In a farmhouse where the doors squeak and the basement is a place not often visited, Pamela Bell tells a ghost story by the fire. This is her farmhouse, but she does not live here anymore. She says a spirit haunting the home has forced her to leave. Even though Pamela feels very uncomfortable here today, she has returned to tell her chilling tale of shaking beds and an evil presence.

• The words "haunt" and "home" derive from the same root. Historically, a haunting is when spirits of dead people or animals return to earth to occupy homes of the living.
• Parapsychologists say some hauntings occur because spirits feel trapped on earth, don't know they're dead or are reluctant to leave. A gentle exorcism sends spirits from haunted houses to the afterlife.

• Ghosts sometimes appear on specific dates. In the British royal house Hampton Court, Christopher Wren's spirit is said to walk the stairs every Feb. 26, the date of his death in 1723.
• James I of England said ghosts were the creations of witches, demons or the devil.

• After the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, the Protestant Church denied the ancient belief that souls of the dead walked the earth. The Catholic Church said ghosts were the souls of sinners waiting in purgatory. Post-Reformation Protestants rejected the notion of purgatory, believing the soul went straight to heaven or hell.

Medium: Television
Program: Conlon’s Ontario
Broadcast Date: Feb. 27, 1979
Reporter: Patrick Conlon
Guest(s): Pamela Bell
Duration: 6:23