There’s a blogging event that happens on Wednesdays in which readers answer these questions three:
- WHAT have you finished reading recently? I just finished A Brutal Reckoning.
- WHAT are you currently reading? I’m about to start The Dixie Frontier, a social history of the “old Southwest”.
- WHAT is the capital of Assyria? I mean, WHAT are you reading next? Most likely Star Trek TOS: Lost to Eternity, by Greg Cox.
Today’s prompt from Long and Short Reviews is, “Would you stay in a haunted house”, to which I say — sure, as I don’t believe in haunted houses. As a kid I loved reading ghost stories, but I never believed in ghosts themselves, though I did have an interesting conversation in high school with a friend who believed it was possible for human beings to leave some kind of ‘impression’ on the environment that was sometimes visible under strict circumstances. These visible or audible impressions — ghosts of emotionally charged events repeating themselves, like the sound of a woman crying for a fallen lover, or the sight of a doomed company’s last charge — were not the personalities themselves, just impressions or echoes. Anyhoo, I’ve never had any experiences that would prompt me to believe in ghosts, though a girlfriend of mine from a few years ago swore that the first house she ever bought she sold within a year because it was so haunted she couldn’t sleep, and she added that her brother had laughed at her, but after she challenged him to live there for a month, he moved out within a week. Frankly, I’d be curious about visiting that place myself. A friend of mine, who like me occupies an awkward place between science and faith, believes her late father is still present around her: he appears and talks to her in her dreams, she sees him in flashes around the house, just sitting or walking, that sort of thing. Personally, one thing I’ve learned in my 30+ years is that the human brain is a strange place. I can stand at the side door of a friend’s house and vividly smell the peppers that were growing in his yard the first summer I ever house-sat for him, regardless of the season and regardless of the fact that there’s now a swimming pool where that pepper patch was. At any rate, while I don’t believe in ghosts myself, I’ve grown to appreciate both the complexity of the human mind and the limits of our perceptions, enough that when people talk about ethereal encounters I try to listen to understand what they’ve felt and how that’s shaping their beliefs and actions now rather than just dismissing them as an overactive imagination. To return to the question: I would stay in a haunted house, both because I don’t believe in them and because I’d be interested in finding out what I might experience. I toured a ‘haunted’ place a year or so ago but encountered nothing but the gloom and dread of a decaying place that might have squatters. The closest I’ve come to this kind of experience is taking a cemetery tour with a group, and then hearing a music-box left at the grave of a child begin playing by itself, without any hint of wind. It died almost immediately but was sufficient to stop the entire group in its tracks. Readers interested in this kind of thing may want to check out Will Storr versus the Supernatural, his memoir of visiting haunted houses, exorcists, etc.
Reading Freely 
I think we have similar views on haunted houses, Stephen. 🙂🙂
Oh, I didn’t know Long and Short Reviews had prompts, I should go check out that blog! & That’s a great question. I don’t think I believe in haunted houses either and I’ve never experienced anything that made me think of a haunting but I always leave room for doubt and I like your very reasonable perspective on the human mind and perception.
Veros, here is the link to this week’s topic: https://www.longandshortreviews.com/miscellaneous-musings/wednesday-weekly-blogging-challenge-for-july-31-2024/
And here is the link to the rest of the topics for the year if you’re interested in joining this blog hop: http://www.longandshortreviews.com/wednesday-weekly-blogging-challenge/
Cheers,
Lydia
Thanks, Lydia, I’m bad about forgetting to link to them and Artsy Reader Girl! -_-
You’re welcome! 🙂
Lydia
Thanks for the links, Lydia! I will indeed go check it out 🙂
Will Storr versus the Supernatural sounds very interesting.
Thanks for stopping by earlier.
Lydia
Your friend’s experience with her late father reminded me of a similar experience. We lost a cat very suddenly two years ago, and for the first several months after, I’d catch shadowy movements out of the corner of my eye, or feel her jumping on the bed after I lay down at night.
Ooooh, I like the ‘What’ feature… I might steal that one!
FUN part of the movie too, especially if you don’t know your species of birds too well.. [lol]
What?! I don’t kno- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIEEE!
I don’t believe in ghosts, but I believe that the brain can create all kinds of stuff, and I know I have a very vivid imagination that revels in completely freaking me out, so I wouldn’t enjoy the experience, regardless of the veracity (or lack thereof) of the claim. I’m good where I am, thanks!
You and I have some ideas in common. I’ve had the vivid memories of the departed–people, animals, even landscapes. Now around that corner is the 250-year-old maple tree…well, no, actually it was cut down in 1982,,,but that’s where it used to be! I can see it yet!
For about a year after my husband died I’d look at things and ask my memory of him “What should I do with this?” and vividly remember hearing something he’d said that seemed relevant. “That relative who wants the curtains now, yes, let her take them now–don’t even bother drying them–she can hang them up to dry. I was saving those clothes for T. but since he’s gained so much weight, the Salvation Army has a good charity store.” As the estate settled I stopped talking to my memory so much, but it was a comfort at the time.
Pris cilla King
I’m sure I’ll be sneered at by the more intellectual among you, but I have to believe in at least the possibility of something surviving the death of the body or the losses I’ve experienced become unbearable.
That’s perfectly understandable, though I would differentiate between eternal life and ghosts: as far as I know, no Christian theology has a place for ghosts, though it’s a little more woolly in Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy because of the communion of saints, some of whom are believed to be present and intervene in moral goings-on.