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House of Chimes
- University of Wisconsin Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
W hen the George Websters moved into an old Green Bay house, everything went well—at first. Until the kitchen screen door, equipped with a tight spring, began opening and then slamming shut for no apparent reason. Until on one occasion the slamming was preceded by “a loud scraping, swirling noise,” with George less than twenty feet away. Until he rushed outside to investigate but found nothing that could account for the noise or the movement of the door. On a late July afternoon, George was home alone doing paperwork for his job as district supervisor for a Chicago-based corporation. He had just started for the back bedroom when he heard the now-familiar slam. But this time, looking toward the door, he saw the apparition of a man attired in black who seemed to float rather than walk. It came straight toward him. George flattened himself against a wall. The ghost, as if sensing a head-on collision, veered to the right and edged by. It glanced toward him, glided into a bedroom, and vanished. The entire episode lasted about ten seconds. Five days later the family left on a vacation. The house was locked up and empty—or so they thought. At about nine in the evening the neighbors, who were taking in the Websters’ mail, saw the kitchen lights go on and through the windows dark apparitions move back and forth. One day in August, Mrs. Webster watched two white-clad ghosts disappear into the master bedroom just off the kitchen. 73 House of Chimes Some time later, the family began hearing “scraping and screeching noises in between the walls.” Playful mice? Hardly, according to George. The noises turned into chimes and bell-like sounds. Lights also were being turned on and off by unseen forces both day and night, and neighbors often called the Websters to find out why they had left their basement lights on all night. The family finally had enough and moved away. Although the electricity was shut off, neighbors reported that the lights continued to go on intermittently while the house stood vacant. George Webster had the last word on the bizarre manifestations, a grand understatement to be certain. It was, he said, “most unusual.” 74 Part I: The Haunted North ...