yes, at a bed and breakfast in St. Augustine Florida. We were heading up the stairs after a long bike ride and my husband turned back around to head back down the stairs to return the bike key to the inn keeper. He saw a woman in a white dress head into the parlor(with one way in and one way out). When he went in there there was no one there. We then went on a ghost tour a few nights later and when we explained what happened the guide told us we had seen the ghost who had died there on her wedding day. We went back and told the innkeeper and she said we were the only guests that had ever seen her. Even they had never met her.

We lived in an old house growing up (built in the 1890's & for the city of Chicago - that's old).
During the height of the Vietnam war, my brother joined the marines. Both my parents freaked out,especially my mother, knowing that the "jar heads" were always the first to go into action.
Anyway, about a week before he started boot camp, I was awakened by a woman sobbing. (And I mean LOUD sobbing.) I was a teenager then & sleeping was my hobby - nothing could wake me up. I waited about 15 minutes and crept downstairs, as I knew my father was still awake and asked him if he heard mom crying. He asked if I was dreaming, because my mother was out at a meeting that night & hadn't arrived home. I did not want to go back to bed after that.

My sister heard the same woman crying a couple of years later.

A friend of mine never wanted to go upstairs in our house because she said it gave her the creeps (and this was before the crying story).

Many of the sharecroppers on the South Carolina farm where my mother grew up thought the house was haunted. It had been built in the 1770s. Mom tells the story of one Halloween. Her father was standing at the foot of the front porch steps during the Depression, talking to one of the black sharecroppers. To celebrate the holiday, my grandmother made a "Tall Betsy". (This is a pillow on a broomstick wrapped with a sheet. It can get to about 10' tall.) As Mom and her brothers and sisters were laughing around my grandmother (up under the Tall Betsy), they came out the front door. My grandmother raised it to about 8' or 10' tall. Mom says that man looked up, saw what he thought was a ghost, cleared a 6' fence right behind him, and ran down the road, hollaring like the "ghost" was at his heels! My grandfather got them to stop laughing long enough to quiet down and hear him hit the front steps to his house 1/4 mile down the road and slam the front door!

Years later, the house burned to the ground. We think it was set to get rid of the "ghosts."

A few years ago my wife and I stayed at the Excelsior Hotel in Jefferson, Texas. I had read a few stories about the place and I specifically asked for the Jay Guold room which is supposed to be the most haunted. In the room there was a journal left by previous guests, which I began reading. Just the night before a couple of ladies had stayed in the room and said that during the night the rocker at the foot of their bed began rocking by itself. Well, the next thing I did was turn the rocker on its side because I certainly wanted no part of that! The following events happened during the evening: The water in the bathtub turned off by itself after my wife had turned it on and was waiting for it to warm; My shaving bag fell off the shelf with a loud bang while we were both in the other room; During the night we were awakened by the smell of very strong cigarette or cigar smoke all around the room. The next morning, after returning to the room from breakfast, the room was filled with a nauseating foul odor. Needless to say, we grabbed our things quickly and got the heck out of there.

I've tried to talk my wife into going back and giving it another try, but she won't even consider it, and she's probably the most down-to-earth, practical person I know.

Check it out,it's really a lot of fun.

How interesting to hear of the ghost at Disney World... I wonder if they saw the specter before or after the part in the ride where you pass all the dancing phantoms in the ballroom.

Seriously though, there's a ghost I'd love to find more information about: the Champaign Lady of Biltmore Estate (or possibly the Champagne Lady -- whichever spelling means "fizzy celebratory booze") -- a phantom rarely discussed by the Biltmore House staff, but always a fun topic to bring up to former employees. It's said that this "Champaign Lady" is a maid who appears to startled visitors and offers them a glass of champaign from a tray before vanishing.

Also said to haunt Biltmore House are a lady in black seen on the second floor, and the ghost of someone who drowned in the swimming pool.

I once applied for work at the Inn on Biltmore Estate just before it opened, and was told by the interviewer that nearly everyone who works in the House has seen a ghost at one time or another, and also that everyone has a different story to tell. Could this mean there are more than a few specters haunting these elegant halls?

Austin: naw....just means too much CHAMPAGNE drinking going on. (The University of Illinois is in Champaign, IL, which means flat, open country - they ain't lying!)

Just returned from western NC, leaves not much to see but our family went to the best "haunted house" we have ever experienced! Actually was an old school and the fire department in Otto, NC. put it on. For sheer terror and getting scared it was fantastic. I couldn't believe it! A small town in NC(and I mean small) and the outfits, lighting, people (ghosts!), and layout was better than a Hollywood studio. My hats off to these guys, a true Halloween scare!

Does anyone remember the post similar to this one where someone was telling a ghost story about an old house in Maine? He did it in installments and we kept posting for him to continue... Was his name "Harry?" And then someone posted that he supposedly died! Where DID that post go? And why did it disappear? That was kind of spooky in itself!

Have I seen a ghost? Not a ghost of a chance. 8-)

Mom and I are going to tour the Biltmore this fall, will definitely ask about the Lady in Black and the Champagne Lady. OOOuuuu, just one more reason to go.!!!!

Hi, Arkansasnurse. I've been doing some more online research since I originally posted this topic last year and I found a few more ghosts supposedly afoot at Biltmore.

By talking to former employees I've learned that in addition to the Lady in Black and the Champagne Lady, the Oak Sitting Room and Library are supposed to be haunted by spirits who can occasionally be heard holding muffled conversations late at night. There's a spectral maid who stands guard by a door on the third floor that you'll only pass by if you're taking a "Behind the Scenes" tour. The ghost in the swimming pool in the basement doesn't just lurk... when the pool is empty, maniacal laughter can sometimes be heard issuing from the pool drain (very Stephen King's "It" if you ask me). And almost certainly not last, and definitely not least, is my favorite Biltmore ghost -- a headless orange cat sometimes seen by the Bass Pond in the gardens.

Now, these aren't the only ghosts at Biltmore Estate... not by a long shot, and meanwhile, Asheville is one of the most haunted cities in the country. It's a delight to live around here around Halloween, definitely.

Anybody know the ghost stories behind the Wentworth-by-the-Sea in NH?
I remember Arnie's ghost story about Ackneus-something in Maine! I wonder why it was deleted.

I grew up in a big house on the James River in Richmond, VA;the lady who lived there passed away & many things happened to us...but that's another story. Biz trip to Marblehead, MA, right next door to Salem, MA during Halloween week.I took a nap in my lovely B&B, woke up at dusk. I saw a dark shadow outside my door & heard the door lock. You have to have a key to lock it outside, which I had, & there was a deadbolt inside.I left it open while I slept so my friend/coworker could come up. I asked the girl showing us around town what is that sealed up window outside my door for? She said that was the viewing room for the dead-they would put the dead on a cold slab & slide them out of that sealed window so people could pay their respects.

I'm convinced that believing or not believing in ghosts is a result of having seen one or not having seen one. Personally I have seen two and my husband (who says I am the most ethical person he has ever met) admits that he still has trouble believing it.

The first time was in the mid 1970s as a student at University of Virginia. I was housesitting with a friend at an old farmhouse just north of Charlottesville while the owners were away for the weekend. My friend was asleep and I was in an upstairs bedroom reading a book at night, when an elderly woman walked through the closed door, walked over to where I was sitting, peered down at me, then turned and walked away through the door. She was dressed in a long, slightly tattered looking dress. Although I didn't believe in ghosts until that moment, I didn't feel threatened or scared. And, by the way, I had not been drinking alcohol or taking drugs. When the owners returned on Sunday, I told them about the lady and they weren't surprised - they said other people had seen her too.

The second time was about 2 years ago. I was at home in our living room about 10pm. reading with my dog sleeping at my feet. My husband and 3 children were upstairs in bed. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. The person sounded heavier than my oldest child (age 12) and lighter than my husband, so I was curious. My dog woke up at the noise and looked up at the stairs too. From our vantage point, we could not see the top 7 stairs, but heard the footsteps go down them, so we waited to see who would appear when the bottom 8 stairs were in view. A translucent white shape, actually the size of a young child came into view, at first stepping slowly, then sped up down the remaining steps and zipped around the corner into kids' playroom. Both my dog and I got up to follow it, but saw nothing. It was odd that the footsteps were heavier than they should have been for the size of the "ghost" and I can't explain that. A friend of mine did have a 16 year old daughter who died in a car accident about 3 weeks before this time, so I always wonder if it could have been her.

I do believe in ghosts now, but if I had never seen one, I don't think I would.

Great stories everyone!!!

I'm not sure if I believe in ghosts or not. I've never had anything happen to me, but as the saying goes, truth is stranger than fiction!

Never did I believe in ghosts either until I saw one in our own home. Before I met my husband lots of nights I would be awaken by the strong smell of cigarettes. I mentioned this to my Mother and she thought someone was out side my window smoking. After I got married, my husband woke me up one night by asking if I was smoking. I explained to him that I had been smelling cigarettes during the night for several years. From our bedroom you could see into our dining room and I saw a young boy about 12 pass by the dining room table. He was wearing dark pants but no shirt but he was transparent. I walked into the dining room and this boy was no where to be found. This boy I saw plus the smell of cigarettes has made me a believer. Also, this is a story I don't tell too often, because people tend not to believe in ghosts. I know, I didn't used to believe in them either.

Didn't believe in them myself until one time in San Fran at a hotel (shall remain nameless) when each time we got in the elevators, which had these burnished walls, we thought we could see two figures, but there were three of us, so not a reflection. We looked at them and they looked back at us. We didn't see our own reflections either, which really spooked us out. These figures seemed to be older females, maybe sisters, late 50s, early 60s, standing so close you'd swear they were joined. And jeering at the people who boarded the elevator. Could have been males, I suppose, but looked female in a vague way. We could all of us see them. It wasn't an illusion. They kept moving all their fingers like they were pounding on something, maybe something like a piano with keys, like they were trying to make meaningful music or sound, but were dumb,unable to speak or even to move. This kept up for the weekend we were there. I'd never seen two more hideous people in my life, up to that time, and they were a mess. We asked the desk managers to take a look, but they only smiled and said they'd heard reports and would have security look into it. The last day they weren't there, and we supposed they'd finally traveled on someplace. We haven't stayed at that hotel since.

Yep...ghost. Charleston hotel room. Tried to steal my daughter's necklace while she slept. We actually found the necklace in her bed with the clasp still firmly done. She followed my daughter around. Cold breezes, the chills, even kept opening the bathroom door on her. Scarey, yet exciting.

I'm a firm non-believer in ghosts per se, but I don't doubt that people can leave behind an energy or "presence" in a space. You feel it, for example, in the dark corners of the Queen Mary, or the parlor in the Whaley House in San Diego, or the mezzanine floor of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (I heard that it was Montgomery Clift's ghost). The Whaley House itself is government-certified haunted, and more sensitive people swear up and down that Something Not Quite Right roams its rooms. The ghost stories are fun, that's all I know.

SusiQ
I am so glad you shared your story. I, for the past year, from time to time smell cigarettes in my home. My husband nor I smoke. Now I know that I am not crazy!