I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost! by Paige Shelton

Jenn McKinlay: I am thrilled to have my plot group buddy and frequent lunch date in the before times, the fabulous Paige Shelton, here to celebrate her latest release Cold Wind, which is fabulous and releases TODAY! Seriously, it’s such a wonderful suspense story. Go get it. Right now! 

AVAILABLE NOW!

 

Paige Shelton: Some people aren’t tuned into the spectral world. I’m not one of those people. I haven’t ever seen a ghost – maybe at the corner of my vision, but nothing full-bodied. However, I do sense them; maybe it’s their essence taking up space behind me or next to me. The hair on my arms might stand on end, I might hear sounds a little differently. It’s nothing big, but in small but noticeable ways I can sense a disturbance around me. 

 

On the other hand, my husband Charlie doesn’t notice them. At all. He has an intuition that makes him a little psychic sometimes, but he cannot tell if there are ghosts in the room. Doesn’t even feel a chill. 

         

Back in the days when we could travel, he and I ventured north for a research trip for my Alaska Wild mysteries. I was the only one who could feel the ghosts in our forty-ninth state. They showed themselves in some familiar ways but also with something new and different. Though the entire trip was unforgettable, the ghosts and I had a connection like I’ve never felt before.

We were in Juneau when I first sensed them. There’s a tram that takes visitors up to the mountain top, where you’re greeted with hiking paths, gift shops, places to eat. The view out and over the inlet whereupon Juneau is situated is breathtaking. As we hiked the trails and looked around, the hair on my arms was standing straight up, indicating clearly, to me at least, that we weren’t alone. I recognized it for what I thought it was, but didn’t think about it much, until we stopped at a restaurant. The woman who greeted us started leading us toward one table, but then she slowed down. She sent us a confused look, and then took us a different direction. She handed us our menus, stating that she had a feeling that we needed to sit in Jessie’s section. We simply told her thank you, and then we thoroughly enjoyed Jessie. 

 

After we were done, we took the tram back down the mountainside. Our plan was to head back to the hotel, but we changed our minds and took a drive instead, deciding to stop at a mining museum. As we approached the entrance to an old mine, I was overcome by the ghosts all around. I felt the chill, the air move, the flashes in the corner of my vision. The hair on my arms and the back of my neck was at full attention. All cylinders were firing. 

 

“Feel that?” I said to Charlie.

“Feel what?” he said. 

“The ghosts?” 

“No, not at all. It’s cloudy outside. It’s a little eerie.” 

“It’s more than that.” 

         

He didn’t argue. 

 

We heard voices. A few seconds later, two people came around a curve in a hiking path. 

         

“Hi!” I said, surprised.  

 

The couple stopped. One of them was Jessie, our waitress from the restaurant. 

 

We all greeted each other, noting how uncanny it was that we’d all ended up in the same spot, and at the restaurant the excursion hadn’t been anyone’s plan. But we just laughed it off. As they turned to continue on, however, Jessie rubbed her arms and said, “How about all these ghosts out here? They’re something, aren’t they?”

 

It took me a second to recompose myself. “Yes, they are.” 

 

“What do you think they want?” 

 

I shrugged. “I wish I knew.”

 

Jessie laughed. “Maybe they just want us to know they’re here.” 

 

Maybe.

 

I have no idea what the spirits were trying to tell me, or us, or why it was important for Jessie and I to sense them together, but whatever the reason, it was certainly one of my more spooky ghostly encounters. It doesn’t do much good to dwell on those experiences, but those moments stayed fresh in my mind for a long time.

The rest of our visit in Juneau as well as in Gustavus was infused otherworldly sensations and coincidences. We kept running into another couple – at a diner, at the Mendenhall glacier, and on the ferry to Gustavus. Stuff like that happens though, so I didn’t give it much thought, but even out on Glacier Bay, I sensed the ghosts. My husband kept wondering what in the world – this one or the other one – was going on. I did too. 

Maybe Alaska is just a perfect place for ghosts. There’s a lot of wide openness. Many people go to Alaska to find or lose themselves, others just get lost, swallowed up by the unfriendly terrain and weather. Maybe it’s a place where ghosts get trapped, or maybe they feel comfortable there. It’s a real mystery to me. I might never understand it, but I will also never, ever forget it.

Thanks for letting me stop by today, and happy holidays! 

Jenn: I love this post so much! I've definitely had some encounters in my life that were "otherly". So, Reds and Readers, any ghostly encounters to share? 

Paige Shelton is the New York Times Bestselling author of the Farmers' Market, Country Cooking School, Dangerous Type, and Scottish Bookshop mysteries. She also pens the Alaska Wild mystery-suspense novels, Thin Ice, book and Cold Wind, featuring thriller writer Beth Rivers. Paige has lived in lots of places but currently resides in Arizona. Find out more at www.paigeshelton.com