On my stop in this haunted hop with fellow Wild Rose Press Authors, I’m sharing the eerie account of the poltergeist in our old farm-house and giving away my ghostly romance novel, Somewhere My Love, OR my new ghostly Christmas romance novella, Somewhere the Bells Ring, in pdf or kindle format, winner’s choice. If I’m feeling generous I may choose more than one winner. I’ve been know to do that. Just leave me a comment and tell me which story you’d like to receive if selected. Now back to my haunting and TRUE tale:
About ten years ago, my young adult son moved into the big white farm-house on our other farm. We have two farms located near each other in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and both homes are well over one hundred years old, going on two. Some of his guy friends moved in and everything was fine, then he and his fiancée (now wife) got to work remodeling the house. At first, no one thought much about the noises. Neither of them even mentioned a thing to me.
Then one night my son called, alone and uneasy. He was hunkered downstairs with his cat. Seems there were footsteps he couldn’t account for and a certain bedroom upstairs with a door that wouldn’t stay shut. No matter how many times he closed it, come morning it was always open. Earlier that week, his fiancé had been distressed when the bathroom doorknob turned and the door opened on her. No one was there. It freaked the cat out. Didn’t do her much good either. She was promptly converted from a disbeliever in ghosts to one strongly considering their reality.
Now, she’d gone away on a trip with her church and none of my son’s other friends were around. The last of his roomies had moved out. I suspected all the remodeling they’d done to the house had stirred something up. So, I went over.
Here, I’ll digress to say I’d dreamed earlier of a small grave plot way back in the fields behind the house and of a restless spirit associated with both. As it turned out there is just such a cemetery, an antiquated one. After I arrived that evening, my son and I went upstairs to the suspect bedroom and shut the door. I wanted to scream, and not just because I’m claustrophobic.
We held hands and I repeated the Exorcism prayer sent to my mother from an Episcopalian woman in England. She’d written my mother about visiting the church manse at the invitation of the new priest who was plagued by a poltergeist–one so violent, it had flung portraits down from the hall upstairs and hurled a saucepan lid across the kitchen. But the congregants, along with the priest, had prayed it out. As this was a Christian prayer, my son and I did the same. Never again did he or his fiancé hear footsteps or have any more trouble with doorknobs turning. That bedroom door remained as they left it and the chill feeling I had in the room is gone.
Now, what do you think of that?
Here’s the Anglican prayer. Do not try this alone if the presence you sense is evil, only with a strong group of Christians, the more, the better. And join hands. Even if you think I’m nuts.
“In the name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, may this distressed soul be relieved of his obsession with this world and sent to where he belongs.”
I added, ‘go to the light,’ although a truly evil presence won’t, but a troubled, restless one may. Seems only right to offer that as an option.
This is one of the experiences that influenced the writing of my ghostly light paranormal romance novel Somewhere My Love.
***To visit the next five Wild Rose Press authors participating in this haunted garden hop just click on their blog link. Each one is giving away a prize. They are listed below:
http://www.ceradubois.com/blog/
http://micheledewinton.blogspot.co.nz/
http://veldabrotherton.wordpress.com
http://pamelafryer.blogspot.com
http://www.kmnbooks.com/karens-shenanigans/
***Royalty free images
Got chills reading that..was going to put at the beginning of the post “oooh Mufasa” but it seemed wrong somehow..:) So glad what you did worked and now your son and daughter-in-law can live there peacefully..:)
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Yes. I trust it’s one of those lasting things.
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Wonderful story, Beth. I’m glad it’s daylight. 🙂 I hope to see you at my site this week.
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Yes, me too, and I just popped in and your stories are amazing!
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Thanks for sharing your spooky post 🙂
Happy Halloween
BeckeyWhiteATgmailDOTcom
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Had blonde moment, Somewhere the Bells ring sounds like a good read..
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Thanks Beckey. 🙂
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What a fun and spooky read.
Somewhere my Love sounds like a good read. Not too scary! : )
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Right. Not too scary. 🙂
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I’ve done some of his work. Many stories there. Evil will just leave, not move on. But most are just lost crying for help.
Great post for October!
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Thanks Sandy.
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This was interesting to read. Your son or you might want to try smudging the house with sage, just to be on the safe side. I have had plenty of ghostly experiences, which is why I write about the paranormal. I’m glad the prayer worked for you in this situation. 🙂
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thanks Dawn. Yes, sage is a highly regarded herb.
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Your son and his wife are brave souls. We would’ve hightailed it outta there and never turned back. LOL!! Great post, Beth.
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What you told is quite chilling. That’s why there is a strong advice about “cleaning” a house/apartment & ask a priest to bless if someone lived there before.
Wish You All the Best,
Adila
(from Azerbaijan)
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Good advice. You can also stir up a formerly unseen or unnoticed spirit by changing or remodeling a home.
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Beth, I always enjoy your haunted tales. Don’t enter me in the giveaway because I already have both of the books you’re giving away, and I enjoyed them a lot.
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Thanks Caroline for stopping by and for the high praise.
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Wow! Way to bluff your way into exorcism. I’m amazed by the ghost stories I hear…it’s all about old buildings, I guess. Thanks for the story! Rolynn
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Glad you appreciated it, Rolynn, but I wasn’t bluffing.
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Oh, wow, Beth! I’m so fascinated by the paranormal. I’ve had to perform a cleanse on my house, and it was interesting to read about your experience and compare the two. Thanks for sharing your story!
Somewhere the Bells Ring sounds very interesting. 🙂
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Thanks so much, Evie.
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We lived in a farm house that was over 100 yo for awhile. It was spooky sometimes.
Lately for some reason, I love ghost stories. If you do, too, check out fellow author, Sarah Wynde’s, Gift of Ghosts. I loved it. Can’t wait to check out Somewhere My Love. It’s on the list for next payday if I don’t win it.
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Thanks Judy, and for the reading suggestion.
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I got goosebumps reading that story. Glad that everything worked out for your son and his wife and that everything has settled down.
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Thanks Jean. Me too.
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What do I think? I think I won’t ever be visiting you or your son, Beth. 😉
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Ha! Thanks Mac. 🙂
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I would looooove to win Somewhere My Love! Happy Halloween! kathrynknightbooks at comcast.net
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Thanks for the enthusiasm, Kathryn.
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I think I would love to win Somewhere my Love.
vampiremistress2010(at)gmail(dot)com
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Thanks so much, Dawna, and for your lovely comment.
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How wonderful to be able to take from this experience and turn it into a novel. I am so looking forward to reading Somewhere My Love. I also loved the pics you included in the story – they certainly set the mood 🙂 Happy Haunting!
dz59001[at]gmail[dot]com
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Thanks so much, Denise.
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