Ditmas Ghost stories

wtgirl

I have heard from a few friends that many of the old victorian houses in Ditmas have "ghosts" and apparatiions and "impressions" and that this is something discussed among homeowners. Most of the stories are not scary just sort of ho hum--oh there SHE is again kind of thing. Anyone have a good ghost story?

rose

Okay, I am in Park Slope, not Ditmas, but I love ghost stories, so I hope we get some. My own house has done some things that were a little freaky. My neighbor up the block told me that all the houses on our block are haunted. He grew up in his house and said that his grandmother used to see apparitions that no one else could see. Then she died and suddenly the rest of the family could see them -- I guess just ghostly figures passing through the room. He said that several years ago, he renovated his house and the supernatural activity went into overdrive, that workers in the house would mention things like "your sister came in and went upstairs" even though his sister was in Florida at the time, stuff like that. The funny thing is that my neighbor is a 50ish blue-collar guy who does not seem flakey or new-agey at all -- it was so strange to me to hear all these stories.

wtgirl

I have a friend who has an "impression" which is basically just the same thing happening over and over and over again like a film loop. It isn't a being that reacts to them or anything, just like a video projection.

mylkshayk

Subject: Protective Spirits in my Ditmas home

:?
I live in a big ol' Victorian in the neighborhood. It was built in the early 1900's, and has been owned by my family since it was built. From the Depression era through the 1970s it was a rooming house. When the house changed hands from my great aunt to my mom in the late 70s, we had to evict the roomers (so our immediate family with young kids could move in). We also had workmen in and out. During this time, a lot of family antiques went "missing".

Onto the ghosts: when my mom took over the house in the 1970s, she had some friends helping her paint the attic and clear out some boxes and things. Two friends had experiences. A man friend who was painting the attic in the Spring/Summer months claimed it would get extremely cold up there (of course there is no A/C-- can you imagine the electric bill in a big ol' Victorian?!?). Also, a girlfriend of my mom's- someone who had been visiting the house since she was a kid herself and thus did not come in feeling fearful- left terrified one day; she said that when she was up in one of the attic rooms the door closed and she was unable to open it. She was struggling to open the door- and calling for help- for awhile, but no one heard her. Finally the door opened for her. (This is the standard old wood door on two hinges with door knob- no way it could have jammed.) So maybe during this time of transition, when workmen and tenants may have been stealing from the house, the family spirits were trying to scare off outsiders, even though these two happened to be friends of the family who were actually trying to help. Who really knows?

daveb

WTGirl wrote: I have a friend who has an "impression" which is basically just the same thing happening over and over and over again like a film loop. It isn't a being that reacts to them or anything, just like a video projection.

Seen a few of those bastards, but not in Brooklyn, unfortunately.