Welcome to the Halloween edition of my blog. Halloween always conjures up stories of ghosts, haunts, and spooky phenomenon. So let’s delve a little into the supernatural….

I never met a ghost I didn’t like. That’s because I’ve never met a ghost at all.

But I’ve heard enough ghost stories from friends, family members, and reliable, intelligent people to believe that they do exist. I’m not sure what they are and science has no explanation either. The argument of whether ghosts are real or not all depends on what you believe.

For fun, I searched “Are ghosts real” on Google….And do you know what? Google came back with 36.2 million results. Some results from websites say there’s no scientific evidence for ghosts, some say there is scientific evidence for ghosts. I only searched about 20 of the most reputable sites and there’s no definitive answer.

I did find that a YouGov study in October 2021 found that 41% of Americans believe in ghosts and 20% have actually had a ghostly encounter. Ok — now we’re getting somewhere.

But I’ll throw this in for debate. If you believe in Jesus Christ like I do, then he is the absolute perfect example of a ghost — or spirit — story. Ok Tom, you’ve jumped on the crazy train — now get off.

I’ll shed some proof. I was born and raised a Lutheran and studied 5 years at a private Lutheran school. I learned and believe that Jesus died on the cross, was buried, then rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven. The Apostles’ Creed teaches us this. According to numerous accounts in The Bible in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts and 1st Corinthians, Jesus appeared before almost 600 people over a period of 40 days in spirit form after his death.

I’m not so crazy after all, eh? Technically he was a spirit. Prove me wrong. That’s a little hard to do considering it happened 2,000 years ago. But the proof we have is in The Bible.

Personally, I haven’t seen a ghost. But I do have a few strange experiences to share.

See you in the Afterlife Dad

April 16, 1998: Garden City, MI. My dad, Chuck Varcie, laid in a coma at mom’s house on his final day on planet Earth. He had suffered through a long bout with cancer, had been in a coma for two weeks. These were his final hours.

I was at the house with my mom, Judy, and my grandma, Emma Budop. We had just watched the end of an episode of ER and we sat around my dad, who was laying unconscious in his bed in the family room.

Suddenly at 11:17 pm, my dad sat up straight and opened his eyes wide. My mom said, “Chuck, what’s wrong? Do you know me?” His body collapsed backwards into the bed and my mom, grandma, and I watched as a mist slowly rose from my dad’s unmoving chest to the ceiling and disappeared. I said, “See you later dad.” He was gone.

Was that his spirit, his soul? We’re certain it was. In my Google search, I found many similar cases of people reporting the same phenomena with their dying loved ones that we saw. From first-hand experience, it wasn’t scary at all. It was comforting.

Ghostly Family Protectors

I consider my mom to be the most sane and trusting woman on this planet. So when she told me about the story of seeing the ghosts of her dead father and grandfather, I believe her.

When I told my mom recently that I was writing a blog about ghosts, she told me an interesting story.

My dad was out of town on business one night early in the 1970s and my mom, my brother John, and I were sleeping in our home in Garden City. My mom recalls waking up at night and seeing her deceased father and grandfather standing next to her bed. Her dad spoke to her and said, “Don’t worry Judy. We’ll always be here to protect you and make sure that you’re always safe.” Just then, they disappeared and my mom heard a loud noise come from outside our side door. My mom quickly turned on the inside and outdoor lights and called the police.

Garden City Police showed up to the house a few minutes later and discovered that someone had tried to break into the house through a side door. An officer told my mom it looked like a sharp object like a screwdriver had been used.

The Talking Vase

My mom and dad would sometimes babysit my niece Kayleigh in the mid 1990s. She would stay the night and sleep alone in my brother John’s old upstairs bedroom. The small bedroom had a dresser in it, a bed, some eerie-looking dolls, and a black ceramic vase that my mom’s deceased sister Netty had given her years before.

Aside from the dolls, there was something eerie about the vase, too. It would talk to Kayleigh! Kayleigh would tell my mom and dad, my brother and his wife, Barb, that the vase would actually talk to her. While we sloughed it off as just a child’s wild imagination, it’s always said that children are more susceptible to spirits than adults. Perhaps the vase was talking to her. We’ll never know.

Photobombed by Grandpa

My son, Justin, met my dad as a baby, but he doesn’t remember him. He was born in January 1997 and my dad passed away in April 1998. But my daughter Liz was born in August 1998 and, unfortunately, never got to meet grandpa in person.

One day in the spring of 2004 while I had the kids at my mom’s house, I took a few photos of the kids, me, and my mom. One of the photos was of Justin and Liz near a window. I downloaded the images to my computer and also got some prints made. About 6 months later I was showing my mom the photos on my computer. She stopped at the photo pictured here, pointed her finger to the left of the drape above Justin’s head and said, “That’s Chuck!! That’s his face.”

Some people would see a grainy image, some people would see a reflection, some people might see Jesus’s image on a piece of toast, and some people would see my dad photobombing his grand kids. I’m going with that because as funny as my dad was, if you could photobomb from the afterlife, he would definitely do it.

That’s all the spooks and scares that I have. I don’t have too many paranormal experiences in my life, but if you have had some sort of paranormal experience, I’d love to hear it in the comments.

Happy hauntings and happy Halloween!