Ghost Sightings in Shawano, Wisconsin

Most of us have gathered around a campfire at night after roasting marshmallows and constructing 'smores to tell of a creepy ghost story. The telling of these tales has been tradition throughout the ages. It can be fun to feel spooked by a goose-bump-inducing ghost story. Told by a proficient storyteller and it can be downright hair raising!

Whether you believe in ghosts or not, there are some who claim to have had a ghostly experience or actually have seen a ghost. There are even those who go out with the purpose of locating ghosts. These people are called ghost hunters.

These self-proclaimed ghost experts will likely tell you that there are two kinds of spirits you may come across. The first is a spirit not likely to be dangerous, that used to be a human. This spirit may not even know they're dead and may be here due to some unfinished business. Think the movie Sixth Sense. The second kind of spirit is not good and was never human. These are not as common to encounter and can be dangerous.

So where have these ghosts been seen? Across the United States, there have been many claims of haunted houses and actual ghost sightings. Since I live in Shawano, Wisconsin, I will fill you in on sightings in this location.

After living in Shawano for most of my life, I can tell you that going years back I remember hearing of a haunted house or ghostly place. Someone apparently went into said haunted house and ended up hurt and bleeding between shattered glass already in the house and some spirit force. I can't say whether or not I really believed it, because I didn't experience it. It's hard sometimes to believe in things we don't personally experience, and even then we can be left in a gray area. Among the locals, there are skeptics. By the way some of the people act in this community, I'd say they should think twice before not believing in possession by benevolent forces! Hey, this is my home town so I can say this. Back to ghosts.

There have been several claims in this small city, population of 16,186, of spooky happenings. People in one home have claimed that the ghost of a young air force pilot peers at them through an air vent. In another home, a ghost of an airline pilot can been seen in a mirror and only through the mirror. A young cowboy ghost has been seen often watching a person sleeping in their home.

How would you like to get up for a midnight snack and find a ghost with a man's body and a pig's head sitting at the kitchen table browsing through your newspaper? One Shawano resident claimed to have seen this often. The ghost of a nurse has been spotted in one living room late at night. She's wearing a bloody uniform and watching TV. A blood-soaked young lady plays a piano in one home.

Roadways in and around Shawano have their share of ghosts too. An old lady can be seen carrying a rifle down the middle of one road on the outskirts of Shawano. The ghost of a young man wearing a leather jacket has been observed as he walks his dog late at night down a dark street. Apparently ghosts can keep pets too. On another street around midnight, someone saw a woman with no head and both arms missing. One ghostly fellow, a prospector with a wooden leg, is sometimes seen digging through garbage cans. A military man ghost snoops through people's mailboxes around midnight. A being with a woman's body and a goat's head has been seen crawling out of a manhole in the wee hours of the morning. I wonder if she and the pig-headed man know each other. A female ghost on horseback carries her own head as she saunters along a highway. A hitch hiking civil war ghost has been seen along a dark road.

On a park bench, a headless gentleman is often observed reading a newspaper in the middle of the night. The ghost of an Indian chief can be seen regularly drinking gasoline from a pump at a Shawano gas station. You have to be awful thirsty to drink that! A rather active, frequent ghost wanders in one Shawano parking lot late at night looking under the parked cars. One ghost, a man carrying a sword was seen making a call from a local pay phone. The ghost of a pregnant woman can be witnessed talking into the air as if talking to someone.

Other ghoulish sightings that are a bit more morbid have been claimed too. One Shawano family claims to have often seen a partially decomposed human that's trying on shoes in their home. A skeleton takes a seat at the table in another house. A skeleton-faced being dressed in dark robes was seen walking in a house and actually acknowledged the presence of the home owner.

In a Shawano area hospital, some have seen the ghost of a policeman in uniform walking the hallways. In and around a Shawano high school, a woman with a semi transparent body has been seen walking.

It seems that ghosts can be peeping Toms. The ghost of a lumberjack carrying a large axe has been seen peeping through the windows of one house late at night. Some ghosts have fled when they realized they were seen, and others approached the witness and the frightened witness fled. How do you suppose you would react? Many, if not all, towns across the U.S. have tales of ghost sightings. Real or not, some people say they've seen something out of the norm. Next time you think you're alone, you may want to think again!