We really didn't hear boo so much....mainly movement, thumps and stomps...much like a kid having a temper tantrum...except when my neighbor told me about hearing a deep voice...now, that was scary!
It was just twenty years ago this night...that the body of Mrs. Simmons was found in the piano loft--with gardeners shears stuck in her throat...(Mr. Kelsy, the gardner--The Ghost & Mr. Chicken)
I always loved watching Don Knotts in the Ghost & Mr. Chicken. I remember seeing it at one of AMC''s first theaters--a drive in theatre called the Leawood Drive In, located where the upscale community of Hallbrook stands today in Kansas City.
Never did I dream that I would actually live in a haunted house. But after my experiences--I never was afraid of tackling anything at work or my personal life.
It started in my junior year at Abilene Christian in Abilene, Texas. My roommate and I rented a corner bedroom of a three bed, two bath house about a block off campus.
The owner was a CPA--and had rented another room to a guy named Forrest. After we had lived there about a week--Forrest told us something that we hadn't planned on hearing.
He told us that they thought the house was haunted. A previous roommate named Mark had experienced strange things when he lived there--and had moved out.
Forrest told us that one night, Mark was alone in the living room watching TV, when he heard pots and pans shuffling around on the stove.
He suddenly realized that he was alone--and no one else was in the house!
He said they thought the ghost was a little boy--because they would hear thumps and bumps--like a kid was having a temper tantrum.
We smiled and took it all in stride, not taking it seriously.
Then, one night--we heard our bed springs begin to rattle. Our first reaction was that a truck had driven by--but it was late at night and we noticed nothing unusual,
This happened for several nights. Another night, we heard our hallway door open slowly--like a draft had come down the hall--then bang into the closet. The handle had made an indention into the door's wood.
At this point, nothing happened out of the ordinary that could have been explained.
But several girls we invited one night into our room--also commented that they heard the bed springs rattling while we were all talking.
Now we were concerned. We didn't say anything to them--but we both began to take notice.
Several weeks later--Forrest and I were in the living room watching TV at night. We both heard thumping in the hallway leading to the bedrooms.
Since my roommate was home, Forrest and I just ignored it. But it sounded like someone stomping up and down the hall.
A few minutes later, my roommate came in rubbing his eyes and asked us what all the commotion was. We looked at him and said, "we thought that was you making that noise".
He said he was asleep and we woke him up. Forrest and I looked at each other and thought--OK, somethings not right!
We named the ghost Lester--not sure why, just sounded like a good name.
We had a friend named Karen, who lived across the street. She had borrowed some pots and pans from us.
I would usually have my stereo on in our room and do push ups, sit ups, etc before I'd go to my evening job at an Italian restaurant. Following that job--I'd go to a radio station and was the all night DJ from 12m-6a.
My restaurant "dishwasher" job was from 7p-11:45p. So I would leave the house by 6:30 each night.
I would get home by 7a the next morning. Karen told me one day that she had brought our pots and pans over the previous night--about 9pm.
She said my stereo was blaring, my light was on (I always turned both off), and a shadow passed by the window!
She knocked on our door and said, "come on guys, it's me Karen--open up". She then told me she heard a real "deep" voice say, "what do you want Karen?"
She said she ran home screaming, since no one in our house had a voice that deep!
Gulp!
Several other times--as I entered the house in the dark from the garage into the kitchen--I heard a BANG--like someone was drunk and fell into the wall in front of me. I turned on the light--no one was there. I ran in my room and my roommate was sound asleep!
The last time I heard from "Lester" was as I was walking out the front door one afternoon and heard a banging our the picture window in the living room. It keep knocking like someone was trying to get my attention, banging hard enough to possibly break the glass.
I turned around quickly--thinking Forrest wanted me--and no one was there.
I ran back in the house, and Forrest was sitting in the middle of the room watching TV. I asked him what he wanted--and he said "nothing".
I asked him why he was banging on the window--and he said "that he wasn't" I told him he almost broke the window--but he said he hadn't done anything.
We both looked at each other--shrugged and said, "Lester"!
I eventually moved out and got an apartment--and Forrest said that the noises soon stopped. We thought that maybe Lester didn't want the people I was bringing over every now and then. Maybe he wanted his privacy and to be left alone.
To this day--I don't know what we heard--or what the others heard...but there were too many instances of multiple witnesses hearing things, that just couldn't have been coincidence.
When I began working in advertising after college--I remember how scared I was to pick up the phone and make a cold sales call.
I would write down what I wanted to say--then basically just read the script when I called someone. After a while--it became routine and I overcame my fear.
But--I also thought back to realizing how living with Lester taught me that if you can overcome the fear of hearing noises, etc--making a phone call wouldn't kill you!
By the way--if you'd like to know how to calm your fears of advertising--and learn how to minimize your risk while achieving a powerful ROI, click HERE!
Whether it was making a sales call, giving a presentation, public speaking--whatever--maybe living with a ghost was the best thing that happened to me (other than sales training, practice, etc lol!)
So--the next time you hear a bump in the night that raises the hairs on your neck--just channel that fear into your next sales call!
And...give Lester my regards!
It started in my junior year at Abilene Christian in Abilene, Texas. My roommate and I rented a corner bedroom of a three bed, two bath house about a block off campus.
The owner was a CPA--and had rented another room to a guy named Forrest. After we had lived there about a week--Forrest told us something that we hadn't planned on hearing.
He told us that they thought the house was haunted. A previous roommate named Mark had experienced strange things when he lived there--and had moved out.
Forrest told us that one night, Mark was alone in the living room watching TV, when he heard pots and pans shuffling around on the stove.
He suddenly realized that he was alone--and no one else was in the house!
He said they thought the ghost was a little boy--because they would hear thumps and bumps--like a kid was having a temper tantrum.
We smiled and took it all in stride, not taking it seriously.
Then, one night--we heard our bed springs begin to rattle. Our first reaction was that a truck had driven by--but it was late at night and we noticed nothing unusual,
This happened for several nights. Another night, we heard our hallway door open slowly--like a draft had come down the hall--then bang into the closet. The handle had made an indention into the door's wood.
At this point, nothing happened out of the ordinary that could have been explained.
But several girls we invited one night into our room--also commented that they heard the bed springs rattling while we were all talking.
Now we were concerned. We didn't say anything to them--but we both began to take notice.
Several weeks later--Forrest and I were in the living room watching TV at night. We both heard thumping in the hallway leading to the bedrooms.
Since my roommate was home, Forrest and I just ignored it. But it sounded like someone stomping up and down the hall.
A few minutes later, my roommate came in rubbing his eyes and asked us what all the commotion was. We looked at him and said, "we thought that was you making that noise".
He said he was asleep and we woke him up. Forrest and I looked at each other and thought--OK, somethings not right!
We had a friend named Karen, who lived across the street. She had borrowed some pots and pans from us.
I would usually have my stereo on in our room and do push ups, sit ups, etc before I'd go to my evening job at an Italian restaurant. Following that job--I'd go to a radio station and was the all night DJ from 12m-6a.
My restaurant "dishwasher" job was from 7p-11:45p. So I would leave the house by 6:30 each night.
I would get home by 7a the next morning. Karen told me one day that she had brought our pots and pans over the previous night--about 9pm.
She said my stereo was blaring, my light was on (I always turned both off), and a shadow passed by the window!
She knocked on our door and said, "come on guys, it's me Karen--open up". She then told me she heard a real "deep" voice say, "what do you want Karen?"
She said she ran home screaming, since no one in our house had a voice that deep!
Gulp!
Several other times--as I entered the house in the dark from the garage into the kitchen--I heard a BANG--like someone was drunk and fell into the wall in front of me. I turned on the light--no one was there. I ran in my room and my roommate was sound asleep!
The last time I heard from "Lester" was as I was walking out the front door one afternoon and heard a banging our the picture window in the living room. It keep knocking like someone was trying to get my attention, banging hard enough to possibly break the glass.
I turned around quickly--thinking Forrest wanted me--and no one was there.
I ran back in the house, and Forrest was sitting in the middle of the room watching TV. I asked him what he wanted--and he said "nothing".
I asked him why he was banging on the window--and he said "that he wasn't" I told him he almost broke the window--but he said he hadn't done anything.
We both looked at each other--shrugged and said, "Lester"!
I eventually moved out and got an apartment--and Forrest said that the noises soon stopped. We thought that maybe Lester didn't want the people I was bringing over every now and then. Maybe he wanted his privacy and to be left alone.
To this day--I don't know what we heard--or what the others heard...but there were too many instances of multiple witnesses hearing things, that just couldn't have been coincidence.
When I began working in advertising after college--I remember how scared I was to pick up the phone and make a cold sales call.
I would write down what I wanted to say--then basically just read the script when I called someone. After a while--it became routine and I overcame my fear.
But--I also thought back to realizing how living with Lester taught me that if you can overcome the fear of hearing noises, etc--making a phone call wouldn't kill you!
By the way--if you'd like to know how to calm your fears of advertising--and learn how to minimize your risk while achieving a powerful ROI, click HERE!
Whether it was making a sales call, giving a presentation, public speaking--whatever--maybe living with a ghost was the best thing that happened to me (other than sales training, practice, etc lol!)
So--the next time you hear a bump in the night that raises the hairs on your neck--just channel that fear into your next sales call!
And...give Lester my regards!
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