October 29, 2008

The End is Nigh

Thank you to everyone who has participated so far in our 1st Annual Spook-A-Rama. It has been so much fun reading your stories and encounters. Midnight tonight is the deadline. Then we will let you judge the winner from our top 3 picks. If you are waiting to submit an entry, then don't procrastinate. Today is the day. Get your butts round the blog fire and read up if you haven't had the chance yet.




I wanted to share a lot more of my stories but taking care of my sick family has left me with little free time. I will just share a couple other things briefly and then put this Spook-A-Rama to bed because too many weird things are happening and I am getting too scared...I'm totally serious too.

While we lived in England my parents had a lovely, big, old house. It was such a nice house with a huge back yard. Just the kind of house every kid wants to grow up in right? WRONG!! That house had major ghosts in it. Many things happened there but as my Dad said here (very last comment) there were some VERY STRANGE things that went on. I heard footsteps all the time. A certain room had a horrible feeling to it. Every time I would walk past it I would have to run. We would hear things all the time and call cops out thinking there were burglars and nothing was out of place. One of our friends stayed in the house while we were gone and heard her name being called right by her ear...ahhhhh. Things would move on their own. It was such a creepy home. I got married and moved away thank goodness. And no, that is not the reason I got married. :)

Another experience I had was while we were on vacation is Tuscany. We were staying at this very old farmhouse in the farmhands quarters. It looked right out onto the vineyards. It was breathtaking during the day to see the views and beauty, and just as breathtaking at night.




My hubby was not with us. He had to be back to work one summer after we went to visit our parents in England. So we went on to Italy, and at night I was alone with my 5 and 3 year
old.





Our room was on the other side of this large farm house from where my brother and parents were staying. It was dark and dimly lit throughout the house. We got the kids tucked in and then I went and washed my face and came back to the room where I noticed the enormous armoire doors were open. To open these armoires you had to turn the key and that is how it popped open. I know it was closed when I left and both kids were sleeping deeply. It was weird but I really didn't give it much thought. Well~ during the night I heard what sounded like a key turning and then pop, the door opened. I saw the door open slowly and then nothing. I couldn't get out of bed to go get anyone because that meant leaving my kids alone with what ever that was, and I couldn't scream for my family because I would wake the kids up, and they didn't need that after all the walking and sightseeing their little bodies were doing. I just laid there and tried to keep myself from crying. I eventually fell asleep and it never happened again. Thank goodness!


All of this ghost story telling has gotten me thinking a lot on this subject. I have realized that I seem to have a lot happen to me. I wonder, like someone said in my comments, if I am a ghost magnet. I don't know if that is it. It could be, but I think that perhaps I am just a little more sensitive to this stuff than others may be. While it is scary and frightening to have strange things like this happen to you, there is also a flip side. Now I have never died and then come back, so I can't tell you what happens after we die, but I can say that I don't believe that Heavenly Father is cruel and has spirits wandering the earth aimlessly. I can't explain what ghosts are, but I know there are good spirits too. Ones that help us and protect us. I have felt these good spirits as well. I have felt the presence of my Grandfather on many occasions. I have known without a shadow of a doubt he was there comforting me in times of sorrow. I think it would be sad to think that once you die all contact is lost. My point is, that while we may be spooked out and scared from the telling of these stories like I TOTALLY am, we need to remember that GOOD will always conquer the bad.


21 comments:

Alyson | New England Living said...

It has been fun writing my own experience and reading others. Thanks for putting this on!

What a cool experience in Tuscany and I would have been like you - totally frozen, not sure how to handle it. You're a good mom for thinking of the kids first and just laying there.

I feel like I've become more sensitive too the older I get. Most of my experiences have not been scary, I must say. Most have just been very interesting to me and haven't freaked me out. I think I would make a good ghosthunter because these things mainly just make me curious and not really scared. Although there have been a couple of times when I have been scared out of my wits, but that's not the norm for me.

The Crash Test Dummy said...

What a cool post. I love the pics. They add so much. Especially the Tuscany ones. You have so many awesome stories, and you tell them so well.

High Five on the contest wrap up!

I think you and Alyson and I should start our own ghosthunters blog. ;)

Your verifier say Sit Mom (when you mix it around)

Alyson | New England Living said...

I like the ghosthunters blog idea!

binks said...

I agree that there are good and bad.
I too, have had experiences with both.
I was only choosing to tell the scary ones for Halloween. Thanks so much for all your hard work with the contest. It was really fun.
That was a great post and I would've been in the bed with my kids with the covers over my head.

Emily Anne Leyland said...

Oooh a Ghost hunters blog!! Interesting idea for sure!

Alyson- thanks for the sweet comments.It took all I had to stay in that room..haha. I think some people are just more inclined to this sort of thing. My Mom always used to say to me while growing up that I was very intuitive. I always knew how people were feeling.

Crash- thanks girl. It was an honor doing this contest with you. Soooo much fun!

Binks-thanks girl. This contest was a blast to do., Thanks for all your awesome entries. Crash was the one doing all the work :) I just copied everything she did...lol. Really! She's the smarty pants one..haha.

I tell ya- judging is going to be BRUTAL!!

Chris said...

okay, I'm kind of a dodo, but I thought there was something about voting. I've read all the stories, but I don't know how to vote! Or, do the hosts do the voting?

Emily Anne Leyland said...

You are no dodo :) The voting will begin at the stroke of midnight tonight and last all day. The winners will be announced on Nov 1st.
We are deliberating today. It is SO hard!! We have had such amazing entries. Thanks everyone!!!

Alyson | New England Living said...

I'm in love with your fire shot! Did you take that? For some reason it's really struck me today and I've come back to look at it a few times.

Emily Anne Leyland said...

Ha- the one and ONLY photo on here that I have not taken you love...hahah. I couldn't find any good ones of a fire I had taken. I wish I took it but I took it off the web...shhhh :)
You like Ghost Hunters last night? It was pretty good.

Emily Anne Leyland said...

I lied. I didn't take the Ghost Hunters one either. Ha.

Alyson | New England Living said...

I love all your shots, especially the first Tuscany shot, but fire is so hard to capture that it caught my eye today. I still think you're a great photographer!

CTD mentioned something about not being able to copy my story to be judged. Does that mean that I won't be able to be judged?

By the way, are you on facebook, by chance?

Alyson | New England Living said...

Oh, I'm actually watching Ghosthunters as I write.

Can't believe Steve said that CA is prettier than the east coast! Is he crazy?! I grew up there and I totally disagree.

Emily Anne Leyland said...

I don't know why it couldn't be copied? You will still be judged :)
Yeah- that Tuscany one is one of my fav's. I actually took about 20 of that door and my good shots of it are on my old computer. I have it framed in my kitchen. Thanks!

Where in Cali did you grow up? We lived in Pleasanton for 9 years. LOVED it but I think the East coast is the BOMB.
I am not on Facebook. I'm a loser. I don't know why I never have done that.
You'll like GH it is pretty good. Not the best but pretty good. At least tomorrow is the live show. YEAH BABY!

Alyson | New England Living said...

Shut up!!! You lived in Pleasanton!! I was born in Pleasanton. Actually, I was born in Castro Valley because that's where the hospital was, but my family lived in Pleasanton. We lived there until I was 6, then we moved to Modesto. Ok, I think we really are related!

Emily Anne Leyland said...

Ok I double lied. I didn't photograph the Queen and Eliza Dolitte, or those hot English gents.

Everything else...MINE! Even the Spook-A-Rama poster is a pic I played around with and that is actually the place I got engaged. Bolton Abbey in Lancashire. So- at least I am trying to use my own photos..haha.

Emily Anne Leyland said...

NO FRIGGIN WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I went to Lydiksen and Donlon. OH MY HECK! I knew I loved you.

Alyson | New England Living said...

Sooooo bizarre!! I'm the 5th of 6 kids, so most of my siblings totally grew up in Pleasanton. What years were you there?

For awhile my hubby and I lived in Tracy, while he worked in Pleasanton and my second child was born in the hospital in Pleasanton.

So weird...both of us have lived in Pleasanton, both of us have lived in the UK, and now we're both on the east coast! AND we're both into Ghosthunters! Seriously wish we lived closer to each other!

Emily Anne Leyland said...

I KNOW! I totally wish we did too. Let's see, I was there from 83 or 84 to 92. Then we lived in St.George for a year then moved to England. My sister went to Foothill. I only made it to the new Pleasanton Middle School. How totally bizarre. P-town was the coolest place to grow up. It was idyllic. I wish house prices weren't outta control because it was a really neat place to live. I loved being so close to San Fran and then also to Santa Cruz. I was always going to the beach with my friends older and cooler sister. Haha
I was a total mall rat too. I loved Stoneridge Mall. I want to go back so badly and see how it all has changed.
This is too funny. We so need to be living closer together. I need a bud here. Wanna move :)lol. The winters would be sooo much nicer..hahahaha.

http://afancifultwist.typepad.com said...

Bwahahahaaaaa!! Looove your story!! I know mine is late... And, I really have so many I would not know where to begin...

This is such an amazing idea you came up with, you know that? I looove it!

Here is a snippet of one...

My grandparents live in a very very old house. Well over a hundred years old. it is haunted it is weird, it is creepy it is wild!!

But before they moved in, the house had been boarded up (windows and doors) because it was in the family but noone was living in it...

The house next door, just as old, was inhabited by my great grandmother (now these are rickety old three story houses with double attics and on a cliff...)

So, one day, my great grandmother who lived in the house next to the boarded up house, ordered groceries from the market...

So, the delivery boy, delivered them to the house that was boarded up instead...

When he knocked on the door, a woman named Agnes (I believe), little old woman, came to the door and said, I didn't order groceries.

Then she pointed to the house next door, which was my great grandmother's house.

The grocery boy went to my GG's house, and said, I am sorry I was late, but I went to the wrong house (mind you, you have to go down 100+ cobblestone stairs, to get to either of the houses). He then went on to tell my GG that the old lady Agnes at the house, told him he had the wrong house and sent him over to my GG's house...

My GG turned pale white. She said to the boy. Noone lives in that house. It is boarded up and vacant right now, and has been for years...

You see, the man who owned the house before my family did, had murdered his wife Agnes, and her bones were found in the cess pool... EEEEEK! True family story. No joke...

It was the Ghost of Agnes that opened greeted the grocer...

And, dare I utter the words that, Agnes haunts my grandmother to this day... It is all very scary and awful...

But true!! BOOOOOO!!! Spooky tales I tell ya...

Alyson | New England Living said...

We were in Pleasanton until like '82 and I was in England from '92-'93. Looks like we just kept missing each other! So bizarre!

Pleasanton is awesome, but, yeah, it's so expensive! That's why we lived in Tracy, over the hill from Livermore, when my husband worked in Pleasanton. I have really good early childhood memories of that town. Hahaha - it's been forever since I've thought about Stoneridge Mall!! How funny!

You need to move here so we can stalk the ghosthunters on a regular basis! :-)

I liked you in my post, so people could come vote for me.

Thanks for all your work in the contest!

Alyson | New England Living said...

I meanted linked, but I "like" you too. :-)