In horror of Halloween: Who here believes in Ghost/Live or have lived in a haunted house?

[diabeticman]

[RebelOne]

1. I don't really believe in ghosts,

but I have had a few spooky experiences. I don't think the dead can hurt you, only the living.

[love_katz]

2. In horror? Or in honor?

I have never seen a ghost nor lived in a haunted house.

However, I hope that our spirits do survive death. Just fading out, like a candle flame, seems rather wasteful, since it takes so darn long to gain some wisdom.

It makes sense that if our spirits do survive after body death, then some of them might appear to the living. My reading suggests that this sort of thing only happens in a few circumstances: the ghost/spirit has a message for the person(s) it appears to; the ghost is stuck on the Earthplane because either they died violently and may have unfinished business or they died suddenly and are not aware that they are dead; or, the spirit of the person is afraid to pass on to the next world due to either being raised in stern religious beliefs where they fear being judged for their life, or because they actually engaged in wrong-doing and need to make amends in some fashion. Some spirits seem to reappear on the Earthplane without interacting with the living. Such beings are said to be repeating certain actions which were important in their lives, or are still attached to certain locations (like a beloved home).

My understanding is that the dead are not supposed to frighten nor bother the living, so if a spirit tries to do that, we can confront them, the same way we would any intruder.

[wyldwolf]

3. I don't

I've been invited twice in my life to 'haunted' houses where I was assured my mind would be changed. Nothing happened. Once the excuse was 'the spirits were insulted you don't believe in them.'

[Jenoch]

4. I have a couple of cousins who believe

they have seen 'ghosts'. Ine of them still lives in the house where several family members believe they witnessed a ghost. Many years ago a doctor owned the house and he saw patients in the house. The exam room is right off the front door.

I heard a story on thexradio the other day that was interesting. A couple were looking to buy a house. Their real estate agent took them to many houses, nonexwere the right house. The wife had a dream about her dream house. She saw it from the street, she saw all of the rooms in the house, all in her recurring dream. Many moths late the eal estate agent called her and said she had a house that just went on the market and itcmight be THE house for the couple. When they pulled up to the house, the wife saw that it was the house from her dreams. When they went inside, it was just like the rooms she saw in her dreams. The couple immediately put in an offer. It was accepted. The seller showed up at the closing and his face went pqle when he saw the wife. "You! He exclaimed. I've been seeing you drifting around my house for months! Every night I was awakened by your image! You're the reason we're selling the house!"

[Arugula Latte]

5. I think ultimately everything can be explained scientifically.

Are there things we don't understand? Sure. Does that mean there are supernatural explanations that defy the laws of physics and science in general? No.

A couple times I've had a sudden weird feeling in my shoulder. I know it was just a strange nerve/muscle interaction, but it did feel exactly as if someone had touched me there, so I can see how these beliefs start. Twice when I was pregnant with my first baby it felt like someone had jabbed me in the stomach -- from the outside in. One time it happened I was walking next to my husband and I even asked him if he had poked me for some reason. (He hadn't.) Obviously it was the baby's movement's tweaking something that gave me a weird "outside" sensation, but nerves are odd and sensations travel from the spine all over the place.

[HeiressofBickworth]

6. I'm not a believer

but when I lived in Australia, the house I lived in was reputed to have a ghost. My family owned a restaurant/motel/residence in Berrima, NSW. We were told that it was haunted by a guy named Jim. My mother bought the place from Jim's widow. He was the guy who shot himself to death in the house in the 1960's and the ghost story originated after his death. We did have fun with Jim, however. Whenever something odd happened in the house (it was built in the 1830's and had many creaks and groans), we would say it was Jim. One time, in the dining room of the restaurant, a glass, sitting on a table right in front of the fireplace, spontaneously broke, shocking all of the customers. Instead of trying to explain the effects of cold glass and hot air, I just said it must be the ghost, Jim. They all nodded that it must be so -- and the myth continued. Many years later, I read a travel info website about the place that said the ghost was one of the convicts that built the house in the 1830's. I'm sure they embellished the fable for marketing purposes.