Impromptu Ghostbusting

On her last night of visiting, we took daughter Erin out for dinner. We were joined by my sister Lisa, her son, Eric, and my lovely wife Robin. Here’s the gang.As the conversation continued into the evening, Erin talk to us about ghosthunting.  Apparently Raleigh, NC contains the largest ghosthunting contingent in the US. And living there, she described some of the mind altering encounters that she and her gang has experienced in the past.  This got us all a bit excited and the more she talked the more we were intrigued about doing this.  After dinner, on the drive back, I decided to take some country roads and have all of us enjoy a huge orange sun that was about to set.  It was then that I happened upon what was known as Western Center (Morganza).  In it’s last stint this was a home for the mentally and physically handicapped.  However, the place was originally built for what were referred to in that day and age as “crazy people”.  We have grown as a people and know much better now how to treat and nurture such souls. However, in the past we learned that was the very kind of place where surgeries, experiments and treatments that would occur which today, would be considered totally inhumane. The place is closed now so we braved past the ‘No Trespassing’ signs as if we didn’t see them. Erin had turned us on to ‘ghost hunting’ with her stories and we were bound and determine to get out, go inside some of these buildings and scare the living bejesus out of each other.  It was a night that we will not soon forget, sneaking and hiding, popping out when the least expected and scaring each other silly.It was just a day later that I was told by a local that this site was the scene for several shoots of the movie, “Silence of the Lambs”.  I only wished I had known that a bit earlier as I could have used it to my advantage is seeking shrills from the other four ‘hunters’.