The Penn State campus of Mont Alto that I spent two years at was situated between Gettysburg and Chambersburg Pennsylvania. This meant that our campus had rich history complete with many spirits that hung around the various buildings. The two buildings that had the most activity were Weistling hall in the center of campus and the Chapel right at the campus line. Weistling Hall used to be the house of General Weistling who used it as an infirmary for both union and confederate soldiers. In addition it was also part of the Underground Railroad and in the basement was evidence of where they would hide the slaves. It is now the student center on campus and consequently where I worked for the Events Coordinator.

I had countless experiences there, including participating in a full scale ghost hunt with Paranormal Investigator John Zaffis (who now has his own show Haunted Collector on the Syfy channel). The spirit that I ran into most was of General Weistling’s sister Sarah. She was a nurse and helped the General both with the soldiers as well as the slaves that they hid in the Underground Railroad. Tragedy struck her when a confederate soldier fell in love with her. She didn't return his love so he shot her eight times on the front steps of the house. She then ran up the steps bleeding and died in one of the rooms that is now the music room.

Sarah took a liking to me. My first encounter with her (after I had learned about her story at orientation to become a tour guide on campus) were of her playing with the lights and doors upstairs. See I worked nights at the Hall which housed the coffee shop, game room, pool room and other areas for students to hang out. It was my job to lock up the upstairs and turn off all of the lights. After that the campus cops would come and lock up the building for me. They always refused to go upstairs and I found out why on one of the first nights I worked there.

First I must explain that there are two different way to get to the upstairs. The main way is up the front stairs of the building and the other is up the back narrow staircase that I usually took. Upon getting upstairs one night while my friend who I worked with was downstairs I found all the lights were on. I then walked around the upstairs switching off all the lights and headed back to the back staircase. As I reached the steps all the lights flew back on and I heard the door to the music room open which was to my right.

My first thought was that my friend was playing a trick on me since she knew that I was into all the “spirit stuff” as she said. I called for her and heard her call from down the steps up back at me. I replied with a never mind and walked over to the music room to shut the door. I pulled the door shut and put the key into lock it when suddenly it felt like someone was pulling on the other side. I pulled back as hard as I could but suddenly it was yanked out of my hands. Honestly I expected to see someone on the other side of the door as it banged against the wall but there was nothing. The door then flew back shut. I then went to lock it to find out that it was already locked.

At this point I realized that it was probably Sarah so I just let it go and went to turn the lights back off down the hall. The same thing happened though when I reached the stairs. At this point all I wanted to do was lock up and go back to my dorm room so I addressed Sarah, asking her to please stop since I was tired and wanted to go home. The lights went out and I said thank you as I walked downstairs.

The lights and doors became a regular thing and soon the new cop we had on campus learned fast that this spirit didn't like men. He would try to lock the door upstairs but they would always unlock themselves. I would lock them and they would stay locked. It became obvious that Sarah felt comfortable around me and even perhaps liked my company. Every time I would go upstairs by myself I would talk to her and one night I got an answer back in the form of her showing herself to me on the balcony of the building. I could only see her torso and head since it was dark outside but I could see she had long brownish red hair that was pulled back into a low ponytail tied with a ribbon and she wore a long dark colored dress (was too dark to tell what color). I smiled at her and she smiled back at me then disappeared.

When John Zaffis came to campus to give a lecture and do what he called a “ghost walk” of campus I was the first to tell him about Sarah and also the Chapel, which until that night hadn't been in. He agreed that after the lecture he would take the interested to the buildings and bring his equipment. To say I was excited was an understatement. First we went to the Chapel where John Brown used to teach Sunday school and also gave his famous speech before his raid on Harper’s Ferry. John set his K2 meter by the baptismal font and he instructed the spirits in the Chapel to light up one light for no and all the way across for yes. He instructed us that we could try asking the spirit questions.

Everyone seemed either apprehensive or skeptical but my boss decided to ask the first questions. She asked simply if there were any spirits in here. We got a yes answer and I smiled. Soon other students started to ask questions but the K2 meter never lit up. John asked if there was more than one spirit and got the answer no. More people asked questions but no answers. Finally I decided to ask some questions. I asked if the spirit was a female and got the answer yes. Other people asked questions but now answer. I asked if the spirit hung out in both the Chapel and Weistling and got the answer yes. I asked if the spirit liked to watch the weddings in here and got the answer yes.

At this point John asked me what my name was and asked me to come to the front where he was since it was obvious the spirit liked me. I continued to ask questions until I asked the question if this spirit was Sarah, since I was sure it was. I got the answer no. This confused me but at that point John wanted to move on to the other building. As we were walking up the hill to Weistling he pulled me aside and told me that spirits seemed to be drawn to me. He asked if I knew I was sensitive and I told him I had been experiencing it all my life but never labeled myself as sensitive. He told me I had a great gift and that I should treasure it. This made me glow.

The rest of that night we had small experiences in Weistling Hall. We heard water running through pipes, doors opening and closing, lights flickering and at one point I felt a rush of coldness run up my body. All in all it was a great night in which some students vowed never to return to that building. When we were in the basement I even had a 6 foot tall freshman boy grab my hand at one point in fear. I will never forget that night.

Once I got up to the main campus I had many different experiences all around campus but especially in my dorm room. Junior year was the year I had some not so nice male friends who treated me like shit. The spirit in my room hated them and made it known. I had things thrown around my room, banging coming from inside our closet in the kitchen and constant slamming of my room door. It continued until senior year when I stopped hanging out with them, they stopped. I think my favorite act of the spirit was the destroying of my movie ticket from when my one roommate dragged me to one of the Twilight movies. I couldn't stop laughing after that happened. It looked like it was gone through a shredder.

After I graduated and moved back home I didn't have many encounters except for the normal hearing my name and the steps. I was unemployed so spent most of my time either working on my book or looking for a job. Then I started volunteering at the Laurel History Museum which was housed in the old Mill House. The first time I walked into the museum I could feel many presences in there and I loved it. Most of the time they stayed in the attic but I saw a couple shadowy figures by the exhibits or in the collections office. The attic was full of activity though and I would make excuses to go up and catalog artifacts up there.

 One day I was searching forever for an artifact when suddenly felt something hit me in the back and I turned to see a box jutting out from the shelf. It was the box I needed. Many times I heard people walking around up there with me and I would try to follow them but never saw them. A couple times I saw shadows but that was it. None of the other employees had experiences except a few when they were around me. Soon I had a full time job and spent less and less time at the museum before eventually quitting all together.

About 3 and half months after I started working in August of 2011 I met Grant through a mutual friend who worked with him at the gym at Maryland. He still worked there even though he graduated and still lived at a house off of campus. I would then hang out with him at his house though I never experienced anything there until Hurricane Irene hit. We were stuck at his house with no power and the wind and rain pounding around us. The house had a completely different feel to it. It had a very heavy feeling and I constantly felt like something was watching me.

Around 11pm that night we were sitting on the bed with the door open and all of the sudden the air grew incredibly heavy and cold. I looked to the open doorway and saw a black mass standing there. It wasn't in the shape of anything in particular just a thick black mass. It froze in fear as it radiated pure evil and stared right at me. I turned to Grant and barely got out the words, “Please shut the door.”

He got up not knowing what was going on and went to the doorway. He paused, staring right at the thing as my heart was in danger of beating out of the chest. He then slammed the door shut and walked over to the bed and put his arm around me asking, “There was something there wasn't it?”  I just nodded and a few minutes later left that house. I only came back once the day he moved out but the vibe was completely different. To this day I am convinced that I had an encounter with a demon and I refuse to ever go back to that house.

Thankfully that’s the only evil spirit that I've come across. Most have been friendly, playful, and protective. We have a spirit in our apartment now that likes to make sure I’m not feeling lonely when Grant’s gone on his business trips. We have a spirit in our office that likes to randomly move stuff around in the back offices and make banging noises. All our harmless and once again make me feel comforted. This is just part of my life and people have come to realize that if they are going to be part of my life then they will be around these spirits.

Spooky Punch from Sandra Lee at Food Network

Ingredients

For the ice cubes:

2 packages gummy bear worms

1 (32-ounce) container cranberry juice

For the shrunken head straws:

6 plastic drinking straws

6 pitted prunes

18 whole cloves

1 cup white chocolate chips

1/4 cup sweetened flake coconut

For the punch:

3 (12-ounce) bottles strawberry smoothies

2 quarts orange juice

3 cans lemon/lime soda

Directions

For the ice cubes:

Stick 1 gummy worm in each cube, with half of the worm hanging out. Pour cranberry juice into the ice cube trays. Place in freezer 2 hours before mixing the punch.

For the shrunken head straws:

Push a straw up through the center of 1 prune where the pit used to be, so it sits one-third of the way down the straw. Repeat with remaining prunes.

In a small bowl melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave for 45 second at 15-second intervals stirring between intervals. Take 12 cloves and dip the round ends into the melted chocolate. Place on a plate lined with waxed paper and allow chocolate to set about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile using a small brush or toothpick coat the top part of each prune with melted white chocolate. Carefully sprinkle the coconut on top of the white chocolate to resemble hair. Repeat with the remaining prunes.

Stick 2 white chocolate-coated cloves into each prune to create 2 eyes. Place 1 undipped clove into each prune under the eyes to resemble a nose.

For the punch:

Pour the strawberry smoothies, the orange juice and the lemon/lime soda into a large punch bowl and stir.

Take the gummy worm ice cubes out of the freezer, and add half of them to the punch. Place remaining cubes into glasses and fill each glass with punch using a ladle.

Spirit Meetups: Part 1

By: Sam Curtin

From a young age I have had encounters with the paranormal ranging from feelings in places to full on contact with apparitions. When I was younger, before I was able to walk, it was not rare for me to stare off into the corner of a room and not turn my head for hours. My mom wondered many times what exactly I was looking at but she usually just shrugged it off. I vaguely remember encounters when I was younger of talking to voices that weren’t attached to anyone around me but nothing that I can really put my finger on.

The first spirit encounter I vividly remember came during a slumber party at my friend’s house when I was around the age of 10 or so. It was a normal young girl’s slumber party; we had junk food, did make up, and played truth or dare. When it came to my turn to play truth or dare I was dared to be the last one in the group on our excursion through the woods behind my friend’s house. Being the fearless little girl I was, I accepted.  We then journeyed out into the woods behind her house in the dark with only two people at the front of the group with flash lights. The moon was really the only thing that lit my path since I was at the back while we walked through the woods and about 5 minutes into the walk a started to feel really uneasy. Now it’s important to point out that there are very few things that I am afraid of (tunnels topping that list) so when I get a bad feeling, it’s bad.

About a minute or so after that initial feeling, something took hold of my arm. It was if someone had stuck their hand in ice water and then wrapped it around my right bicep. I looked behind me expecting to see someone standing there, but there was nothing in the dark woods. This stopped me right in my tracks and everyone else soon stopped too when I did. I was suddenly frozen in fear as it felt like something was tugging me back towards the house. I couldn’t communicate to any of my friends what I was feeling and they all rushed over to me as they saw the look of terror on my face. My one friend suggested we just go back into the house and as soon as she said that the hand let go of me. Relief flooded into me as we then walked back into the house and carried on with the rest of the party.

I was afraid my friends wouldn’t believe me with what I experienced so I just told them the dark woods made me afraid and that’s why I froze. They thought this strange since I was never scared of the dark before. We soon forgot all about it and drifted off to sleep. The next morning when we were packing up to all go back to our respective houses; my friend’s mom had the news on. The top story was about how a man in the neighborhood over from my friend’s house had gotten drunk and killed his wife. That neighborhood was directly in the path of where we were walking towards that night in the woods. It was at that point that I realized something was trying to protect me. This was my first manifestation of my protection spirit.

Talking about the spirits that I encountered was never something that I did. A couple of times I mentioned hearing strange voices in the house to my mom and she just figured I was making up things. The thing I remember most about the hauntings in our house growing up was the sound of walking up the steps to the third floor. Everyone in my family has very distinct footsteps and these were never any that belonged to my family but they were always the same.

Over the years it became part of my life that if I walked into an area that was haunted, whatever was there would make itself known to me. It ranged from moving of objects, whispering in my ear, flickering lights and a few times showing itself as a shadow or even a full apparition. This was just part of my life and nothing bad ever happened; in fact having these experiences comforted in me in a way.

These encounters started to become more prevalent as a got older, learned more about what was happening to me and became completely open to communicating with the spirit world. When I went to college up at Penn State, the encounters doubled.

Tomorrow, we will continue with part 2 of the story...

Today's Giveaway

Crispy Phyllo Wrapped Hot Dog Mummies

from Food Network 

No need to be too meticulous when wrapping these spooky versions of pigs in blankets; the raggedy look suits the mummy theme to a "tee."

Ingredients

One 16-ounce package bun-size hot dogs (8 hot dogs), each halved crosswise

2 ounces Cheddar, cut into 16 thin slices

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

8 sheets phyllo dough

4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Ketchup, yellow mustard, barbecue sauce or your favorite dipping sauce, for serving and decorating

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut a slit in each hot dog piece and stuff with a slice of cheese. Set aside. Combine the salt, garlic powder and pepper in a small bowl.

Working with one sheet of phyllo at a time and keeping the rest covered under a damp towel or paper towels, lay a phyllo sheet on a large cutting board or counter and lightly brush with melted butter. Lightly sprinkle with some of the spice mix and fold in half lengthwise. Brush the top with more melted butter and cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips. Using 2 pieces of stuffed hot dogs per phyllo sheet, wrap half of the strips around each piece of hot dog to create a mummy look. Leave a small section of hot dog exposed towards the top so it looks like the top part of the face peeking out from the phyllo wrappings. Don't worry about frayed edges or tears-- it will add to the mummy look.

Place on the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the remaining phyllo, melted butter, spice mix and hot dogs. Remelt the butter if it cools down too much while forming the mummies.

Bake until the phyllo is crisp and golden brown, about 25 minutes. If desired, dot ketchup or mustard eyes on each mummy using a toothpick and serve with extra sauces for dipping.

We were in need of some new Halloween decorations for our yard this year, so we created some ghost crafts to hang from the trees. Our daughter loved making this craft. First we got to cut up an old t-shirt, then we got to paint it with glue, and when it was dry she had a blast “flying” the ghost through the house yelling “oooooo!”. When she was finally done playing we hung it from the tree outside. This cute ghost craft is sure to entertain your kids.

What you'll need:

Piece of white fabric (we used an old t-shirt)

Glass

Glue

Water

Paint brush

Marker

String or yarn

How to make your Floating Ghost Craft:

Cut an old t-shirt so that you have a square piece of white fabric big enough to fit over your glass.

Turn the glass upside down and drape the fabric over the glass. We used one made out of glass, but we’re sure plastic will work also.

Pour some glue into a separate container (we used an empty baby food container for this messy part). You need a good amount of glue. Add a little bit of water to thin it out. You want to be able to easily stir the glue with a paint brush but still want the paint brush to be coated white when you pull it out of the mixture.

Paint the glue mixture onto the fabric as it sits over the glass. If you don’t get to the very edges of the fabric it is ok. The parts that aren’t covered in glue will be more “flowy” than the parts that are, and the bottom of a ghost is supposed to be like that!

Set the project aside to completely dry.

Once the fabric is dry, peel the fabric off the glass (the glass is not part of the finished craft). Have an adult use a knife or a pair of scissors to poke a small hole in the top of the ghost and thread a piece of yarn or string through it (knot it underneath) so you can hang your ghost up.

Use a marker to draw on a face.

Hang up your ghost for a less-than-spooky decoration.

 The October 8th winner of the Gift Certificate from East Coast Craft & Curio is Tracy Beatch. 

Please don't forget to send us an email with your name, shipping details, etc... so our lovely vendor sirens can send you your goodies :)

For many folks Night on Bald Mountain is forever linked to Disney’s Fantasia. The original composer, Modest Mussorgsky, wrote it to be part of an opera based on a play called The Witch and that piece was supposed to depict a witches’ Sabbat. Mussorgsky was crushed when his mentor expressed his disdain for the piece. It was never played in his lifetime. Night on Bald Mountain was brought to life again after being edited by another Russian composer, Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov to become the version we typically hear today.

See you tomorrow!!

From The Coexist Cafe

These delicious cupcakes are reminiscent of autumn days, crisp brown leaves, and a cool snap in the air. Top off with a piece of candy corn and transport yourself back to childhood, too!

Ingredients

Cupcakes

* 2 cups all-purpose flour

* 1 teaspoon baking soda

* 1 teaspoon baking powder

* 1 teaspoon coarse salt

* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

* 1 teaspoon ground ginger

* 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

* 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

* 1 cup packed light-brown sugar

* 1 cup granulated sugar

* 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

* 4 large eggs, lightly beaten

* 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin goop

Cream Cheese Frosting

* 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

* 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature

* 1 cup confectioners’ sugar

* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

 Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin puree.

3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

4. While baking, place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, soften cream cheese. Gradually add butter, and continue beating until smooth and well blended. Sift in confectioners’ sugar, and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla, and stir to combine.

5. Top with this cream cheese frosting, and finish off with a piece of candy corn.

Hand print Spider Trick-or-Treat Bag

We love crafts that use handprints. Our daughter loves watching all the fun things her handprints can turn into and we love being able to hang on to these crafts for years to come as a way to remember how small she is now. This handprint spider trick-or-treat bag craft is a great way to get your child excited about trick-or-treat night and it is a great Halloween craft for kids.

What you'll need:

Orange canvas bag

Black paint

Red and black paint pens

2 googly eyes

Glue

Paint brush

How to make your Handprint Spider Trick or Treat Bag Craft:

Lay the canvas bag down flat. Use the paint brush to brush the black paint onto your child's hand. Don't paint their thumb - you only want the 4 fingers for this craft. (We found that handprint crafts turn out a little better/"cleaner" when we painted our daughter's hand than when she dipped her hand directly into the paint).

Help them carefully lay and press their hand onto the bag and then pull straight back up so the handprint doesn't smear.

Either turn the bag and paint the same hand again, or paint the other hand with black paint. Press the second handprint down so that the palm of it overlaps the palm of the first handprint.

When the spider has dried, use red paint to add a smile. Glue on the two googly eyes. Paint a line coming out of the top of the spider so it looks like he's hanging.

Use the black paint to write "Happy Halloween!" onto the bag. **Note: although you are painting on fabric, regular black craft paint is ok for this craft assuming it will most likely only be used on trick-or-treat night and won't be washed. If you think your craft will get more use, please use fabric paint instead so that the bag holds up better.