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Not a road story per see but here goes… I was the bass player for an eight piece in England in the 70's. Three brass, guitar, bass, drums, keyboard and front man. We'd lost our old practice hall in a church which was about to be used as a shelter for the homeless. Apart from us practicing there, it hadn't been used in years and there was no heat so winter nights were brutal… We used to break up chairs and burn them in a potbelly stove that was in the room. Any spare pieces we'd "hide" behind a huge bookcase for next time! Hey, we were young!

Anyway, because we'd lost that place, our agent offered up the cellar (basement) in his office which was in a three story "brownstone." We checked it out and it was brightly lit and clean, below street level, so we moved our gear in and started playing. We were learning January by Pilot (Hey, it was popular at the time.) and half way through the song I got the strangest feeling that we were being watched by someone (something) from the bottom of the cellar stairs. The hairs on my neck started literally standing up and I was scared sh@less but kept on playing. I started to notice that some of the other guys were also studying the stairs and when we finished the song the guitarist turned to me and simply said, "There was something there wasn't there?" Well, about half of us, those closest to the entrance felt that something but didn't hear or see a thing. We continued to practice there but, although we were all big boys in our twenties, you wouldn't catch anyone of us down there alone… One more amp to take out, two of us would go down. Not a great ghost story but I can tell you that we had some believers in the room that night. If the lights had gone out at that moment we would have been stampeding up the stairs and out the front door and never looked back!

On reflection we thought it was almost as though there was something (a spirit) in the house, which by the way was empty, who heard some noise in the cellar, went down to check it out and never came back again. With the passing of time it's hard for me to still believe but when I think of how we felt at the time, I do have strong feelings that there might be something out there. Booooo

Great story.....let me add a personal one of mine.

About 5 years ago I was living alone in an apartment here in Salt Lake City. I had just heard of a type of electronic paranormal phenomenon called "EVP" (electro-voice phemonenon) which are faint "voices" that can simply appear on tape and that do not eminate from people present at the time. It so happens that there are thousands of examples of EVP that people have uploaded online, so I decided to start a music project called "Vox Mortua" (Voices of The Dead) mixing these EVPs into some electronic music. I set to work in my home studio.

Now I don't know if it was just the nature of the project, or my imagination, or what, but as soon as I started to work on this thing the whole atmosphere of my apartment changed. Where I never before saw or heard a single thing out of place there, I got to where I was always looking over my shoulder, hearing strange things in the kitchen or bathroom, and getting so wigged out at night that I took to leaving the bathroom light on before I went to bed.

Well anyway, about half way into the project one night I was working with headphones on and I felt the distinct shudder of the floor as if someone who weighed 500 pounds was jumping up and down. 6 or 7 thuds. Now there are no residences above or below me, so this was very odd. I sat and listened for a few seconds, then went back to my work. A minute later, there it was again - BOOM BOOM BOOM. I whipped the headphones off and listened intently, then suddenly BAM BAM BAM BAM there they were.....coming RIGHT from my bedroom on the other side of the wall (I was alone). I shut down all my equipment immediately, and went over to a friends for a few hours to have a few stiff drinks. When I got home, I pulled the DAT tapes I was recording to and shelved "Vox Mortua". After that, not a thud, creak or groan was heard at my place again.

I'm not sure if this was my mind doing it due to the nature of the project I was working on, but I do sure as hell know that the thuds were real because they were shaking the pictures on the wall. "Vox Mortua" still sits next to masters of my other work - still unfinished and exactly as I left it that night. I have reached for it a dozen times to try and pick up recording on it again.

Every time, I withdraw my hand and move to something else.

Irminsul wrote:Great story.....let me add a personal one of mine.

About 5 years ago I was living alone in an apartment here in Salt Lake City. I had just heard of a type of electronic paranormal phenomenon called "EVP" (electro-voice phemonenon) which are faint "voices" that can simply appear on tape and that do not eminate from people present at the time. It so happens that there are thousands of examples of EVP that people have uploaded online, so I decided to start a music project called "Vox Mortua" (Voices of The Dead) mixing these EVPs into some electronic music. I set to work in my home studio.

Now I don't know if it was just the nature of the project, or my imagination, or what, but as soon as I started to work on this thing the whole atmosphere of my apartment changed. Where I never before saw or heard a single thing out of place there, I got to where I was always looking over my shoulder, hearing strange things in the kitchen or bathroom, and getting so wigged out at night that I took to leaving the bathroom light on before I went to bed.

Well anyway, about half way into the project one night I was working with headphones on and I felt the distinct shudder of the floor as if someone who weighed 500 pounds was jumping up and down. 6 or 7 thuds. Now there are no residences above or below me, so this was very odd. I sat and listened for a few seconds, then went back to my work. A minute later, there it was again - BOOM BOOM BOOM. I whipped the headphones off and listened intently, then suddenly BAM BAM BAM BAM there they were.....coming RIGHT from my bedroom on the other side of the wall (I was alone). I shut down all my equipment immediately, and went over to a friends for a few hours to have a few stiff drinks. When I got home, I pulled the DAT tapes I was recording to and shelved "Vox Mortua". After that, not a thud, creak or groan was heard at my place again.

I'm not sure if this was my mind doing it due to the nature of the project I was working on, but I do sure as hell know that the thuds were real because they were shaking the pictures on the wall. "Vox Mortua" still sits next to masters of my other work - still unfinished and exactly as I left it that night. I have reached for it a dozen times to try and pick up recording on it again.

Every time, I withdraw my hand and move to something else.

Friggin AWSOME!!! What a great idea. Sorry it freaked you out...i would have loved to have heard "Vox Mortua". If you ever pick up the project again let me know.

wimvox@yahoo.com

winterinmay wrote:Friggin AWSOME!!! What a great idea. Sorry it freaked you out...i would have loved to have heard "Vox Mortua". If you ever pick up the project again let me know.

wimvox@yahoo.com

Your timing is uncanny. I just last week decided to go back over the recordings and see if I can pick it up again. If I can get some edits done I'll post them and give you a link.

S.A.B wrote:<snip>...
Every band I met going into the club as we were leaving all had spooky stories about the stay at the Martha Washington Inn.

I'm putting that one on our list. My wife and I like to go on "ghost vacations" sometimes, where we seek out motels or Bed and Breakfasts known to be haunted.

There is something to these stories, but what it actually is I can't explain. Ever since I was kid I could be some where and I would get a strange feeling, a very unconfortable, unsettleing feeling. Every time this has happend I would be informed that some traumatic experience happend in that area.

A story. Every time I would visit my sister she would set me up in the one bed room in the house and every time I could not sleep. I would be up all night with a very uneasy, feeling. Not scary, just uneasy. Like I was being watched or something. So after several visits and every time the same results I asked her if she was aware of anything weird that happend in that room. She asked why and I told her of the feelings I had. The look on her face was all I needed to see to know there was something. She told me the people they bought the house from had a daughter and she had severe diabetes. She went out partying one night which she should not have done, went into diabetic shock and died in the room, as it was her bed room. I said well there you go. My sister couldn't believe it that I could sense that. I knew nothing about the story till my sister told me so it was not in my subconcious or anything. This has happend to me many times in the past and still continues. If I walk in a house and feel uneasy, I pretty much know something serious happend. I can get the same feelings out doors or anywhere and every time i inquire I find some traumatic event transpired in that location.

The same thing happend not long ago in a state park not far from where I live. I was out trout fishing on the river and I came to a spot that just felt dark, really evil. So much so I had to leave the area. I did some research and found that a couple had been killed there several years before, brutally.

Sounds weird, but it's the truth.

I have no doubt you speak the truth on that one. Seems you and I are (blessed? cursed?) with the same sensitivities. Even as a tiny kid I'd go into some strange house and run out bawling or screaming and my parents had no idea why. It remains the same to this day. If I go to some locale and get that "awfull feeling" I simple turn on a heel and leave, no questions asked.

I did a little research and found out they call this "imprinting", and basically its psychic/spiritual "residual" energy left there from a burst of fear or anger. Basically, the more horrific the event, the more intense the imprint. Amd what's more curious about it, some people won't feel a thing in such places and others will practically faint from it.

I also experience this phenomenon, and more.
Back when I was teaching Martial Arts (and teaching/practicing 10 to 30 hrs/wk), I was also learning and practicing a lot of meditation. And my mind was wide open.
I know all about imprinting . . .
And, for a while I became a spirit magnet . . .
Some were vaguely sad, some were confused, but most of them were just curious . . .
They were just people, like you or me, but minus the physical stuff . . .
. . . I wasn't powerful enough to converse, but I sure could draw them in to me.
Several people around me saw and heard them . . . . boys, girls, men, women, even my dog . . .
This went on for years and years. I only mentioned it to my closer friends; but they invariable would look at me in surprise, saying they had seen or heard these things in my home.
And they were too embarassed to say anything . . .
After about 20 years or so, a few evil ones showed up, and that was it for me. I blocked them out.
I'm not afraid of them (I'm the meanest sob in the valley of death), but I do not like associating with negative people . . .
There's more stuff, too, but I'll keep that to myself.
Suffice to say I've got a lot of witnesses.
And a lot of non-believers, after getting the crap scared out of them, became believers . . .

Irminsul wrote:I have no doubt you speak the truth on that one. Seems you and I are (blessed? cursed?) with the same sensitivities. Even as a tiny kid I'd go into some strange house and run out bawling or screaming and my parents had no idea why. It remains the same to this day. If I go to some locale and get that "awfull feeling" I simple turn on a heel and leave, no questions asked.

I did a little research and found out they call this "imprinting", and basically its psychic/spiritual "residual" energy left there from a burst of fear or anger. Basically, the more horrific the event, the more intense the imprint. Amd what's more curious about it, some people won't feel a thing in such places and others will practically faint from it.

Yes, this started as a kid when I was young and innocent and has continued my whole life. I thought everyone experienced this until I talked to people and they thought I was nuts. The only thing that gained credibility was that when I mentioned it, I was accurate 100% of the time. Sometimes people living in the house or whatever wouldn't know until I mentioned and they would later find out I was right.

I don't know if it's a curse or not. I just have it. I know I was born with it because it has been since my earliest recollections. I also can read people like books, and I usually can see trouble coming before anyone else does. I'll cover that in my response to Rhythman.

RhythmMan_BluesRockFolk wrote:I also experience this phenomenon, and more.
Back when I was teaching Martial Arts (and teaching/practicing 10 to 30 hrs/wk), I was also learning and practicing a lot of meditation. And my mind was wide open.
I know all about imprinting . . .
And, for a while I became a spirit magnet . . .
Some were vaguely sad, some were confused, but most of them were just curious . . .
They were just people, like you or me, but minus the physical stuff . . .
. . . I wasn't powerful enough to converse, but I sure could draw them in to me.
Several people around me saw and heard them . . . . boys, girls, men, women, even my dog . . .
This went on for years and years. I only mentioned it to my closer friends; but they invariable would look at me in surprise, saying they had seen or heard these things in my home.
And they were too embarassed to say anything . . .
After about 20 years or so, a few evil ones showed up, and that was it for me. I blocked them out.
I'm not afraid of them (I'm the meanest sob in the valley of death), but I do not like associating with negative people . . .
There's more stuff, too, but I'll keep that to myself.
Suffice to say I've got a lot of witnesses.
And a lot of non-believers, after getting the crap scared out of them, became believers . . .

I know exactly what you are talking about. I studied Tai Chi for several years and I got to the point I could feel everything, and more. I studied temple style that was taught to me by a master out of chicago by the name of Waysun Liao. So, I know what stuff you are keeping to your self.

I stopped mainly because I found my Christian faith "again" and there was conflict there. The other was because I just couldn't handle it. I think being some what "aware" just by birth Tai Chi just amplified it. I was able to defeat much more advanced students and they could not figure out how. I pretty much knew what they were going to do before they did. You know what I mean.

I forgot to add that not all the energy imprints of a place are negative. I visited the downtown Salt Lake City home of Mormon Church leader Brigham Young, built in the mid 1800s. As I was touring it, I got the distinct impression that there was a 6 year old child running about. He was going from room to room. I never saw him but I felt him so strongly it was like his clothes brushed up against me. And he was really having a time of it. I felt like he was giggling and hiding, and causing mischief. It really made me laugh and gave me a positive boost. I was a bit teary when I left the house, not out of sadness but because this kid was so cute.

Ah I love ghost stories. I grew up in a house that was over 200 years old. We were told that years ago a lady named Mary Card was warming herself next to an oven. Her house coat caught on fire and she burned to death on the front lawn. On one side of the attic, you could see the charred timbers.

I was alone in the house and getting ready to meet a bunch of friends at a party. I was in a hurry, but I was starving so I grabbed a bowl of frosted flakes. I'm chomping away and I though I heard some banging, so I stopped chewing. "It must have been the water heater. It's just the pipes banging." A few seconds later I heard it again, this time it didn't stop and it sounded like someone walking up the cellar stairs. I could see the cellar door about 15 feet in front of me and found myself just paralyzed waiting for the door to open. I came to realize that I really, really, did not want to know what was going to come through the door. I got up and called the house where my friends were supposed to meet me. They had a good laugh and said they would be right over. Cool enough, I'll just wait outside.

My younger brother's friend, Jim comes walking up the street looking for my brother. I told him the story and he of course laughed at me. So I told him , "Ok just prove me wrong. Lets' check out the basement." We go back inside and he goes down the stairs, I'm following about five stairs behind. When he reaches the bottom, he turned and just stops. He was just standing there, then he let out this awful scream. At first I thought he was just messing with me. I was already on the stairs, he was at the bottom and he still managed to beat me out of the house. He had literally ripped the molding off the front door, not waiting to unchain the door first. I ran out to the street and called him back, he was already about a half a block away. He was hysterical and told me he saw a lady dressed in white Victorian clothing, standing there staring at him.

My friends showed up a few minutes later and were having a lot of fun at my expense. So once again I invited them down to the basement. Jim refused to go. So we all go downstairs and are standing there staring at each other. They start laughing and having a great time with it, until one of them said "Shhh you hear that?" It was a lady laughing, I tell you we ALL heard it plain as day. It was like she was standing ten feet away. Honestly I still get shivers remembering the sound. Nothing menacing about it, just a pleasant little old lady laughing. Once again I'm the last one out, I caught up to them at the driveway and they weren't laughing anymore. I had to go back and close up the house.

Anyone familiar with the feeling knows what I mean, when I say you learn how to not look. When you're sleeping alone and someone/something suddenly tugs at the blankets, you really don't want to know. At least I'm sure I don't. In those movies they always look for it, screw that. Just pretend you're asleep and it'll go away, eventually you fall asleep anyway.

My brother's friend came over the next day and him and my brother went up in the attic. Through the cracks in one of the floor boards my brother saw the corner of an old negative and it was a lady dressed in white Victorian clothing just as my brother's friend had described the night before. Odds of having an encounter then finding a negative of the subject the day after? Sure it's all coincidence. Perhaps my brother's 15 year old friend was a vintage collector of 100 year old negatives and he planted it while my brother wasn't looking? It could have been a picture of anything, a house a car, even a family photo. Nope it just happened to be a negative of a lady dressed in white Victorian clothing.

Footsteps, growling, objects falling of the walls, windows slamming, doors opening. When we were kids my sister used to threaten me that if I made to much noise, the lady who lived upstairs would come down and she didn't want to see her again. I can't really blame my sister for not wanting to have to talk to the ghost of the dead, disfigured, burn victim who lived in the attic.

Of course any logical explanation could be contorted to fit each and every situation. Me and my brother were trying to scare another friend of his, who didn't believe in such things. So we started talking about "the ghost" and the top part of an the window that was painted in place for decades, just happened to slam down in that very exact second in time. The day before I could have hung by that window and not close it, and of course the odds of it happening right at that specific time? Never before, never after, just that one second in time over eighteen years? On occasion we would come downstairs and the front door would be wide open. It was a big heavy oak door and it would stick too, you really had to yank to get it to open. We always kept it locked at the handle and with a chain, yet there it would be wide open. Think about it, any number of explanations could explain it, but then again when was the last time you woke up to find the front door wide open? It's surreal, birds chirping, squirrels playing in the front yard, just a wide open door with no one around.

What a great story, Lalong. That is freaky, I have seen some odd stuff myself, but nothing to that extent. Actually, I am one who studies it. I think you are right, how much coincidence could there be in finding a negative of the same image your brothers friend saw in the basement area?

I believe in ghosts, I believe in paranormal activity, fully. I remember going to The Breakers Hotel down here, it was creepy. They have tons of ballrooms and meeting rooms, and they are all this done in this old Victorian style (I think that is what you could call it, could be wrong on then description). I remember walking in the meeting room and it had pictures of all of these great explorers hanging on the highest points of the wall (About 10 feet or more up). It was scary as Hell, you felt like they were watching you, and that room was quiet.

Then I remember going into the ballroom at night, it was freaky. The worst was going outside and looking at the ocean, that was horrid. It was the creepiest thing ever, standing out there, very windy, pitch black, in a supposedly haunted hotel... I took some pictures, but lost them sadly enough. I will go through my stuff and see if I can find any of them, maybe with chance I burnt them to a disc.

Anyhow, yeah, I believe what you said there.


Irminsul, I never saw this article, so I never knew you had an EVP situation. I love EVP, it fascinates me. I am not saying I am someone who understands it in depth, but I understand it enough let us just say. I think that what happened with your case was that you messed with the paranormal. By copying down that stuff it probably brought bad into your house. If you do things that have to do with bad things, then bad usually comes to you. Those voices on tapes are, in my opinion, evil - at least most of the time. I remember learning about it first from the movie "White Noise," great film, but it was eerie in its own right. You were 100% correct when you said there are thousands of cases. It is true, there are a lot, no one can just tell me it is just the air, or an engine causing the noises. It is like this eerie "Taos Hum" I read about last night, that is freaky, a noise that people hear (Almost like tinnitus) and no one can explain.

I believe in evil forces and when you mess with them, like trying to take their voices down on tape and remix them into music, they may arise. You cannot mess with the dead and expect not to be attacked, at least that is my take on it.

Peace out, GuitarAnatomy.

My friends I too have felt the presence. At a time of indepth study of Gung Fu energy developemet as I meditated in my "Place of Power". I had spent many hours allowing my place to formulate in meditation. I sat in my "healing room" one night I heard a voice calling from the garden outside beconning me out. It startled me back into what I refer to as the plane of the present, To the others in the Kwoon with me. I told my Sifu what I had experienced. His simple reply was Do not respond to the voice. A few weeks latter as I locked up the studio around 2300 hrs alone. I had my back turned too the empty street to fasten the pad lock. I had the distinct impression That I was being approched from behind by three people. Intinctivly I dropped my center of gravity stepping left and turned to face them. The street was still empty. As a child I had a friend whom I would call upon to repeat my favorite Night mares. I could at will repeat a repitore of three dreams. Subconcious ? My Sifu told me the Earth possessed places of both posative and negative energy, He instructed me never to camp where the negative energy was present in strength. Weird Yes.