Last night and tonight, I spent the better part of my afternoon and evening aboard the battleship working corporate events. Word has it that this particular battleship is quite haunted. It was torpedoed during combat in WWII, and a number of soldiers were killed. The night watchmen and visitors to the ship have reported unexplainable noises, clanging, footsteps, and, most frightening of all, a soldier with a white flaming head. We were chatting about such things as we ate barbecue and fried chicken - the reported ghosts and the TV show that came and captured some pretty freakish evidence in support of the claims.
Luckily, we're on the decks for the most part so I don't have to go into the ship that much. If you've never been on board a ship like this, the interior is a labyrinth of tight corridors and narrow passageways. And it has a very distinctive smell of metal and teak. Inside the ship, sound is abnormally muffled and echoed. It's rather oppressive - and definitely a claustrophobic's worst nightmare.
We were storing boxes and empty coolers in a room down a corridor just off the deck. I went to get boxes to pack the leftover wine in as the event wound down, well past sundown. The ship isn't very well lit at night, and the entrance was behind a turret where it was rather dark. As I entered, I couldn't help feel a little uneasy at being alone inside the eerie corridor. In the storage room, I selected my box and stood up to carry it out. Little did I know there was mirror on the other wall. The movement of my own reflection nearly stopped my heart. I chuckled at my own silliness and moved toward the door.
Just as I reached the doorway, another door opened to my right, with that heaving metal sound characterized in old war movies. I almost screamed - but fear had me so breathless, I'm not sure I could have. Without a seconds' pause, I started to run down the hall toward the deck. And then a glance over my shoulder revealed one of the band members. Apparently, there's a bathroom in there. I felt utterly ridiculous.
"Did you think I was a ghost?" he asked.
"Yes," I said sheepishly. "And not only that, I thought you had me." What a complete moron I am - 27 and running away from a "ghost" at a corporate event. Very professional.
A little while later, I was headed back to the storage room and the same guy came out as I was going in. Very quietly, he said, "Boo."
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Spooked
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 cat calls:
I've been on that ship, and it totally creeps me out. I probably would have done the same thing!
that's why you always go anywhere in pairs. that 'band member' probably wasn't even real- and if you'd check the shipmanifest you'll find he was probably playing on board the ship 40 years ago... but not that night.
i sort of regret that Pen and I didn't go on- but it seemed so much money at the time.
All I know is that after working at Oak Hill I will never say I don't believe in ghosts. That place has tons of "ghostly potential". I never saw anything, but I never wanted to be there alone. Ash, Do you remember hearing the silverware clinking? Not to mention the creepy attic and servant staircase.
Jenny Ray, I will never forget hearing that silverware clink. It was so quiet in the house and such an unmistakable sound. The fact that we both heard at the same time and almost talked over one another to say it was enough to make me believe. Remember how we just sat there on the staircase landing for a few minutes waiting?
This is a great post. I've been on an aircraft carrier once (overnight) with my brother's boy scout troup. I had a moment where I was standing waiting on someone in the bathroom and realized, what I thought was a mirror, was actually another doorway at the back of the room. I went to explore the dark room and it was like a little card/game room, because there was a bench along the wall with a table and the center tiles had a heart, club, spade and diamond. At the back of that room was one of the little round portals and I climbed through it and was in this little storage place that was actually right on the edge of the ship! I climbed up the stairs to the top deck of the ship. It was a wild adventure. But I can totally understand the haunted feeling. I have other stories about that, but I've been wordy enough for one comment.
Post a Comment