By Rick Hinton
Writer Molly Fitzpatrick relays some stories of people currently weathering COVID-19 restrictions, and their sudden interaction with the paranormal as a result. Is it mere coincidence or has self-isolation only made us more aware of their presence?
The pandemic has affected our world in many ways, with psychological ramifications making us more aware of our own mortality. Death and the beyond is a subject for thought. Anxiety dictates that we have become more observant. And being more observant can bring to light “things” we did not notice the first time around.
Has there been an increase of ghosts due to the coronavirus? Is it only imagination or the real deal? Have “they” been here all along? Fitzgerald has a few tales:
Will and Janie Cowan have one such story. Janie claims she has felt an association with the paranormal since her college days. The couple even named their house ghost Matthew. “He (Matthew) has historically made his presence known in their Nashville home through the sounds of someone running up and down the staircase at night,” Fitzgerald reported. Will added, “The noises are not like a house settling or like our cat walking around. It’s very clearly out to get attention.” Then the activity ramped up.
Around the time when they began self-isolating, they began sleeping in separate rooms because they worked different shifts. Matthew favors Mrs. Cowan and apparently doesn’t like change. “On three occasions while showering in the guest bath, Mr. Cowan has been unexpectedly blasted with cold water,” Fitzpatrick said. “It wasn’t a quirk of the plumbing. Every time, he said, he reached out to find the hot water nozzle had been turned off.”
“Danielle, a 39-year-old lawyer, first experienced strange activity in February when she kept walking into her guest bedroom to find a particular lamp on, although she had no memory of leaving it that way,” Fitzpatrick related. “This happened again and again, until, on a whim, she said aloud, “’Don’t turn that back on.” The next time she entered the room she found the ceiling light – which she never switches on – blazing. She has heard the voices of a man and a woman having a conversation she couldn’t quite make out.”
“Madison Hill, 24, had always had her suspicions about her home, particularly the bathroom. There was the sense of someone watching her, doors slamming, towels inexplicably on the floor.” Now, while riding the pandemic out with her boyfriend, “Other small objects, including a set of keys, have moved to strange new places. The reappearance of a lost camera lens in particular struck her as mischievous.”
Adrian Gomez, sheltering in place, has reported a doorknob rattling vigorously and loudly. There are footsteps over his head in an empty apartment. While in bed a nearby window shade began shaking against the window frame. An adjacent shade hung still. “I very seriously hid myself under the comforter, like you see in horror movies, because it really did freak me out.”
Kerry Dunlap woke up when he felt the blanket at the foot of his bed being adjusted. He assumed it was his girlfriend. When she didn’t return to bed, he called out to her. No answer. Then she came out of the bathroom.
Professor Kurt Gray concluded, “If the idea of a paranormal identity can provide someone a little bit of social sustenance to help them endure their solitude, then great.”
