Ever since I was little, I've been afraid of ghosts. I traveled a lot with my mom and each new place had its own set of ghosts, real and imagined. When I was in fourth grade I read a book of ghost stories. For years after, I had trouble sleeping. I'd lie in bed with my blanket pulled up to my nose and stare at my door waiting for a ghostly figure to emerge. There've been a few times when I thought I had a ghostly encounter. A cold chill, a suspicious shadow, a figure in my peripheral, and once I thought someone patted my head. With my great fear came a great curiosity and fascination with the paranormal.
I became obsessed with Sylvia Browne after my dad died. She was a psychic who would guest star every Wednesday on the Montel Williams show. She'd sit and answer questions from the audience about people who passed away, future love, and spirit guide names. She'd sit there casually, sometimes grumpily if asked a stupid question, and provide relief to grieving families. She believed in every thing I wanted to believe in. She said that everyone can go to the Otherside, which is the Christian equivalent of Heaven. Religious views had nothing to do with it. She believed in afterlife, resurrection, and astral travel. A lot of what she spoke of made sense, yet I was still skeptical and chose to mold her views to fit my own.
I was also, and still am, a fan of the show Ghosthunters. I admit a lot of the footage is too unbelievable. There has even been an episode where one of the members pretended a ghost was pulling a tablecloth. Yet I still enjoy watching it, mostly to hear the ghost stories and history of the places they visit.
The above picture is the Myrtles Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana. It's supposedly one of the most haunted houses in the United States. Whenever I have a project related to ghosts, I always find myself looking into the Myrtles. One of the most famous stories is the story of Chloe. Chloe was a slave who worked in the kitchen but heard rumors that some of the servants were going to be sent to the fields. While walking in the hallway she heard voices coming from the men's parlor. She pressed her ear to the door to hear what they were saying and was caught by her master. As punishment, he cut her ear off and sent her to work in the fields. She wore a turban, which later became her trademark. As news of the master's daughters' birthdays arrived, Chloe devised a plan to get back into the master's good graces. She convinced the cook to let her bake the birthday cake. She slipped a poison in the batter, which she thought was enough to only make them sick. Then she'd nurse them back to health and look like a saint in the master's eyes. Unfortunately, she added too much and killed the mistress and the two daughters. When the other slaves heard of what Chloe did, they hung her. At the funeral of the mistress and her daughters, the mourners covered the mirrors with cloth because they believed that the soul would get trapped in the mirror otherwise. According to the story, they forgot to cover the mirror next to the stairs. Witnesses claim to have seen the ghost of Chloe and the fingerprints of the little girls in the mirror.
Eventually I will muster up the courage to spend the night at the Myrtles Plantation. In the meantime, I'll satisfy my curiosity with ghost stories.
http://www.myrtlesplantation.com/
http://www.syfy.com/ghosthunters/
http://www.sylviabrowne.com/
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