Ghost Stories & Paranormal Encounters

When I was 19, I was the manager of a restaurant in a small town on the Wisconsin shores of the Mississippi. While the restaurant itself was fairly new, the building was really old. I lived in the apartment above the restaurant and worked open-close every day.

The apartment looked as if it had last been renovated in the 1960′s. Aside from a few new appliances installed by the owner, the shag carpet and lime-green walls with mushrooms painted on them had a retro, spunky feel that was only found in small-town Wisconsin.

Initially, it was just small things that I barely noticed. My alarm would sporadically go off in the middle of the day, even though I never used an alarm. The doors of my entertainment center would be open when I went upstairs during my break, even though I never had time to watch the TV inside those doors. Lighters would appear on my vanity in the bathroom, even though I didn’t smoke or light incense. I thought one of the other employees must be sneaking up there on their breaks and snooping around, etc. I started locking the apartment door, because I wasn’t comfortable with someone else roaming around my space without my permission.

After a couple weeks, the previous owner stopped by. She was a sweet old lady who sold the business because it had become too taxing. It was a slow afternoon, so I poured her a lemonade and we sat at the bar and chatted for awhile. She told me a story about a ghost she had while she owned the restaurant, a guy she named Igor. She said that back in the 1800′s, he was the town sheriff and had been shot and killed while sitting at the bar. The circumstances were unknown. She went on to describe different instances where customers saw a reflection in the decorative mirrors on the wall, or when bulk orders of meat, soup, etc would go missing from the freezer and reappear weeks later. I shared with her my few “encounters” (as I now considered them) and she was convinced it was Igor. I had never had a paranormal experience previous to this, but never ruled it out. I always thought it was possible, but also understood the power of the human mind.

From then on, I made sure to never set my alarm, never open my entertainment center doors, and always take the mysterious lights out of the apartment completely. I wanted to “test” Igor, to see if he existed. I want to mention that I never felt threatened by his presence. If anything, I felt safer and at peace. As a 19-year old girl living in a strange town by myself, I welcomed another presence! But I digress… I would still come upstairs to find my alarm ringing, my entertainment center doors open, or a lighter on the vanity. As time progressed, I saw it more as a joke between Igor and I than him trying to upset me.

My most pronounced experience with this ghost was one restless night. Although I feel asleep early, I kept waking up to my lamp being turned on. I relentlessly turned it off, but it kept turning on. Finally, I just said, “Igor, enough! I need to go to sleep!” It didn’t turn back on the rest of the night. Later that night, I woke up to go to the bathroom. As I was falling back asleep, I felt the bed sink, as if someone had sat down on the edge. I rolled over, and saw a pleat in the comforter, like someone was actually sitting there. Again, I just said, “Igor, let me sleep.” Instantly, the bed released.

Throughout the summer, I continued to experience various “pranks” by Igor, none of which were threatening or violent in any way. I no longer work there, but since then, I haven’t experienced anything paranormal. I often wonder about the restaurant, and if Igor plays pranks on the current employees like he did me.

Written by Alea Poirier, Copyright 2010