(By the way, does anyone have the link to the story about the "ghosts" or "spirits of the dead" from the 9-11 crash site in Pennsylvania? I had it but can't find it now).
I have a "deliverance" story, Darth, that I will tell when you tell yours. Mine is not as spooky as yours, but just as real.
As far as a common "ghost story" is concerned....my nephew was visiting his fiance's family home in New York a year or so ago. The room he was given to sleep in was sort of down in the basement. My nephew is not the type to be scared by much - so he didn't mind sleeping "down in the basement" and went on down there and fell asleep on the bed. In the middle of the night, he heard footsteps coming down the steps and sat up in bed, thinking either his fiance's mother or even his fiance, perhaps, was paying him a midnight visit.......
However, he could see no one coming down the steps which were visible from his bed.
He rubbed his eyes and asked, who is it.
At the foot of the bed, the mattress pushed in - as if someone were sitting at the foot of the bed...but he could see no one. He KNEW AN ENTITY WAS THERE AND WAS LOOKING AT HIM, THOUGH HE SAW NO ONE. HE "SENSED" IT - KNEW IT TO BE TRUE! So, he sprang out of bed, in a cold sweat by now.
He ran upstairs and called out for his fiance who came running down along with her mother. Again, my nephew (21) is not the kind that is afraid of much of anything. But he was clearly spooked!!!! His fiance and her mother looked at each other and explained:
"Evidently "Charlie" has paid you a visit. ( Charlie was my fiance's mother's father. ) He died in this house somewhat mysteriously - some say he was murdered - in the early 1900's and has been visiting "guests" ever since."
They explained that no one had ever been harmed by "Charlie"...just maybe frightened...at first. People usually hear the "steps" and they often "sense" "Charlie" is sitting on a chair or the bed - just looking at them."
My nephew did not believe in ghosts until this moment. He does now and will never be convinced otherwise.
And, yes, he has been back to visit his fiance's mother's old home - but has not stayed in the basement again. Perhaps for that reason, "Charlie" has not paid my nephew any more visits in the middle of the night......
When my aunt was three or four, she was playing outside and a man came up to her. He introduced himself as her uncle, and asked if she'd like to learn to whistle. She said yes, and he taught her. They talked for a while, then he said goodbye and walked away.
My aunt ran inside and asked why she'd never seen Uncle Leslie before. My grandmother, surprised, asked how she'd heard about him. "Oh, he just came to teach me how to whistle."
As for me, I felt my mom's presence for a long time after she died. And, I'm pretty sure, Uncle Leslie came to visit a couple of times also. Hard to explain, but I knew who it was.