Informant: Since I work in a retirement home, something supernatural is bound to happen. Occasionally things would fall out of cupboards, or I’d feel taps on my shoulders and stuff, but I wouldn’t think much of it. One day a new cook named DB comes to work, DB tells me that her old boss who used to work here had passed away, and that she would spend all her time at work in the office.
About a month later I am cleaning up the kitchen for the night and the power goes out in the whole building. It was only me and my co-worker, CW, closing up. I continue to mop, and CW says she will go grab the clock out sheets, as the time clock wasn’t working. This means she has to walk to the other side of the building to the breakroom. So I am left alone in the kitchen in the dark. I am currently standing right across from the director’s office and the door is open. I grab my phone to take a video and show my friends what it looks like at work with no power. As I am panning 365 degrees around the room with my phone. Right when I pass the directors office with my phone I see hands and a head pop out from behind the open door to the office. The figure had black hair, black eyes, pale skin and a suit. But I pretend like I don’t see it and continue to finish mopping.
Collector: What are you thinking at this moment? Why did you pretend not to see it?
Informant: I am thinking to myself that I need to pretend that I’m not scared, because when you show fear that is when spirits will want to scare you even more. Anyway CW comes in five minutes later, and gives me the clock in sheets. I ask her to close the director’s office door, and she says “no you close it.” I tell her no, and she asks me why. I explain to her what I had just happened, and convince her to close it. But she says that I have to come with her to close it. As she gets to the door, she tries to talk to them by saying “We’re just trying to get to work, don’t bother us, we’re sorry if we disrupted you, bye.” She closes the door, but as soon as we turn around the door opens again. I look back and go to close it. When I touched the door handle I could just feel how cold it was inside, while touching it I instantly got goosebumps up my entire arm. Just thinking about it gives me chills. I close the door, and I speed walk away from the kitchen, but when I get to the door of the kitchen I hear the office door open again, so after that CW and I book it out of there and leave.
Collector: So what do you think happened? What do you make of this situation?
Informant: I think this was a bad omen that did not want me there, because it kept bothering us even after we told it we did not want any trouble. I definitely think that this spirit was Debby’s boss, Debby even told me so, and it wasn’t until she showed up that scary shit started happening, and I had already been working there for a year. And after all of the spirits I have encountered while working here this spirit in the kitchen was the one I felt the most fear towards.
Context: The informant, is a Latino male, who was born in Los Angeles, California, and now lives in the Seattle Washington area. While working at The Gardens at Marysville retirement home.
Analysis: When people think about locations that culturally retain ghost stories, such as old houses, colleges, theaters etc. One place I do not believe has had as much mention is retirement homes, a place where people go to pass on, and live the final piece of their life, it seems very logical that this would be a hub for ghost stories. The informant’s story also offers some interesting ideas as to what the differences are between good and bad ghosts. It’s interesting to me that this ghost may very well be the past boss of the retirement home who is haunting his old office. This fact leaves me with questions such as how he died, or what events occured in the workplace that would cause him to haunt his old office. What makes someone become an angry ghost, versus a friendly ghost, and how can you read this in certain situations? The informant talked about dark energy, and how the ghost didn’t listen. It may be that the spirit of the old boss felt as if he had unfinished business. Whatever explanation one could point to, I think this story is very chilling, and intriguing.