One dark and dreary morning before dawn, I found myself unable to sleep. I ended up in the kitchen having coffee lost in thought, when I decided to take a potty break, but when I got up and turned around I ran smack into something that knocked me backwards into my chair. I struggled to keep my balance, to keep from falling over the chair. When I regained my sences and turned back around there wasn't any one there but... on the wall between two doors I saw a grey shadow of an arm and a shoulder.

I was in a state of shock at what I was seeing. It was as if it all happened so fast that who or what ever it was couldn't dematerialize quick enough and was as frozen in time as I was. I stood watching for what seemed like an eternity before it finally dawned on me that I really was seeing what I was seeing.

I started shifting myself one way then another to see if it was my shadow but it wasn't moving.

By now the urge to take that well needed potty break couldn't wait so I ran for the bathroom. When I finally got brave enough to come back out the grey shadowy arm was gone.

To this day I still can not explain what or who it was that I bumped into and I'm not sure I want to .

Becky Slater

When I lived in Cleveland, Ohio, I was a young woman, still in my late teens, newly married, and away from home for the first time in my life. My husband worked second shift at the steel mills and didn't get home until after one in the morning. We moved into an apartment with an "odd" layout, called a shotgun. All the rooms connected in a straight line. From the back yard there was an entry door that opened into a screened porch. A door in the porch opened into our bedroom, then a door in the bedroom opened into a bathroom, straight across from which another door in turn opened into the living room. So the bathroom actually had two doors directly across the room from each other. Each afternoon I would make the rounds, locking each door in turn. The back entry door, the first door to the bedroom, then the door from the bedroom into the bathroom then the door into the living room from the bathroom. Can you tell I was nervous being alone there??? Anyhow, the very first night, and I know this sounds melodramatic, at midnight, the bathroom door into the living room opened as I was setting in the living room. It was only open a crack, but definitely open!!! I jumped up off the couch and ran to the mantel grabbing a heavy candlestick, sure that someone had by some means broken in, because I was sure that I had locked that door. I kicked the door open with my foot, and Nothing was there. I quickly checked the opposite door. It was securely locked. So I must have forgotten to lock that door, right? Wrong. For the next year I would lock that door and check to make sure that it was locked, then every night I sat on our couch and WATCHED that doorknob TURN, and that locked door open at about midnight. My husband scoffed at me, saying I was imagining it. Until the night when he finally saw it happen himself. After that we moved within a week. He kept saying, Why didn't you tell me?" I did, he just didn't believe me until he saw it happen for himself. Also in that same house one bright sunny morning I was making up our bed when I noticed a haze like smoke above the bed. It didn't have a form, yet it stayed together in a loose, wavering way. It floated out of the bedroom, through the bathroom, into the living room and went out the kitchen window, which by the way was closed.

Another place in Cleveland was an upstairs apartment. Again it was a beautiful sunny day, in the early morning, and I was going into my sons room to make his bed. As I entered the room the door, which was heavy and solid, slowly closed completely behind me and I heard it click shut. It scared me, as there was no reason for the door to shut, but trying to boost my courage I laughed and said out loud, I'm not afraid, I'll be afraid when that door opens." No sooner than the words left my mouth, than I stood and watched the door open and slowly push all the way back until it was flat against the wall where it stopped. The windows were closed and there was no draft or any explanation as to why that door would do that. I was outta there quick as a flash!!!

Glenda Shafer

My stories about the time my mom took me to my dad's house to get pajamas. I kept knocking on door and no one answered. My mom was calling my dad cause he works the 3rd shift so he sleeps she was calling him to wake him up. It was raining so of course i was soaking wet. Finally i looked inside i swear i saw someone dressed in sweatpants and a white tee. So i started to knock even harder. Then i started to think my dad was mad at me. I looked in the window again , there was nothing there I was starting to get really upset.I was knocking so hard now that my knuckles were bleeding. For the last time i looked in again and it was there out of nowhere only leaning against the wall in the hallway. I got fed up with the little game i just left to go to my mom's. Later on that night my dad called and told us he was at his friends house the whole day until 8:30 pm we had been there at 4:45 pm. We never figured out what happened no one had broke in .

kassandra percy

My sister went to Gettysburg College from 1991-1995. She was there during the filming of the movie and heard all sorts of stories from friends and residents. She also worked in the college security office and heard all the retelling of stories by the security officers. In addition, she lived in Stevens Hall (Im not sure I spelled that right) and was told all the ghostly history. Shortly after my sister started college, my family and I went to visit her for a few days. She had heard about the ghost stories presentation in Farnsworth House and took us to it. She knew I was into the paranormal thing and thought we would have a good time. Up this time I had not really done much research into the ghosts at Gettysburg other than what was presented on tours of the battlefield. My sister did tell me the place we were going was supposedly haunted but she did not tell me any more. I guess I assumed it was haunted by soldiers. Anyway, the weather was nice and we stood outside Farnsworth House waiting for them to let us into the basement for the presentation. I have always thought myself to be psychic. I told my mother and my sister I would tell them what I felt about this place, if I got any impressions so if they proved true later I would have witnesses. So here we were standing outside on a warm night in a small group when I feel something come up to me and I turn around into a blast of perfume. I asked the rest of the group if they could smell it and they did. None of us were wearing a perfume resembling what I smelled. In addition, we were pretty far away from the closest group of tourist also waiting for the talk. In my head I then got a picture of a woman wearing a blue dress. I told my group that I thought the ghost was a woman in a blue dress. Soon after my impressions we were let into the basement and the dramatic presentation began. During the presentation, I felt a presence again. I asked her name and I heard in my head something like 'My name is Mary'. I kind of filled that in my brain as my imagination in overdrive because of the ghost talks and the atmosphere. At the end of the presentation, the lights came up and the woman giving the presentation asked for questions. I asked her who was the ghost at Farnsworth House. She said the ghost is a woman often seen in a blue dress and her name was Mary. I almost fainted. In later years I have learned more about Farnsworth House and found out about (Mary) Jenny Wade. I think I had visit by the woman herself ;) Patti

I got a call at 3:15 am on march 19 th 1990 from my mother. She stated to me that I needed to go to the Oil City hospital as soon as I could because my Step father wasn't expected to make it much longer. He was going down hill from suffering a stroke two days before. I got myself together and went directly up to the hospital as fast as I could. It was very, very cold that morning but not as cold as what I was about to encounter inside the hospital. I made it inside and went up the elevator to the B wing of the Oil City hospital where my step father was. I came off the elevator and began running up the hall way as fast as I could run. The hall way seemed so long and never ending. Every thing seemed to be in slow motion and it seemed that the hall was kind of distorted in my eyes. I was running past rooms very fast till I heard this hideous laughter that stopped me dead in my tracks. I took a step back and looked into the room and was about scared to death at what was looking back at me. It was a very small person wearing a tattered and torn dirty gown. It had matted and unkempt hair. It also had jagged teeth that looked like they were rotting out of its mouth. The eyes were as black as night and were very lifeless like it had no soul. It seemed like I was there forever.it just sat there with its feet up on the rocker with its hands l grasped together around the top of the knees just rocking ever so slowly looking directly at me and laughing hideously at me. I could not take it any longer so I got the heck out of there and and raced to my dads room. My dad passed away a few hours later. I went back to the room where I had seen this thing earlier. I looked in the room again and the only person in there was the cleaning lady who I knew and I asked her what happened to the person that I had seen in the room earlier in the morning. I about went into shock when she told me that the person in this room was discharged from the hospital the day before and that the room was unoccupied. I still wonder what it was that I had seen that morning but what ever it was, was simply evil and sinister what ever it may have been.I know one thing though,I hope I never in my life see anything like it again.

Robert Perrine /South Park Pa.

Has anyone ever been to Hotel Conneaut, in Conneaut,PA? I knew the place had several ghosts, but one I was really interested in was "Elizabeth".I refused to read the "ghost book" at the lobby and went straight to her room.I checked the walls in the hallway and they felt of normal temperature.Upon entering her room, I could smell very strongly the scent of lavender or lilac.Her room was very cold, more cold in some places then others.I checked the window for drafts, even though it was in the 80's outside.I stuck my pinkie fingers up each spigot in the sink and they where completely dry.I began my ritual by starting out with a prayer.After talking to Elizabeth for at least 20 minutes, I learned she did not like fireworks.I explained to her that ,that evening there would be fireworks and not to be scared.She told me that she was a bride to be and her wedding was to be in the ballroom of the Hotel.A great fire broke out and she lost her husband to be and also her own life.(Since then the hotel has been remodeled some, but not to much).I ask for a sign that she, herself was in the room with me.All of a sudden, the spigots turn on,and I went to turn them off, but they were already off.I couldn't turn the handles any farther off then what they were. I thanked very much for this wonderful sign, and asked her to help to turn off the water.She did this for me.I asked for permission to sit at her vanity table, and received a yes.I asked to see her just once and after I asked,I glanced up at her mirror and saw this beautiful woman ,dressed in a white gown and veil.She smiled at me and nodded her head and then was gone.Also, before entering the hotel, I was on the porch and was hit in the shin by something hard and it hurt so bad it brought tears to my eyes.I picked up my pant leg and had a large bruise already starting to swell.After visiting Elizabeth, I went to the lobby and read the "Ghost Book".It described what or how I saw Elizabeth to a tee.Also the bang on my knee...there is a child, who I picked up has a boy, that used to ride his tricycle around the porch of the Hotel(at that time the porch wrapped around the whole Hotel, until the fire), That I strongly believe hit me with his tricycle.The child is one of a that I would call a little "stinker" and loves to dodge people on the porch...

Sincerely, Donna Heibel

My grandmother on my fathers side had 15 children.Grandma was a very hard worker with a very a big heart, a midwife and also very physic.Out the 15 children, 10 of them inherited the "gift", one of which was my father.

As a small child, I had an imaginary play mate. Her name was Annie. Annie looked a lot like me, but with darker hair and only I could see and hear her.She told me that it was normal that only I could see and hear her and we always played together every day. I was about seven or eight years old and was playing with Annie, when my Dad asked me about my friend.I remember telling him that her name was Annie and she looked a lot like me, but with a little darker hair. I told him that she is Italian and is teaching me some new words, and also that we our related somehow, and we are close in age.My father asked me to look at some old pictures with him, so I climbed up on his lap and he took out an old photo book. I started going through the pages and giggling because I could pick out so many pictures of my aunts and uncles from when they where young.I asked my dad " how could aunt Angelina wear her hair so goofy?" and "how come aunt Elizabeth has goofy glasses on?"My father was amazed because these where pictures I've never seen before of my aunts and uncles when they where teenagers.Then I saw one of an uncle and I told my father that " this man is my uncle and he is in Heaven, he died very young, I think his name starts with a C ".Dad then told me that the man is my uncle Charles, and he died in his early 20's from an illness".Then I found Annie.I was so excited! "Daddy, daddy, this is Annie! My playmate! She loves you so much!".I looked up at my father and tears where running down his cheeks.I got very upset because I thought I hurt him in someway.I remember this like it was yesterday. He said, "Donna, Annie is my sister, your aunt.She died when she was nine years old from the pneumonia" He told me he always had a strong feeling that she was my playmate. I told him to dry his tears because she is alive and well and that she loves him so very much.This is when my father told me about the special gift my grandmother had, and that he also has, and now he felt for sure once and for all that I too had the gift.It took me awhile to completely understand everything, but soon everything fell into place. While my dad would be at work and I'd be at home, all I had to do was think of him calling me, and then the phone would ring and it would be him saying " whatcha need sweetie?". Soon we could read each others thoughts, feel each others pain, and each others happiness. My Dad died in June of 2000, but we still have our talks and our visits, but most of all, we can still share our gift with each other.I feel so blessed that God did this for us.I have also meant my grandmother through spirit.What a truly wonderful gift, one to appreciate and to never abuse. Donna H.