Ghost story
Take this as you will. It's my story and it really happened. I offer no explanations, just the narration. And, by the way, happy hauntings!
I spent the summer of 1991 in San Jose, working for a new fashion
magazine. Its offices were in downtown San Jose, in a five-story
building that was supposedly the first "high-rise" in the city. I had worked there for several weeks and nothing spooky happened. I actually felt pretty safe since there was a security guard stationed on the ground floor, and there weren't that many tenants coming and going.
One night (it always has to be a night, doesn't it?) my boss and co-workers/roommates and I were invited to a party. Since I had a lot of typing and writing to do, I opted out, asking my roomies to pick me up on the way home.
They left, locking me in the spacious, two-room office. Everything went swimmingly for about five minutes, I was typing away, when the lights turned off with a loud boom.
"Great," I thought, staring at the computer screen. "Blackout."
I turned to look out the window and saw the lights were on in the street some floors down. I could also see the glare of lights coming from the floor directly below me. I looked up. Lights were on up there too. Feeling a bit cold all of sudden, I checked out the offices beside mine...yup, they had their lights on too.
That's when I stood up and as I did, the lights turned back on again. You'd think I would have felt relieved, but I didn't. Call it my writer's imagination, but I could actually FEEL something/someone almost laughing at me. Heeby jeebies? I got a few.
Feeling even more dread, I walked through one door to the publisher's office and then stopped. I stared at the big stereo system the boss had on a black stand. The illuminated green line marking the stations was sashaying side to side, as was the volume indicator. I looked at the dials that controlled both and saw it wasn't moving. Looked again at the lines. Still moving.
What did I think at this point? All I could think of was, "Hey! Did I turn that radio on?"
Go figure.
Anyway, at that point, my hands started sweating for the first time in my life. It took all my willpower to pick up the phone and call my roommate, who must have thought her crying friend on the other line had gone bonkers. She promised to send Ricky, one of our co-workers.
I sat on the publisher's chair and started praying out loud. For a couple of minutes after that, I could hear the elevator doors out in the hall opening with a friendly "ping!" but I couldn't hear any steps on the carpet. Finally, the elevator pinged once more and I heard Ricky running to the door and pounding on it. (I was locked in, remember?")
I was SO SURE something was going to stop me from walking across the room and opening the door, but nothing or no one did. Ricky escorted a weepy me to the elevator and out that building.
Needless to say, I never stayed in that office alone.
I called my mom that night and told her my creepy tale. Ever the pragmatist, she said, "Better a ghost than a real person who could have hurt you!"
The magazine publisher blithely said he'd heard a woman had been killed in the building years and years ago.
"Maybe she was trying to tell you to get out and not be in the building alone," he said, seeking to comfort me.
It didn't much help.
Happy Halloween, everyone!
Got any ghost tales from around this Valley?
One night (it always has to be a night, doesn't it?) my boss and co-workers/roommates and I were invited to a party. Since I had a lot of typing and writing to do, I opted out, asking my roomies to pick me up on the way home.
They left, locking me in the spacious, two-room office. Everything went swimmingly for about five minutes, I was typing away, when the lights turned off with a loud boom.
"Great," I thought, staring at the computer screen. "Blackout."
I turned to look out the window and saw the lights were on in the street some floors down. I could also see the glare of lights coming from the floor directly below me. I looked up. Lights were on up there too. Feeling a bit cold all of sudden, I checked out the offices beside mine...yup, they had their lights on too.
That's when I stood up and as I did, the lights turned back on again. You'd think I would have felt relieved, but I didn't. Call it my writer's imagination, but I could actually FEEL something/someone almost laughing at me. Heeby jeebies? I got a few.
Feeling even more dread, I walked through one door to the publisher's office and then stopped. I stared at the big stereo system the boss had on a black stand. The illuminated green line marking the stations was sashaying side to side, as was the volume indicator. I looked at the dials that controlled both and saw it wasn't moving. Looked again at the lines. Still moving.
What did I think at this point? All I could think of was, "Hey! Did I turn that radio on?"
Go figure.
Anyway, at that point, my hands started sweating for the first time in my life. It took all my willpower to pick up the phone and call my roommate, who must have thought her crying friend on the other line had gone bonkers. She promised to send Ricky, one of our co-workers.
I sat on the publisher's chair and started praying out loud. For a couple of minutes after that, I could hear the elevator doors out in the hall opening with a friendly "ping!" but I couldn't hear any steps on the carpet. Finally, the elevator pinged once more and I heard Ricky running to the door and pounding on it. (I was locked in, remember?")
I was SO SURE something was going to stop me from walking across the room and opening the door, but nothing or no one did. Ricky escorted a weepy me to the elevator and out that building.
Needless to say, I never stayed in that office alone.
I called my mom that night and told her my creepy tale. Ever the pragmatist, she said, "Better a ghost than a real person who could have hurt you!"
The magazine publisher blithely said he'd heard a woman had been killed in the building years and years ago.
"Maybe she was trying to tell you to get out and not be in the building alone," he said, seeking to comfort me.
It didn't much help.
Happy Halloween, everyone!
Got any ghost tales from around this Valley?
Leave a comment