Do you believe in ghosts?

For the longest time I didn't believe in ghosts...that spirits stayed around after someone died. I often felt that ghosts were just something that people wanted to believe in, not something that actually existed. I thought those reality tv shows where people have to stay in haunted areas were just well...silly.

But, I will say...if you asked me, I would say that I do believe the spirits of people can hang around. I don't know if that's really about the spirits or about the living who are still here, etc. If you asked me a year or two ago, I would say that I have never seen or heard or felt a ghost, but then I took a bunch of kids to the old county jail to do a community service project.

We got there around 9am...and the kids just thought the jail was too cool. The guy working there (it's now been restored and used for community space)...took us on a tour of the old jail and showed us all around. It was dark, damp and definitely did not feel like a good place to be. The kids thought it was awesome and kept telling each other that they were going to lock each other in. It was all fun and games until we actually got to working on our assigned project. The jail cells were used for storage...so tarps were in one cell and christmas decorations were in another (I just find that hilarious that garland and a christmas tree are in a jail cell). So, when we needed something...a kid or two would run back into the jail and grab whatever was needed. The kids all wanted to be the ones to go and would fight over it..at first. The first two kids went...and I could hear them yelling and playing in the jail. And then it got quiet. One kid came running back. He said that he pretended to lock one kid in and when he did that...there was a loud noise and then he had a hard time opening the door of the cell. They yanked on the cell and when it opened...the other kid ran outside. I went outside and convinced him to come back, but for the rest of the day he had no interest in the jail. Later in the afternoon, I went to the jail to get some things. There was this bizarre wind in some of the hallways and the whole place just had a presence to it. I know horrible things happened in that jail. Inmates killed other inmates. Inmates committed suicide, etc. You could just feel that dark and danger that was in that room.

Why am I talking all about ghosts and creepy ghosts at that?? Well, I once believed there were no such things as ghosts and being in that jail made me at least open my mind up to the possibilites that there might be paranormal presences out there. Well there is a new movie out based on a Stephen King story called 1408. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Stephen King. My dad grew up in Maine and almost took a creative writing class from him in college. (he signed up, but ended up dropping the course...I bet he regrets that now!). I think his books are fabulous and the movies based on his books are pretty good too. I will be afraid of clowns forever mainly because I saw IT at an early age (and also because clowns are uber creepy). He writes with such intensity and wit...you can't help being drawn into his storylines.

Enough with the Stephen King lovefest and back to 1408. The 1408 Movie stars John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson. The basic storyline is that horror novelist Mike Enslin (Cusack) is convinced to prove that paranormal phenomena does not exist, so he checks into infamous room 1408 at a NYC hotel. There is folklore that it is haunted and that any guest who stays there doesn't survive the hour. Enslin wants to prove that 1408 being haunted is just a myth, but when he checks in...strange things start happening.



Does he make it out of the hotel? Does he survive the night and prove that the ghosts are a myth? Does he survive the night and confirm that the ghosts are most definitely real? Or do the ghosts take him within an hour just like every other guest of room 1408? Well, the movie comes out on June 22nd, so to find out...you are going to have to buy a ticket like everyone else. I am excited to see this movie because like any other Stephen King movie, it is sure to not disappoint.