Ryan Jacobson - Ghostly Tales of Michigan

Dedication

For Emilie, my go to girl for all things scary. And for Dana and Tonya, who tell such frightfully fun tales. (Oinkpew!)

A special thank you to everyone who willingly shared their ghost stories and who allowed me to put their tales into this collection. I appreciate your time and your patience. I would also like to thank the many people who gave me guidance and who pointed me in the right direction during the process of researching this book.

In some instances, names and locations have been changed at the request of sources.

Cover design by Jonathan Norberg

Edited by Brett Ortler

Copyright 2010 by Ryan Jacobson

Published by Adventure Publications, Inc.

820 Cleveland Street South

Cambridge, MN 55008

1-800-678-7006

www.adventurepublications.net

ISBN: 978-1-59193-259-8 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-59193-330-4 (ebook)

All rights reserved

Preface

This chilling collection was put together through countless hours of research, interviews and fact-checking. It includes many of Michigans most famous haunts, some of the states more obscure ghost stories and even a few terrifying tales that have never before been recorded.

The narratives were written using the information gathered, but some of the details were provided to me as checklists of unexplainable occurrences rather than Ghostly Tales . Therefore, while the information remains accurate, some of the scenarios (and characters) were reinterpreted for dramatic effect.

I can neither verify the validity of each claim nor the existence of supernatural beings, but I can assure you that the portrayals of the spirits in this book are as accurate as possible.

Enjoy!

Poltergeist

It happened again.

When Victor Lincoln discovered his homes (usually locked) front door hanging wide open, he knew hed find trouble inside. He stepped into the house, and his fears were confirmed: His familys Jackson, Michigan, house had been broken into and vandalized. Garbage, as well as food from the refrigerator, had been thrown about. Furniture was pushed around and flipped over. Light bulbs were smashed, and the water faucets in the kitchen and in the bathroom were running.

Standing behind Victor, his wife shook her head. Why are they doing this to us? Even those new double locks wont keep them out!

Ill go and call the police again, Victor said, sounding defeated. Not that itll do any good.

And so it went for two full years. The Lincolns endured break-in after break-in. Nothing could keep the intruders out of their home, and no one could guess who might be targeting themor why.

But then, in October of 1961, the family discovered a startling truth: The vandal wasnt a who. It was a what!

Victor, Mrs. Lincoln screamed. Victor, come quickly. Please hurry!

Responding to his wifes frantic cries, Victor raced into the kitchen. He arrived just in time to see a stack of dishes fly out of the cupboard and smash against the wall, one by one, shattering on impact.

The dishes did so, all on their own.

Footsteps in the Basement

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Twenty-two-year-old John Lincoln looked up from his book and toward his mother. Do you hear that? he asked.

Mrs. Lincoln, sitting on a living room chair across from her son, nodded. It sounds like someones coming up the basement stairs.

They turned to look at the door, waiting in dreadful anticipation as the footfalls grew louder. At the top step, the noise ceased for a moment. It was soon followed by a thunderous knock!

John and his mother jumped out of their seats. Victor, who had heard the commotion from the next room, rushed past his family members with his shotgun in hand. He grabbed the door and flung it open; no one was standing behind it.

Victor cautiously led his dog downstairs, but his search for an intruder came up empty. The dog, however, seemed to find something. The Lincolns pet began to whimper softly, and then it darted back up the steps.

Following that frightful encounter, the Lincolns decided it was time to move out.

First Blood

In the weeks that followed, things went from bad to worse. While the house sat for sale, the spirit became more terrifying. Moaning sounds were heard in the basement. Phantom footsteps patrolled the premises. Books were moved and piled in various locations. And, in one instance, Mrs. Lincoln was attacked.

She was completely alone, lying on the living room couch, enjoying a rare moment of peace and quiet. This is the life, she thought.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Mrs. Lincoln noticed a blur of motion. She spied an object flying toward her. Before she could even flinch, a paring knife grazed her leg. As blood slowly formed atop her fresh scrape, the frightened woman mentally notedwith certaintythat the knife had been safely stowed in a kitchen drawer.

Not long thereafter, the holidays arrived. However, the ghost did not welcome the festivities. Two days after the Christmas tree was up and decorated in their living room, the Lincolns watched in horror as lights, ornaments and tinsel were thrown across the room by an invisible force.

Thats it! exclaimed Mrs. Lincoln. Were taking this tree down!

More Witnesses

Word began to spread about the strange happenings within the haunted home, and the Lincolns found themselves with several visitorseach wanting to experience the poltergeist firsthand.

Mr. and Mrs. Gingras, friends of the family, witnessed the houses gas and water inexplicably turning on. The Gingrases also heard a guest outside walking onto the porch and up to the houses front door. When no one knocked or rang the doorbell, the couple peeked through a window and found that not only was no one standing at the doorthere were no footprints in the snow either.

Jackson County Police Officer Harry Kellar visited the house as a skeptic. But he, too, was present when the gas and water turned on by themselves.

Investigative reporter Raymond Meagher studied the home most extensively, spending ten hours (over three separate trips) inside the place. Along with four other investigators, Meagher remained in the living room with the entire Lincoln family, waiting for something peculiar to occur.

It took a while, but eventually the bathroom water and the gas seemed to activate automatically, while everyone present was in the living room. The group moved through the house to get a closer look, when they heard the sound of glass shattering.

It seems that a small bottle was thrown against this closet door, said one of the men. There are shards of glass everywhere.

Suddenly, as the team examined the strange scene, all of the lights inexplicably turned off!

Despite these bizarre incidents, the investigation yielded no conclusive evidence of a haunting, as each event could have been attributed (however unlikely) to an elaborate hoax.

Moving Out

At last, in the summer of 1962, the Lincoln family sold the house and moved away. By all accounts, the ghostly disturbances ceased as soon as the Lincolns were gone.

The home had been in the Lincoln family for several generations, dating back to 1912. This, coupled with the fact that the haunting grew most intense after the Lincolns decided to move, led some to speculate that the family was terrorized by a deceased relative who was protesting the sale of the property.