Sometimes ghosts can be the worst SCs...

[mjr]

There can be a number of reasons why the spirit stays. In some cases it is actually the spirit and it may not realize it is dead. Sometimes there is a reason such as, It wants to let a family member know something and it can't do so..
Or a malicious person may refuse to move onward due to sheer nastiness or a fear of punishment in the afterlife.

I actually find this interesting. I think in Christianity, you don't get a choice. You're automatically "sent" to Heaven or Hell when you die, based on various things that will border on fratching. My understanding is there's no choice in the matter (purgatory aside, because my knowledge of Catholicism is lacking).

[Marlowe]

Catholics, to my knowledge, believe in Purgatory, which as best I understand it (not being Catholic myself) is sort of like a "waiting room" for souls and people who have passed on.

....

Why would the spirit stay on earth? Is there unfinished business it has to try to take care of? Does it not know it's dead? I'm asking because I'm honestly curious what opinions are on this.

Also, why does the ghost/apparition basically stay where it is? In other words, if a house is haunted, can the spirit/ghost/apparition go where it wants, or is it "stuck" in that particular house? If so, why?

I am Catholic (Irish Catholic, which is, as my friend Dean says, the worst kind ) and I studied the catechism in depth when I was at college (my local church had the most awesome priest. I loved that guy. A lot of priests just spout off the usual canned crap but he was actually interesting to talk to and very open minded. We used to meet up once a week to argue over modern life and how it relates back to ancient theology, and discuss everything from homosexuality to binge drinking to same-sex marriage to the paranormal.

After a fair bit of reading, the Catholic Church does allow for the existence of ghosts. As for why they hang about - I'm not sure. In some cases, yes, they probably don't know they're dead, and they're carrying on with their everyday life unable to figure out why everyone seems to be ignoring them. In others... I don't know, maybe they're afraid. Family members grieve for dead relatives, so who's to say the relatives can bear to leave their families? So, they might hang around for that, because they'd rather hang around and stay with their family as an onlooker than head off on their own. Then there's the "unfinished business" thing... and if you've ever met an Irishman, you'll KNOW how strongly a grudge can be cherished Sometimes I have mental images of an old guy I knew who died recently lurking around outside the pub he drank at everyday going "Ach, that Seamus, he thinks he's got the last word, so he does, but I'll show 'im, I will..."

Other than that, I don't know. Some ghosts seem to wander around, some seem attached to houses, and some seem attached to people. My grandmother who died in 1976 seems to have attached herself firmly to my family, especially when my and my little sister were small - one time, my mother was sleeping at about 3 or 4 in the morning when she was woken up by three sharp jabs in the back. She rolled over, thinking it was my dad, but he'd once again fallen asleep on the sofa, so wondering if me or my sister had had a nightmare, she came to find us... and found I was running a temp of almost 105, which is serious stuff, especially if the kid has a history of febrile convulsions. A Romany friend of mine's grandmother told me I had a "strong male spirit" attached to me (being that I was 16 when she said this, my first question was "is he hot?" ) but that is kind of interesting, especially since when I was a little girl I had an imaginary friend I described as a big man with long bushy hair. Also, my dad's first words upon seeing me being born were "it's a boy!"

(Incidentally, my father is a DOCTOR. He never lived that down.)

(And no, I do not have a penis.)

[Jim]

When I was in the Army, I was stationed in the Netherlands. The building we were in was haunted. Supposedly, the area it was in was an ancient burial ground of some sort. The ghost (or ghosts, some claimed there were more than one) was not very friendly. It messed with people when they slept, broke things and scared the crap out of people.

I had two run ins with it (them). One night, I had to go up to the second floor to wake someone. Somebody was at the end of the hall (I could see them through a glass door). Then...they were just GONE.

Another time, I had to leave my duty room to pick up a paper. I left the door open to the room, and when I came back, I could see the shadow of someone behind the door. Thinking someone was playing a trick, I jumped into the room and yelled "GOTCHA!". Nobody was there...

[Food Lady]

I actually find this interesting. I think in Christianity, you don't get a choice. You're automatically "sent" to Heaven or Hell when you die, based on various things that will border on fratching. My understanding is there's no choice in the matter (purgatory aside, because my knowledge of Catholicism is lacking).

I'm a non-denominational christian who doesn't believe this. Well, the part about it being right after death. I currently believe--and I may be incorrect; I need to research some more--that when I die I will go out like an extinguished light, and my breath of life will go back to God. It's after the Resurrection that Judgement will happen, and then it will be determined if people are with God for eternity or not.
That said, I have experienced some kind of spirits or entities, but I don't know what they are. I don't believe they're dead humans. They could even be a function of physics or my overtired mind. I do believe in spirits and entities; I just don't know if what I experienced was them. I just have stories.
Also, Marlowe, "is he hot?"--

[Jay 2K Winger]

When I was in the Army, I was stationed in the Netherlands. The building we were in was haunted. Supposedly, the area it was in was an ancient burial ground of some sort. The ghost (or ghosts, some claimed there were more than one) was not very friendly. It messed with people when they slept, broke things and scared the crap out of people.

I had two run ins with it (them). One night, I had to go up to the second floor to wake someone. Somebody was at the end of the hall (I could see them through a glass door). Then...they were just GONE.

Another time, I had to leave my duty room to pick up a paper. I left the door open to the room, and when I came back, I could see the shadow of someone behind the door. Thinking someone was playing a trick, I jumped into the room and yelled "GOTCHA!". Nobody was there...

You just reminded me of 50 Foot Ant's stories of the Damned 2/19th.

[AccountingDrone]

You just reminded me of 50 Foot Ant's stories of the Damned 2/19th.

I think he also used to post as Humpermonkey.

[Marlowe]

Also, Marlowe, "is he hot?"--

I know, right? 16 year old me had her some definite priorities (Actually so does 27 year old me to be fair, only now I'm less ghosts and more genius geeks with obscure knowledge And uniforms. And weapons. Big weapons. Those too. Yes. ) And hey, weapons or not, judging from the description I got from my mother of my "imaginary friend", plus the fact he's tall, strong male? He's gotta be a hottie... you know, in spirit terms. Ahem.

(Sorry. I took some benzos a half hour back to help me sleep and all they've done is make me ramble.)

Anyway, the Romany woman also saying that I must be an extraordinarily powerful one to have drawn such a strong male spirit when I was so young to me... and given that, and the fact I have seemingly miraculously survived so many things that should have by all rights killed me, I'm 1) meant to do something important and 2) anyone in their right mind would be wise to be wary of crossing me.

Of course, when she said that, my friend nearly wet herself laughing and told the lady that the local shites were already too scared to upset me, and that I could scare full grown men with no problem at all, bouncer ghost or not

[bhskittykatt]

I used to not believe in ghosts. Then I saw the apparition of a little girl whilst delivering newspapers. I saw her twice in one week. I'm a bit more open-minded now.

Hubs and I made a pact. Whoever dies first has to haunt the other one.

[Jay 2K Winger]

I think he also used to post as Humpermonkey.

Actually, I think 50 Foot Ant said on Something Awful (he has an account there) that he is not Humpermonkey, but does know him, and it was Monkey's posts that convinced him to write his own tales.

[MoonCat]

I was raised Catholic. Purgatory is where you go if you die with sins on your soul, to have the sins purged. It's a place of purification to get you ready to go on to Heaven. I don't follow that faith anymore but I do remember a lot of the early training, as it were.

A few months after my brother passed away, we had a strange experience. When you turn on a burner on our kitchen stove (cooker for you Brits ) they make a clicking sound. One day my sister called me at work to tell me that she couldn't turn them OFF. Turning the dial made no difference. They kept clicking, and would go on for a while before stopping on their own. We even had a guy come out to replace a part on each burner and he didn't think there was anything wrong with the old ones. So I made a remark, out loud, about how if this was Mark's way of saying hello, could he please find a way to do it that wasn't potentially dangerous?

A little while later the speaker function on the phone turned on, playing the dial tone (we still had a landline then). It only happened that one time.

[Jay 2K Winger]

The closest we've had to ghosts in our lives in my family is just a sense that our old dog, Dooney, is still hanging around. Before we got Mocha, our current dog, Mom would mention hearing a sound like a canine sigh, coming from the old dog crate that he'd sleep in. I heard it too, one night while I was down by it.

[Gimli]

I've worked in 3 places that had paranormal activity of some kind: a now defunct movie theater. a store inside the same mall that the store I manage now is located and an import store of the chain with the place the ships get moored to in the name. Lots of weird stuff happened in all three places but the third place I actually was able to record an EVP. That one still has activity according to friends of mine who still work there.

Helps to have a ghost hunter working in your haunted store. ;-)

[Emmeileia]

I used to own a beautiful 1910 school house which was haunted. I often heard children giggling when I was alone, and sometimes two adults (a man and a woman) speaking quietly in the living room. We also had a ghost cat, which would often jump up and sleep on my bed. I could feel him shuffle around and settle down and purr. Once I woke up and saw him on my pillow. I thought he was my (live) cat and went to pet him and my hand went right through. I miss that house so much. I always felt comforted and welcomed by it.

I've also been visit by the ghosts of some of the dogs I have cared for. Most of them just stop by to say 'hello' it seems. There was one incident though, where I was very upset and frightened and a friend of mine who is sensitive asked me "Who is the dog who is with you? They are worried about you..." I asked them what the dog looked like, and they described my Katana-girl. She had died a year previous of cancer, and had had a stroke before that so she was always recognizably lopsided. My friend had never seen Katana.

[EricKei]

Everyone, just a reminder: if you feel the need to make a disclaimer to the effect of "This might belong on Fratching...", it does. If you think your comment is on the fence, PM Rapscallion or one of the mods BEFORE you post it, please. If you wish to discuss or debate the religious implications of supernatural visitations, that goes on Fratching, as well.

In the meantime, please divert the thread back to the original topic, ghosts, whether of the SC variety or otherwise.

[wolfie]

In our local pub, I am told that occasionally pints of Guinness (only Guinness!) left temporarily unattended fall as if someone was trying to pick them up but didn't have enough strength to hold them...

Sounds like that ghost's a cheap drunk - can't hold his liquor.