Glad none of that happened to me... I freak out too easily!

I just found this thread. I live in a haunted house and have had many harrowing experiences over the past 20 years. Even a portion of my garden is haunted! Five years ago a group of "ghost busters" worked on clearing my house over a twelve-month period. It seemed successful, until last night. . . I'm sitting here now, reluctant to climb the stairs and go to bed. (I know, cue the scary music---but it really isn't a bit funny to live this.)

I don't know if you believe in God or not, but I will be praying you won't be plagued by these things. I believe you when you say it isn't funny.

@oregonmarty, Marty, I would not have stayed in that house even 1 year, let alone 20. I honestly don't see how you do it. What kind of things go on in your house and garden?