by Jim Harold
I am no stranger to the paranormal. My mother's farmhouse, a few miles away from my grandparents', is nearly 200 years old, and we have had many paranormal experiences there—everything from levitating objects to disappearing/reappearing objects, cold spots, footsteps, music that has no source, and full-body apparitions. All of these and more became routine growing up on the farm. The paranormal doesn't shake me, but it does make me more interested to find out the truth.
About eight years ago, I had an experience I'll never forget. I was 22 years old, a military wife, and a new mother. My husband was deployed overseas, so my 11-month-old daughter and I were living with my grandparents. Both of my grandparents were in failing health. The house was only about 50 years old, having been built by my grandfather in the 1960s. My daughter and I shared a bedroom in the finished basement of the house.
One clear summer night, I was lying in bed, not yet asleep. My daughter was in her crib a few feet from my bed. The top three feet or so of the basement where we were staying was above ground, with windows high up on the walls allowing the moonlight to shine in the room. The windows were open; it was a warm night that is typical for early summer in the Pennsylvania countryside.
Suddenly, I became aware of a very uncomfortable feeling. I couldn't quite establish what this feeling was, just that I was feeling very, very uneasy. I glanced down toward the bottom of the bed and saw what I thought was my daughter toddling along the bottom of the bed. I could only see the shadow of the top of her head and I remember thinking that she must have crawled out of her crib and was coming to get in bed with me. I smiled and laid my head back down, waiting for her to come to the side of the bed. I felt her grab the bedspread to pull herself up on top of the bed, and I thought I would give her a little help. When I tried to reach over to the side of the bed, though, I found I was unable to move. My first reaction was that this was very strange. The seconds passed, and I still couldn't move. I could feel her tugging on the bedcovers, climbing up the side, and I became alarmed, thinking I was having a stroke or seizure...any explanation for my sudden paralysis. Just then, the little figure made it up on top of the bed and crawled over to me, and I fought a panic I've never felt before. It was not my daughter. It was not human at all. I don't know what exactly it was, but it was roughly two feet tall, greenish-brown, and resembled what I can only describe as "Yoda." I was in a full-blown panic; I could feel my heart pounding and my chest heaving and I was shaking like a leaf. This thing crawled up onto my chest and sat down, cross-legged, and just studied my face. I still couldn't move, and couldn't make a sound. I remember feeling my heart beating harder and harder. My breath was coming faster and faster, and I began to think that, if this continued, I was going to go into cardiac arrest. I have no idea how long it sat on me, just looking at me with a quizzical expression—30 seconds, maybe a few minutes—but it felt like an eternity.
Just when I thought that my heart was going to hammer right out of my chest, the little figure got a sudden look of complete surprise on his face. It never sad a word, but I distinctly felt it send a wave of emotion over me. It was as if it was telepathically apologizing for frightening me to such a degree, because it didn't mean to scare me. With that, it hopped up, jumped off the bed, and scampered out the door of the bedroom. Instantly I could move, and I flew out of bed. I grabbed my still-sleeping daughter out of her crib and ran with everything I had out through the apartment and up the stairs to the main house, flipping on every light I passed.
I spent the night in the recliner upstairs that night with the lights on, my daughter curled happily in my arms. For the next six months, I slept with all the lights blazing in the apartment at night. Then I figured if I gave it a silly, non-threatening name, I could make it a little less scary. So each night before bed, I would stop at my bedroom door, look around the apartment, and say, "No visits tonight, Herman." It helped...a little.
I still don't know what it was. It's never returned, and for that, I'm glad. I have never experienced anything like it before or since. I have been through some pretty distressing situations in my life, but I've never been so afraid of anything.
-Janese, Pennsylvania
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Thanks for reading True Ghost Stories: Jim Harold's Campfire. I appreciate it! I hope to meet you again soon in the pages of my next book. Stay tuned.
Until then, we can stay in touch. Please take a listen to the podcast that inspired this book, Jim Harold's Campfire. At my website, jimharold.com, you can sign up to share your own stories on the show. If you are into the paranormal, please check out The Paranormal Podcast and my video podcast, The Paranormal Report. You can find them all at jimharold.com and on iTunes. (For you non-techies, a podcast is really just an Internet radio show—you can listen right at my Website; its easy.) Enjoy! You can also e-mail me at [email protected]
I'd like to close with a little bit of wisdom gained from my fabulous audience: It is good to share your stories with someone—anyone. Whether it is with your families, with your friends, or on a radio show, please share. Our stories are our immortality, and we live on when we pass them along to the next generation.
Until we meet again, may all your stories have happy endings.
God Bless,
Jim Harold
April 25, 2011
DEDICATION
To Dar, Cass, & Nat:
You are the lights of my life. I love you all so much!
To Mom, Dad, & John: No you = no Jim Harold. Love always.
To Al: Thanks for everything.
To Rich: Thanks for being my best friend.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To Annie Wilder & Jeff Belanger, without whom you would not be reading this book.
Thanks Annie & Jeff!
To Maddy,
Thanks for all of your help!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jim Harold has worked in radio, video, and business-to-business media. He holds a Master's degree in Applied Communication Theory and Methodology and has taught upper-level media business studies at a state university.
In 2005, Jim Harold created The Paranormal Podcast, a podcast dedicated to all things supernatural. After more than a decade of working on the business side of media, Jim decided it was time to dust off his broadcasting skills and step back behind the mic. A lifelong interest in the paranormal, combined with his love of broadcasting and technology, resulted in the most successful podcast of its type to date. To his surprise and delight, Jim has become America's most popular paranormal podcaster.
He added a new podcast, Jim Harold's Campfire, in 2009, and a video podcast, The Paranormal Report in 2010. The Paranormal Podcast, Jim Harold's Campfire, and The Paranormal Report are each among the top podcasts in their categories on iTunes, often outranking programs from mainstream media publishers such as The New York Times, PBS, and NPR.
Jim lives in Ohio with his fantastic wife and two daughters. He is incredibly thankful for them and his loyal audience.
Jim won't dress up in alien costumes and doesn't plan on buying that $19.99 Super Official Ghost Detector off of late-night TV, but believes there is more to life than what meets the eye.
True Ghost Stories: Jim Harold's Campfire is his first book.