Ghost hunters hear footsteps and the wolf spirit coincidence: Part two - By N.L. Belardes
There is a coincidence going on right now regarding Oleander area ghosts that has me completely locking my door... A few of you know that my Chicano novella Thick White Crust is more than just an autobiographical tour of me moving to Bakersfield on 9/11, 2001. That novel is as much about visions, ghosts and magic realism in Chicano fiction as it is about the strange literary turns in anyone's life during such a terrible time in American history. The visions and ghosts in such a literary work? If I wrote non-fiction would anyone believe me? Will anyone truly believe I wrote about Osama Bin Laden as "The Martyr who never died," before 9/11? I can prove that I did with old documents/computer files dated pre-9/11. And then such ghostly tales to match...? Only through magic realism as in Gabriel Garcia Marquez works can one capture such strangeness...
The coincidence yesterday of course turned into a rather hilarious discussion at first with a local musician who didn't want to read the ghost stories I posted last night. "I don't like to read these things. My mind will revolve around such bad thoughts and bad tidings for days if I read about the Ghosts of Oleander," he said over the phone just after I posted yesterday's blog on ghost hunters.
And then he called back laughing... "I don't believe that last entry. A Skin Walker? That's a little too far, a little too much..."
I had to straighten him out a bit...
See, he hasn't read Lords: Part One, and neither has the Oleander Ghost Hunters. This is my first mention of such: Yes, it may seem a little far-fetched: Native American wolf spirits running on their hind legs. But the coincidence? Just a few people know of a certain spirit found in the novel, revealed to me by a source as a spirit seen by one of the supposed Lords of Bakersfield, and researched thoroughly by yours truly as a spirited rendition of a Yokut ghost… And so if the musician who thought it was a joke didn’t know, and the Oleander Ghost Hunters didn’t know… why such a strong parallel with a spirit found within Lords: Part One… and some strangers ghost stories I have been emailed over myspace.com? Coincidence? Some other strange meaning? The rendition in my novel is what makes Lords: Part One a horror tale. Black widows spewing from the mouth of a spirit isn't to be taken lightly...
Oh, it gets creepier. I was in several conversations last night at the Fish Fry Dim/Mento gig talking about kid ghosts on Blanche Street with one of the members of Mento Buru, another resident of the Oleander Arts Collective… Seems he’s had a few run-ins with kid ghosts as well. Of course I haven’t seen any where I am now… just on Oleander and hearing/seeing some strange activity on Blanche where I did live. He lives on Park Way… and his stories are as creepy as mine… but that's for another blog.
Back to the Ghost Hunters of Oleander. I’m not sure what they saw, or didn't see, but I hope they clarify in their next email to me. Here’s their last report:
Aug 27, 2005 6:00 PM
My wife, mother-in-law and me went last night twice. 1st at 8:30 and ******** was sitting out on the porch. My wife wouldn't let us go talk to him. So we walked around the block. Both said they felt nothing. We came back at 11pm looked around the house and then found an opening in the bushes on the northeast side of the house. My wife went back to the truck while me and my Mother-in-law went in. We had no flashlight; it was pitch black. We made it all the way to the porch and were able to look in the house through an open window. Cool fucking house what I saw. I boosted her to look in the backyard. That is when she told me they're all over the backyard. I put her down she than told me sit down and shut-up. It was dead quiet; no bugs, no nothing. My mother-in-law then said, “They're coming! Stay close to me!” We sat there for about 30mins in the bushes, in the dark. Neither her nor I saw anything, but the sound of foot steps were all around us in the brushes. We popped out of the brush into the yard and left. When in the yard we both had the feeling of people watching us. Next we're taking her 100% Indian boyfriend with us. Will give you a report then…
The coincidence yesterday of course turned into a rather hilarious discussion at first with a local musician who didn't want to read the ghost stories I posted last night. "I don't like to read these things. My mind will revolve around such bad thoughts and bad tidings for days if I read about the Ghosts of Oleander," he said over the phone just after I posted yesterday's blog on ghost hunters.
And then he called back laughing... "I don't believe that last entry. A Skin Walker? That's a little too far, a little too much..."
I had to straighten him out a bit...
See, he hasn't read Lords: Part One, and neither has the Oleander Ghost Hunters. This is my first mention of such: Yes, it may seem a little far-fetched: Native American wolf spirits running on their hind legs. But the coincidence? Just a few people know of a certain spirit found in the novel, revealed to me by a source as a spirit seen by one of the supposed Lords of Bakersfield, and researched thoroughly by yours truly as a spirited rendition of a Yokut ghost… And so if the musician who thought it was a joke didn’t know, and the Oleander Ghost Hunters didn’t know… why such a strong parallel with a spirit found within Lords: Part One… and some strangers ghost stories I have been emailed over myspace.com? Coincidence? Some other strange meaning? The rendition in my novel is what makes Lords: Part One a horror tale. Black widows spewing from the mouth of a spirit isn't to be taken lightly...
Oh, it gets creepier. I was in several conversations last night at the Fish Fry Dim/Mento gig talking about kid ghosts on Blanche Street with one of the members of Mento Buru, another resident of the Oleander Arts Collective… Seems he’s had a few run-ins with kid ghosts as well. Of course I haven’t seen any where I am now… just on Oleander and hearing/seeing some strange activity on Blanche where I did live. He lives on Park Way… and his stories are as creepy as mine… but that's for another blog.
Back to the Ghost Hunters of Oleander. I’m not sure what they saw, or didn't see, but I hope they clarify in their next email to me. Here’s their last report:
Aug 27, 2005 6:00 PM
My wife, mother-in-law and me went last night twice. 1st at 8:30 and ******** was sitting out on the porch. My wife wouldn't let us go talk to him. So we walked around the block. Both said they felt nothing. We came back at 11pm looked around the house and then found an opening in the bushes on the northeast side of the house. My wife went back to the truck while me and my Mother-in-law went in. We had no flashlight; it was pitch black. We made it all the way to the porch and were able to look in the house through an open window. Cool fucking house what I saw. I boosted her to look in the backyard. That is when she told me they're all over the backyard. I put her down she than told me sit down and shut-up. It was dead quiet; no bugs, no nothing. My mother-in-law then said, “They're coming! Stay close to me!” We sat there for about 30mins in the bushes, in the dark. Neither her nor I saw anything, but the sound of foot steps were all around us in the brushes. We popped out of the brush into the yard and left. When in the yard we both had the feeling of people watching us. Next we're taking her 100% Indian boyfriend with us. Will give you a report then…
This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on
Saturday, August 27, 2005.
You can leave your response.
leave a response