Never seek it out
The image above is a picture Waverly Hills Sanatorium taken on a blistering, Saturday night. For the Dead travel fast, but even they appear unable to escape the oppressive Summer heat, in which we find ourselves. Or maybe they went to Summer, somewhere more hospitable?
But I digress.
I had occasion to visit Waverly Hills for the first time, hence the photo to immortalize the event. Waverly Hills has been described, to put it bluntly, as super-haunted. I first found out about it from the film, “Death Tunnel”, which is named after the tunnel used to transport bodies, beneath the sanatorium, during the TB epidemic. The movie has little bearing on the actual experience, but at least put the sanatorium on my radar as a place to visit.
During the tour, visitors are lead to the 4th floor where they are told that unnamed atrocities occurred, during the time of a hospital that took over, after the sanatorium. When asked by our guide, who in our group wanted to proceed to the end of the shadow-haunted hallway, I immediately raised my hand and became something a tad less introverted in my excitement. After a few minutes, the guide asked if I was standing in the middle of the hallway I confirmed that I was and she described several, spectral visitors about me. Did I see or “experience” anything of what she was telling me?
No.
No ghosts or specters resolved themselves, during the two hour tour to me personally, but I recommend the experience of taking the tour. And this is where we intersect with these week’s title. I took an American Folklore class, while I was in school and one day the instructor noted how the class had a guest speaker once. I don’t remember all the particulars of his describing the speaker’s discussion save one part, and that was the speaker saying, “never seek out a supernatural occurrence.”
I asked.
Oh, believe me, I asked, what would happen, if you did do the very thing that said speaker said not to do.
Unfortunately, my professor was unforthcoming with the details that I desired.
So, I had to create my own.
Does this mean I’ve been bouncing about the country seeking out this forbidden thing that I was once told, not to do?
No.
Although, I did have the opportunity to visit the lovely Waverly Hills and remind myself of one of the “whys” of Harmony.
Harmony does this very thing and her actions allowed me to create the “what if” scenario of someone seeking out a supernatural experience via “The Bleed Chronicles” and the first book in that series, “Harmony”. More on this next week.