Walking With Ghosts. Lisa Yorio

was a small A-frame with two small bedrooms, 1 small bathroom and kitchen, a medium sized living room, and a full basement. The house was inexpensive and we were excited to move in.

       One of the first strange incidents that occurred was while I was painting my bedroom. My first project was to lay primer down on the walls to get it ready for the teal color paint that I had selected. The room was empty and only had paint, rollers, and brushes in it. The only thing that I placed in my bedroom window was an incense burner. I walked into the other room for just a minute and when I returned I noticed the incense burner had been moved. This was weird because I was the only one in the house. I dismissed it thinking maybe I just moved it without realizing and forgot about it. Then the next day, I felt like someone was staring at me. I glanced over my shoulder but I didn’t see anything. Then later on that evening I discovered that the incense burner was missing. I could not find it anywhere. It mysteriously reappeared several days later back where I had originally placed it. I was a little surprised, but more intrigued than scared.

       My boyfriend worked two jobs and he would get home very late and I would already be sleeping when he arrived. I didn’t like to be in the house alone so I would invite my friend to stay over on the weekends.

       The house had many problems. In the bathroom, mold was growing on the walls. I would scrap the paint and the mold spots off and then repaint the walls. It would grow back only a few days later. I did this twice, then I finally gave up. It was useless to keep trying to fix this recurring problem. The sinks were always clogged and the basement was very damp and smelled like stale air. I was allergic to mold so I was always sick with a sinus infection. This was not a good environment for me to live in.

       One night I heard a fluttering of wings in the wall of my bedroom. It scared me but I was sure there had to be an explanation for it. The next day I discovered there was a small hole in the wall from the outside leading to the wall in my bedroom. I saw a hummingbird squeeze through and fly in. I found the culprit. We also found mice in the house. They left droppings in my shoes and chewed up some of my books in the closet. In the kitchen I found dog food next to my utensils. The mice were taking the dog food and storing it away in the drawers. At first I thought it was funny, but then it became annoying. I could hear them at night rustling around.

       I had a separate bedroom from my boyfriend, he worked long hours and I didn’t want him waking me up every night at 2:00am since I had to get up at 6:00am. I also felt a little creepy when I was in his bedroom. I didn’t like to sleep in there. Ever since we moved in I felt like there was a presence in the house. It seemed to be concentrated in the living room and my boyfriend’s bedroom. That’s where I felt the presence the strongest. It didn’t feel like anything evil or threatening. It just felt like I was never alone and somebody else was living there with us.

       Another strange thing that kept occurring was when I returned home from work, I would find every single cabinet door in the kitchen wide open. I know that they were all shut when I left in the morning. I asked my boyfriend if he had done this. He insisted that it wasn’t him. I would yell at him and say ” you were probably too tired too remember that you left them open.” This happened several times. One night I was cooking dinner and one of the cabinet doors opened slowly behind me. It scared me a little but I knew nothing bad would happen. After that incident I was convinced that the house was haunted.

       I asked my boyfriend about the previous owners. I found out that the woman who lived here before us had a husband who just recently died of a heart attack. That’s why she sold the house. He was a physician. This was their weekend getaway house. Sometimes he would stay the weekend by himself to hunt and fish. He loved the house and the solitude. I believe he was attached to the house. She didn’t tell us whether or not her husband passed away in the house, but I believe that he did.

       I have taken pictures of my dog in the living room and several orbs have shown up surrounding him. I think he could also sense a presence there.

       I wonder if the doctor enjoyed the house so much and the peace and quiet of the neighborhood that he never wanted to leave. I think it was his presence that I felt when I was in the house.

      (Kiki with orbs above him and on the right side) Wild Acres Dingmans Ferry, Pa. 5/2000

      HAUNTED HOUSE IN MATAMORAS

      MATAMORAS - PENNSYLVANIA

      2000

      I believe that animals have a sixth sense. They feel when a presence is around. Sometimes the spirits are drawn to them because they remind them of the pets they once had during their lifetime. As I mentioned before there were orbs surrounding my dog, Kiki. These strange anomalies appeared again at another house that I lived in. This house was located in Matamoras, Pennsylvania near the Delaware River.

       The house’s original structure was on the lower floor. The upstairs rooms and hallway were added on many years later. I lived upstairs where there wasn’t any paranormal activity. Strange things only seemed to happen downstairs near the bathroom and fireplace. Every time I walked into this room it felt a little eerie. It was a strange uneasy feeling that I sensed while sitting near the fireplace on the couch. When I approached the bathroom I also experienced this same feeling. The bathroom had an old-fashioned porcelain bath tub with claw- talons on the bottom of the four corners. Next to the bathroom was a stairway that led to the second floor. Since the upstairs was added on, when you opened the door it led into a bedroom closet which was in my room. I think it opened up into a big room at one time. The closet was built later on but the stairs were never removed. It was a weird design. We never used this stairway; it was blocked off downstairs by a wooden board.

       This house dates back to the early 1800’s. It was an old Masonry’s shop at one time and a Masonic Temple years later. The house was made into a rental and then put up for sale. I’m not sure who lived there before me or if anything bad happened there. Orbs appeared surrounding my dog in some of the photos that were taken downstairs near the fireplace. I didn’t realize this until many years later when I was moving and looking through all of my photos. Then I realized that these orbs could be an indication of paranormal activity.

       Another time, at my friend’s house, I took a picture of my dog chasing their cat. However, it was outside on the deck. When I took a closer look at the picture I noticed an orb appeared beside my dog. Maybe the spirits like my dog so much they follow him wherever he goes. Or it could be the same spirit from the house in Dingmans attached to him. After all, Kiki stayed in the same bedroom that the doctor did. I think my dog Kiki has been haunted most of his life. He is such a sociable dog that not only does he have human companions, but ghost companions as well.

      (Kiki and my friend Janet, downstairs) Matamoras, Pa. 9/99 There is an orb above Kiki

      Kiki and Hopper (Orb appears above Kiki) Shohola, Pa. 8/2000

      THE EXORCIST STAIRWAY TO HELL

      GEORGETOWN - WASHINGTON

      2001

      Many years ago, in July 2001, I went with my friend, Janet, to Washington, DC on vacation. We decided to go to the old historic district of Georgetown. It was a beautiful stroll walking down the cobblestone streets and viewing the Victorian buildings, shops, and restaurants. I wanted to visit the sites and see the famous steps where one of the ending scenes from the movie” TheExorcist” was filmed. This is when the demon possesses the priest and jumps out the window. He topples down a long set of concrete steps and cracks his head open dying in the street. I was excited and anxious to photograph these steps in hope of catching some paranormal anomaly on film.

       The Exorcist, released in 1973, was a movie about a young girl who gets possessed by an evil demon. The mother turns to a priest for help. He then gets the Catholic Church involved. He along with another priest performs an exorcism on the young girl.