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There are a lot of different opinions about what ghosts are and how they interact with living people. This book is predicated on the idea that they are real and can cause an effect for a living person. Do you believe in ghosts or spirits? Are they good or evil? How do they affect corporeal reality? If you don't believe, did this affect your enjoyment of the book?

I do believe in ghosts. I believe that they can be good or evil. I feel like ghosts are souls that have something unfinished on earth that they need to complete before they can move on. I think that how they affect reality depends on how strong they are, and that their strength depends on the person's emotional state. I don't really think, however, that they can affect a person like they did in this book.

So I am going to tell a story, (it's real, based on an experience as a child).

When I was 4, I was in ICU for 2 weeks with Infantigo, started under my nose, from there made it's way into my blood stream, ultimately shutting down my kidneys, Dr said I had a short time before it would have turned into sepsis.
So sitting in the hospital bed, listening to the beeps and whines of the machines.

According to my parents, I used to see my grandfather, who died just a few short months before I almost lost my life. I would see him standing at the foot of my bed, just staring at me. I think my mom told me, that I had told her, that he had said I would be alright, that it wasn't my time to go yet.

So as creeped out as I was, I do believe in ghosts. I have plenty of other stories but I won't get into them, I could probably write a book.

I don't believe in ghosts, but I love ghost stories. I treat it just like any other fiction book and enjoyed the story regardless of not believing in ghosts.

TrishaAnn92 wrote:So I am going to tell a story, (it's real, based on an experience as a child).

When I was 4, I was in ICU for 2 weeks with Infantigo, started under my nose, from there made it's way into my blood stream, ultimately shutting down my kidneys, Dr said I had a short time before it would have turned into sepsis.
So sitting in the hospital bed, listening to the beeps and whines of the machines.

According to my parents, I used to see my grandfather, who died just a few short months before I almost lost my life. I would see him standing at the foot of my bed, just staring at me. I think my mom told me, that I had told her, that he had said I would be alright, that it wasn't my time to go yet.

So as creeped out as I was, I do believe in ghosts. I have plenty of other stories but I won't get into them, I could probably write a book.

That sounds like a nice ghost story. I wish my experiences had been more like that! Mine were a little more creepy, and they weren't people that I actually knew!

I'm not really sure if I believe in ghosts. I feel like if you open yourself to that stuff then there is a possibility. That said, all things ghost and supernatural freak me out. Outside of books, I avoid it.

I battle on this topic with myself all the time.

I know I've felt and experienced what you would call ghosts, many times. I can feel when they inhabit specific places. I've freaked out people before by mentioning they may have spirits in their house,

but at the same time I struggle with the logical side of it. No hard facts, just feelings. How can I believe something that has not been proven.

Ghosts go back to our desire to have some sort of proof that life goes on after death. Not just a belief or a faith, but actual proof.
People see things all the time that they can't explain. I don't doubt for a moment that TrishaAnn92 did see her grandfather when she was sick.
But our brains aren't perfect, they aren't little video recorders in our heads. They don't perfectly record events... well ever. Especially if sickness or stress is involved.
If someone is motivated to believe in ghosts, frequently because they want that proof, then any sort of 'glitch' in the brain can be explained by it.
But these 'glitches' could also be used to 'prove' aliens, gods, an understanding of how a roulette table works, anything.
And by 'glitches' I am referring to anything that makes our brains do bizarre stuff.
Tunnel vision when you are scared.
Hallucinations when sick or on drugs.
Our need to see faces when there aren't any (like in the cracks or patterns of your childhood ceiling.)
All of this is completely normal, and everyone has experienced these things.
Going back to the original question: No, I don't believe in ghosts. But I believe when people say that they have seen one. I just think that the ghost was more likely in their head (still a valid observation, mind you) than an actual spectral representation of a dead person.

anneloretrujillo wrote:

TrishaAnn92 wrote:So I am going to tell a story, (it's real, based on an experience as a child).

When I was 4, I was in ICU for 2 weeks with Infantigo, started under my nose, from there made it's way into my blood stream, ultimately shutting down my kidneys, Dr said I had a short time before it would have turned into sepsis.
So sitting in the hospital bed, listening to the beeps and whines of the machines.

According to my parents, I used to see my grandfather, who died just a few short months before I almost lost my life. I would see him standing at the foot of my bed, just staring at me. I think my mom told me, that I had told her, that he had said I would be alright, that it wasn't my time to go yet.

So as creeped out as I was, I do believe in ghosts. I have plenty of other stories but I won't get into them, I could probably write a book.

That sounds like a nice ghost story. I wish my experiences had been more like that! Mine were a little more creepy, and they weren't people that I actually knew!

From what my parents told me they were extremely creeped out but comforted in an odd sense. My grandfather liked to play jokes or make his presence known but some of them were easy to explain away.

lane_vespertine wrote:Ghosts go back to our desire to have some sort of proof that life goes on after death. Not just a belief or a faith, but actual proof.
People see things all the time that they can't explain. I don't doubt for a moment that TrishaAnn92 did see her grandfather when she was sick.
But our brains aren't perfect, they aren't little video recorders in our heads. They don't perfectly record events... well ever. Especially if sickness or stress is involved.
If someone is motivated to believe in ghosts, frequently because they want that proof, then any sort of 'glitch' in the brain can be explained by it.
But these 'glitches' could also be used to 'prove' aliens, gods, an understanding of how a roulette table works, anything.
And by 'glitches' I am referring to anything that makes our brains do bizarre stuff.
Tunnel vision when you are scared.
Hallucinations when sick or on drugs.
Our need to see faces when there aren't any (like in the cracks or patterns of your childhood ceiling.)
All of this is completely normal, and everyone has experienced these things.
Going back to the original question: No, I don't believe in ghosts. But I believe when people say that they have seen one. I just think that the ghost was more likely in their head (still a valid observation, mind you) than an actual spectral representation of a dead person.

Well said. I've been recently watching the show "Brain Games" on Netflix, and it has spoken about things similar to this. What you are saying makes a lot of sense.

Lauren M wrote:

lane_vespertine wrote:Ghosts go back to our desire to have some sort of proof that life goes on after death. Not just a belief or a faith, but actual proof.
People see things all the time that they can't explain. I don't doubt for a moment that TrishaAnn92 did see her grandfather when she was sick.
But our brains aren't perfect, they aren't little video recorders in our heads. They don't perfectly record events... well ever. Especially if sickness or stress is involved.
If someone is motivated to believe in ghosts, frequently because they want that proof, then any sort of 'glitch' in the brain can be explained by it.
But these 'glitches' could also be used to 'prove' aliens, gods, an understanding of how a roulette table works, anything.
And by 'glitches' I am referring to anything that makes our brains do bizarre stuff.
Tunnel vision when you are scared.
Hallucinations when sick or on drugs.
Our need to see faces when there aren't any (like in the cracks or patterns of your childhood ceiling.)
All of this is completely normal, and everyone has experienced these things.
Going back to the original question: No, I don't believe in ghosts. But I believe when people say that they have seen one. I just think that the ghost was more likely in their head (still a valid observation, mind you) than an actual spectral representation of a dead person.

Well said. I've been recently watching the show "Brain Games" on Netflix, and it has spoken about things similar to this. What you are saying makes a lot of sense.

Oh cool! Thanks for saying that!
I haven't heard of Brain Games, but I will definitely check it out later!

lane_vespertine wrote: Oh cool! Thanks for saying that!
I haven't heard of Brain Games, but I will definitely check it out later!

It's really neat. Each episode is about a certain sense or action. For example, I recently watched the 'Memory' episode, where it addressed different aspects of boosting your brain's ability to see, process and recall information. I always feel just a tad smarter after an episode.

I don't think I believe in ghosts, but I know a lot of people that do. Usually it's related to noises in the house or things being moved. Someone actually died in our apartment before we moved in and we've never noticed anything. As for reading, my lack of belief doesn't affect my enjoyment. I just treat it like other fiction.

I definitely believe in ghosts, for the first 14 years of my life I lived in a haunted house and I've had other experiences in other places since. What exactly ghosts are I do not know(obviously), but I do NOT think they are the souls of trapped dead people or anything like that. I think it has to do with energy patterns.

I believe in the ghosts in the same way I believe in bugs and germs. I know that they are around me even when I can't see them, and sometimes under certain circumstances I can. But even if I can see them, as long as they aren't bothering me I won't bother them.