I have a couple that were passed down to me from older relatives in Ireland.

Poe, of course. The great literary ones. I'm a snob, I guess. otherwise not a fan of fantasy fiction. And, for what it's worth, of course there's no such thing as ghosts. There's nothing supernatural, period.

that have been said to be haunted. If there's a guide I usually ask if anyone has seen a ghost there and the answer is often yes. Only time I got a total denial was from a guide at the Octagon House in DC, which has had reports of hauntings.

Many years ago I was visiting Boulder CO... my company put me up in the Boulderado Hotel and I was assigned a room on the third floor. I had no idea that this hotel was "haunted" and wouldn't believe ghost stories even had I heard about them.

Anyway, I went to bed relatively early and woke up around 3am by the intense smell of bacon frying... And at first I thought "great... it must be around 6 and the kitchen is getting busy and I just happen to have a direct ventilation to the kitchen". Then I checked the clock. WTF? Got out of bed and even went into the corridor to see if maybe a room next to mine someone had a hotplate and was making themselves a late night BLT. Nothing. The smell was only in my room and was strongest in the corner next to the closet. The ventilation grill was near the window.

As I checked out in morning I mentioned to the desk clerk about the smell... and he just laughed and said "well, I see that "Sally" was with you in 302 last night".

This was before the renovations that renumbered the rooms and which now leave the room I was as office / work space.

I'm a scientist and not a "believer"... but I sure can't explain it.

I've written a couple myself.

The Haunting Of Hill House ..

I got goosebumps just reading your post. One of my all time favorites!

is Chicagos Non-fiction Ghost-Host Ursula Bielski. Always a fun read.

If well written, ghost stories can be sublime and make you believe, even if just for a time! The creepy factor can stay with you. Movie adaptations can be harder to pull off, but "The House on Haunted Hill" (Vincent Price version) made a lasting impression on the younger me. "They're coming for me now...and then they'll be coming for YOU!"--Classic!

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Peter Straub, but here's some real-life ghost stories compiled by Reader's Digest:

https://www.rd.com/article/ghost-stories/
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