Read Online Kentucky Hauntings by Roberta Simpson Brown - Free Book Online Page B

tried to calm her down.
    â€œYou knew that we wouldn't let you go out in such a storm, even if the boy showed up,” he said. “He was sensible to stay home. Travel on a night like this would be unsafe.”
    The girl didn't agree. She ran upstairs to her room. Still upset, she pressed her face against the window and stared once more into the storm. Angrily, she cursed God for letting the storm come and ruin her evening. Just then, a bolt of lightning struck. The charge ran through her body, killing her instantly. By some freak occurrence, a clear photographic imprint of her face was created in the pane of glass. Some believe that her curse caused her spirit to be trapped in the glass windowpane.
    According to the story we heard, the parents wanted to keep the incident quiet to preserve their privacy, so they buried her in the cemetery close to their house. Soon after her burial, a strange thing began to happen. The dead girl's image was seen in the pane of glass on stormy nights! People began to come to the house to stare at the face in the window. Having people come and gawk at the house began to take its toll on the parents.
    They tried to remove the face, but nothing they did would take the image away. They tried cleaning the glass and covering it with paint, but the face continued to appear. Eventually, they boarded up the window.
    The girl's family no longer lives there, but it is still a private residence. The window is still boarded up, so nobody knows if the face still appears or not. When we were there, it was sunny and peaceful, so we did not bother the owners. The face only appears, it is said, on dark and stormy nights.
Odd Happenings at Waverly Hills Sanatorium
    We have been on many tours through Waverly, so we have personal experiences of our own to tell about. Many students in Roberta's classes at Pleasure Ridge Park High School sneaked into Waverly in the 1960s and 1970s because it was “the thing to do” to prove you were brave. These young people shared their experiences with us, too.
    Waverly Hills Sanatorium, in southwestern Louisville, was formerly a tuberculosis hospital where thousands of people died before a cure was found for the deadly disease. Now it is famous for the ghosts of the dead who still linger there.
    Tuberculosis was a disease that struck all ages. There were all types of people who were residents of the sanatorium, even entire families who became infected. Ghosts of children can be seen roaming the halls and playing in this now deserted place.
    One night a tour guide was leading a group of tourists through Waverly when a question came up about the ghost of one of the children.
    â€œI've heard there is a ghost of a little boy who plays with a blue ball here,” a tourist said. “Is that true?”
    â€œYes,” answered the guide. “We have reports of sightings of him. He was a patient here, but I haven't run into him myself.”
    The guide was taking a few steps backward as he answered the question, when he suddenly slipped and fell. The group looked down to see if he had been hurt by the fall. They were surprised by what they saw. There at his feet was a little blue rubber ball that had rolled from somewhere on its own.
    â€œWell,” said the guide, getting to his feet. “It looks like I've just had my first encounter!”
    Other ghosts there seem to be indulging in their old habits. Some visitors see a tiny glowing ahead of them down the hall. One ghost sometimes comes out to meet the tour guests and have a smoke!
    â€œWhen our smoker ghost was alive,” said the guide, “she would often ask everybody she saw if they could spare a cigarette. You would think that someone suffering from a deadly lung disease would not be interested in smoking, but I guess she figured the damage had already been done.”
    Not all ghosts at Waverly are human, and not all groups who go there are led by tour guides. Before the current owners,