Ghost Stories

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Type: Ghost

Hi Sam,
I've been enjoying the "personal accounts" on your Ghost Stories page. I haven't had any paranormal experiences myself, but here's what happened to a "Friend Of A Friend". If you post it, please make it anonymous.

My best friend lived in a house on Freret Street in New Orleans. Well, not IN it, but under it. There was a street-level basement of sorts under the house that was open on three sides. Inside there was a laundry room, and also a small two-room structure. My friend rented the entire "basement" area for his home and studio.

The two-storey house was about 100 years old, and contained hints of Masonic design. One such Masonic detail were the 13 steps leading up to the porch. There was a wroght-iron gate in front of the double doors, and the double doors had etched glass on their upper halves.

There were three women and a child or two living in the house proper. One of the women, known as "Shrew" (she was into the Goth/Punk scene) was passing a cemetary one day when she noticed an angel standing guard over a grave. (If you dig graves, so to speak, check out New Orleans. It has the best!) Shrew liked the angel, so she stole it from the grave and placed the two-foot sculpture in the house.

One night she was in the wide hallway that ran the length of the house. She felt a "presence" and saw a "shadow" appear in the frosted and etched glass of the front doors. It rose as if it were ascending the steps and seemed to come through the doors and right at her. It gave her a stout shove and then went away.

The next day she hung a chicken foot (a talisman in the Voodoo religion to ward off evil spirits) above the front door and was not troubled again.

Perhaps a year later I came to the house to work on my friend's movie. The angel was still there and indeed made an appearance in the film. I spent the night alone in the same room as the angel, but nothing happened. Of course I did take the precatuion not to place the futon directly underneath the very large crystal chandelier which hung in the middle of the room.

In unrelated news, we filmed all night in one of the "Cities of the Dead". The cameraman plugged in his camera and didn't notice that the power switch was on. Half a roll of expensive film was wasted. The gaffer was nearly hit when a heavy light fell from its stand. I stepped on a crack in the uneven sidewalk and went down while carrying a heavy 10-foot section of dolly track. Curiously, the film in the camera was roll 13, and the hour was around midnight. Go figure.