There’s something we should talk about. It’s been the elephant in the room for a while. It’s changed our entire lives and turned the world upside down. I’m talking about COVID-19. Coronavirus.
It’s maddening to think how much our lives have changed since this virus invaded our world. And there’s something that people are hesitant to talk about. But, it’s important. Sometimes, we want to wait before we talk about these difficult things. This is because we want to give the living enough time to grieve and process, and we want to basically respect a boundary.
Yet, the news has seemed to beat us to these tough conversations. For this blog, I’m straying away from the spooky stories from the past and let’s talk about what’s happening now and how to process it. Let’s dive into it head on. This is spooky, but I’m going to keep this respectful. The intention is to have a conversation about this, so please feel free to leave comments and share your thoughts.
Noticing Spirits More
So, when COVID-19 hit the United States, we went into lockdown. The entire world went into lockdown. We found ourselves in our homes way more often than we’re used to.
Now, this wasn’t a dramatic change for some because they are homebound. But for the general population, this was a completely new way of existing and living for the sake of staying safe. After the lockdowns were enforced, the New York Times released an article of how more people were reporting that their houses were haunted.
I even released a blog last year about how to survive quarantine with a ghost because I was getting an uptick in questions and case submissions. Of course, because of COVID, my team and I had to push the pause button on our residential cases. But, I was doing Zoom calls and consultations with folks who felt like they had a ghost in their house.
Language of the House
Given that people found themselves home much more than usual, I wasn’t surprised that this was happening. In fact, when we do residential cases and our clients consist of a married couple, the spouse that’s home the most is usually the one reporting the activity. Conventionally, this is usually the stay-at-home wife and mom. The husband will be there for moral support, but he doesn’t believe it as much because he’s not home to experience it.
And with the lockdowns, all of a sudden, people were home all the time. But there’s two sides to this. This is my skeptical-side talking. If someone hasn’t been home much since moving in, they might not be that familiar with everything in their home. Meaning, they might not know that a truck drives back Monday through Friday three streets over that causes the cabinets to open and shut.
They’re being forced to get to know all the sounds and movements their house makes. And if they didn’t know that’s what their house does, then it’s no surprise that they may interpret that as paranormal.
Then, talking from my believer side, I can totally see this happening. Like, the ghost in your house is able to relax and expel energy while you’re gone. But now that you’re home all the time, you and the ghost have to find a way to co-exist.
Lack of Closure
So, this is one side of the paranormal during the COVID-19 pandemic. This next part is a bit more sad.
Over 600,000 people in the United States have died from COVID-19 at the time of this video. Worldwide, almost 4 million have died. The deaths surrounding COVID-19 are exceptionally sad because when the dying were in the hospital, they more than likely died alone. They weren’t able to be with their families as they died.
This very much reminds me of the soldiers and families that died during the Civil War, or any war for that matter. Lack of closure, the inability to say goodbye. It’s no coincidence that certain periods of time, like war, are tied to more hauntings than just the average chapter in history.
I feel like, like the plague or the Spanish Flu, illnesses that have a lot of paranormal lore tied to them, we will continue to see reports of people interacting with the ghosts of their loved ones who died from COVID-19. And it seems, because of this lack of closure, is it possible that spirits of our loved ones are trying harder to make contact with us?
Saying Goodbye
In June 2021, CNN’s John Blake released an article titled, “They lost their loved ones to Covid. Then they heard from them again.” Last fall, Ian Horne lost his wife Michelle, who died from complications of COVID-19. Of course, losing a spouse is devastating, especially when they’re young.
So, Ian, who works as a radio DJ, was driving to work. It was pre-dawn, early in the morning, so it was dark. As he was driving, he noticed that about two dozen streetlights on his route turned purple. Which is weird. Especially since Michelle’s favorite color was purple. When Ian contacted the city about the lights, they attributed it to a defective batch.
The article also tells the story of Jamie Jackson, who lost her “Aunt Pat”, who died from complications of COVID-19. She had a heart attack. The hardest part for Jamie is that she couldn’t be physically present with her aunt while she was dying.
About seven months after her Aunt Pat’s death, it was Christmas time and Jamie was using her Aunt’s decorations. She left her bin of decorations in the hallway, and went to get something.
When Jamie came back, she saw a translucent figure looking in the bin. The figure was the same height, had the same haircut, and wearing the same clothes her aunt would wear. Jamie freaks out and runs to her dining room to calm herself down. When she went back into the hallway, the figure was gone.
Choosing Our Form
One more story. Marie Pina was living in Manitoba, Canada teaching English as a second language when the COVID-19 outbreak started.
Her 79-year old mother had been in the hospital and she was just about to be released when she tested positive for COVID. Her mother, Inez, was put in isolation. About a month later, her mother was sent home, but she became significantly weaker. Her mother died about four months later.
On the morning of her mother’s death, Marie was reaching for her slippers when she felt her mother touch her shoulder. According to Marie, she saw her mother when she looked up. Her mother was about 20 years younger and was just looking straight ahead. Then, a little bit later, Marie was making her mom’s favorite soup when she smelled her mother’s perfume.
I have a feeling that these three stories aren’t the only ones we’ll see in the future.
