Local tales of the weird and unexplained

Anice young woman asked me recently,

“You have any more ghost stories?” referring to a column I’d written about encounters local folks had with the supernatural a few years ago. I told her no but after giving it some thought, I realized I had indeed come across more tales of the weird and unexplained in the Lodi area.

A friend of the family lives on a small farm with his wife and two young sons north of Acampo. It was the middle of the night and the youngest son, about age 3, came running into his parents’ bedroom. He yelled that there was a man in the living room. Their big dog was barking and howling and the dad ran to defend his clan. The dog stood in the middle of the living room motionless, staring straight ahead, snarling at something unseen. The father couldn’t figure out what the dog was growling at. The dog was riled up and looked like it was ready to attack but there was no one in the room. The dad checked all of the doors and windows and found that everything was locked.

The same thing happened a few nights later. Again, everything locked up, no one in the room. The parents contacted a relative who was a medium. She checked the house and explained that children and animals are much more sensitive to spirits than adults. She went on to say the man the boy and their dog saw was the ghost of the guy who lived on the farm 70 years ago. She banished the spirit from the house and everything has been quiet ever since.

My wife’s cousin was the co-owner of a small restaurant near the Lodi 12 theater a few years ago. She cleaned the business thoroughly, locked up, and went home at about midnight. When she returned the next morning she found five drops of what appeared to be blood in the bathroom sink and a layer of parmesan cheese spread evenly across one of the tables in the dining room. She was sure she’d cleaned everything before she left and she was the only person who had a key to the front door. There was no evidence of a break-in.

The next night she and a server cleaned everything including the bathroom and the dining area. They made a mental note of the condition of both areas before she locked up and went home.

She came back the next morning, unlocked the front door, and walked in. There was parmesan cheese spread across the same table. She shivered as she started to walk towards the door of the restroom. She slowly opened the door, heart pounding, breathing heavily and saw … five drops of blood on the sink. She let out a scream and ran out.

A medium eventually checked the business and told her an old man named “Tom” was the spirit who left her the surprises. She and her staff eventually made friends with the ghost even taking time to shout, “Good night Tom” as they locked up for the night.

We used to conduct police department training in the big empty buildings at the old Stockton State Hospital on Harding Way in Stockton. We finished up and everyone headed home. I was all alone as I waited for someone to come and lock up. I was standing in the dorm where children with severe mental issues had resided 20 years ago. It was completely quiet and still. Suddenly I felt something brush me across my lower back. I spun around and saw nothing was there. It was as if a little hand had touched me.

I had a badge and a gun but I quickly realized they were of no use while taking on kids from the other side. I quickly walked/jogged/sprinted down the hall and out the door, leaving my dignity and my disbelief behind.

There’s more going on out there than you realize. Open your eyes and your mind and you’ll be surprised what you see. It’s spooky and it’s real and it happens all the time, not just on October 31. Happy Halloween.