This story was shared by artist/educator/friend Michelle Sarkisian over breakfast at Lucky’s Cafe one morning. We were absolutely hanging on her every word!
“Every place I’ve ever lived has been haunted. Since I was a little kid, I remember seeing things, feeling things, all the typical cold spots, uneasy feelings like, someone’s here but I don’t understand how.” It was mostly my grandparents house in Holden that was... haunted as heck.
The things I remember most happened in high school. My grandmother and I would both, on different occasions, hear the other person calling them when we weren’t. I’d be sitting upstairs on the bathroom floor putting on make up and I’d hear her voice calling me. I’d be like, “What? What?” Finally I’d get up and go to the top of the stairs and yell, “WHAT?!” She’d yell back, “Nobody’s talking to you! Why are you such a grouchy teenager?” I’d say, “ I just heard you calling me for like 10 minutes!”
Or the opposite would happen. She’d come upstairs and say, “What do you want?” I’d be in my room hanging out. I didn’t want anything. “Nothing. “ So that would happen.
You’d put something somewhere, and you’d KNOW you put it there—gone within hours. Days later, it would reappear in the same spot. It drove me crazy.
The scariest thing that happened- and it’s like a two parter- and I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but I was walking to Friendly’s one night, which is no longer there- so sad. Friendly’s was haunted, by the way. We had some pretty weird stuff happen in the back, so we were pretty sure that Friendly’s in Holden had some former employees lingering. But, I was walking to Friendly’s. It was warm- towards the end of the school year. I was walking down Orchard Road, you know, where Rice School is? Orchard is the road that runs behind it and I was cutting through.
Anyway, there was a guy standing in someone’s yard. It was dark and he was set back a little. He was dressed in all black and was standing in the shadows; I couldn’t really see him. I could see he was smoking a cigarette. I was like, “That’s creepy.” I kept walking by and there was this fenced in area where these people would put their dog, and there was another tree on the other side [of the yard]. When I looked over, he was already leaning up against the other tree. I didn’t hear a thing. I should have heard footsteps, heard him climb the fence- something. But he was there, and still just a dark shadow.
I ran. I ran through the baseball field, down the street, and to the front door of Friendly’s where I was all out of breath. Never once did I look behind me.
That night though, and for about a week afterwards, I was having the most frightening dreams I’ve ever had. Hooded figures were after me in every single dream. I’d wake up and realize it was a dream. Whatever. I’d try to go back to sleep. So, the last time I had a dream like that, the hooded figures were actually in my house. I was walking towards them, and one of them reached out towards me- and I woke up. I sat up in bed. Terrifying dream, right? I look over towards my bedroom door and see that it’s closing. Now, I don’t sleep with my bedroom door closed- I don’t like being shut in rooms, for some reason. I don’t know. I just don’t like sleeping in a closed room. So, I figured it was my grandmother so I ran over and opened it. No one was there. I peeked into my grandparents’ room; they were dead asleep. Okaaaaay. I just work up. Maybe I imagined it. I mean, I’ve been having crazy dreams, blah blah blah. I propped the door open with a trashcan or soothing that was there, and went back to bed.
The minute my head hit the pillow, it felt like something just pinned me- just pinned me to the bed. I couldn’t move. I could feel the bed shaking, and I started trying to scream for my grandmother. All I could do was open my mouth; I couldn’t get any sound to come out. Then the room started getting blacker and blacker and blacker. It almost went pitch dark, then it just... stopped.
Almost immediately, because I’d been struggling so much, about fell out of the bed. I ran out into the hallway and found my grandmother’s old family bible, my first communion cross, and started flipping on all of the lights. I was sitting against the wall in the corner of my room terrified. TERRIFIED!
The next day, I moved my bed to the other side of the room and changed things around. I was still terrified. I started sleeping with the lights on. My grandmother would sneak in at night to try to shut the lights out, but I’d wake up right away and say, “Don’t turn that light off!” I had a flashlight under my pillow, the works. I was terrified for a long time. That was really the scariest- the only really threatening feeling I’ve ever had. I’ve had other experiences where I’d been touched. In my house in Rutland, I’d feel fingers running through my hair or feel things getting on the bed just to rest. That was all fine. But that... in Holden... that was the scariest.”