The ghost in the cellar

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Whether you believe or not, Halloween is the best time to spin a few yarns about ghosts, phantoms, and mysteries of the unknown. Here are a few of my favorite stories I have been told over the years:

The Black Mist in the Cellar- In New Jersey some years back, there is the story of a ghost who lived within the boundaries of a dark, musty cellar of an old home. As the story goes, a thick black mist would rise up through the very bottom stair when a resident would attempt to go down. Each resident had been warned of the presence and naturally responded with fear, and would soon after move.

On one such occasion, a rather unpleasant and bullying man purchased the home and claimed that he was not afraid of the stories or the black mist that had been reported. The first night he stayed at the home he had a run-in with the eerie presence.

He entered the stairs and began to descend down towards it. The thick black mist, poured through the cracks in the stairway. The man began to swear and threaten the black presence as he pushed forward through the darkening shadows that were beginning to engulf him.

He awoke in the morning. He was lying on the top step of the cellar, battered and bruised. He immediately moved out and the home was left empty again for years.

Until…

An older woman soon discovered the home while searching for an affordable place to purchase. She had very little money to spend, so the Realtor, seeing the opportunity, gave her a price that she could not turn down. Despite the gruesome tales she had heard, she accepted and moved in within the next couple days.

The days went by and the woman became accustomed to the home and actually quite fond of it. She had not seen any ghosts and began to wonder about the validity of the tales she had heard. But her disbelief was soon answered…

One evening as she traveled down into the basement to put a few items she had in storage, the black mist rose through the floor of the bottom step. She could make out two eyes, buried within the figure, and became frozen with shock. But despite her inner fear, she did not run, scream, or curse as all the others had done. Instead, she gained her composure and calmly asked if there was anything that she could do for it, as they would be living together and she wanted to make it as nice as possible for the two of them.

Immediately, the mist retreated from the lowest step and beckoned her to come closer. Very hesitantly, the woman followed the figure as it slowly brought her to a dark corner of the room where an old chest was sitting. The mist was still now. The woman carefully opened the chest to find absolutely nothing inside. The hand appeared through the mist and motioned her to look under the chest.

The chest was actually not heavy at all and moved rather easily. As she slid the chest over the old cobble stone floor, one of the stones loosely shifted. She tipped over the stone to find a leather pouch filled with gold coins. She respectfully set the pouch down and asked if it was for her. The mist was gone, but she felt the warm caress of a hand brush her cheek, welcoming her to its home…