A-haunting we will go

By JONATHAN FOX

As we get closer to Halloween, the ghost stories creep out of the closet, and some of the best are located right in our own backyards. Our region is riddled with historical landmarks, Civil War tales and scores of spooky graveyards that beckon with their wrought iron gates, enticing the less timid to explore what may be lying just beneath the surface of such hallowed grounds.

Two local tales caught my attention this week, as I began to explore the myths and legends of assorted sightings and things that go bump in the night.

Two years ago, the Long Island Paranormal Investigators (LIPI) were called out to the home of Michael Quinn of Honesdale, PA. The previous tenant had told Mr. Quinn about strange shadows moving across the walls, a child in the house had been known to talk with unseen “dark figures” in the corner of his bedroom and the downstairs tenant claimed to occasionally hear the sound of a “bouncing ball,” which appeared to come from “out of nowhere.”

Quinn and other witnesses apparently had also sighted a “white apparition” in the second-floor living room on more than one occasion. The LIPI team came out to Honesdale in 2007 and conducted a full-scale investigation, using electronic instruments to help capture paranormal activity with photography, recorders, DVR equipment, motion sensors and some of the latest high-tech gadgets available.

The investigation revealed that there were noticeable, sudden drops in temperature on several different occasions, even though no drafts could be detected in connection to the fluctuations. Although the evidence was minimal during the investigation, Quinn was able to provide the LIPI team with photographs depicting misty apparitions that are still under scrutiny.

Meanwhile, through a “friend of a friend,” I heard some interesting things about an old boarding house in Callicoon, NY and gave the owner, Leslie Henneberg, a call.

Henneberg confirmed the rumors of “ghostly encounters” in her 100-year-old home, and graciously invited me over for a look-see.

Replete with gabled windows, three floors, six cellars and an attic, the house seems to go on forever. Henneberg has lived there for over 10 years, and decided to buy the house before even seeing the upper levels. “I knew I would spend the rest of my life here,” she said, as she led me through the myriad of rooms. “I know there are spirits here, but I also believe that they protect me and the house. They don’t frighten me. I love this house.”

Henneberg related a story about guests she had touring the house a year or so ago, in the exact location she was leading me to. She took two pictures of her visitors in succession, just a few seconds apart. One of the guests felt an “odd sensation,” and when the pictures were developed, a ghostly, white apparition appeared both in front and in back of one of the gentlemen. On another occasion, Henneberg’s sister “distinctly heard happy music and the sounds of dancing” emanating from one of the upper salons. The sounds of birds wings flapping in rooms where there were no birds, windows opening by themselves and a visit from a psychic last year all seemed to confirm what the owner already knew.

The psychic told Henneberg that she felt the presence of three spirits: two women and one man. When Henneberg explored more of the history of the residence, she found that it had been a boarding house at the turn of the century, with countless visitors over the years. These transient visitors would come up from the city for a week, a month or often the entire summer. I viewed many of these rooms myself, several with the original furniture intact and admittedly, the feeling of the past overlapping the present was palpable.

“To me, they are friends,” Henneberg continued, as we made our way through the house. She elaborated on the psychic’s visit and was told that the spirit of the woman claimed that she “did not live in the house, but liked it there” and is around all of the time. One can still sense the feel of the boarders, with five rooms on the third floor, 10 on the second and another 10 on the first level, and so many of the original artifacts intact.

Henneberg is still discovering pieces of the puzzle as she continues to explore her fascinating residence.

Will there be more “visitations” on All Hallows Eve? Neither of us could answer the question, but the very idea is appealing in a “dark and stormy night” kind of way. I’ve been invited back for a second look and I’m thinking I’ll take her up on it. Maybe even on Halloween night. Nothin’ like a good old fashioned ghost story to spice things up for the holiday. Maybe (if I’m lucky!) I’ll walk away with a story of my own.