The Afterlife and Friends

Ghost Of My Best Friend

by Elizabeth
(Telford, Shropshire, England)

This is your choice whether to believe this or not but this is what really happened, by best friend passed away 5 years ago and it tore me to shreds.

I've always believed in spirits and the supernatural world and I don't believe all these so-called 'Scientific' explanations, I know that spirits are real as what I am about to tell you proves it, if you believe it or not.

It was about 11 o'clock at night and I was in the kitchen making myself a drink when the wind chime in our kitchen started moving. There were no windows open, no doors open and I didn't touch it. I don't see how anyone could have touched it as they were all upstairs asleep. I just ignored the wind chime and carried on with what I was doing.

Then my dad's tea mug flew off the mug holder and onto the floor without breaking. This creeped me out as the hook it was hanging on was quite far from the ground and how it managed not to break, I didn't know. So I picked it up and put it on the side. I just ignored it, made my drink and went to bed.

I could hear coughing and heavy breathing, and just assumed it was one of my parents, but it wasn't. They were both to busy snoring. It was about 1:00 in the morning.

When I went to sleep, I had this dream where my best friend told me 'It was me in the kitchen. You don't need to be afraid. Come down to the pond by the Clarion Hotel tomorrow.' Then I woke up in a cold sweat, but I did do as what he told me to do.

I grabbed my dog's lead, strapped it to her and took her down to the Clarion Hotel with me which is only a 10 minute walk from my house. I stood by the pond for about 10 minutes when my dog walked up to thin air and started acting strangely. She barked first then laid on her back and started kicking her back leg, the same as she does when she is having her belly rubbed.

I said my best friend's name and a figure started slowly appearing and walking towards me. He looked at me and smiled for what seemed like an eternity. He then turned and disappeared. That night when I went to bed, my heart filled with happiness and love. He came to me in my dream and said to me, 'I'll always be with you, I love you, goodbye.'

Then I woke up and till this day I feel his presence with me.

Visit from a Friend

by Garylee
(Oshkosh, WI, USA)

Say what you will. I do not care. Your opinion doesn't change my daily life. You're nobody to me, but this is real life. Believe as you wish.

Many years ago in Iowa, where I'm from, I was driving my taxi, and I pulled the night shift for 20 years. On one such occasion, I found a buddy of mine at the gas station acting a bit "off," but didn't think twice. Friends don't question friends. You accept friends unconditionally.

He was out in the parking lot wandering around, as I pulled in. I spoke to him a bit, shooting the bull. He said he wanted to go for a ride so I said "That's cool," I just ended my night's run and was heading home, and always had time to spend with him. So we ran around town for awhile easily talking about old times...and he wanted to go back to the gas station.

I dropped him off and stood outside the car finishing our conversation, and he walked off down the sidewalk. I went into the station to buy a pack of Camels and a Coke. When I found what I wanted, I made my way to the counter, and the gal was acting nervous. I asked, "What's wrong, did she have a bad night with drunks?"

She said no, but was concerned about me standing in the parking lot talking to myself.............

The Ghost That Saved My Life

by Lisa
(Florida)

This was the early 70s.

My Aunt watched me while my Mother worked. My Aunt and Uncle, a few months before I was born, moved into an old house that was owned by their friends. The house was separated into an upstairs apartment (which my Aunt and Uncle lived in) and a downstairs apartment which their friends lived in. The upstairs was accessible only by a wooden staircase (maybe 25-30 steps).

From the very beginning they experienced strange events in the apartment. The windows were the heavy wood framed type that you have to pull up, would suddenly open. The bathroom faucets would turn on by themselves and then when you went to stand in front of them, would turn off again.

My Aunt and Uncle were not disturbed by this, they jokingly referred to the ghost as Henry. For Valentine's day that year my Uncle bought my Aunt a small statue that had his arms open wide that said "I love you this much." It was a kitschy 70s thing. My Aunt called it Henry after the ghost because they would leave it one place when they went to bed and when they woke up it would be lying on the couch or in the bed with them. Both accused the other of moving it, but both swore they did not.

My Grandfather did not think any of it was funny, but he did tell me years later (this from my WWII fighting, always stoic Grandfather) that yes, something was there. When my Aunt started watching me, my Uncle bought her a bassinet that rocked and in a room with no air on and windows closed, the bassinet would rock by itself when I would cry before anyone could get to it. My Uncle said that I would reach over their shoulders always pointing to something and I would laugh and giggle and try to grab for something over my crib.

So my Uncle and Aunt started to talk to the "ghost" telling it "Henry watch over her". They said I would stare at the statue in fascination for hours and wave endlessly at it, but I would not touch it.

One day my Aunt was making lunch and by this point I was crawling so she sat the statue at the doorway between the kitchen and living room. She could see me from the stove and I just sat staring at the statue not moving as she heated water. Suddenly, and she swears this on her life, the door that was held open by a chair that was between the kitchen and the living room flew shut sending the chair skidding across the kitchen floor. My Aunt said she was shocked and I started to cry so she took two steps to open the door back up when the gas oven exploded.

My Aunt was thrown through the door that led outside and down all those stairs all the while her hair and clothes were on fire. Her friend who lived downstairs heard the sound and came running, she managed to put the fire on my Aunt out, but her blue jeans were melted to her legs and her waist long hair was burned to her scalp. The fire was still burning and they said that all my Aunt kept doing was screaming my name.

The fire station was only blocks from the house and when they got there and put the fire out the walked into the living room to find me sitting on the couch with the statue on the coffee table in front of me. I was unharmed and the fire had not spread beyond the kitchen door.

My Mother said later that when my Uncle saw the damage to the kitchen and then to the perfect living room and me he said "Thank you Henry." My Aunt spent months in the hospital and still to this day has severe burn scars on her legs and arms. The fire investigation said that a gas leak had been the cause. I don't remember any of this, but no one in my family believes in any of this stuff until you bring up Henry and then they just smile and say "Well Henry was different."

I don't know what it was, but whatever it was saved my life. And maybe more than once. I don't know if it is related but years later my Aunt and Uncle had moved and I was going out for a ride with my Aunt, we had not been by the house in years but suddenly she said, "Let's stop and say 'Hi' to Henry." We did and then stopped at a gas station for soda. My Aunt parked on the side and went in, an elderly man at the pumps forgot to remove the hose from his car and when he drove off, somehow it ignited and the gas pump went up in flames (this was the days before automatic shut off).

I was sitting in the car watching the entire time. I was fine. My Aunt came out shaking. Did Henry help the second time? I don't know. Maybe it's just a coincidence that we went by right before something happened, maybe not. I don't know. I do know that I will never own a gas stove and that I am super careful at the gas station.

Ghosts and Hauntings: Grant and Other Spirits

by Denise R
(Rogers, AR, USA)

I have so many stories I don't know where to begin. One of the most fascinating, in my opinion, happened in Scotland, TX, when my son, Jacob, was 5 and my daughter Josi, was 3.

They shared a room and, as with all 3 and 5 years olds, they could mess it up pretty good. I put them down for a nap in my room so I could clean theirs. First, I had to finish the dishes.

I was at the kitchen sink when I heard a toy watch that we had gotten from McDonald's go off. It was Chucky from Rugrats, saying (ironically) "You're not too brave!" over and over. Their room was pretty trashed so I figured the watch had fallen and was pressed against something. I searched and searched. Couldn't find it. I waited in the room for a minute hoping it would go off again leading me to it. Nothing.

I went back to dishes and within seconds I heard it again. "You're not too brave!", it yelled at me several times. Again, I searched and searched... nothing. This happened a couple more times. The last time I went to look I immediately found it hanging on the doorknob. Coincidence? Maybe.

I left it since it was not jammed on something making it go off and it didn't happen again. I went back to doing the dishes and within a few seconds heard Jacob's toy laptop computer go into its introduction; something like "Welcome to (whatever brand it was)! Please choose a game!". I started thinking something else was happening. Again, we are no strangers to the paranormal. I listened to it a few times before I went and shut it off. It could either be turned off by a button or by closing it. I used the button...

I was curious. The game introduced itself a few more times and every time I would turn it off by the button. It was almost a "game" between myself and the computer. After the last introduction it chose a spelling game. "Please spell (whatever word-I don't remember)". The response was "G-R-N-T". "I'm sorry, that is incorrect. Please try again." "F-U-R-H". I shut down the computer by closing it and nervously walked out.

A few minutes later my daughter woke up telling my about a black shadow man tickling her on her chest from under her pillow. His name was Grant. I thought I was going to faint. I knew that burning the computer in the burn pile was bad for the environment and wouldn't get rid of the spirit, but the burn pile is where it went.

TINY DANCER:

Recently where I live now in Arkansas, my daughter was in her room listening to the High School Musical Soundtrack, when she came flying in to the living room and jumped on my lap. She is 12 now and has had so many experiences it's crazy, but she still trembles at first every time. She was shaking so hard and I knew...

When she calmed down she told me a little girl appeared in the middle of the room and swirled around, dancing. I asked if she wanted to say our prayer to make her leave. Josi said "No. Mommy she was so pretty. I don't want to hurt her feelings".

She drew a picture of her. The little girl has blonde hair in pigtails wearing a purple sundress with bright little flowers. After seeing her a few more times, Josi learned her name is Shellia (not Shelia) and she is 8 years old. A spirit seeker I called to rid our house of another spirit picked up on her over the phone and gave the same description.

EVIL GOAT 23

The spirit I want to rid my house of is evil. My son has used salt in contacting spirits before in another house in Texas, and wanted to prove to his friends, Brandon and Josiah, that the little girl was real.

FYI: I do not condone this at all.

He poured out some salt on the table and asked her to write her name in it. I don't remember what he said took them in to another room, but when they came back the letters 'G' and 'O' were written in the salt. Next to that, in the sunflower seeds they constantly eat, were the letters 'A' and 'T'.

Brandon had sat down on the couch. When Jake and Josiah turned to him, his eyes were dialated and he kept saying the words 'goat' and '23', then he began crying uncontrollably, followed by laughter. The boys wiped the salt and seeds in to a Mt. Dew bottle, took it outside and burned it.

When they came back in, Brandon had pulled out of it and just wanted to play guitar. He had no recollection of what had happened. He did say he saw his dog and cat who both died several years ago. The cat went into the wall. He was freaked out so he closed his eyes. That's when he saw the skull of a goat.

A few nights later when Jake was telling the story to his girlfriend, Brandon again began to cry. Jake told him to go to sleep so Brandon jumped on the top bunk. Within a few minutes he asked Jake how he got up there. This story scares me and we are waiting on a group to cleanse our house as we speak.

Thank you for your time! If you want more stories we definitely have them!

My Old Friend, Mike Sanders - A Visit from Beyond?

by J David Peacock
(Forney, Texas USA)

My story begins way back in Junior High School, 7th grade where I first met the guy who would become my closest friend throughout our High School days.

Mike Sanders was a mischievous, irreverent, though harmless person who would rather play a practical joke on some one than anything. If someone in class got up from his desk, he was always stealing their paper or pencils and hiding them, or placing some foul smelling substance in a snooty girl's desk, always playing innocent but looking down and snickering to himself when she started to gag.

As most school friendships go, we sort of drifted apart after graduation, but living in a small town, still saw each other on occasion, and assumed we would always be there.

Years rolled by, and nothing changed until a mutual friend mentioned in passing, "You know Mike Sanders died a couple of weeks ago?"

"Well, no I didn't."

Apparently he had been hospitalized with a liver disease and passed away in the hospital.

I was stunned, angry, and very sad and felt a huge loss knowing his life was over and I would never hear his "Hey David!" again.

The same day I heard the news of his passing, I went to work as usual as a sub-contractor to a home builder cleaning freshly built homes. I worked alone, and was very much depressed as I went through my normal routine, carrying my supplies in and out of the houses, but in a short time things started going wrong.

My paper towels would suddenly be missing only to be found in the next room, my vacuum cleaner would become unplugged all on its own requiring me to walk across the room to plug it back in. At one point my bucket turned over, spilling its contents all over, things I could swear I had with me, I found still in my truck after looking every where.

I was becoming more and more frustrated as the day went on, nothing was going right.

Finally I decided to sit down against the wall and regroup and tried to calm down. I had no more gotten still when suddenly I had the sense of some body laughing. It all came together then, and I called out, "Mike are you here??"

I've always been a skeptic and never put much credence in the paranormal, up to now. However, I had to consider the possibility simply by the atmosphere that was invading the room. I never heard any words out loudly but I felt a comforting voice that seemed to say "It's ok, David, the joke's on you and I'm still around, and I'm ok. Don't be sad."

I could almost hear the particular snicker he made when he "got somebody."

Almost at once a sense of calm came over me; I relaxed and cried a little there alone, mourning the loss of my friend, but at peace with letting him go.

After a little while I got up, and went back to work, with no more mishaps. Did my friend actually come back to comfort me, was it all in my mind? All I can swear to is what I felt that day, an experience like nothing ever before, and the peace of mind that followed.

J David Peacock
Forney, TX
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Reuniting on the Other Side

by Anthony
(Boston)

My mothers' mother died in 1982. Four years before I had even been conceived. My mother still has trouble dealing with the death of her mother, even though 26 long years have passed. My mother's father died in 2001. I will never forget the story my mother told me of her last minutes with my Papa. It will forever stay with me.

My mother is a very intuitive woman, and like myself, has paranormal experiences frequently. My mother is also a psychic, she reads tarot cards and is very good if I may say so myself. People have actually left my house in tears because my mothers' reading for them was so dead on correct.

Anyway, back to the story about my grandfather's death. My grandfather had been suffering from Alzheimer's for years. He was 86 years old and the last year of his life was unbearable to watch him slowly waste away and die before our eyes. It was October 13, 2001 and my mother and her five siblings were by my grandfather's side because he had been taken off life support two weeks earlier and was expected to die any time. My grandfather hadn't conveyed any coherent thoughts or words in months. He didn't know who anybody was. He didn't know where he was or who he was. He was just there.

Suddenly, that night my grandfather decided to speak. His ice blue eyes opened fully and he stared off into space in awe. He spoke up clearly, loudly, and coherently as if he had never been ill. He said, "Look, there's Mummy over there by those mountains."

My grandfather passed the moment after he spoke those last words. My mother witnessed his spirit leave his body and disappear above the hospital bed. It sends chills up my spine just thinking about it. But it's also very comforting because now I understand and truly believe that you're reunited with your deceased loved ones' on the other side.

He's With Me In Spirit

by GrayReb
(Wilmington, DE)

Can You See Him?

It began with light rappings at my door, often, almost daily. Was he trying to come in? I would always go to the door, knowing that I wouldn't see anyone. Then, the rappings ceased and the doorbell began to ring instead. Nearly every other day in the late afternoons or early evenings. Funny, it never happened late at night, but he knew I was an early-to-bed, early-to-rise kind of person. I could see through the side window next to the door that no one was there, but I'd open the door wide, extending a silent, pleading invitation. I wanted him to know I wasn't afraid.

And the dreams. So vivid and real, and frequent. He would appear sometimes alone, other times with some of his friends, who were once frequent visitors as well, and always welcome. I'd be overcome with joy, hugging him, kissing him and desperately happy. He'd smile. I'd wake up.

On one particular night though, as I lay half dozing on the sofa in front of the TV, I felt a sudden, cold breeze pass by my face and flutter through my hair. It startled me, and I got up and looked around, seeing nothing. All the doors and windows were shut tight. But the cold breeze was real. Where did it come from?

The rapping has stopped, and the doorbell no longer rings. The dreams are few and far between as time goes on. It's been six years now. It seems like yesterday.

Just recently, a family member scheduled a reading with a well-known psychic for reasons of their own, and to see if their deceased family members would come through. Well, he mentioned him, my son, and said he was always around us. The psychic also said some other things that confirmed what I already knew, and felt, and believed.

Now, it seems I've begun to have proof his spirit exists in photos. "The camera doesn't lie and cannot capture what it doesn't see", someone said. So, now I know. He prefers the outdoors, the woods, the tree-stand he built many years before.

As a hunter, he'd spend hours in the woods, silent, waiting, listening to nature's sounds, the rustle of the leaves, the hoot owl in the tree above him, hearing the cries of the feral kittens hungry for breakfast, getting a glimpse of the Blue Heron as it flew by before dawn. Watching the fox puppies peek out of their den (and anxious to get home and tell me about it). Appreciating the wonder of the sunrise. He'd spend hours there in quiet contemplation, not I believe for the hunt, but for the solitude.

Afterwards, he'd walk with me there to show me what he saw, the fox den, the box turtle he stumbled upon, hoping for a glimpse of the startled deer, and the covey of dove that startled me. And, I got the photos and he was happy. I was always ready with the camera.

This was his domain, his favorite place, where he was happiest and this is where he's chosen to remain.

Car Accident

by Berry
(Las Vegas)

I know these people who were in a fatal car accident and told me this story. Well, they were all driving and having fun when they turned a corner too sharply and crashed into another car. All the people in both cars got out unharmed, or so they thought.

As they called the police and paramedics, they waited and talked for a bit about their close call. One of the two girls in the victim�s car were talking to the four people who turned the corner too sharply about how she was fine and not hurt in anyway. Then all of a sudden the girl fell, just as the paramedics were arriving. The paramedics rushed to the girl who fell and asked the group what happened. They said that she was just talking to us and saying how she felt fine and then collapsed just moments before you guys got here.

As the paramedics examined her, they got a strange look on their faces. The paramedics asked, "Are you sure that she was just talking to you?" The group of people said, "Yes, she said she felt fine. We thought she looked okay." Then the paramedics said that it was impossible because she had broken her neck in the accident and died instantly.

The group was shocked and disagreed, knowing she was standing right there beside them moments ago. The group felt scared as they took pictures of the accident for evidence with a digital camera. They saw something weird in one of the photos. It appeared to be a white mist leaving the car accident and disappearing into the shadows.

Well Wishes From the Other Side

by Keely
(Sydney, NSW, Australia)

Although I was too young to remember this ever occurring, my mum has often retold the story to me over the years.

Back in 1984, when I was just 3 years old and living in the the Sydney western suburbs, I was asleep in bed late one night, when for no explainable reason, I had been jolted awake to find a veiled, whispy face of an old woman who seemed to floating right above my head and staring down at me.

I had run out of my bedroom and straight to my parent's room screaming that a 'ghost-lady' had come to steal my soul.

When mum had calmed me down enough and reassured me that there wasn't anyone - or anything - that would ever steal my soul, she had asked me try and describe what I had seen. As I told her, mum didn't say anything, merely went over to the cupboard where she kept all of our family photographs and pulled out an old photo album. Leafing through it, she stopped on one photo and held it up for me to see.

It was the picture of my grand-grandmother, who had died some 20 years before I was born.
Mum then went on to tell me that I shouldn't be afraid of my great-grandmother whenever I saw her and to just know that she appeared from time to time just to make sure that the family was doing alright and that we were never in any ill health.

Since that night, I've seen my great-grandmother at least once a month for the past 24 years and, with the recent passings of both my pop and nan (on mum's side), I have begun to see them also.
I don't have any problem with them being around and checking up on the family from time to time. Whenever I see them, I always give a quick smile or other form of acknowledgment to let them know I am aware they are with us and continue about my daily business.