There is something about an abandoned, 'haunted' house, that just beckons.
The most notorious haunted house in York Region, where I used to live, sits broodingly at Warden Ave. and Ravenshoe Road in Keswick, and on a crisp, sunny, autumn afternoon, I finally had the perfect opportunity to go and explore it, with 4 willing and eager friends.
With 5 of us in the group (I was counting on the fact that there's safety in numbers) and in bright daylight, the house isn't quite as spooky as the previous times I'd seen it - in the rain, in the dusk, and late at night, but as we spilled out of our cars, there was definitely a 'you go first' challenge among us.
There is something about an abandoned, 'haunted' house, that just beckons.
The most notorious haunted house in York Region, where I used to live, sits broodingly at Warden Ave. and Ravenshoe Road in Keswick, and on a crisp, sunny, autumn afternoon, I finally had the perfect opportunity to go and explore it, with 4 willing and eager friends.
With 5 of us in the group (I was counting on the fact that there's safety in numbers) and in bright daylight, the house isn't quite as spooky as the previous times I'd seen it - in the rain, in the dusk, and late at night, but as we spilled out of our cars, there was definitely a 'you go first' challenge among us.
For a few minutes I hung back, taking long distance photos, not really wanting to follow my friends who had already pushed their way through the overgrown bush and weeds to the entrance. Curiosity got the better of me though and I, too, gathered up my courage to venture inside, only to be greeted by a sad shambles of a once lovely house.
The first strange thing I noticed is the number 69, with a circle around it, prominent amongst the graffiti on the walls and door frames. The number 69 has always been an important number to me personally, 9 being my birth number, and 6 also resonating well in my life. My curiosity grew.
While the rest of the gang was trooping upstairs and down, not too concerned about the see-through floor planks and falling down walls, I stood in the entry way and tried to absorb the atmosphere, and visualize what sort of energies were hanging around. My first impression was of a crusty old man, the family's grandfather or great-uncle. Then I saw the cats' spirits, presenting themselves in my mind's eye - in huge. much larger than life images. One was white - still guarding the house, the other was black and white. My girlfriend in the meantime kept hearing cats meowing, and saw a little brown haired girl in an old-fashioned blue dress. The impressions were kind of tying together with another, earlier psychic impression from a ghost researcher, that a family had lived there: a mother, her small children, and perhaps an older male relative.
It wasn't long before I started to get the creeps, standing around, so I went back outside while my friends finished checking out the place. There was no sign anywhere of cats or kittens, yet the meows continued. Everyone heard them and the guys examined every nook and cranny they could find, including the basement, but no furry critters were to be found.
We are all standing outside once again when I commented on the cats I had visualized. My girlfriend got goosebumps up and down her arms as she listened, and told me of two large handlettered signs of indeterminate age they had seen in the house, one painted on the walls and one on a large piece of plywood lying on the floor. The sign read "Where are the cats?"
About a year later, I brought up the subject of ghosts to our landlord, who was a life-long resident of the town. Expecting to be poo-pooed about the whole subject, I was surprised when he launched into his own stories, and then even more surprised when he asked me if I knew this haunted house. He told me of a time when he was still in his teens, and as a lark, he and a friend were going to meet there one dark night. When they arrived at the house, they were shocked and scared to see that there were people inside, in the main living room area, performing what looked like rituals and dark acts. It was when they saw some cats being apparently sacrificed that they fled - and never returned.
My heart absolutely breaks to hear such sad tales, but based on what we'd seen and heard ourselves - some twenty plus years later - I have no doubt of just who is haunting that place.
© Zsuzsana Summer, ArcanaMatrix. All rights reserved. www.zsuzsana.com
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