By Michael D. Wynne
Is there a ghost in your house?
Probably not, but yet, you may not know of one until you least expect running into them one day soon. What we call ghosts are really manifestations of the spirit world that we don’t fully understand and we are sometimes afraid of.
When I started my book on the spirit world of Central Louisiana two years ago, I didn’t believe in spirits really inhabiting the world around us. So I treated this subject as a reporter would do; I just reported what other people here in CenLa said they saw and what they felt. Based upon the experiences they told me, I now believe, fully believe. How can so many good, decent, honest people, most from different eras, different walks of life, most not even knowing each other, tell the same stories over and over again to me. It is just an impossibility for deception by them and there was no reason for all of these people to make up the stories of their experiences!
There is something going on in Central Louisiana in the deep shadows, often just out of sight of the public casually passing by. Here is just a “taste” of two stories that I have gathered and saved for you:
From the Hotel Bentley:
– Brent J. Maia (August 22, 2019) “I stayed in the bridal suite upstairs. Upon entering the room, I placed my cell phone on the table. It flew across the room onto the floor. Then it kept turning the Jacuzzi on and off. I could feel that the place is so haunted.”
– Kathryn (August 1, 2017) “I worked at the hotel in the late 1990s. We all know that the (hotel) was inhabited with spirits. The (former) owner (Joseph Bentley) likes visiting the dining room. I would straighten the photos in the hallway going to the restroom and, each time, they would be put back crooked. I used to joke with him that he just liked to play jokes. We would always (receive calls at) the front desk about someone coming into the room or someone walking down the hallway. I cannot remember which room … When the customers came to tell us of these things, (it didn’t surprise us) because we all
knew. It was a wonderful place to work because there is so much history there. You could sometimes feel the spirits and see the people of the past …”
From Kent House:
“I was working there for six months when I had my first experience. I had no prior experience with the paranormal and wasn’t expecting to ever have an experience. It was 4 p. m. one day and I was working with Sandy Lott (a former tour guide there) when I went to lock up the gift shop. (The gift shop then was one of the 1830 era slave cabins that came from Augusta Plantation.) Well, I was walking towards the house when I saw an image under the outdoor porch area. The image appeared just five feet away from me.
The image was of a human torso. It was not transparent, but real as plain as day. It looked like a Union Officer’s coat. It was navy blue with two rows of buttons. there were no legs or arms or head that I saw. When I saw it floating at Kent House, I instantly froze. I literally stopped in my tracks. This image was so realistic and stayed floating for about
three seconds and then it disappeared … “
On August 16th , four “victims” of the spirit world will speak of their experiences at public forums on the release of my new book, Haunted Central Louisiana. The forums will be held at the Martin Branch Library at 10am in Pineville and then at 1pm the same date at Kent House. There is no admission cost to attend. You could be one of the very first people to obtain a special edition book and have it signed by the author!
For further information, call (Martin Library) 318-445-6436 or (Kent House) 318-487-5998.
