January to February 2005 Ghost Stories
In recent weeks it has come
to my attention that certain parties are using my ghost stories and those of my
contributors as references for their own commercial enterprises. If you or
someone you know is writing a book on ghosts in the Pacific Northwest, PLEASE
DO NOT!!! copy or use the following stories or any other materials within
this website as references.
Jefferson Davis (25 April
2003)
DATE:
1 January 2005
FROM:
Cathy H
SUBJECT:
Thank you Cathy
Hello
Jeff,
I
am so glad you are home safe! And that things are falling into place for you.
I recently received the book you talked about that which you had a write
up about the Pink Castle in Georgetown. I
picked up all your books through Powell’s.
I have enjoyed reading them very much and so excited to know that you are
intending to have write more! Your books are wonderful! I will look forward to
your site updates as well. I am
interested is there any place else I can research the Pink Castle.
I have about two rolls of film taken a couple of months back and it was a
beautiful day so the pictures came out wonderful.
I walked around back and took a few, touched the building, was hoping to
see something but I did not. I have
always been fascinated with this historical house very much.
I wished to go inside but there wasn't any one around to permit that
idea. I went down there yesterday
to see if it had
sold and it has people in it, if it has sold or is being rented I don't know.
I was a bit sad, as I wanted to take pictures, but also excited to think
she may restored and brought back to her beauty.
I too love old houses very much, one of my favorites is the mansion out
by Black Diamond, the Neely Mansion.
Well
enough about all that, I do have a friend who lives close to the Pink Castle and
I have asked her to ask around about who might have bought it.
I know the local guy who owns a few houses wanted too, as well as the
Seattle Mystery Tours Lady. I
suggested to one of them to write a book about, and they said that's an idea.
Thank
you for your kind reply. I would
glad send you the photo's to look at if you so wish, but to where should I send
them?
Sincerely
Cathy H
DATE:
2 January 2005
FROM:
Larry Rogers
SUBJECT:
Suzanne Holmes, Southern Oregon University
The
Plunkett Center is not the only haunted building on the SOU campus.
There are several stories of ghosts in the dorms, especially Suzanne
Holmes housing. My sophomore year I
lived on the third floor of Suzy. One
night after my roommate and I had gone to bed we heard a knocking in the corner
of our room. We had a corner room
and the knocking sounded as if it was coming from the stairwell, only it would
have been about nine feet from the floor. The
knocking continued about three feet from the floor on three sides of our room.
From the stairwell to the hall to the room next-door.
I asked Hollie if she heard the knocking and she said "Yeah,
weird." We never talked about it again.
DATE:
3 January 2005
FROM:
April
SUBJECT:
Jeff
Hello:)
My name is April and I live in Yakima, Washington. I have been to your site a few times and find it interesting.
My husband and I have been looking for some info on haunted places
in our area. We haven’t come up
with much. I was reading all the
stories on your site and I didn’t see any there either.
I find that quite odd. I
know there has to be something out there. People
I know and Family members have told me of strange things that have happened in
this area. Then of course there are
always rumors about different places but you cant ever find any information
about these places. I was just
wondering if you knew of anything or a place that I can do some research about
this area. My husband and I have
thought about going to some of these different places and seeing what we could
find. Then maybe posting anything
that we see of hear or whatever. Please
let me know if you have any info!!! Thanks so much.
April
DATE:
6 January 2005
FROM:
Donnie D.
SUBJECT:
Ghosts
Jeff,
My
daughter just told me a story about her 2 year old son seeing a ghost in
the new house they just moved into. The
house is 100 years old in Blaine Washington.
There have been two incidences so far and she herself has had a dream
where she feels that something or someone is trying to talk to her about the
house. Can you help with any
information you might have about this area or better yet how do we go about
finding the history on this place?
Thanks
Fran.
DATE:
8 January 2005
FROM:
Dean K
SUBJECT:
The Edgefield
Hello,
My boyfriend and I just got done looking at your web page and have a couple
questions for you.. We live in
Gresham, just 5 mins away from the McMenamins, Edgefield. I have been told by several people that it is haunted, I
actually have a friend that works there that has seen the lady in the white
dress, but I can not locate the history of the people that used to live in the
poor house, nor any strange sightings. Why
is that?? Can you help us.. Ever
since we learned that strange things have been known to happen there, we have
been overly curious... but can't
find anything to ease our minds.?? Is there anytime that's best to stay at
haunted place to get the best chance to see things or is all by chance...??
Thank you for your time. Edgefield
seekers
DATE:
14 January 2005
FROM:
Jennifer S.
SUBJECT:
Inquiry for Permission
Dear
Jeff,
Hi
my name is Jennifer, a group of people from my work are trying to get a
ghost hunting group together, we call ourselves the "ghostlyguards".
We are very new at this and have only gone to places of acquaintances.
We are interested in taking a trip to Salem, we would like to check
out Fairveiw Mental hospital, Oregon State Hospital, and Camp Adair.
How would we go about getting permission to visit these places, do you
have any suggestions? Are there any places you could recommend to us as
well? I have read one of your books and been to a couple of the places,
but haven't experienced anything. My
other friend has been to Hot Lakes Hotel and experienced activity.
Thank
you for your time,
Jennifer
S
Hello
Jennifer,
I
cannot make any suggestions for the two hospitals you want to visit, since I do
not have contact with them. As far
as Camp Adair, I suggest you start with the Camp Adair museum folks.
They've tried to stay A-Political, and keep traffic down, since they are
a military reservation and this is the War on Terrorism.
Working your way in to the system can be difficult.
I
guess that since I've been doing this for a few years, it's easier for me to
gain entry. When you are starting
out, it's best to be subtle. I used
to start out visiting the place just as a visitor or tourist. That allowed me to see if I was even interested in doing a
follow up visit. It may not be
physically suitable. After the
visit, if you have talked to someone and gained some kind of polite dialogue,
try a follow up, and make your proposal. It
will usually take a couple of referrals to other people higher up the chain of
command to get permission. Unless
it's a place like a museum or hotel, then you can stay as a guest and query the
staff about ghosts and such.
Always
put your best foot forward. Try and
look and sound normal. Be prepared
to take no for an answer (for a while at least) and have a plan of what you want
to do prepared to brief to the people who control the property.
I
hope that helps.
Jeff Davis
DATE:
20 January 2005
FROM:
Jennifer
SUBJECT:
My Ghost
Dear
Jeff
My
name is Jennifer I have been seeing this little girl and so
has my friend Serrina and Kailah. and
no one can see her and she always fallows me around she wears a red dress and
red shoes and a red sun hat but you cant see her eyes and she also has with
two pig tails all curled in ribbons she tortures me help.
DATE:
21 January 2005
FROM;
A.B.
SUBJECT:
Our Personal Experience
Thank
you for the anonymity option,
Right
after my husband Gary and I moved into our current home here in Roseburg, Oregon
in 1999, Gary and I had a strange experience. We had just gone to bed and while laying there unwinding from
the day. Gary pops up out of the
blue. "Guess what I see in my
mind."
Right
at that instance, I had a vision of a black wiry haired dog, sitting on the back
porch. So I told him what I saw.
Gary was amazed. He said he saw the very same vision. Most likely I would had forgotten about this event if it
hadn't been for a couple of incidents that followed.
The
next morning I was drawn on an exploring walk around the place, as our home and
land was still new to me. I walked
up the hillside and was looking at the surrounding landscape when my foot hit a
soft spot on the ground. Looking
down I found an old rusty choke chain with dog tags on it. I picked the collar up and looked at the tags.
1975 was the year inscribed on the tags.
I took the collar down the hill and showed Gary.
We discussed the possibilities of it belonging to the dog in our vision
we shared. We were joking of
course. So I thought.
Later
in the week Gary met one of our neighbors, Mike who lives across the road from
us. He has lived there since the
early 70's and knew the history of our property.
Gary being curious asked Mike if he knew if anyone had dogs here before.
Mike answered that in the 70's the owners had Airedales.
Mike also went on and told Gary of all the dogs he could think of that
people had owned here. Also the
house had changed owners quite a bit.
But
Airedales! They were the only wiry haired dogs that lived here, and in the
70's! The rusty collar with tags from the 1975! The collar also was large
enough to fit an Airedale. Was it
some type of message from the other side that a dog was still guarding the
house? This is just one of many strange things to happen to us since we
have lived here in this house.
From
our other experiences, we believe our home to be haunted by two human
ghosts as well. One of our
friends who is sensitive to spirits confirmed this along with the description of
what they looked like. Later Gary
talked again with our neighbor Mike and the descriptions matched with the
previous owners from several years ago.
DATE:
26 January 2005
FROM:
Jen H.
SUBJECT:
Payette Hauntings
Hello,
My names Jen, I'm 15 and live in Payette, ID.
Recently I've discovered your site and have been quite pleased with a
great deal of the information. However,
I was saddened by the lack of Idaho based haunting.
I've always been interested in the supernatural, but have never had
anything I could account for experiences, save a few weird vibes.
One
vibe I pick up very strongly is on the out skirts of Payette.
It's in the orchard area and headed for Weiser Idaho.
It's a historical area, I know that much.
French trappers came and settled here.
That's what the town was named after, and we're fairly close to bits and
pieces of the Oregon Trail. On top
of that, the town has a very rich history.
My
friends and I often go out to have bon fires at a particular friend’s farm
house home. His dad is a bit
obsessed with art and historical things, so there are lots of odd relics all
about.
These
bon fires, though jovial, often get us to talk about ghosts.
Last time, we began talking about ghosts in this area.
(It's the Idaho/Oregon border). Several
left to go check out the old Washoe Cemetery while the rest of us stayed to
investigate my friend’s house. Many
creepy vibes got me. Nothing
concrete, but definitely difficult to explain.
I may not know much about the supernatural (Though I like to think so
sometimes) but I don’t think this stuff could be explained as “run of the
mill.”
I
don't spook easily by ghost stories either.
Though, it might have been the mood.
And, it's weird; we've been unable to find many recorded stories, though
this orchard area is very eerie.
Many
people have reported strange 'eerie carvings' and paintings about their homes.
Pentagrams, upside down crosses. This
is especially true in the older ones. Three of my friends and their parents can confirm these odd
markings. And a few strange
happenings. I won't go into
details, but there's a lot of weird stuff.
And the vibes I get are chilling.
I'm
just curious to know what it all is and whether we should be more careful about
what we do. Many are even more interested in the spiritual world now.
And, being as young as we are, it’s difficult to obtain information out
of areas because of our youth and sheer lack of knowledge on how to do so.
Our last bon fire, in my opinion, had a lot of disrespect towards the
sprits. And I don’t want our next
one to be the same.
Do
these strange happenings have anything to do with the Snake River, which is in
the area, or the Malheur Butte? I've heard some talk and read some things
suggesting that it might and I'm wondering if you know anything.
Heck, it could just be a bunch of crazies or have nothing to do with it
at all. I don’t know. I figure it best to get professional advice before getting
ourselves into trouble. Especially
with a bon fire being planned early next spring.
Any
help you have would be appreciative.
-Jen
DATE:
3 February 2005
FROM:
Alicia H.
SUBJECT:
Hi,
I was reading your website and I just wanted to tell you about a place in
Washington that I am pretty sure is haunted. I lived in Sedro Woolley WA for like 6 months last year while
I attended Cascades Job Corp there and while I was there I experienced weird
things such as unexplained noises and such.
Anyways I wouldn’t have thought anything of it until I found out the
facility where I was living used to be an old mental institution along time ago
and they had cremated people there and there was also a cemetery in the forest
right behind the center.
There
were also underground tunnels used back then that you could hear noises from because there
were holes in the ground where you could see and hear down there.
I was in the dorm where they used to keep the insane children or whatever
and at night you could hear children playing in the hall, tapping on the pipes,
and whispering (keep in mind everyone there was 16-24, no children). I also heard rumors (and I am not sure if they were true or
not) of one of the all male dorms, it used to be co-ed until alot of the
girls got attacked by what they claim was a ghost, and I guess there
was some crazy guy that was sent there for murdering women back when it was
a mental institution. Anyways I
thought you might be interested, you should check it out if you are, its pretty
creepy there.
DATE:
8 February 2005
FROM:
Karin G.
SUBJECT:
Cemetery Tour
The
cemetery I took (I like you had no idea what was a good one) met at The Dead
Mozelle restaurant at the NW corner of the French Quarter, almost on Rampart St.
The tour went on an air conditioned bus and covered most of the
cemeteries in NO. The guide had
really done his research and there wasn’t a statue he couldn’t give you the
rundown on. Because its not
recommended you go alone into the old cemeteries, the ones at the top of Canal
St. back right up on one of the meanest projects you ever saw, and the kids had
ways of getting over the walls using tree branches.
They stayed a distance away from the group, I would not want to be a lone
female with a Nikon.
I
did go to St Louis number three, although I was advised against it, with the
police station on one side and a catholic school on the other I felt safe.
got some of my best pictures here. not
terribly old but beautiful statuary. my
favorite story on the tour was the tomb of the famous Madame, cant think of her
name, in the Metairie cemetery. Her
statue is shown knocking on the door of her family home, where they ostracized
her after she went into that line of work. The
statue is said to walk around. its
been found. I asked the guide about
the possibility of say Layola students getting a backhoe, but the cemetery is
right on the main highway, and extremely well patrolled due to a lot of thefts
in the area. Anyway this was my
experience. Wonderful place. Are you familiar with a cemetery in Spokane called thousand
steps or something? Supposed to be
really creepy.
DATE:
10 February 2005
FROM:
Kristina C.
SUBJECT:
McLoughlin House Oregon City, Oregon
Dear
Mr. Davis,
In
September of this past year I had checked out your book from the local library
and found it rather interesting. My
sister and I decided to go and visit the McLoughlin house in Oregon City after
reading about the story in your book.
It
was a rainy day, so we practically had the entire house to ourselves.
I also like history and thought it would be more interesting to have a
guided tour. Before we went into
the house, I asked the curator if the house was haunted.
She quietly told me that it is supposed to be kept a secret, but yes
indeed she felt the house had ghosts. As
we entered the house we closed the front door and stood for a few minutes in the
front parlor. My sister felt very
chilled and quickly moved away from the front door towards the other rooms.
I asked her what she had felt and she replied a very angry spirit was in
the house. She also felt very strange feelings in other parts of the
house.
I
would like to thank you for writing such an informational based book we will
also be visiting other sites you have mentioned.
Sincerely
Kristina
DATE:
15 February 2005
FROM:
Shelly C.
SUBJECT:
THX! Re-Manresa’s Turit
Aloha
J.,
You
can email me if you like, and I am sincerely interested in what ever happened to
my old friend George. Please keep
my email un-listed and private.
I just had to share this with you! I got the wildest chicken skin from
channel surfing when your TV blurb on Manresa's haunting appeared.
The chill of a night which has
haunted me from childhood was explained. Thankyou!!!!
We
made reservations to stay in a B&B on our way to a camping spot.
The front desk said be sure to arrive by midnight, or your room will be given
to another. I was 4 years old (now 31) , and my mother, auntie and cousin
(8yrs) were headed to Manresa castle. The
drive was long and by nightfall there was a storm racing up behind us.
We made it in the circular driveway of our B&B, as the first crack of
thunder snapped me to attention. We
were exhausted and poured our soaked selves in, through the brass handles to the
bell hops welcome. He looked
shocked, and explained that there were no more rooms for the night.
My family was not leaving! We were tired, had a reservation, and just
then the grandfather clock began to tell...12 - gongs of midnight rang out to
remind the man we were on time! He was shaken, and picked up the phone.
"uh-hum, yes sir. Please
ask him if they can add a cot, and clean it up a bit..." his voice was
secretive, and hesitant. He had
tried to send us away. He then got
a call to take us upstairs to the son's room'.
The
key ring was huge, and there were all kinds of keys. One was really strange.
Turns out, it is a skeleton key, and the rule was that anyone to stay in
this room had to remain, locked in, until 6 am. Those were the rules. We
ascended the loooong narrow stairway to a moon like room.
The wind wound through the dark crescent entrance at the first door, and
I could make out that there were holes in the floor boards, I saw a dead black
bird and a crack in the whistling window to my right.
The next door seemed to be turning the handle from inside then out, as it
was still locked. Mr.
Bell Hop used that funny long key, and we were set up with a pull-out and
a cot or two, can't remember that part. There
was an old oriental burgundy carpet and our little bed faced a closet.
The floor boards grooves were smooth, and worn and felt warm.
To my right, was the other side of the moon shaped window from the
turret, and through the silver snake-size rivers of rain, slapping the window, I
could see the courtyard, or driveway. I
seem to remember a centralized statue with forest in her distance that lit up in
the storm light. I was
reminded to "go to BED!!!" in exasperated tones, and no coaxing whines
of uncertainty would keep them awake with me. I felt there was definitely someone there, that this was his
room. An ownership or curiosity
tone.I lay down next to my cousin, and pleaded her to look into the closet and
see the man who stared. She said
it's dark, late and go to bed. "there's
no-one else." she murmured before her first little snore.
I
was four and had just seen Star Wars, where Darth Vader looks like a Jesuit
priest in the dark. "Gretchen....
I can't sleep, Darth Vader is staring at me!" I didn't sleep.
I stared into the closet, where the hooded figure stared back.
I felt as though he came near the bedside, though next thing I remember
is the bell hop smiling chipper, with his key releasing us into the
sunlight, songbirds and distant chatter of the dining room.
The only person who seemed to know what happened that night was our
grinning waiter, as he approached our table with a coy smirk of knowing, and
said, "how was the turret? Did you meet George", (I think that was his
name.) His eyes and mine linked with a deep flash of agreement.
I was too young to defend my story and it haunted me better than any
ghost story I have known. Until your show. There
was a reenactment of the monks walking the lawn, That was the outfit! The show
said he died in the turret. That
was the room! He was in the closet where he hung himself ....
That was Darth Vader, aka George. Thank
you for confirming my real-life childhood ghost experience-story.
It was like seeing an old friend.
DATE:
23 February 2005
FROM:
Christa
SUBJECT:
Dammasch Mental Institute
Hello
Jeff,
I
was wondering if you had heard anything about the Dammacsh mental institute in
Wilsonville, Oregon. I heard it was
the scariest place ever by a few of my friends that visited there.
A
co-worker of mine was working as an extra in a movie that I guess was filmed
there and he said there were 20 of them walking around inside there and it was
really scary. things touching you
and stuff like that. I guess they
are tearing the place down and putting up a school there sometime soon
Thanks
christa
Want
to share a story?
Email
Jeff
Copyright © 1996-2001 by Jeff Davis | Maintained by J. Davis
|