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Do you believe in ghosts? For the past few years, I've shared some of my spooky experiences in vintage hunting. While washing dishes last night after dinner, Pj and I reminisced about our ghost stories and he reminded me of one I couldn't believe I had almost forgotten!
Last year I shared the story of a choking feeling on the 3rd floor of an Alton, IL antique store
In 2012 I shared the story of bringing home an unwanted guest from an estate sale
A few years ago, when Rhys was just a few months old, we took the kids for an afternoon at one of our favorite local antique malls. They know us by name and ask about the kids when we don't bring them with us. We've been enough times to almost know the booth numbers by heart!
In the middle of this mall is a fabulous booth loaded to the brim with vintage buttons, costume jewelry, greeting cards, vintage baby clothes, linens and all sorts of wonderful things, all very affordably priced. I usually make myself comfy on the floor while I rummage through small plastic totes for at least 45 minutes and Pj takes one or both of the kids for a walk around on their own while I dig.
It was a November afternoon and the antique Christmas decor was out. I could hear the kids and Pj tinkering with some Christmas music boxes in the next aisle over. After a while, they came back and I had stashed my small haul in the shopping basket on my arm. Pj had a funny look on his face and he said "Hey, come check out this booth over here".
I didn't think anything of it. It was a small booth, just a few down from my "button booth" as I call it. It was full of Christmas stuff. A few trees, lots of boxes of Shiney Brite ornaments, a few of those kistchy plastic snowmen and Santas for the lawn. I stepped in to look at things and as soon as my foot crossed the line into the booth, I felt sick. Pj described it last night as cabin pressure changing in an airplane. My head was tingling and hot. Like -really- hot, painful. I had that "get the hell out of there" feeling. I stepped out and felt perfectly normal. I looked at him and he said "right?!"
I stepped in again and immediately was hit by that terrible feeling. I felt dizzy and my vision blurred. I moved around the space, slowly to see if it went away or got worse. There was a wooden carved angel plaque about 3 feet across. It was hand painted and looked like you might hang it over your door or set it on a fireplace mantle. Its wings spread out across the length of the plaque with a pretty face in the middle and as I moved closer, my face burned hotter and my cheeks got red. I had enough and we left.
We continues pushing the stroller around, talking about it. About a month later, we went back to the antique mall and the booth was empty. It has been several years and there hasn't been a merchant in that space since. It feels just as normal as any other space now. We don't know if it was the angel, something else or just some strange coincidence but it was enough to give us the creeps years later!
Please share your ghost stories in the comments and for more vintage creepiness, see my pin board, Strange, Creepy and Vintage
Do you believe in ghosts? For the past few years, I've shared some of my spooky experiences in vintage hunting. While washing dishes last night after dinner, Pj and I reminisced about our ghost stories and he reminded me of one I couldn't believe I had almost forgotten!
Last year I shared the story of a choking feeling on the 3rd floor of an Alton, IL antique store
In 2012 I shared the story of bringing home an unwanted guest from an estate sale
A few years ago, when Rhys was just a few months old, we took the kids for an afternoon at one of our favorite local antique malls. They know us by name and ask about the kids when we don't bring them with us. We've been enough times to almost know the booth numbers by heart!
In the middle of this mall is a fabulous booth loaded to the brim with vintage buttons, costume jewelry, greeting cards, vintage baby clothes, linens and all sorts of wonderful things, all very affordably priced. I usually make myself comfy on the floor while I rummage through small plastic totes for at least 45 minutes and Pj takes one or both of the kids for a walk around on their own while I dig.
It was a November afternoon and the antique Christmas decor was out. I could hear the kids and Pj tinkering with some Christmas music boxes in the next aisle over. After a while, they came back and I had stashed my small haul in the shopping basket on my arm. Pj had a funny look on his face and he said "Hey, come check out this booth over here".
I didn't think anything of it. It was a small booth, just a few down from my "button booth" as I call it. It was full of Christmas stuff. A few trees, lots of boxes of Shiney Brite ornaments, a few of those kistchy plastic snowmen and Santas for the lawn. I stepped in to look at things and as soon as my foot crossed the line into the booth, I felt sick. Pj described it last night as cabin pressure changing in an airplane. My head was tingling and hot. Like -really- hot, painful. I had that "get the hell out of there" feeling. I stepped out and felt perfectly normal. I looked at him and he said "right?!"
I stepped in again and immediately was hit by that terrible feeling. I felt dizzy and my vision blurred. I moved around the space, slowly to see if it went away or got worse. There was a wooden carved angel plaque about 3 feet across. It was hand painted and looked like you might hang it over your door or set it on a fireplace mantle. Its wings spread out across the length of the plaque with a pretty face in the middle and as I moved closer, my face burned hotter and my cheeks got red. I had enough and we left.
We continues pushing the stroller around, talking about it. About a month later, we went back to the antique mall and the booth was empty. It has been several years and there hasn't been a merchant in that space since. It feels just as normal as any other space now. We don't know if it was the angel, something else or just some strange coincidence but it was enough to give us the creeps years later!
Please share your ghost stories in the comments and for more vintage creepiness, see my pin board, Strange, Creepy and Vintage
My goodness, how eerie--and even eerier that when you came back the booth was empty. That is some stuff right out of a horror movie right there!
ReplyDeleteI actually have a blog post written up in my Blogger queue that's scheduled to be posted later this week about a vintage-related paranormal experience I had. I'll come and post a link once it goes live, but I'll at least tell you this: it has to do with a spirit that obviously can't grasp the concept of staying outside another person's personal bubble!
Cheers,
Jenny
Oh yes, please do leave a link!! I love scary stories!!
DeleteOkay, here's the link!: http://www.singingbirdvintage.com/2014/10/when-vintage-gets-spooky-my-vintage.html
DeleteI've never been quite as unnerved as I was on this day. I really wanted to type up this post back when this all happened, but I decided to be patient and wait for Halloween!
Cheers,
Jenny
Those photographs are super spooky too! Wondering if there's a story behind them as well?
ReplyDeleteI have had a lot of interesting experiences but the scary ones I have only two. I don't like to talk about them but I will share it with you sometime. Otherwise if there is anything negative around me I tend to remove myself among other little things to cleanse myself (prayer etc). This may sound nuts but now as an adult I know deep in my gut that anything not good won't dare come near me. It is best they stay away bc I am not one to mess with. I have no problems telling them to go away. I don't like to mess with things we may never understand. Btw, did I got to that mall with you? Freaking creepy as hell! xox
ReplyDeleteYeah its the one that had the 1920s party when you were here!
DeleteGreat story, I love your ghost stories every year, dear. :)
ReplyDeleteI do believe in things like this (there were some crazy experiences while living in Africa and even in my home in Springfield), but I'd call it more of a good vs. evil, God vs. Satan sort of thing, not necessarily ghosts. Every time I've had scary experiences, though, I pray and ask Jesus to protect me and make things right, and the "presence" or strange happenings always end.
ReplyDeleteYup, I definitely believe there are evil and good spirits in the world, or at least interacting with our world. On a good note, there was something about my grandpa too, although i don't think he was a ghost (stuck here), more like we were the less substantial world that briefly intersected with the heavenly plane.
ReplyDeleteAnd about evil spirits....I've definitely felt them too. I hope they weren't ghosts, that is, poor humans gone bad. I think they're of the fallen angel variety.
That's why I pray over all my thrift store purchases, and pray God would hallow them for my use. Kind of a spiritual disinfectant... :)
What a story!
ReplyDeleteI for sure believe in ghosts and other paranormal phenomenon, and it's nice to know that there are more people in the vintage community who believe the same.
xoxo
-Janey
Super creepy post! I actually live in Alton, so I definitely know what you mean. I have always wanted to do a Haunted Alton tour this time of year. I love your blog. So excited to have you over at MOWB!
ReplyDeleteOoo, creepy! The building that my husband's bar is in is haunted, and I've had numerous bizarre experiences there; nothing that felt threatening, but really creepy nonetheless. My grandmother's house also had a ghost that would open the window in the upstairs bathroom and turn lamps on and off. I tend to get really woozy, almost nauseated feeling places like that. Some friends of ours used to live in a house that I could never stay in because the upstairs made me sick, and all kinds of people had weird experiences there. There's an old jail about an hour from where I live that has been converted into an inn and gives tours. The whole place sets me on edge, but the yard out back where the gallows used to be makes me downright sick. I won't go back there. Ever.
ReplyDeleteOoohh, that is bizarre for sure. Thank goodness you guys didn't have any lasting physical issues from that encounter, whatever its root cause was.
ReplyDelete♥ Jessica
That is a powerful story. Thank goodness you didn't stay in that booth very long. Hubby and I rented an apartment in an old building in Washington DC. First I need to say hubby was a heavy sleeper and I always had a difficult time waking him from a sound sleep. One night we both bolted awake upon hearing a blood curdling scream seemed to come from over the bed. Not outside, not a neighbor, not out on the street. We checked out all that stuff, but assumed we were wrong and went back to sleep...eventually, lol. About a month later, same thing happened. This time our cat was in the room, hair standing up, making a low howl. So, I marked the date on the calendar. You guessed it, happened again, but it did skip months. I was a skeptic when others told this type story, not anymore. We never felt any threat of harm, just a moment of terror, and the anxiety following it. Something terrible must have happened in that bedroom. Was happy when we moved out. Also lived in a pre-civil war era home with spirits, but that is a story for another time.
ReplyDeleteGory horror movies are yucky to me and don't watch, but paranormal movies I find very frightening and believable. :) Pam
Great post, and love your photos. Thanks for sharing them.
My mom has a house in Ohio. It is now a rental. I was their property manager. I always felt like someone was watching me there. That feeling of the hair standing up on the back of your neck. Later one of my painters told me he was upstairs painting and shut the door because he had that feeling.
ReplyDelete