By Mark Squibb
Mount Pearl author Geraldine Ryan-Lush has released her second collection of ‘true’ Newfoundland ghost stories.
She said the follow up story collection to Haunted Towns: Ghost Stories of Newfoundland and Labrador, Haunted Towns, Volume Two: More Ghost Stories of Newfoundland and Labrador, was compiled mostly from stories that were submitted to her following the release of the first book.
“I started getting e-mails from people that wanted to tell their own stories,” said Lush. “So, I thought, ‘I may just put out another collection,’ which I did. I was astounded at the fantastically gripping and chilling accounts. A lot of these were expatriates of Newfoundland and Labrador, they had moved away, and they hadn’t been back for years. They were stories of ordinary, everyday people who experienced ghostly encounters and unexplained happenings that made them question even their own beliefs and skepticisms. What I come away with from hearing those people’s stories is that no one is immune to seeing a ghost. The entity doesn’t separate background, intelligence, or age or pedigree… the people who submitted their stories to me were rational, educated, levelheaded, intelligent, well read. But yet they experienced these things.”
She said that once she receives a story, she will have a follow up conversation with the person, preferring a face-to-face meeting if they still live in the province.
Many times, folks ask that their real name not be used in the book.
“People might tell a few selected friends, but they don’t want to be known as a person who has experienced the paranormal or have seen a ghost or apparition,” said Lush. “It’s rather embarrassing to them, and they don’t want exposure.”
Most of the stories, but not all, are contemporary stories. Some are connected to well known tragedies, such as the tsunami that hit the Burin Peninsula in 1929. One story takes place during Snowmageddon. Another story details a strange happening a CBS man experienced while out on one of the town’s backroads, while other stories detail the happenings of fairies, spirits, and other phantasmagoric apparitions.
Lush said it’s the element of the unknown that draws folks to stories of the strange and supernatural.
“People don’t want to really discount the supernatural,” said Lush. “Even with science, people think there is more than science, that there is another entity that is working, and people are just fascinated by it. And they want to believe in this, they want to believe that something is out there that can’t be explained, that there is something protecting them, or warning them. They want to go above the normal, above the time and space of normalcy.”
Lush said that she herself believes in elements of the supernatural, although she’s no ghost hunter.
“I think there is an entity out there, but I certainly don’t go around looking for them or think about it a lot,” said Lush. “I believe in premotions and warnings. I believe when you have a dream, it can be some kind of signal.”
Fairies is where she draws the line.
“I’m not a true believer in fairies,” said Lush. “I wrote about them, and there are some stories in the book about fairies, some really interesting stories that are mind boggling. But I would tend to dismiss fairies. And people would probably argue with me about that. But I’m not a believer in fairies at all.”
Lush says she has never seen a ghost, though members of her family claim to have done so.
And although she enjoys writing and collecting ghost stories, in the near future she hopes to focus on writing another novel and more poetry.