The (Moderately) Friendly Ghost

A friend recently related this story. I asked her to write it up to submit to this site -- it is interesting and straightforward. She only changed "Josie's" name.

After graduating from college, I worked for one year in Manhattan. One of my college buddies lived in New Jersey and hosted an annual Halloween Costume Party. She invited me down for the bash. I arrived early to help Josie and her husband prepare for the party.

Josie and her husband rented a flat within a freestanding duplex house. The house was probably about 70 years old. After I had gotten settled in, Josie casually warned me that they had a ghost in the apartment, not a frightening or particularly malicious ghost, more of a poltergeist. She warned me so that I wouldn't be frightened if I heard something break such as glass. She said that they heard the ghost not infrequently in the baby's nursery, but nothing really bad or frightening had ever happened. Apparently, the neighbors within the duplex were aware of the ghost too. She also showed me several photos that contained an amorphous brightly lit figure. She said they had often queried the photo labs about the hazy figure, and the techs said the figures in the photo were NOT a result of lens refraction but couldn't explain the cause.

Josie was pretty matter of fact about the ghost, and she was also not the type that expressed interest in the supernatural or Ouija boards. So I didn't think much about her comments.

The party usually involved about 175 people, so that afternoon, we dived into clearing out furniture, and generally "battening down the hatches" for a large rambunctious crowd. Part of the preparations included stashing nic knacks and breakables. Josie and I were working alone, prior to the guests' arrival. Her husband was out picking up beverages.

Josie gave me two engraved crystal champagne goblets that had been used in her wedding toast. "Go find a secure spot for these," she directed me.

I took the two goblets and put them inside a cupboard with doors. The cupboard was located within a bedroom that was to be cordoned off from the guests. I was careful to place the flutes in the back of the shelf, behind other items. I was also very careful about closing the cabinet doors, etc. since I knew these were important mementos.

About 10 minutes later, Josie and I were busy with another chore, when we heard shattering glass, coming from the bedroom where I had placed the crystal champagne flutes. We ran into the bedroom and both goblets were smashed in the center of the room! The cupboard doors were open. You could see the empty space on the back row, where I had placed the two goblets.

Needless to say, I was mortified, as I knew these were precious wedding mementos. I tried to explain my actions defensively, but Josie matter-of-factly brushed me off saying, "It's obvious where you placed the goblets, the ghost that I told you about broke them." And she was right: it WAS obvious, and there was no other explanation.

If I had not personally placed the goblets myself I would probably question the veracity of this story. However, I have never doubted the existence of ghosts following this incident.

The next day, we developed the party photos, and sure enough, the bright amorphous figure was in several shots.

I have subsequently lost touch with Josie, so I can't provide you any of the photos, unfortunately.