Can You Tell It's Haunted?

A few weeks ago, my good friend and fellow writer (who am I kidding? My good friend, fellow writer, and fairy godmother) posted a blog piece asking “how do you know when a place is haunted?” or an inquiry along that line. It’s a good question, especially if you’re the type who can walk into a new place and get that particular feeling. And so I think I have the same question she probably did (Terri, I’m totally stealing your blog topic idea!): What does it feel like to YOU when you walk into a place that’s somehow not quite, well, at peace? Somewhat disturbed? Or flat-out haunted?

Barring actually seeing an apparition, this is how it feels to me. It starts with a visceral reaction that immediately puts the sentence “I don’t want to be here” into my mind. Of course, rational thought takes over and the usual placating statements begin filtering through. “It’s fine. It’s a public place. There are tons of people here. It’s broad daylight. (Or if it’s night) There’s plenty of light here. Everyone seems to be okay. What have I got to be worried about?

Depending on the location, various things can be worrisome. The worst of it is that uneasy sensation in my gut that tells me that there’s something else around. Something probably not alive. Something that I may not be able to see, but that I can most definitely feel. I then start to worry that I might see something I don’t want to see. Or experience something that I really don’t want to experience.

I’ve had that sensation in a college dormitory room. I went on a writer’s retreat held at a local university and the dormitory was very uneasy. I admit I didn’t sleep a lot over those two nights. It didn’t help that my work in progress at the time was Haunted. But even earlier than that, I had a similar experience in a dormitory while attending a camp for high school yearbook staff. I had a really nasty nightmare every single night I was there.

Jim and I both had the sensation in a hotel in Dublin. The place was a reconverted office building and its halls were like a rabbit warren. I think our room was the farthest away from the elevator, at the end of a very long hall that included steps down and then up again, plus a double door held open by doorstops. Of course there were lights everywhere, but brother, was it ever dark.

We also had that sensation at a restaurant that has since closed. That particular location had been a property of Al Capone’s and had been a speakeasy as well as a place where he received and distributed illegal liquor. I’m not sure what went on there, but I don’t imagine it was all sweetness and light. The third floor, where the rooms for private parties were, and the first floor that housed the main restaurant and the bar, definitely had issues. The place was even written up in a book of local haunted venues.

Interestingly enough, though, I have never had that feeling in a hospital, even though I know hospitals rank as some of the most haunted places possible, even those that are still open for business. I have a friend who has seen dead people in the parking lot outside a hospital close to his house. I had a friend who was an ER nurse who spoke about changes in the ward when someone passed away during her shift. But despite the fact that I’ve been in all kinds of hospitals for a variety of reasons, I’ve never sensed the paranormal at any of them and I have no idea why. Now that I’ve written this, though, I bet I’ll run into it big-time next time I have to go to a hospital for whatever reason.

Sometimes I don’t mind feeling the sensations that go along with running into something not quite of this world: that prickly sensation along the spine and neck, the sudden chill, the uneasiness and the certainty that something is watching me. It’s good research for me, right??? But I’d love to know how others experience it. And if we tend to all feel it the same way, I also love to know why that is.