Narrator becomes part of the story
The house guest settled in for the night in a metal frame bed at the two story historic home in Blackshear.
The air felt heavy and there was an eerie feeling in the air.
Suddenly, the bed begins shaking violently — the metal feet scraping the hardwood floor.
“I was absolutely frozen. I ripped my sleep mask off and looked for whoever — or whatever was shaking the bed. There was nothing in the room but darkness and no sound but silence.
So tells Kayla Braswell Finger about the time she encountered a ghost, a spirit, a haint — something — in her native Pierce County.
Finger is a native of Mershon and a 2011 graduate of Pierce County High School.
She and her husband, Davis, now reside in Lavonia. She is the finance director for the City of Lavonia.
Finger relates that she was in town for a wedding when the incident occurred.
She describes herself as someone who loves spooky things and Halloween and previously co-hosted a podcast centered on sharing spooky southern tales.
Finger said she enjoys ghost stories and related tales and had that very night shared details of local ghost stories and hauntings.
“Being the true southern woman that I am, of course I had to do my part by entertaining them with a good spooky tale,” she says.
“It was late in the evening and we had practiced the wedding ceremony and everyone was filled with excitement and joy for our friends who were getting married. No one was ready for bed, and there’s not too terribly much to do in Blackshear after dark... so (w)e walked to city park and I told them about the Hanging Jail and the ghost on Church Street. The Church Street tale was featured on the Discovery Channel show The Dead Files, several years ago.
During the walk, she felt a strange vibe.
“I had felt something watching me and following me ever since I told the story,” she said.
She said she felt restless, but turned in for the night and managed to drift of to the sleep.
And then... the shaking began. “It lasted what felt like forever. In reality, it probably didn’t last longer than a few minutes. I kept waiting for one of the girls to jump on the bed and laugh saying they were just messing with me but there was no sound other than the snores of the girl I was sharing the room with. I whipped my head back and forth scanning through the dark and there was nothing. Not a soul. I understood in that moment what folks mean when they say their blood ran cold. Every hair on my head was standing on end. I began to try to wake my slumbering roommate but she was out cold. I turned on my phone flashlight and laid awake in the darkness, utterly terrified.”
Finger said that was not the only strange occurrence that night.
She said before her alarm went off the next morning, she heard singing coming from the bathroom where the bridal party would be getting ready the next day.
She thought it was the soloist at the wedding rehearsing her music.
“Later that morning, when we were getting ready, I mentioned to her that I heard her practicing earlier and she sounded great. She looked at me, all perplexed, and proceeds to tell me that she had only just woken up. Needless to say I was so ready to get out of that place. After the wedding I insisted someone accompany me upstairs to get my belongings. I haven’t been back since.”
Finger says she still enjoys ghost stories and Halloween, but she doesn’t want to be an active participant in them.
“I just want to be able to tell the stories, not be in them,” she said.
