Copyright © 2002 Michael Gavin

I thought I would bring out something more personal. I thought I might share my first paranormal experience. For the longest time (even during research for the downtown tours) I was a skeptic of most things that go bump in the night. I used to believe that, at least for most of the alleged hauntings I’d heard about, there was a logical and natural explanation to what was transpiring. The following account relates how one incident changed my mind and opened my eyes to the possibility of things unseen or unexplained. I have changed the names of those involved, to protect their privacy. The Gaslight Apartments no longer exist; they have been renamed since this event took place. . .

I am not sure exactly how I met Lori; I think it was some time in 1996. I do recall there was a good degree of compatibility. Our first date took place one Saturday summer afternoon and involved a casual lunch and light conversation. I was charmed with the opportunity to meet her, then, two-year-old daughter.

I do recall being intrigued and skeptical when Lori first mentioned that the apartment she lived in was haunted. I was certain that there was a logical explanation for the apparent self-opening closet doors in her daughter’s room (I even had suspicions that it was the daughter opening these doors in attempt to get attention). I made arrangements to be there for an evening to witness the events first hand (or, as I had thought at the time, dispel them). After dinner the baby was put to bed. I made a point to inspect the closet doors to ensure that they were secured (making certain that they would not budge unless the door handle was deliberately and completely turned). Lori arranged the covers over her daughter in such a manner that we could tell if her daughter was the one getting out of bed (and opening the closet doors).

I am not sure what provoked the urge to check on the room (about two hours later), but what I found totally shocked me! The closet door directly in front of the bed was very much wide open. The child’s mother had been with me the entire time and her daughter’s bed sheets were completely undisturbed! We secured the suspect closet door again, exiting the room somewhat shaken, and wondering if it would happen again.

However, this was only the beginning. Upon our return to the room, we were again greeted to a closet whose door was completely ajar (along with I peacefully sleeping two year old little girl, covers undisturbed)! Lori wanted to block the door, but I advised against it. Instead, we put the baby to bed on the couch. During the course of the night, this game of opening and shutting the closet door continued for a few more times until we eventually gave up around 2 a.m. At one point, I recall noticing that a toy, which was resting against the far wall, had somehow made its way to the center of the room. Throughout these events I recall experiencing a strong anxiety and kind of electricity in the air (a feeling I later came to know as the energy vibration that is associated with the presence of ghosts).

Finally the sun began to break the night’s darkness we now felt “safe” to bravely venture into the small bedroom. Our A.M. discoveries were quite amazing! The closet with mysteriously opening door had somehow shed all its contents into a tangled heap on the closet floor! On the nightstand next to the bed, a coloring book page had been deliberately placed; its caption: “Jesus” friends were upset and SUDDENLY HE WAS THERE AMONG THEM!? The most amazing discovery, however, was the earring that had managed to get itself stuck in the concrete ceiling as if it were a mere thumbtack upon a cork board!

An animated closet was not the only event to challenge my skepticism. Lori kept pictures of daughter in ascending stages of growth neatly lined on one of the apartment walls. Upon returning home from an afternoon outing, we were shocked to find all of the framed photos had somehow become tilted at an odd angle!

The most startling event came to my attention shortly after a frantic call I received from Lori as was leaving work. She implored me to come over to the apartment immediately. I was more than stunned by the sight that greeted me in her daughter’s room. In the center of the carpet was an upturned stool. Stacked very much like a house of cards was every toy the child owned, very delicately balanced. The toy sculpture reached beyond my ability to touch the top (and Lori is quite a bit shorter than me)!

Shortly after that scare, I had a discussion with a local psychic. I learned that we had been dealing with the spirit of a young girl, possibly hiding in the closet of that bedroom. What could have frightened this child so badly? Was she trying to tell us something? For some time I though I would never know the answer to that question. Not for reasons related to the spirited activity in that apartment, Lori drifted apart shortly after these events. I do not know if the events even still occur. What I did learn though, was that a fire had damaged some of the apartment complex some time ago. According to Lori, the fire started in her apartment.

A couple of years ago, as I was beginning of putting together the Orlando Hauntings Ghost Tours, I was discussing several of the stories with another friend who is very much sensitive and in tune with things paranormal. My friend revealed to me that the spirit of this little girl was not indigenous to the apartments. This ghost’s time among the living was lived out long before the apartments were ever built. Apparently she had gone camping with her family on the property where the apartments now stand. I learned that she was either severely injured or killed as a result from a campfire accident.

This event shook my very skepticism and opened the doors to my acceptance of things paranormal. The events and contacts I have made since that time have been amazing. Now, whenever I travel, I try to root out sites that are reported to be haunted (a good source for this is William Hauk’s International Directory of Haunted Places).

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