A Ghost Sat on Me

Well, that’s it for me.  Call a priest.  I’m burning this place to the ground.

My Creepy Building at Night

While I was awake watching YouTube in bed with one earbud in one ear and my love snoring softly in the other, I was startled.  No startled is an understatement- I nearly shit my Hanes was frightened.

We live in the oldest incorporated city in Canada, Saint John.  It’s a port city that frequently hosts Cruise ships from all over the world.  We live Uptown in a 139 year old building.  It was originally a single dwelling, no doubt for a wealthy individual or family.  Built in 1878, the year immediately following The Great Fire of Saint John, it’s constructed of fire resistant brick as is most of the original buildings here in Uptown Saint John.

Historic Uptown Saint John

I’ve spoken of the Rape Basement and how eerie it is down there.  The reason I find it so scary is the fact that I’ve seen an apparition of an old woman down there as well as felt a male presence standing behind me.  The old woman is clearly ill.  Dark circles beneath her eyes and shoulder length wiry yet thinning gray hair.  I’ve seen her in an old white nightgown with worn blue slippers.  Often when I go down to do the laundry, I ask “C” to accompany me down, even if she just stands there and monitors me, it helps.  Sometimes I cannot get out of that basement fast enough.

In addition to that, we’ve heard faint, what sounds to be Ukrainian.  How do I know it’s Ukrainian?  Because a) I am obsessed with all things Chernobyl and want to visit it before it’s completely destroyed.  I have watched entire documentaries spoken in Ukrainian.  b) I can pick out the dialect from complete strangers because c) I have been secretly trying to teach myself the language via the Duolingo app.  I even think think that perhaps this is why she has showed herself to me.  That and illness.  We have that in common.

I have done some research on Ukrainian immigrants.  It appears there was an influx of immigrants that arrived in Canada first 1891 and then again after World War II.  They were logged through the ports.  Even though many settled in areas like Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, some stayed here although I cannot find corroborating records as the Canadian government didn’t keep records before 1947 as Canadian citizenship wasn’t separate from British so Canadians were free to move throughout the British Empire.  In an earlier search I did find evidence that there was a nearby building complex that housed immigrant women in the early 1900s but again, I can’t find the original article.  It is very likely that this woman is/was Ukrainian.

One morning, “C” woke up to her extra pillow standing straight up over her.  It wasn’t until she completely opened her eyes, the pillow fell back down.

This is not my first rodeo when it comes to Hauntings.  I have had many experiences in the past seeing apparitions, hearing faint voices and collecting EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) recordings.  I used to live near the waterfront in Downtown Halifax, Nova Scotia.  There is a lot of energy there.  It’s believed to be residual, leftover from the Halifax Explosion in 1917 which claimed close to 2000 lives that early December morning when the Mont Blanc, a French cargo ship packed with explosives collided in the harbour with a Norwegian vessel called the SS IMO.  Nearly all the structures within 3000 (approx) feet of the explosion were destroyed.  It was one of the biggest Maritime disasters ever.

Which brings me to this morning.  It was around 2 am.  There’s a sudden bump at the end of the bed.  Much like we do when our bed pulls out from the wall, using our knees, we bump it back.  That’s what it felt like.  We’re both lying still and I can see my little dog in her bed to my left.  That’s when I feel someone take a seat at the edge of the bed between my partner and I.  NOPE!

I waited, I didn’t want to wake “C” up knowing her alarm was going off in 90 minutes so I laid there, close to her, frozen.  I recite the Lord’s Prayer to myself and ask Jesus for help.  I tell whatever it is, “I’m not interested, I’m sorry.  I don’t want to see you.” 

I laid there for 30 minutes.  I hear the bubbling of the coffee maker I set before bed.  It must be 4 am now.  Fifteen more minutes and she’ll be awake and I won’t have to shoulder this burden alone.  I debated on not telling her, to avoid frightening her.  After some thought, I decided to tell her because if the situation was reversed, I’d want to know.  So at 4:15 her alarm went off, she stretched and I blurted it out.  “A ghost sat on me!”

It’s now 7 am, I have all the lights in the apartment on, and I’m on my second cup of tea while I write this.  I can sleep when I’m dead..  or at least once the sun rises.

For your viewing pleasure, I have included photos of our historic apartment.

139 yr old original wood staircase

 

Creepy old door that never shuts

 

Original fireplace, shelves, hardwood, mini dachshund

 

Have you had any paranormal experiences?  How did you handle it?

 

Live Humbly, Be Charitable, Live Graciously,

Sam