Ghost Stories & Paranormal Encounters

Back in 2003, my husband retired from the Navy and we decided to buy a house and settle down in the Key West area (we were stationed here prior to his retirement and just fell in love with the Keys).  My husband was able find a job working at the old historical court house in Key West (there are several court houses, but this one is very old) as a security guard on the midnight shift.

When he first started there in September of that year, some of the other security guards would tell him to be prepared for some weird goings on at the court house, especially during the midnight shift, and especially during the month of October.  They told him that the court room on the second floor, which is the oldest, is haunted.  They said that in the old days, the judges were known to carry guns beneath their robes for protection from the prisoners, when they would pass down their sentences.  That sometimes, if the judge would have to pass down a death sentence to someone, sometimes that person would get loose from the guards and go after the judge, and in turn the judge would have to shoot that person in self defense.  Now, my husband is a very intelligent man, has always been supportive of me, and is a very good person and provider, and a great Christian.  And of course, I deeply love him and am very proud of him.  He has never, though, been a big believer in ghosts, the supernatural and such, until…he started working at the old court house in downtown Key West.

Like I mentioned earlier, he started working there in September, and nothing unusual happened on his shift.  One time, though, he was asked to change shifts and work on days for a week.  During that week, the court recorder, who is a quaint elderly woman who has been with this particular court house for many years, asked my husband if he would escort her up to the old court room and open the door for her.  And if he could, to please stay with her until she was finished.  Now, my husband felt that that was a little strange, especially during the daytime when everyone was around.  But, he escorted her up to the second floor and into the old court room.  Once they were inside, my husband asked her, if it was okay, he would go ahead and go back downstairs and back to his post.  He said that the court recorder almost went into a FIT and told him that he had better NOT leave her alone in the court room and that it would only take her a few minutes to do what she had to do.  Later on, my husband found out why this quaint little elderly lady was so frightened to be left by herself in that old court room.  Evidently, she had shared with him, that, in the past, she had encountered the feeling of someone tapping on her shoulder from behind, papers being grabbed out of her hands and thrown on to the floor, and heavy breathing on the back of her neck (she only experienced these encounters in the old court room and she was alone, and throughout the year, not just during the month of October!)

Now, here’s where it gets interesting, and my hubby started to become a believer…or at least more open minded about the supernatural and such… When the month of October came around and my husband was working on one of the midnight shifts during the first week of October, it was around 2:00 a.m. or 3:00 a.m. He had just finished doing his rounds, and had gotten back to the desk and all of a sudden, he heard this very loud BANG from the upstairs on the second floor. He said that it sound like someone had taken a large wooden beam and threw it onto the floor with alot of force. He quickly ran upstairs to the second floor and he said that when he got to the old court room, that he heard alot of banging going on inside, of the same noise.  Also, he said that it sound like someone was hammering something. He immediately unlocked the door and turned on the light. My husband said that all of a sudden, the noise just stopped. That there was no one inside, there was nothing out of place, but that he did notice the temperature in the room being much cooler than outside in the hallway.  So, he closed the door, locked it and then went back downstairs. (Now, if that were me being there experiencing that stuff, I would have grabbed my purse and car keys and hightailed on out of there! But, my hubby is a very brave guy and does not believe in abandoning his post… that’s the military in him…)

He went back downstairs, and a little while later, the noise continued again. This went on for about two or three hours, and all of a sudden, it just stopped.  During the course of his shift, someone from the main office where he reports to, called to see how he was doing and he almost didn’t say anything about the unusual noises, but, he said…what the heck…and told them what he was hearing.  The person on the other end of the phone laughed and said that that is probably some large rats.  That the court house has had problems with rats before in the past years.  So, my husband laughed it off as well and went on with his business.  Well, every night during that first week in October, it was the same thing, the loud noises and tapping during the early hours of the morning.  My husband had told one of the other security guards that who ever is in charge of pest control, really needs to do something about those rats.  His fellow co-worker said, yeah right…do you really believe that RATS could make those loud noises?

Evidently, other people who have worked the midnight shift as well in the past, has experienced such goings on…I think they had a difficult time keeping someone on during the midnight shift… I wonder why… Well, during the second week in October, it got a little more interesting. During his normal shift, my husband had just gotten finished doing his rounds, and just returned to the desk to do some paperwork. The desk was just around the corner from the stairs which leads to the upper levels. My husband said that all of a sudden, he started hearing footsteps, which sound like someone was walking down the stairs.  And not just normal footsteps, but, loud footsteps. Now, my husband thought to himself, who in the world would be here, besides myself, at this hour of the morning?  Apparently, the only way anyone would be able to go inside the court house after hours was past the desk where the Security guards sat. The other entrances would be locked. He jumped up, grabbed his flashlight and went to see who it was. There was no one in site. He went back to the desk and started to call the command station. But, he later thought that he would probably sound like he was going insane, so he didn’t complete the call. He just thought that maybe he was hearing things or whatever…being tired and all.  A little after he heard the footsteps, he said that he felt like someone was walking past the desk and he felt a swoosh of wind go by him. That is when he picked up the phone and called me.

I never really slept well while my husband was on midnights, so I wasn’t really asleep when he called.  He told me what had just happened, and he sound like he was a little upset.  Finally, he calmed down and apologized for waking me up.  I told him that he can call me anytime.  I also told him that if he needed me to come down there and keep him company, that I would.  He told me that no one is allowed in the court house after hours, unless they worked there, and that also it was early in the morning and he didn’t want me to be out and about during that time, for my safety.

Boy, this is becoming a regular novel!  Anyway, strange things like that went on throughout the week and during the month of October.  Finally, one morning when my husband came home from work, he told me that it was getting PERSONAL…between him and this “apparent spirit or whatever it was…and that he was going to bring the bible into work the next time he went in!  That he was going to stand outside of the old court room door to confront this thing and tell it to go away, or at least to stay quiet and leave him alone!  He did bring his bible into work with him that next shift, but, I don’t think he actually did what he said he was going to do.  Evidently, there are security cameras all over the building and also in front of the old court room door.  That he would not want to have to explain to his supervisors why he was standing in front of the old court room door reading from the bible.

My husband stayed with that job for several months, and then finally in late December, he was able to find a day job, which was a good thing.  During his tenure as a security guard there, he said that he encountered many strange happenings.  One of which was when he, just for a second, dozed off.  He said that he felt a strong tug on his pant leg.  He quickly opened his eyes and found no one there. He said that most of the strange happenings occurred during the month of October.  The pant leg tug, however, happened during the last week that he worked there which was in late December, and when he found the other job.  He never really liked to talk much about what he experienced while working at the old court house. It would upset him some.  So, I would never talk to him about it much.

I did work with a lady at my job,though, who had also worked as a security guard at the old court house, part time, before my husband had started working there.  I didn’t share with her about what my husband had experienced while working there, but, I did ask her if she had ever experienced strange happenings during her time there, that I had heard it was haunted in the old court house, especially in the historical old court room.  She said that one night (she had worked on the evening to midnight shift, but, only part time) she went upstairs to the ladies room, and for some reason she felt like leaving the door open.  She said that she felt uneasy in the bathroom for some reason and just didn’t want to close the door.  Well, she said that all of a sudden, the door slammed shut very hard.  She said that she quickly “got the HECK out of there”, ran downstairs, called the command station and told them that she wasn’t feeling well and that she needed to have someone come relieve her as soon as possible, and work the rest of her shift.  That night when she left, she never returned again.  She said that it scared her so bad!

Well, thank you to everyone for taking the time to read my very long story.  Everything I shared with you is true to the best of my knowledge, by what my husband and my co-worker had shared with me.  On a lighter note though, I did tell my husband one time, that considering the costs of the Ghost Tours in Key West, he got a freebie!

Everyone have a great evening and have a Happy Halloween!

Sent in by Bonnie, Copyright 2009 TrueGhostTales.com