The ghost in all of us

People enjoy a good scare once in a while. Talks about the paranormal and the supernatural never fail to entertain us every now and then, despite the terror and nightmares they bring.

To appease our agitated nerves, older people tend to say there is no reason to be scared of ghosts. But I, for one, don’t need a reason to be scared of them. Close encounters with the “unknown” have always alarmed me and ghosts are no exception.

Weeks before the Halloween season, chatter about a restless spirit dwelling at the new Saipan Tribune office (2nd floor of the Bright Morning Star Bldg.) circulated around the workplace.

More than half of the 16 employees that report for work here have, in one way or another, felt this ghost’s presence.

My editor Cookie has seen this male ghost, so, I believe, has two other reporters. Even our publisher, John, who is the earliest to report to work, has sensed his company.

Apparently, this ghost has claimed ownership of the whole office domain ages before Saipan Tribune even held offices here.

From what I hear, he likes things quiet around him especially after 10:00 p.m. Individuals who stay beyond this time may be in for the scare of their lives.

Aldwin, a Saipan Tribune reporter, always has frightening stories to share every morning. He once spoke of an incident when the ghost violently rang the reception’s bell at the front desk, as though feeling ignored. Aldwin, at that time, was preoccupied with an overseas phone call and could not care less about the commotion outside the editor’s room.

Mindful that he was all alone at the office, Aldwin knew no other being could have rang that bell twice but the ghost.

I have not directly felt his presence, although I remember a time when he made my phone ring from the unmanned reception table, one working holiday.

I get shivers just thinking about it. But my Mom says its more of me scaring myself than the ghost. And she may be right.

This situation is often true for some people. It’s not seeing or experiencing ghost haunting, per se, that terrify them but the traumatic scare of what it is like to actually see one, sometimes more than the real thing.

This Halloween, such feelings are somehow resurrected in all of us especially at night when most primetime television shows carry one timely theme: ghost movies.