José Andrés Céspedes Campos, For The Mountain Times
Feeling the presence of a ghost can be a traumatic experience for many people, but for the staff at the hotel where I’ve worked for the past few months, it’s as irrelevant as seeing a leaf fall from a tree.
My name is Jose, I’m from Costa Rica, and during the winter I worked as a bartender at a resort located in the small, cozy town of Welches, Oregon. At this hotel, the staff aren’t afraid to confirm that the place is haunted.
For me, as someone who has never experienced anything supernatural, hearing this not only made me laugh, but I was also intrigued that everyone was joining in to tell the same joke. Because for me, at least for the first few months I was there, I always took it as just that: a joke.
However, as time went by, I began to hear more and more stories from the staff about the supposed ghosts that inhabit the hotel. What surprised me most was the confidence, seriousness, and calmness that people had when they told these stories.
Because they never told them with fear or trauma, but rather with lightness, honesty and openness. The question that always came to mind was: why do these people insist so much on this “joke”?
After some research on the internet, I realized they weren’t the only ones who claimed the place was haunted. Articles and documentaries online corroborated that some other people had felt and seen strange things at the hotel and even shared “proof” of it.
And I say “proof” because evidently no photo or video shows a ghost like Casper saying hello or a diabolical spirit like those shown in horror movies. But there are images that make you think.
However, what personally impressed me the most about this story is that most of the resort’s workers seem to have no problem dealing with these ghosts during their work shifts.
Several cooks told me that, while peeling potatoes and cutting tomatoes, they felt ghosts that were passing behind them, either because they sensed their presence through the air or because they (the ghosts) threw things on the floor, as if they were playing.
The receptionists assured me they heard footsteps on the floors above and in the hallways, and even the resort manager told me a story about a day when the supposed ghosts called the front desk several times to fool the staff.
What really intrigued me most about all this was the way these people told these stories. Without fear. Laughing. With disinterest, but with great sincerity. You could see in their eyes that they were telling the truth, and that’s when I got scared.
Because a few weeks before finishing my seasonal work at the hotel, I realized it was never a joke and that apparently the place really is haunted, but, as strange as it may seem, no one cares and everyone feels at peace working there.
In the end, luckily, I returned to Costa Rica without having experienced any encounters with a ghost, but with a question I’d never asked myself in my entire life: do ghosts really exist? But more than that: can ghosts be friends?
For now, the answer I have to those two questions is “yes,” but I sincerely hope I never find out.