Not So Haunted Houses
Alissa Grosso
One of my first jobs was working at a historical village that happened to be down the road from my house. The village known as Waterloo Village, was a restored 19th century canal town, and at that time visitors could tour some restored homes and buildings that sat along what was once the Morris Canal. I worked at Waterloo for a number of years and during that time wore many metaphorical hats. I was a tavern wench, a costumed tour guide, a banquet waitress, a development assistant, a school tour coordinator, a ticket taker and the Queen of Merch (aka the person who sold the concert t-shirts.)
If you’re wondering why on earth an historic village would need someone to sell concert t-shirts, well that in a nutshell was Waterloo which like yours truly wore many metaphorical hats. In addition to being an historic village that gave local tourists and students on field trips a glimpse into history it was also a wedding venue with a full service banquet facility and a concert spot with two separate outdoor performance spaces. The smaller one hosted slightly past their prime musical acts—think Pat Benatar or Lynyrd Skynyrd in the 1990s. While the larger “concert field” played host to bigger events—Lollapalooza, Bob Dylan or Blink 182 also in the 1990s.
Anyway this somewhat confusing blend of personalities was probably one of the reasons that the village and the non-profit organization that ran it, fell on hard times. The village is still there, and is now part of the New Jersey state park system. If you live anywhere near Byram Township, NJ I encourage you to pay a visit to Waterloo because it is a cool place. If you go on a weekend during the season they do offer some tours or you can stop by during the week or during the off-season and just take your own stroll around the grounds. The concerts, like canal barges, are a thing of the past.
I worked at Waterloo for several years, and during that time spent a decent amount of time in the different historic buildings, so what I have to say might disappointment those of you who are ghost-hunting enthustiasts, but not once did I ever see a ghost or experience any sort of paranormal phenomenon. Perhaps it just wasn’t a very haunted space. There were others who claimed to have had ghostly encounters there. A woman who regularly gave tours in the village inn claimed to have had her share of spooky experiences. The one that sticks out in my mind was the time she told me that a ghost threw a bowl of cold oatmeal (or something of a similar texture) at her. She said she could feel it sliding down the back of her neck. I occasionally gave tours in the inn, but never got hit with a bowl of oatmeal or had anything else untoward happen. Another tour guide who occcasionaly worked in that same building said that more than once tourists asked her about going upstairs in the building, and when she explained that it was closed they then asked about the person they had seen in the upstairs window, which was when she had to explain to them that there was no one else in the building. Queue the Twilight Zone music.
One October we had a psychic come who gave ghost tours of the village, and as a special treat she gave an after hours ghost tour for the staff. A weird quirk of this psychic/ghost tour lady was that how she recognized she was in the presence of a spirit was that her abdomen would expand and get hard. She had us all place hands on her belly as proof. Years later my sister would think about the ghost tour lady when she was diagnosed with gluten sensitivity. She compared the strange way her stomach acts when she accidentally consumes gluten to that of the ghost tour lady, and theorized that the woman might have been haunted by wheat products and not beings from the beyond.
I suppose when it comes to ghostly encounters, I’m something of a skeptic. This is not to minimize the stories of any of you who have had paranormal experiences, but after working for a years in a supposedly haunted spot and never seeing anything ghostly I have my doubts about the existence of ghosts. This, by the way, is not a complaint. I’m actually pleased to have never seen a ghost.
When it comes to spooky things, I’m something of a scaredy cat. I don’t watch horror movies, and as Ron can attest when watching movies or shows that are even just midly scary I tend to close my eyes because I’m too afraid of something possibly frightening happening on screen. (Of course Ron would also let you know that just about every night I tend to close my eyes even when we are watching a not-at-all-scary comedy, but that’s because I have a tendency to fall asleep when we are watching shows, mainly because I’m not especially good at staying up past midnight.)
So perhaps my lack of ghostly encounters proves not that ghosts don’t exist, but that they are just being extra considerate to those of us who really do not want to see them. If that’s the case, then, ghosts, you can go on leaving me alone, and thank you for your consideration!
— Alissa
Weekly Inspiration
What I’m Reading: You Only Call When You’re in Trouble by Stephen McCauley
What I’m Watching: Wildflower
What I’m Listening to: “One Headlight” by The Wallflowers
Find out more about my books at alissagrosso.com
Find out more about my digital art at alissacarin.com
My apologies for the typos and such this post is almost certainly riddled with.
I have to say that no matter how this photo turned out, black and white vs color , sunny vs cloudy. It’s definitely haunted no matter what. The whole architecture alone makes it haunted. That style houses have to be haunted. They can’t exist for these past centuries and not be haunted. I just assume they all are.
I've seen an ashtray jump off a table and fly across the room to break up a fight at a barroom pool table. Nobody was within 6 feet of it at the time. Years later, in Mount Vernon, Maine (known for witches and seriously spooky stuff), I saw Death driving a state police car while a nun rode in the back. Never did figure that one out.