VOICES AND FOOTSTEPS: Regina Puckett

When I was younger, I enjoyed listening to a good ghost story, but I never believed that ghosts were real.   Of course all of that changed several years ago, when my husband, my two daughters and I moved into a house where a young woman had died in her bedroom from natural causes.  Her mother and father built this house when their daughter was still just a little girl, and later after her parent’s divorce, she and her mother continued living there.  Some years later, the young lady died and her mother moved, but instead of selling the house, she leased it for several years.  We just happen to be one of the lucky ones who got to meet her daughter after her death.

The hauntings all began rather innocently.  One day, I thought I saw someone walk by an opened doorway, but after searching the entire house, I discovered I was the only one there. I didn’t think much of it, and came to believe I had only imagined seeing someone walk by, until it started happening all of the time.  One particular day, I was searching through the refrigerator when I thought I heard one of one my daughters say, “Mom,” but when I turned around, there was no one behind me.  In fact, the rest of my family was still fast asleep.  With so many weird things happening, I thought I must be going a little crazy and chalked it all up to my wild imagination, until my daughters and husband all said that the same types of things happened to them. I guess our ghost got comfortable living with us, because after that first experience, she often said our names to get our attention.

My oldest daughter’s bedroom must have formerly been the departed young lady’s because most of the physical activity took place there. Several nights, my daughter would be woken from a sound sleep by someone shaking her bed or by loud footsteps in the room.  One night, the activity was especially annoying because the ghost wouldn’t stop shaking the bed. My daughter finally became so irritated she demanded that the ghost stop.  Strangely enough, the ghost listened and settled down for the entire evening.

For some reason I was never afraid of living in that house even though it was haunted.  Our ghost never made us feel like we were trespassing in her home.  In fact, I think she liked having us there.  Six years later when we moved again, I thought we would leave those types of experiences behind, but on my very first day in our new home, strange things started happening there, too.  Every day around five o’clock, we would hear what sounded like the front door being opened. It would be quickly followed by loud footsteps going down the hallway.  I don’t think this was ever an intelligent haunting, though. We were well aware that whoever lived there before had anger issues since most of the walls and wooden doors had holes from someone slamming their fists through them.  Our beautiful home had absorbed so much bad energy that it daily kept reliving the negative events.

You’ll be happy to know that our new house is free of spirits-both good and evil.  These days no one is trying to get my attention by calling my name or stomping down my hallway.  Do I believe in ghosts?  You bet your granny’s panties I do, but so far I’ve never had to face one that scared me so much I went screaming  out into the night. Besides, I’m not crazy enough to go out in the dark by myself.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Regina Puckett is an award nominated author for her short story, Balloon Wishes.

Borrowed Wings, has received the Children's Literary Classics Seal of Approval.

Memories won first place in the WSBR International Poetry Contest. It is included in her book of poetry, Tilting at Windmills and Words.

She has been writing for over forty-five years. She lives in Tennessee with her husband of over forty years. She has two grown daughters and four grandchildren.

She writes sweet romances, horror, inspirational, picture books and poetry. There are several projects in various stages of completion and there are always characters and stories waiting for their chance to finally get out of her head and onto paper.

Please come and visit me at facebook.com/regina.puckett1
http://reginapuckettsbooks.weebly.com/index.html
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/154116.Regina_Puckett
https://twitter.com/ReginaPucket 

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OCTOBER 30th GIVEAWAY! 

With one day to go before the big event, we've celebrating by giving away TWO ECOPIES of REGINA PUCKETT'S  SHORT TALES OF HORROR! It's a brilliant collection of short stories that is sure to give a tingle up your spine and send you running to make sure the door is latched and barricaded! 

To win, please visit HALLOWEENPALOOZA'S OFFICIAL FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE. Find today's post announcing this blog and giveaway and comment "I WANT TO WIN" in the October 29th post! If you're one of the first two to do so, you will win the fright of your life! 

So please hurry! These books go fast! 

Good luck and may the candle in your pumpkin burn eternally! 

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Mine- A night of ghost hunting with a sexy coworker turns into a deadly game of cat and mouse with an evil spirit. Can anything save them when the spirit decides they belong to him? Crying through Plastic Eyes-A messy divorce, a room filled with creepy dolls, and a missing six-year-old all create the perfect storm for a young mother’s worse nightmare. Will Work for Food- You see them everywhere begging for money or food. When an older couple decides to lend a helping hand to a young man and his son, someone gets more than they bargain for. Pieces-A battered woman confesses to the mutilation and death of her husband, but did she really commit this heinous crime? Paying the Hitchhiker-You see a beautiful young woman on the side of the road with her thumb out, asking for a ride. Who should be the most afraid: the hitchhiker or the person picking her up? Inheritance-A confession from Accalia’s grandmother about a curse and an inheritance are just the prologue to seven days of suffering through a living hell.