Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Real Ghost Photo!

Okay, I'll admit it—I'd become a little obsessed by the spooky, abandoned farmhouse I always pass on my way to drop my children off at school each morning. Sure, I've seen plenty of decrepid, nineteenth-century homes in my rural area before, but something about this particular house always spoke to me. The warped & broken wood siding, smoky tint to the windows (regardless of season or time of day) and sad, utterly paintlesss exterior seemed to indicate a story that had long been forgotten, yet was aching to be told. Finally, when I received an email from a friend asking if the Autumn leaves had peaked in my area, I decided to stop by the old farmhouse to take a photo of the glorious maple tree beside it. Dark clouds had gathered behind the house, setting off the spectacular gold leaves, so "snap!" went my cell phone shutter, and I swiftly sent off the picture to my friend. I didn't think anymore about it until that evening when my husband stumbled across the photo in our joint email account. "Honey," he said, "where did you get this? Did you see the ghost in the window?" At once, the hair stood up on the back of my neck. Sure enough, in the upper far right window of the farmhouse there appears to be a person staring outside, smiling at me:


HONEST TO GOD—I swear that person was not in my view when I took that photo! All I could see at the time was a cardboard box that was leaning up against the glass! Just to make certain I'm not crazy, I went back to the house after the weekend to take another look. As you can see from the second photo, all that is visible in the upper far right window is the cardboard box:


How did that ghostly image surface on the first photo? To me, the person appears happy that I am taking notice! Naturally, I became curious about this old house and its former occupants, so I drove across the street to ask the neighbor if he knew anything about it. At first he just smiled at me and shook his head. "Crazy lady," he nodded, as if it were common knowledge. "Crazy Sally lived there, and she let the house go to ruin."


For some reason, I assumed he meant this Sally had been old & infirmed and had surely died by now. But when I asked the neighbor about her, he said "No, she was only 40, and she up and left all of a sudden for no reason two years ago! Everybody does—everybody leaves that house. It's been slated to be torched by the fire department for a burn-to-learn for ages, but somehow the paperwork always falls through. It's as if something wants that house to be left alone."


Had the ghosts of this old farmhouse driven Sally crazy to push her out? Or had they been the only ones to care for her in her fragile state, to keep her company when no one else would? These are answers I will never know. The only thing I can say for certain is that my spooky first photo of the farmhouse is completely unretouched (digitally or otherwise)—making it appear that there is far more to this rural abandoned house than meets the naked eye...  

15 comments:

  1. Great post-love that photo of the blazing maple-might have to borrow that for a painting. I'm a believer in ghosts, for sure, but do you suppose that might be Rocky Raccoon sitting atop that cardboard box? They are notorious squatters in haunted houses. Nah, it's probably Sally protecting her turf.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Chris--and who knows, maybe it is the work of Rocky Raccoon? I didn't have the courage to go inside & look!

      Delete
    2. By the way, Chris, the "friend" I was sending the first photo to is none other than Miss Sophie Moss. She loves those golden leaves : )

      Delete
  2. My husband's parents were ghost-chasers when they were young. We're more of a Bigfoot family now, but I DO love a good ghosty story. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh my gosh--did your husband's parents ever tell you any cool ghost stories? I'd LOVE to hear them, though I'm not sure I could go a chasing myself! I fear it might give me nightmares : )

      Delete
  3. That gave me chills Diane ! I have been past that house before, how wild !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, isn't it? I simply don't have the guts to go in, and I fear that if I did, something might follow me home. I really don't need more poltergeists in my house : )

      Delete
  4. I can't believe she's just standing there looking right out at you! It's a gorgeous picture with or without the ghost, but I'm glad you pointed it out because I never would have noticed it! I grew up in the country and we used to explore old abandoned haunted farmhouses when we had nothing better to do at night--which was pretty often. LOL. I was always more scared than anyone else. This house really reminds me of that. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's such a wonderful memory! I LOVE the countryside and these old houses. BTW, I didn't notice the figure in the photo either--if my very non-woo-woo husband hadn't observed it, it would have escaped me entirely! To me, it makes it even more eerie that my super-logical spouse is the one who spotted the spook : )

      Delete
  5. Yes, isn't it wild? I never thought an experience like this would happen to me!

    ReplyDelete
  6. (Came over here from Tui's blog) ...maybe it's just me but in the second photo, if I zoom in, I can also see a face, but it seems to be peeking from the side as though to just notice you.
    Anyway, pretty amazing stuff!
    Tina

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ooh, I hadn't noticed that before--I need to become more observant. Thanks for pointing it out, and glad you enjoyed the post! : )

    ReplyDelete
  8. Very creepy! I love your Halloween posts!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks, Lori--I enjoy all of the spooky fun : )

    ReplyDelete