From Fear to Fascination

I find it odd that I am so fascinated with ghosts. As a little girl I was terrified of them; even the word ghost would send me over the edge. I couldn't even watch the old Disney "A Christmas Carol"! Jacob Marley (aka Goofy) creeped me the crap out! I had nightmares over that stupid movie. The worst memory I have is when I was watching a David Copperfield magic show with my dad and Copperfield had a tower from an old Victorian mansion called the Berkley House on stage which was supposedly haunted. Well behind the curtain covering the cross-section of this tower there were bells ringing and papers were flying around. I was probably eight or nine at the time and my dad could see that I was getting scared so he calmed me down explaining it was just a trick and that there were stagehands behind the curtains ringing the bells and so on. What he didn't account for was that, without warning, Copperfield, tore the curtain away exposing an empty room complete with ringing bells, flying papers, and objects floating through the air of their own accord. Needless to say I slept in my parent's room that night. And the next night. And possibly the night after that. After that experience, and several years of growth and maturing, I started being brave and watching the occasional Ghost Hunters episode and regretting it when night would roll around and I'd have to try and sleep. Then I got into this scary movie phase and that led to more haunted documentaries, but I was still very skittish after any of these shows. I'm not 100 percent sure what the turning point was that changed my attitude about ghosts. The best I can figure is that it was the summer of 2008 when my mom and I went to Boise, ID for a concert and decided to go to the Old Idaho State Penitentiary, a location that will be the topic of many posts in the future. I just remember having strange feelings all throughout the tour and doing some research on it later only to discover that the Peniteniary is one of the most haunted buildings in America. I think actually being in s haunted location and, as cheesy as it sounds, living to tell the tale lit my fire. I wanted to know more about these men. How they lived, how they died, and why they would want to stay there after their passing. Looking back I believe that this was the beginning of the end for me, and the gateway to many an adventure.