Happy Spooktober!

Howdy, folks! Sorry that I didn’t post anything yesterday. I wasn’t feeling well. But it’s Oct. 1, so that means it’s Spooktober!

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I still love dressing up for it. Obviously, this year is going to be different. But I still intend to have some fun with the holiday. I am going to add a bonus ghost story to each blog post this month.

Unicorn hat! My mom bought me this yesterday!

I try to dress up as something new every year, though I’m sure I’ve repeated myself a few times. I’ve dressed as a ghost, princess, pirate, hippie, vampire, death, queen, archer, devil and more. One year, I brought all my hats to work, thinking I’d change them once an hour or so. But, my friends all wanted to join in, so we all were wearing my hats. It was hilarious and fun.

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Here are some of my most recent costumes.

So, I don’t know if I will dress up this year, because who will see it? But I can at least share with y’all costumes of Halloween past and photos of me in my hats.

When I was in college, the RAs — including me — were in charge of creating a haunted house. Now, this haunted house was on the forbidden floor of the main hall on campus. The floor was closed off to everyone, and it was a horrible dusty mess. But the RAs were allowed to go up there to create the haunted house. (Of course, students were allowed up there for the haunted house later.)

To get up there, we had to either climb 45,000 steps or take the world’s oldest elevator. I opted for the elevator. Big mistake. I ended up going on this more than 100-year-old tiny elevator — the kind with a gate and a key — with three giant football players. I do not know how the elevator didn’t just plummet to the ground. After that, I took the stairs. I also now have a fear of elevators.

Anyway, it was a total blast doing the haunted house. I was dressed as Death, and I really enjoyed scaring people. The only issues we had were that people didn’t know how to react to fear, and a few students lashed out at us. One of my fellow RAs was punched in the face, and, understandably, he quit. I was punched in the boob. That was not pleasant at all. The guy apologized, but it still hurt. Otherwise, though, it was a ton of fun.

So, onto the bonus ghost story! (Disclaimer: If you don’t believe in ghosts, just don’t read this. Please don’t comment on it being nonsense or whatever.)

OK, onto the story. So, speaking of the haunted house at college, the forbidden floor was crazy spooky. It was basically abandoned. It looked like the abandoned facilities you see on TV ghost shows, with dust, broken glass, debris and all kinds of mess everywhere. There was even a story about the floor that involved a student who jumped out the window, killing herself. Now, I don’t think that story was true, as I did the research and could not find any stories anywhere about it. But it’s always fun to have a traditional ghost story.

But just because that story wasn’t true doesn’t mean that floor wasn’t haunted. The whole building, was, in fact. I remember being extremely relieved that my dorm room was NOT in that residence hall. That part of the college was built in the 1860s, so it was dang old.

So, I was really loving doing the haunted house, and I had a ton of time to work on it. I would often find myself on that floor totally alone. I remember this one particular night, when I was taping together black trash bags, and I heard footsteps. I turned. No one was there. Now, you think “Oh, hey, you were in college, so it was probably just students nearby or on the floor below.” No, the floor below was also unoccupied, though not abandoned. No one could get to where I was without the key to the gate to get up the stairs or by using the elevator. Both of those things make loud, distinctive noises.

So, there I was, a bit rattled because I absolutely heard footsteps. But I played it off as just hearing things. So, I kept working. More footsteps. Then, a door to my right slowly opened. Of course, it creaked. And I sat there, paralyzed. The windows are all shut. There is no heat or air up there. No vents. Nothing that could make the door move like that. I wasn’t close enough for it to have been me, and I was sitting on the floor. After a few moments, I got up. I got brave and peeked in the room. Nothing. My whispers of “hello” were met with silence.

So, I noped on outta there, and I never went back up there in the dark alone. I hope you enjoyed my ghost experience. I have had tons, and I am looking forward to sharing more. Until next time!

The Frazzled Daisy

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