The James T. Callow Folklore Archive

THE HAUNTED HOUSE

THERE WAS A HOUSE WHICH SEEMED TO BE HAUNTED. THERE WERE RATTLING
CHAINS, HOWLING, FOOTSTEPS, ETC. FOR THIS REASON NO ONE WOULD LIVE
NEAR THERE. THE COUNTY OFFERED A REWARD OF 1,000 DOLLARS FOR ANYONE
WILLING TO SPEND ONE NIGHT IN THE HOUSE AND SOLVE ITS MYSTERY. A
SEMINARIAN VOLUNTEERED. THAT NIGHT AT ABOUT MIDNIGHT, HE FELT THE
ENTIRE HOUSE SHAKE. CHAINS BEGAN TO RATTLE SOMEWHERE DOWNSTAIRS,
AND A PATHETIC MOANING RESOUNDED THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE HOUSE, THE
SOUNDS CAME CLOSER AND CLOSER UNTIL THEY SEEMED TO BE RIGHT OUTSIDE
OF THE DOOR OF THE ROOM WHERE THE SEMINARIAN WAS WAITING. AS THE
DOOR OPENED, THE MAN CROUCHED BEHIND A TABLE BY THE WALL. A FIGURE
IN HUMAN SHAPE, WHITE AND TRANSPARENT, WALKED INTO THE ROOM. THE
SEMINARIAN ASKED WHO IT WAS, AND THE FIGURE REPLIED THAT HE WAS A
SOUL FROM PURGATORY WHO HAD TO HAUNT THE HOUSE UNTIL HE COULD GET
INTO HEAVEN. THE MAN THEN SAID THAT HE WOULD PRAY FOR THE SOUL, IF
HE WOULD STOP HAUNTING THE HOUSE. THE SOUL AGREED. WHEN THE SEMI-
NARIAN LEFT THE HOUSE THE NEXT MORNING, HE DISCOVERED THAT HIS
HAIR HAD TURNED WHITE FROM FEAR.

Submitter comment: MY INFORMANT CLAIMED THAT SHE HAD HEARD THIS STORY, AS TRUE, FROM
SOMEONE WHO KNEW THE SEMINARIAN.

Where learned: SAINT JOSEPH CONVENT

Date learned: 00-00-1962