Ghosts Are Real

I believe in ghosts. I just can’t tell you if they exist outside the imagination of living humans. Does it really matter? The demons in my head are plenty real.

I don’t often get spooked, but in March I spent a haunted night in an abandoned dormitory. Until a few years ago, the Kansas institution was home to about a hundred elderly men. The old building’s lights flickered and the rusty water that dripped from the sink looked toxic. Most unsettling were the dozens of doors, each partially ajar, down each forgotten hallway. (The view outside my door is pictured here.) All night I listened to creaks, bumps and rustling, knowing that no one else was in the building.

It’s the uncertainty, the fear of the unknown, that really scares us. We're relieved when the big "Boo!" we're all anxiously anticipating finally reveals itself.