Boogeymen and Ghosts

Happy Halloween kiddies! If you’ve had the opportunity to walk in our showroom and shop, you know our space is pretty expansive. It’s great for the daytime, and to impress our clients, but for the few of us who have had to walk through it at night sans light it is quite a different experience. The large antiquated doors, the dark corners, the feeling that you are not alone, but unable to explain why? Knowing that this was once a bustling factory of workers and is now abandoned, the fact that things may have happened in here prior to our occupation makes you begin to wonder? What kind of nefarious or illicit activity occurred here without anyone’s knowledge? Are those moving shadows out of the corner of our eye really just a shadow, a street cat, or is it something else, something left behind of a more supernatural nature?

Artist’s Impression of a Shadow Person

DM Ghost Story: I pulled out the Ouija board one night with a friend and although not a believer, I am also not a disbeliever, I think sometimes it’s good to try to spook yourself. We sat in the showroom under the yellow glow of a single overhead light and tried contacting a spirit. Our first attempt was unsuccessful and accompanied by lots of giggles and “your moving it, right?” However..the second was a little more intense, a much darker experience, it appeared we had contacted an older man who was unhappy and not particularly enthusiastic about answering our questions, almost on the verge of threatening. Officially spooked, we quit and then realized we had forgotten to “close out” our session. We quickly tried to amend the situation, but I had already broken the connection by removing my hand from the pointer. My friend scolded me and we quickly went through the motion of disconnecting from the spirit. They say any door opened into the spirit world must be closed, some groups even forbid use of the Ouija board claiming it creates a portal for demons to enter and invade the living world.

2 days after, I began a regular workout routine in my home and suddenly became lightheaded. I stopped, sat down, closed my eyes, and waited for the feeling to subside. 5 minutes passed, 10 minutes passed, everytime I opened my eyes or tried to stand up, I was overcome by feelings of nausea, light headedness, and shakiness. Not trusting my body, I laid down on the floor so I would not hurt myself in case of collapse, my breathing was short and rushed and brought back memories of childhood asthma attacks. I felt a weight in my chest and a lump in my throat and felt like I was gasping for breath when there was nothing obstructing it. I convinced myself it must be some kind of food poisoning and after about 20 minutes I decided I would have to gather my strength and try to make it to the bathroom. The bathroom was only down the hall and through a room, but it felt like an eternity. I held myself up along the walls the whole way and almost resorted to crawling. I almost gave up halfway and was going to call for help, but I was absolutely certain I did not have enough strength to work out the simple logistics of using my phone. 100% of my concentration was on trying not to pass out. Miraculously (at least that’s how it felt), I made it to the bathroom and sat down on the toilet where not only did the unpleasant feelings double, my feet began to go numb. The numbing feeling began to crawl up my leg, first to my ankles, then my calves, then up to my knees. All the while terror is beginning to consume me and I am trying to maintain some sense of calm and explain with reason and logic the unexplainable, wondering if this would be a permanent condition. I have had food poisoning before, but never has it caused a loss of feeling in my limbs or the sensations I was feeling. I hadn’t eaten anything out of the ordinary that I could blame this on, and was not having the typical symptoms (vomiting..and all that other not so great stuff). Beginning to lose all sense of hope or calm there was a sudden lapse, the numbness and nausea lessened, so I climbed into the shower, turned on the cold water, and braced myself on to the walls for dear life. Again, an intense wave of nausea swept over me and I was frozen, unable to move. I concentrated on controlling my breathing which again felt short and rushed. I closed my eyes again, trying to overcome it with willpower, and upon re-opening them saw nothing but white light, no showerhead, no bathroom tile, I couldn’t even see my body or limbs. Nothing but pure, pristine white, but not a reassuring kind, an ominous one, like it was trying to consume me. It was about this time that I contemplated screaming for help, unsure if anything would actually come out. All of a sudden, as quickly as it had come, it was gone, everything, all the sensations melted away, as quickly as the water disappearing down the drain of the shower. Slightly shaky both physically and mentally from what had just happened and unsure of whether to trust that it was in fact over, I went and laid down in bed and fell asleep unable to explain what had just occurred. The next day I was driving with Jeremy (one of the owners of District Millworks) to home depot and explained to him what had happened to me the night before. He didn’t know I had played Ouija after hours in the showroom, and his immediate response was “have you ever read about or heard accounts of spiritual possession? What your describing sounds like that.” What is the explanation? Did I eat something weird? was I not ready for the intensity of the workout? I would like to say yes as this would offer a logical explanation, but I didn’t eat anything weird, I did not get sick, and lightheadedness typically has only lasted me a few seconds to a minute, not 45 mins to an hour. Coincidence? Spiritual Possession? I don’t know the answer, but I do know I will be much more careful to follow the rules next time I play Quija – if I play again. ~ john b.