# Trying to identify a short ghost story I read as a kid.



## wilsondm2 (Dec 8, 2008)

Ok - I have been looking for this story for years now. 

I remember reading it around 5th or 6th grade (mid-70's) I think it was in a collection of short stories with a silver embossed paperback cover. I borrowed from the school library.

The story was something about a guy (reporter) who had to stay in a room in a haunted house overnight and broadcast the whole time. He ended up going insane or something I think.

This may have been the first story in the collection.

I just remember enjoying the whole book and checking it out several times. But I can't remember anything else.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Dwayne


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Sorry, couldn't find the book but this may be the movie adaptation:








Luther Heggs (Don Knotts) is a newspaper typesetter who dreams of being a full-fledged reporter. To help newspaper sales, Luther is assigned to spend the night in the old abandoned Simmons house, on the 20th anniversary of the night when Mr. and Mrs. Simmons were murdered. Everything goes well until Luther sees the old organ begin to play by itself at midnight. His story makes him a town hero until a nephew of the Simmons, accusses him on making the whole story up. They all go back to the Simmons House at midnight to find out the truth.


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## TheAutomaton (May 20, 2009)

I remember that movie. Ha


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Jeff said:


> Sorry, couldn't find the book but this may be the movie adaptation:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That was my first thought when I read the original post.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Gertie Kindle 'Turn to Page 390' said:


> That was my first thought when I read the original post.


What's the saying about great minds?


Spoiler



They hijack the same threads.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Jeff said:


> What's the saying about great minds?
> 
> 
> Spoiler
> ...


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## wilsondm2 (Dec 8, 2008)

Thanks guys, no that's not it - the story I remember was very very creepy. Don Knotts it wasn't. But thanks!


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## sixnsolid (Mar 13, 2009)

Alfred Hitchcock did a series of two or three collections of scary stories for kids.  Could it have been one of them?


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## wilsondm2 (Dec 8, 2008)

no i've checked them


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## Susan in VA (Apr 3, 2009)

Just sent an email to my friend who's a children's librarian...  with luck she'll know.


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## wilsondm2 (Dec 8, 2008)

Susan in VA said:


> Just sent an email to my friend who's a children's librarian... with luck she'll know.


thanks susan! did a silverburg do any ghost stories? that rings a bell for some reason.


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

Could it be this guy?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Silverberg


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## Null (May 20, 2009)

There was a radio drama done on the old "Suspense" show about a cynical reporter who was dared to spend the night in a haunted house, and, um, would have regretted it if the ending allowed that.  Alas, I can't remember the title or author but I have several thousand of those shows around on MP3.  I will taka a look and post what I can find.


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## Bullymom (Dec 18, 2008)

I don't know if this helps, but this sounds like a short Tales from the Crypt story called Televsion Terror with Morton Downey Jr. He plays a sleezy talk show host who broadcasts live from in a haunted house, making fun of it, and well, it ends badly for him. They may have taken it from the story you are remembering.


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## Silver (Dec 30, 2008)

Boy, do I remember this story.  One of the creepiest ever.  It stuck with me through the years - well, everything but the title and author.  I'm emailing my sister now because it was a shivery favorite of hers, too.  I'm hoping her memory might be better than mine for the title.  Will let you know.


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

I keep thinking I know it, too -- but it might just be such an archetypal thing that it seems familiar.


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## TheAutomaton (May 20, 2009)

Michelle, I think the reason why you feel like you "know" the story is because it seems to be a very pervasive theme. I mean, look at these posts. This plotline apparently has appeared in every form possible. A Tales from the Crypt episode, a short story for children, a comedic movie, a radio show.


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## wilsondm2 (Dec 8, 2008)

See I thought Robert Silverburg might be the author too, but his work seems to be predominantly sci-fi.

The Tales from the Crypt episode is very similar. But IMDB doesn't show it to be based on a short story.

I may have stories confused, but did it have a ghost in it that could only be seen during the day? and not at night?

I'm glad someone else remembers it maybe, it was super eerie and I always liked it. I seem to remember it to be like a trade paperback size and silver embossed cover. 

And I don't know if it was specifically a 'children's story' I just know I got it at my school library around 5th or 6th grade.


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

TheAutomaton said:


> Michelle, I think the reason why you feel like you "know" the story is because it seems to be a very pervasive theme. I mean, look at these posts. This plotline apparently has appeared in every form possible. A Tales from the Crypt episode, a short story for children, a comedic movie, a radio show.


Yes, that's what I meant by archetypal. 

It's now such a part of the collective mind that it feels like we've seen the movie, read the story, heard the urban legend...

It's Hill House, Hell House, Tales from The Crypt, X-Files, Room 1408, something from an episode of Hitchcock, part of an anthology...


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## koolmnbv (Mar 25, 2009)

It sounds familiar to me as well, I'm gonna keep looking for this one because it's been stuck in my mind.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

Okay, since people are helping to identify a story, maybe you can help me with one I've wanted to re-find for years. This is what I remember:

A man is unhappy, fed up and sick of his life. He sees an ad (on the subway, maybe?) for some sort of travel agent. He goes to the office and the travel agent basically tells him he can send him to a utopian paradise, but he has to believe in the method of transport. They are in a high-rise office building and he points to the window of another office building just a few feet away. He explains that in normal travel they'd have to go down the elevator, out of the building, into the next building and back up the elevator. But this "special" transport is just like crossing from one window to another. 

The unhappy guy is hooked and says yes, he believes, he wants to go. How much does it cost? The travel agent says, whatever you have in your pocket which turns out to be something like $1.21. The travel agent takes the money, gives him an address and says to go there on such-and-so date (about a week away).

The guy goes to the address and it turns out to be a big barn. He goes in and there are people sitting on benches. He sits down, too. No one is talking. The guy waits a long time and begins to think this is all very weird and that everyone is being cheated out of their money. He tries to get the people to talk to him but no one will. Eventually he decides this is a scam and runs out of the barn. There is a blink and the barn disappears and he is standing in an empty field.

He goes back to the travel agent and explains what happened. The travel agent has no idea what he is talking about and acts like the guy is a crazy person. Maybe the guy even starts ranting and the travel agent threatens to call the police? Just as the guy is about to leave, the travel agent says, "Oh by the way, you left this here last time, I have no idea why," and hands him the $1.21.

Anyone know what this is?

L


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## VondaZ (Apr 21, 2009)

Leslie said:


> The guy goes to the address and it turns out to be a big barn. He goes in and there are people sitting on benches. He sits down, too. No one is talking. The guy waits a long time and begins to think this is all very weird and that everyone is being cheated out of their money. He tries to get the people to talk to him but no one will. Eventually he decides this is a scam and runs out of the barn. There is a blink and the barn disappears and he is standing in an empty field.
> 
> He goes back to the travel agent and explains what happened. The travel agent has no idea what he is talking about and acts like the guy is a crazy person. Maybe the guy even starts ranting and the travel agent threatens to call the police? Just as the guy is about to leave, the travel agent says, "Oh by the way, you left this here last time, I have no idea why," and hands him the $1.21.
> 
> Anyone know what this is?


I believe this is a short story by Jack Finney called "Of Missing Persons." Here is info from Wikipedia on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_Missing_Persons


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

VondaZ said:


> I believe this is a short story by Jack Finney called "Of Missing Persons." Here is info from Wikipedia on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_Missing_Persons


This is why I love KindleBoards. I have been wondering about this story (off and on) for years...I mean, like 40 years or so, since I first read it...and now, in the space of an hour, I have the answer. Thanks, Vonda!

Reading the description on Wiki, I am amazed at how many of the details I remember! Now I have to see if I can track down a copy to re-read.

L


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

For anyone who is curious about this story, it was originally published in Good Housekeeping. You can read it at this link:

http://homepage.mac.com/cssfan/jackfinney/ghk550300050.htm

6105 words, a short read.

L


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## MichelleR (Feb 21, 2009)

Here's one.

When I was a kid I read a book about a girl named Amber who went to spent the summer with her uncle, aunt, and male cousins. There was some sort of mystery involving an old house and two elderly ladies, and Amber hides in their strom cellar among the preserves and canned goods.  At some point a skunk ends up in a pool, I think.


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## CS (Nov 3, 2008)

Leslie said:


> A man is unhappy, fed up and sick of his life. He sees an ad (on the subway, maybe?) for some sort of travel agent. He goes to the office and the travel agent basically tells him he can send him to a utopian paradise, but he has to believe in the method of transport. They are in a high-rise office building and he points to the window of another office building just a few feet away. He explains that in normal travel they'd have to go down the elevator, out of the building, into the next building and back up the elevator. But this "special" transport is just like crossing from one window to another.
> 
> The unhappy guy is hooked and says yes, he believes, he wants to go. How much does it cost? The travel agent says, whatever you have in your pocket which turns out to be something like $1.21. The travel agent takes the money, gives him an address and says to go there on such-and-so date (about a week away).
> 
> ...


I decided to create a Mobipocket file for this story because it sounds so fascinating and I want to read it on my Kindle. I assume there's nothing illegal about doing that since it's already available for free on the web. My file contains the correct metadata for the title and author, so everything will look good on your Kindle. If anyone is interested, PM me with your e-mail address and I'll send it over.


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## Null (May 20, 2009)

This is the script of the old "Suspense" show I mentioned, called "Ghost Hunt."

http://www.genericradio.com/show.php?id=37R8RN96A

It was based on a story by H.R. Wakefield, which is probably the original version of the guy-alone-in-a-haunted-house story we all seem to have heard of.


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## Carol Hanrahan (Mar 31, 2009)

Does anybody remember The Ghost of Dibble Hollow?  I loved that story....


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

CS said:


> I decided to create a Mobipocket file for this story because it sounds so fascinating and I want to read it on my Kindle. I assume there's nothing illegal about doing that since it's already available for free on the web. My file contains the correct metadata for the title and author, so everything will look good on your Kindle. If anyone is interested, PM me with your e-mail address and I'll send it over.


I think this is completely legit since it is on the web. All you have to do is copy and paste.

Let me know what you think of the story, CS!

L


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## Null (May 20, 2009)

Carol Hanrahan said:


> Does anybody remember The Ghost of Dibble Hollow? I loved that story....


I still have that Scholastic book somewhere...I remember the cover art perfectly, but naught about the story (except that SPOILER ALERT the ghost was actually a SPOILER ALERT good guy).


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## Carol Hanrahan (Mar 31, 2009)

Null said:


> I still have that Scholastic book somewhere...I remember the cover art perfectly, but naught about the story (except that SPOILER ALERT the ghost was actually a SPOILER ALERT good guy).


I still have the book too! I loved getting those scholastic books! I even remember how they smelled, right out of the box as the teacher handed them out!


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## Meredith Sinclair (May 21, 2009)

Carol Hanrahan said:


> I still have the book too! I loved getting those scholastic books! I even remember how they smelled, right out of the box as the teacher handed them out!


Funny, my nine-year-old does the same thing I used to do when I eas her age... she takes them out of her backpack and puts them to her nose and sniffs them! I remember LoVing the smell when I was a kid, and never thought about it until I saw her do it... brings back wonderful memories... before mortgages and taxes!


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