Posted on 04/19/2006 8:09:34 PM PDT by CurlyBill
BY MICHAEL BURKE
Journal Times
RACINE Its just possible that someday a guest of Hughes House Bed & Breakfast could glimpse something otherworldly or hear inexplicable bumps in the night.
Several people say they have seen and/or heard apparitions and other strange phenomena at 1500 S. Main St. Dan Dashner, co-owner of the house with Mike Reynolds, is one of them.
Mike and I both have seen things and heard things, Dashner said. He realizes that, in some peoples eyes, uttering that makes him crazy or a liar. But he stands by his statement.
Those who do believe in the supernatural take note of the fact that a previous resident of the house, Helen Kearney, died there in a fire in 1945. Another former resident, a man, died there after a long illness.
Dashner has several stories about odd occurrences during his three years in the house.
One of them starts with the night he awoke to a crash at 3:15 a.m. The glass of water he keeps on a side table each night was on the floor, shattered. Dashner had never knocked it off before but figured thats what had happened.
The next night, the glass fell off again and broke. Dashner said he had been sleeping on his side, facing the other way, at the time. Again, the clock said 3:15 a.m.
The third night, against his better judgment, Dashner placed a glass of water on the side table. But he put it on the other side of the lamp from him, seemingly well out of reach.
When he was startled awake that night, the glass had been smashed onto the floor, with some shards of glass ending up 12 feet away. The time was precisely 3:15 a.m. Then Dashner stopped his glass of water routine.
About a year ago, he said, he was loading the dishwasher early in the morning and caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned and saw a white, misty, formless shape moving toward the bathroom.
What Reynolds saw from inside the bathroom was a man; then he was gone.
People have also heard footsteps coming from the west wing when no one could possibly have been there, Dashner continued. He called them definite footsteps deliberate, very real.
Rob Tomes, a carpenter, said he had his own strange experience in the houses west wing about two years ago, as he worked on the second-floor landing.
I saw some kind of movement down the hallway, Tomes said. He thought he saw in the hallway someone who then went into the small rear bedroom.
I thought somebody had got in, Tomes said. I walked down there, saying, Hello, hello. It was upright, like a person. I thought maybe I caught a shadow of someone going into the room.
When he entered the room, it was empty, although there is no other way out of there.
After I heard that a lady died in the house, I thought it might be something supernatural, Tomes said. Im not positive, but I know I saw something.
Those accounts, and more, sound much like what Joyce Wilde of Racine saw while she rented part of the circa 1899 house.
About the man who died there, she said matter-of-factly, It was his ghost that we kept seeing in the kitchen. ... It looked like him, and had the outline of his head and face, and was the same height.
Wilde said whenever changes were being made to the house, the sightings and strange sounds would increase. These spirits, whenever there was any kind of upset, we would see them a lot. You could just get a sense of their curiosity ... about whats being changed.
Wilde added, I think if people were aware of the history of that house, and they open themselves up to it, Im sure they can see (spirits).
Dashner said he doesnt plan to mention the strange occurrences on the Hughes House Web site. But if people ask or comment or see something, my plan is to keep a journal.
Ghost Ping!!
Ghost Ping!!
How come it seems that most ghost sightings are at Bed and Breakfasts now adays?
In my part of Virginia the B&Bs are having a real problem. Gas prices plus excess capacity is hurting all of them. Perhaps Dan & Mike are just trying to fill those empty rooms?
B&Bs are, most often, older "charming" houses with histories. I have no other theories!
Thanks for the ping. Cool story as always!
Sure beats a Motel6 I guess.
Why do you post these creepy stories late at night when my husband is on business trips? It never fails! I cannot stop myself from reading them either. Now I'll be up for a long time.
Ghost story ping! I make these ghosts look like poufsters....there's nothing scarier in the world than me! :)
Probably because big, old houses (that have seen lots of life and death) are the most desirable for bed and breakfasts. Just a guess. :-)
Thanks for the ping! Just gone done watching the Roto-Rooter guys! (Ghost Hunters)
Anyone care to refresh my memory on the scientific word for that "white mist"...it's slipped my mind; man, I've seen website for haunted places in the USA; just must be a few hundred listed.
People always talk about the old civil war sites, I've been able to walk/bike through the grounds of an old fort used from the 1800s not far from here, many times at night. Not one thing at all; in fact, in the summer, sometimes, a bunch of people set up tents and camp out there at certain times during the year.
darn!
gone = got
Send in T.A.P.S.
We live in a new home. No, we don't know what was here prior to our neighborhood. I'm guessing it was "Boomers and Sooners".
Hubby, me, our son, and a 3 year old neighbor have all seen something in our home. (shadow or movement, mostly in the same spot) Husband was a total non-believer prior to this. The 3 year old actually pointed and asked me "who is that?"
I don't think it's anything to worry about, BTW. Nothing sinister.
How do I find out what/who was here before us? Could have been Indians, for all I know.
Don't really know, I don't think I've ever stayed at a Motel-6. But you're probably right.
TAPS would go to local librarys, town hall, etc. to find the historical records or deeds to houses. Maybe google would suffice if you get some names of previous owners or you might have to research records of death certificates.
Thanx for the PING!
I don't know if it's scientific, but I think the word might be "ectoplasm"?
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