Hallways and corridors are another favorite area for ghostly sightings, probably because their length can accommodate an eerie play of depth and distance. —PINTEREST
Remember the film “The Others”? The Hollywood interpretation of the Spanish film “Los Otros,” which was set post-World War II and starred Nicole Kidman as Grace, the protective mother living with her children in a beautiful English manor that was beset by hauntings, with strangers showing up unexpectedly, as if they owned the house. Well, it eventually turns out that they did.
Ghost stories thrill us to no end, and largely because we are conditioned in our Catholic upbringing to believe in the afterlife, in the concept that the souls of the departed outlive their bodies, and dwell in either heaven, or hell, or among us. In books and movies, hauntings happen mostly in homes, in the spaces closest to us and to people’s hearts. These are the spaces where our earthly activities happen in the company of those we love.
Often there are sightings of ethereal figures or the souls of the departed, but at other times, they may be present in the form of other entities, elementals or even as paranormal activity.
In the work that we do as architects and designers, we’ve had our fair share of ghost stories.
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Attics are the classic spirit spaces, because their contents usually carry the ‘energies’ of its past use or user. Keep it bright and allow some ventilation to discourage habitation.
I remember an old house we renovated in a popular mountain resort area that was empty for a long while before this new owner took possession of it. During renovations, none of the contractor’s workers would go into the basement alone, for they claimed the doors moved. They narrated that the dismounted door panels that were set against the walls while being repainted moved forward, defying gravity. Then there were stories of the “dark man” in the master bedroom who liked to roam the space, often sitting on the bed, and occasionally visiting the walk-in closet.
One day I went into the room, and in my mind, asked Mr. “dark man” to leave everyone alone, declaring that the work would be done soon and it would be quiet for him once again. The door slammed. Was there any wind? I’m really not sure now, but I definitely remember being scared as hell while standing calm and pretending that I was the authority in that room. I held my space and my composure until fortunately, the site engineer came into the room to discuss some issues.
