artemna (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} artemna) wrote,@ 2009-05-29 17:00:00 |
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I ain't 'fraid of no ghost
Still chuggin' away on this comic. But as I was half-listening to Ghost Hunters in the background as I was inking (as is my custom, if I have re-runs handy), I got to thinking about the Dead. Not the Grateful Dead, the DEAD dead. The average dead that sometimes people claim to see. Now I LOVE ghost stories, creepy tales, and cheesy paranormal reality shows. I eat up anyone's personal experience with ghosts or otherworldly things. I relish in going on ghost walks and haunted tours. I listen to paranormal podcasts and instantly believe anyone who tells me they saw an apparition. I can't get enough of any of that crap.
HOWEVER. I do draw the line at actually experiencing anything for myself firsthand. I have no desire to see an actual ghost or hear an odd noise I can't attribute to neighbors or cats. Why? Because it's creepy. Like the little girl in The Sixth Sense who first grabs Cole's ankle from under the bed rather than just talking to him, I don't understand why ghosts just can't just interact with us like reasonable people. Why grab ankles, or write messages (in scary handwriting!) on mirrors, or jump out at people around corners? Why not just slowly saunter up to the living with a "Hey, what's up"? I mean, I'm all for occasional drama, but I think the act of seeing a non-living person is dramatic enough without further theatrics. I'm just sayin'.
So tons of people I've met have had one experience or another. My brother even had a "horrible feeling" once when I dragged him with me to house-sit, and I felt nothing. My mom claims she can sense when bad things have happened in a place. Therefore I've always considered this to be MY gift -- my sixth sense is as finely tuned as a blunt object. It could be CHOCKFULL of ghosts and ghoulies and I will not see or hear or sense a damn thing. Which suits me perfectly.
Then last weekend, I went on a Ghost Tour in New Orleans. It was awesome, getting a walking history tour and checking out all the creepy buildings. Snapping pictures "just in case". We get to the most haunted house in New Orleans, the La Laurie House, and hear on and on all the horrible, gruesome things that took place. That's cool. We walk around to the side to get a view of a balcony where a slave girl was thrown off, that's fine. More tales of badness. Then I get lightheaded, feel like I'm going to vomit, and things start to go black. Of course, I've passed out before in my life, so I knew what was going on and could immediately sit and put my head between my knees until I felt better. Eventually I felt normal, my hearing returned, everything was cool. I felt stupid and didn't want anyone thinking I was a typical drunk tourist. Our tour guide told me someone else had once fainted at that part of the tour.
WTF.
Still chuggin' away on this comic. But as I was half-listening to Ghost Hunters in the background as I was inking (as is my custom, if I have re-runs handy), I got to thinking about the Dead. Not the Grateful Dead, the DEAD dead. The average dead that sometimes people claim to see. Now I LOVE ghost stories, creepy tales, and cheesy paranormal reality shows. I eat up anyone's personal experience with ghosts or otherworldly things. I relish in going on ghost walks and haunted tours. I listen to paranormal podcasts and instantly believe anyone who tells me they saw an apparition. I can't get enough of any of that crap.
HOWEVER. I do draw the line at actually experiencing anything for myself firsthand. I have no desire to see an actual ghost or hear an odd noise I can't attribute to neighbors or cats. Why? Because it's creepy. Like the little girl in The Sixth Sense who first grabs Cole's ankle from under the bed rather than just talking to him, I don't understand why ghosts just can't just interact with us like reasonable people. Why grab ankles, or write messages (in scary handwriting!) on mirrors, or jump out at people around corners? Why not just slowly saunter up to the living with a "Hey, what's up"? I mean, I'm all for occasional drama, but I think the act of seeing a non-living person is dramatic enough without further theatrics. I'm just sayin'.
So tons of people I've met have had one experience or another. My brother even had a "horrible feeling" once when I dragged him with me to house-sit, and I felt nothing. My mom claims she can sense when bad things have happened in a place. Therefore I've always considered this to be MY gift -- my sixth sense is as finely tuned as a blunt object. It could be CHOCKFULL of ghosts and ghoulies and I will not see or hear or sense a damn thing. Which suits me perfectly.
Then last weekend, I went on a Ghost Tour in New Orleans. It was awesome, getting a walking history tour and checking out all the creepy buildings. Snapping pictures "just in case". We get to the most haunted house in New Orleans, the La Laurie House, and hear on and on all the horrible, gruesome things that took place. That's cool. We walk around to the side to get a view of a balcony where a slave girl was thrown off, that's fine. More tales of badness. Then I get lightheaded, feel like I'm going to vomit, and things start to go black. Of course, I've passed out before in my life, so I knew what was going on and could immediately sit and put my head between my knees until I felt better. Eventually I felt normal, my hearing returned, everything was cool. I felt stupid and didn't want anyone thinking I was a typical drunk tourist. Our tour guide told me someone else had once fainted at that part of the tour.
WTF.
