Ghosts are apparitions of dead people. They are nonmaterial embodiments or essences of an organism who wanders the cosmos looking for something that may only be known to them. They are lost souls that vary in apparent solidity from a mere foglike mass to a perfect replica of the person they once were.

After death, the spirit of the dead person lingers near it's body. A common practice of some is to propitiate the ghosts of the dead by offerings of food, clothing, and other objects that the ghosts may find useful in the spirit world. In some cultures the personal possessions of a dead man, including his weapons, his pets, and sometimes even his wife, are buried or burned with his body. This mourning rite probably originated in the belief in ghosts. As well as true hauntings. It would be hard to rest for eternity if you had unfinished business...

True hauntings exist and truly haunting experiences do happen. In this area of western North Carolina, a few well known ghostly happenings occur. Such as the Pink Lady of the Grove Park Inn. She is dressed in pink and haunts this Inn. You can see her and hear her late at night. Some guests have had several encounters with her. You can usually hear doors slamming, laughter, and talking from rooms that are not used. She was said to have fallen from one of the windows and perished. She is a benevolent ghost.

Another haunted place is Helen's Bridge. It was built in 1909 to provide access to the Zealandia Mansion on the crest of Beaucatcher Mountain. Helen's Bridge, or Zealandia's Bridge was special from its conception. The bridge was graced with beauty, both in its arched design and its quarried stone construction. But when the Zealandia Mansion caught fire, Helen lost her only child in the fire. Helen was so crushed by the loss she hung herself from the bridge right down the road from the mansion. On Halloween night you can go to the bridge and try to conjure Helen. If she is successfully called, you car will mess up in some way that you can't get down the mountain.

Not far from here, lights have mysteriously appeared for years... There are two legends associated with these lights, one is they are the spirit of an indian maiden who is in search of her brave that never returned from battle... the other is it is the spirit of a faithful slave who is in search of his master who was accidentally wounded while hunting ....whatever they are, they appear in the gorge, with no set pattern,they weave in and out of the trees until they reach the edge of the river, then they disappear only to reappear in another spot. They are known as the Brown Mountain Lights. These have also been immortalized in another way through an episode of "The X Files", which lead you to believe they were alien in nature. Perhaps they are... But they do exist, I have a friend who has witnessed this phenomena.

Turn out the lights and let's see what's in the dark...