some have supposed that seeing ghosts runs in families because you share dna.  i excepted that this might be true or it might stem from the core beliefs of the families on both sides.  stories about the paranormal do abound in irish and german traditions.  the dna, well, i found that not to be so plausible with me.  you see, i discovered 4 years ago that i'd been adopted at a very young age.  no one ever wanted me to know.  at least my "parents" never wanted me to know. 

my uncle's house is a prime example of a place so haunted that it didn't matter if you were related or not, if our aunt or uncle were home at the time, or if it had to do with a beliefs system.  all these were shot clean out of the water when it came to this house.  you'd never know what happened unless you heard a shriek coming from a woman who either lived there or one who was visiting.  hearing men and boys shriek was funny to say the least.  such a shriek came to be known as a sure sign that they'd seen one of the numerous ghosts inhabiting the place. 

you could say it was environmental but a closer check would tell you that it was no different than any other house of the same condition.  you could say it was electrical but then again there were no electric lines to the house for quite a number of years and the ghosts had been seen often up to the time when electricity was installed.  underground water?  nope, they had a cistern.  a catchbasin for rain water so they  had water to drink and use for cooking.  washing was done via a sink of water.  so what could it be, geological........maybe, magnetic lines, probably not.  those change from time to time and the map's never the same.  this was a wild area before the house was built, no one had ever lived there before that, two other houses were built much later.  so, the house was all alone on that hill out in the middle of nowhere.  the only thing that can be attributed to that house is the fact that the people who built it in the 1920's got involved in spiritualism.  they had dinner parties all time time anyway but the lady of the house decided to become a medium and hold seances'.  more than a few would be going on at the same time in that house.  too many guests for just one medium.  i was told that the woman of the house was conducting one in the upstairs of the house when she keeled over and dropped dead right then and there.  she was in the middle of a seance at the time.  people surmise that this left the doorway open to allow spirits to come and go as they wished. 

no indians have been seen although this is in indian country in southern ohio.  only white people have been seen over the many years.  this went on long before i was born.  it began with my aunt of uncle buying the place in the 1920's.  evidently the people who built it didn't live in it long.  they built it before the spiritualist craze hit and so it wasn't built to take advantage of any particular place as being more receptive of this.  i was born in 1958 so you can imagine how many years this has gone on.  two of my uncle's sisters died in the house at the same spot from the same thing.  whenever i'm there i bypass that area with a wide path.  don't want to make the same mistake! 

who are the people who haunt the place?  one's a young man in the navy as evidenced by his navy pea coat, and navy hat.  another seems to be a gardener or caretaker of the house.  he wears bib overalls with a slightly buttoned down shirt.  it has long sleeves but the jeans appear to be from the 1960's.  another one is a short old guy who's a little portly.  he's got on a grey double breasted suit.  isn't this a style from the 1930's?  can't recall.  the kids in the basement are definitely from the victorian period.  obviously from before the time when the house was built.  the woman on the stairs in a long white sack like dress with a garland around her head appears to be from the early 1900's.  my son saw a "flapper".  the syle is also early 1900's i believe maybe ww2.  one woman wore a witches costume.  everytime she's been seen she's wearing it.  there's one in the attic region which became an added on room upstairs room.  this one is a boiling black cloud with red eyes.  i ran from that one right out of the house and didn't stay in that house the rest of the day.  i believe i saw the original home owners one day.  they were dressed in very fine clothes from the 1920's, tall and well mannered.  they looked at me like they'd seen a ghost.  maybe they did, from the future! lol  i still remember the look on their faces.  they stopped right then and there.  they'd come into view at the opening from the kitchen to the dining room.  i was told the kitchen was an add on to the house much later after my aunt and uncle bought the house.  they appeared to be walking up steps when i saw them fully.  the man looked like he was closing a door though one was not there.  they saw me, looked petrified, then faded from view as they were walking through the dining room.   they'd only gotten a few steps into the room.  i went in immediately to ask who those people were in the dining room.  everyone got up to go see.  why'd they do that everytime i asked who this or that person was?  i didn't get it until i realized they knew we were the only ones in the house at the time.  they always ask each other if anyone heard a car drive up or a car door shut.  no knock at the door?  nope.  that's when they all nearly ran over each other to get to where i saw the people!  i wondered why this would get them all excited like that!  that's until i realized they all wanted to see the ghosts too!  lol  at that age i didn't know what a ghost was but i knew these people disappeared when you saw them.  i didnt' know what to make of this.  it baffled me.  still to me a ghost was a misty apparition which looked like a skeleton or someone with a sheet over their body.  you know, casper the friendly ghost! lol  even as an adult i thought they must be something else but a ghost.  denial maybe?  ghosts meant terror and fright, i didn't feel any of that with these except the one that was a black boiling cloud with red eyes!  to me that one had to be a demon or something evil.  not a ghost! 

maybe other people are the same way when it comes to identifying ghosts.  i mean, they looked like solid people just like me!  how could that be a ghost?! 

i'd like to hear the opinions of other people concerning this.  it interests me to know what others think about what is and what isn't a ghost. 

thanks,

patty1019