KINGWOOD — The Celts considered Oct 31, or Samhain (Halloween), the last day of the year.
They believed it marked the time when the veil between the living and the dead was at its thinnest.
The thinning allowed ghosts and other supernatural creatures to pass through the veil and visit their former homes — and the living.
According to some Preston County residents, not all ghosts wait for Samhain eve to visit. They said the ghosts are already here.
Lindsey Miller of Rowlesburg said she once found herself sleeping in a haunted bedroom.
“A man committed suicide in the house my grandmother bought,” Miller said. “When I went to stay with her, I slept in what used to be the deceased man’s bedroom.”
She said unlike the previous occupant, she never locked her bedroom door or opened her windows when she went to bed.
Miller said she didn’t have to. The ghost did it for her.
“The next morning my bedroom door would be locked and my windows would be open,” she said.
Miller said small items like keys or packs of cigarettes were often moved to different locations around the house.
Doris Lightner of Kingwood said she had a similar experience.
“I worked for a lady in Fellowsville. A man who lived in the house passed away. He had a rocking chair in his bedroom he liked to rock in.”
Lightner said after the man died, she slept in his former bedroom.
“Usually at night, but occasionally during the day, you could hear him rocking in the rocking chair,” she said.
Lightner said the sound of the rocking chair didn’t scare her.
“I wasn’t afraid,” she said. “He was friendly.”
Dee Hartman of Kingwood said she and her husband live in the house once owned by his deceased grandmother.
She said after they moved in, two of her friends came to visit for the weekend. During the visit, one friend chose to sleep on the sofa.
“I gave her one of grandma’s quilts to cover up with,” Hartman said. “The next morning she (the guest) asked me who the elderly lady was that stood at the foot of the sofa with her hands on her hips glaring at her?”
After her guests left, Hartman said she had a talk with grandma.
“I told her I would take good care of her grandson. But the house was ours now and we were going to occasionally have guests. I guess we came to an agreement,” Hartman said.
Don Maleta of Kingwood said he has never met or seen a ghost. However, he said, a scary incident made him decide never to watch another spooky Halloween movie.
“I was stationed on a Navy base at the time. The guys knew I didn’t like scary movies,” Maleta said. “Back then the Navy rotated the times they played the new movies. The first day the movie would be shown at 5 and the next day it would be at 7.”
He said his friends talked him into going to the second showing.
“I was totally engrossed in the movie,” Maleta said. “When the monster in the movie put its hand on the actor’s shoulder the guy behind me put his hand on my shoulder. I jumped up and yelled. I’ve never gone to another scary movie.”
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