Halloween always reminds collectors of the stories they’ve heard about haunted antiques–stored clocks that suddenly start ticking, spots on a rug that keep coming back after you wash them, footsteps in the attic…. Here are two stories we heard this month:
A Haunted Victorian Print
Dorothy, a reader, told us this one: “I sure hope you can tell me something about this picture. I brought it home and that night I saw a little girl standing at the head of the bed right by my husband’s head. I covered the picture and haven’t seen her since. What are your thoughts? What is the picture worth?” Our answer to Dorothy: Your picture appears to be a Victorian print worth about $50 as a decorative piece. We do know that a print advertised as “haunted” was sold on eBay a few years ago and that bids were high–apparently just because the picture was described as haunted. There are collectors who specialize in antiques connected with the paranormal.
A “Living” Automaton Clown
John, a good friend, told us this story last week as he added his clown to the Halloween display at the Cleveland Euclid Beach Carousel exhibit. John’s clown, once used at an amusement park, is a larger-than-life automaton. The clown can laugh, wiggle, shake his head, and wave his arms. When John first bought the clown, it went into his library and stayed there for a while. But sometimes he would find it facing the wall instead of the room. Every member of John’s family swore they had not touched the figure. The clown continued moving mysteriously until John finally removed it from the room. So far the clown has behaved as a Halloween decoration, but we’re all watching it to see if it turns around.
We moved into a 1923 builders dutch colonial in Baltimore, MD in 1997. Right after we got everything unpacked and sorted away I noticed footsteps and strange noises in the kitchen and many times I would smell an old time perfume in the breakfast nook. I don’t really believe in this kind of stuff but I swear I could somehow “feel” the presence of an older woman! One day we were cleaning out the detached garage when an old duffel-bag fell out of the roof joists. In it was a collection of World War II letters, pictures, and other memorabilia. I did some investigating and was eventually able to track down the daughter of the couple who wrote the letters. She said that her family had been looking for the bag for years and was over-joyed to have it as her parents had passed away years ago – in my new home! After I returned the items to the family I never again had any encounters with “Ms. McEntee”!!!
We lived in a 130 year old Victorian in a small Indiana town for ten years. We would hear footsteps in the hall in the evening as we sat in the living room, doors would open by themselves, and apparitions were seen more than once. Finally, an elderly neighbor told us the old woman who had owned the house for over 75 years had died in the master bedroom and, sadly, not been found for 3 days afterward. From then on, all we had to do was greet this woman by name and the footsteps would stop and the doors would stop in mid-swing. We got used to her, and never felt it was a bother.
We hear my Mother walking across the kitchen floor quite often. My niece was in the laundry room underneath the kitchen and heard the steps. She had locked the door so knew no one could get in. She wouldn’t go back in the house and sat in her truck until my brother got home.