In keeping with the spirit of the season I though that it would be worthwhile reprinting this story from last year. It’s absolutely true. Cross my heart.

Ghost Story

My wife and daughter share a casual interest in accounts of the supernatural. They love to watch those ghost shows on the cable channels, the ones where the paranormal investigators check out allegedly haunted houses. Although they are not in the least way obsessed with the idea of supernatural contact, they both find it entertaining and have adopted a “who knows?” attitude. As for myself, I am a born skeptic and have little time for these ‘reality’ TV programs.

Last Sunday Bev and I took Dot, our 19 year old daughter, and her best friend Bekah , out to enjoy an afternoon’s drive through the countryside at autumn’s peak. It was a classic fall day, a brisk wind pushing gunmetal clouds across a blue sky. The sunlight had that watery feel to it, softening the bright colors of the leaves. Later that afternoon we wandered into  Gettysburg, an old town that is famous for being  the center of a Civil War battle. Dot mentioned that the town was considered a favorite haunt for many ghosts, apparently due to the thousands of violent deaths inflicted in the battle.

Since it was such a beautiful day we were surprised that only a smattering of restaurants in town were open. Of those few, we chose a busy place on the square. Most of the buildings in town looked quite old yet well maintained, and this one was no exception. There was a 20 minute wait for a table so I took my pager outside and sat on a bench. My wife darted into an antique store to check out their advertised “dental artifacts” while the girls ran to the lady’s room, upstairs in the restaurant.

Ten minutes later the girls burst out through the establishment’s doors, laughing and giggling. When I asked about all their joviality, Dot held out her phone to me. “Listen” she said.

The traffic noise was loud on the square but I could just make out Dot’s voice saying; “Is there anyone with us today? If you’re here we would like to talk to you.” There was a long pause full of static, then Dot saying; “You can talk to me (garbled)?” Pause. “ You don’t have to be afraid of us. You can talk to me. My name is Dot. Pause. Allright, bye- bye.” This was followed by the sounds of both girls giggling. .

(I knew just what they had been up to. Recently we watched the movie “White Noise” on DVD. In it, Michael Keaton is contacted by souls who have gone over to the ‘other side’. They reached him by laying their voices down on magnetic recording tape. Upon playback these spectral voices could be heard for the first time. Called EVP – Electronic Voice Phenomena- it is taken very seriously by some people, the foremost experts being Lisa and Tom Butler of AAEVP, consultants on the film. [ http://www.aaevp.com/ ] I thought it was a fair movie, but like most ‘scary’ movies you need to suspend your disbelief for a couple of hours. My disbelief in the paranormal returned before the credits were running, My wife and daughter maintained their “who knows?” perspective. and after the movie they excitedly exchanged stories of other EVPs.)

Back on the town square, I smiled and handed the phone back. One should never underestimate what Dot might do. Then, just as Bev was walking up, the restaurant pager went off. We went inside, enjoyed a good meal and within a couple of hours we were back home. That night, in the quiet of our living room, Dot listened to the recording again. Excited, she had us listen to it as well.

In the middle of the second pause of scratchy white noise a woman’s low voice could be heard whispering what sounded like “Kitty, kitty, kitty”, followed by a very soft chuckle (or sobbing, perhaps?). I immediately suspected the girls of playing a prank but Dot was able to quickly convince me of their innocence. I know my daughter, and that’s not her style. She insisted that they were completely alone in the ladies room (she would never had attempted this stunt otherwise). I asked her to send the voice message to my phone and the next day I had some co –workers listen to it. Eyes were wide when they put the phone down. You can hear the recording by going to the following link: (Turn up your volume and listen carefully)

Kitty, Kitty’s dead.

Creepy, huh?

Going to Google, I started to search for more information and eventually found what I was looking for:

In 2001 this restaurant burned down to the ground and it had since been rebuilt to the original specifications. During the reconstruction the body of a recently murdered woman had been discovered at the building site, where she reportedly had been left to die. (I have yet to find any other information). The restaurant staff says that the spirit of this woman haunts the building, open and closing doors and windows, with most of the activity taking place in the kitchen and in the ladies room.

OK. I can’t explain this. Is this the result of some elaborate hoax being perpetrated by the operators of this restaurant? It’s not as if they promoted any haunting – it was not easy finding the story of the dead woman’s body. Could it be the tortured soul of someone named Kitty, somehow trapped in this house? Or, as my daughter suspects, was the spirit mocking Dot, comparing her to someone who casually calls for a pet, not knowing what they are really dealing with? Is Kitty someone we should be praying for?

At one time I would never seriously consider such a thing as supernatural phenomena, but for over the past 5 years I have been immersed things spiritual. As some will say, who knows?

What do you think? Do you have a similar story to share?