This isn't entirely a ghost story, but it is a Halloween story. There used to be a big flower and garden store that would do an annual haunted house (Chicago people: Amlings Melrose Park store). I stopped going when I moved away to college. My best friend decided one year that even though we were grown-ups, this would be our year of recalling high school days and going to the haunted house. It was single file in some parts, and she went first. And every time something happened and she screamed, I just burst out laughing. As this went on (and on), she started getting annoyed with me for laughing! By the time we got to the end, she was ready to clobber me. To this day I don't know why I was struck funny by the whole thing. She passed away almost a year ago, and although I still miss her tremendously, this is a happy memory I have of her.

The closest thing I have to a ghost story is the day my grandmother passed away. She was in hospice care and not responsive for a couple of days before she died. One night I dreamed that she came to me and very clearly said, "I haven't had anything to eat or drink for a few days, but I'm all right now." And the next thing I remember after that was the phone ringing - my sister calling to let me know the hospice had called and my grandmother had died in her sleep during the night. I can't explain it, but I remember it well. I can even tell you that she was wearing a lavender sweater in the dream.