Ghost Encounters: Ghastly Coldness

I’ll never forget the first time I experienced that sudden, unnatural coldness that’s described so often in ghost stories. I don’t profess to understand why these sudden drops in temperature happen, but I can tell you that they really do occur.

During my college years, I witnessed some incredible haunting phenomena in a friend’s house. I saw and heard things I hadn’t thought possible—such as rapping on the (second-story) walls, objects moving by themselves, a stereo turning on and off when no one was near it, and more. My friend’s bedroom was the place where most of the disturbances occurred.

For some reason, I went into the room alone one day, something I didn’t usually do. Almost immediately, an eerie, instantaneous chill settled on my clothes and skin; I had never felt anything like it. It was like being chilled by a sudden, frigid blast of air, but there was no blast. Then, before I could even think, a wordless terror surged up; the sour taste of bile shot up into my throat, and I had to get out of there. I remember gulping down ginger ale afterward, trying to kill the awful taste, as I struggled to unparalyze my mind and figure out what had happened.

I hadn’t seen or heard anything bizarre this time; that eerie cold was the only thing. But I realized that a part of me much deeper than the conscious part had reacted to that cold with a kind of primal terror—as if, perhaps, I was engaging with the unseen presence in the room on a level of consciousness primarily hidden to me. A rather chilling idea.

You might be wondering if I ever went back into the room after that. In fact, I did, a number of times. And the manifestations would actually escalate over the next year and a half. Why did I keep going back? As terrified as I was, I felt totally fascinated by what was happening in that house.

I had always been a staunch pragmatist who didn’t believe in anything intangible. But now I was witnessing so many strange things that hinted at other levels of reality and consciousness, other forms of existence. I just had to experience as much as I could. Even after the house was sold, and I ended my association with the friend who had lived there, I had to continue exploring, seeking experiences, and delving into the mysteries of the paranormal. Hauntings, psychic phenomena, astral projection, spiritual healing, reincarnation, Wicca—I had to learn about them all.

I’ve come to believe that some of the deepest mysteries really do exist side-by-side with our ordinary world—and that everyday reality is just the merest sliver of what our incredible, multidimensional Universe holds. Those of us who seek to explore these things will certainly experience the extraordinary. I know, because it's happened to me.

What do you think?