Hi,

My Mother and I had an experience about 17 years ago which still haunts us today. I know it sounds strange to be bothered by something that happened so long ago, but neither of us can get it out of our heads or make any sense of the experience. We were staying at a hotel on East Mechanic Street in Cape May Court House. We were in one of the efficiencies at the very end of the hotel, bordered in the back by woods. On our first night there, we heard loud footsteps in the room above us, paceing back and forth for hours at a time. Upon calling the front desk to ask if we could move to another room, we were informed that there was no one staying above us. Things got worse as the night progressed.

When we finally turned the lights off, we were almost asleep when I got an incredible feeling of fear and evil (have always been extremely sensitive) and felt this "whooshing" feeling go over my bed. I jumped up and turned the light on, fully expecting to see some kind of hulking demon standing next to my bed. Nothing was there, but I could see that my mom was equally freaked out. She had felt something as well, and something had bumped into her bed, making it shake.

For some insane reason, we stayed there, for two more nights. There was a micro fridge in the little kitchen, and this red gooey stuff kept coming out from under it. We moved the fridge and could not find where it was coming from. Nothing inside it, either. We would clean it up, but it kept coming back. For three days we felt feelings of dread and evil.

The scariest part of the whole thing is that we seemed to be in some kind of a brain fog the whole time. Looking back, I cannot believe that we didn't leave. We can hardly remember much of the days we were there, except for the fear and the scary incidents, which we both remember in detail. I know "controlled" is a strong word, but it seemed as if we were. Again, I cannot stress the word "evil" enough. A few years ago, I decided I would like to go back down there for a little sleuthing and ghost hunting (and closure) but Mom made me promise never to set foot in Cape May Court House again. I'm almost 40, but I guess sometimes its still best to listen to your mother!

I was just wondering if you have any other reports of hauntings in the vicinity. I believe the place was called the Hy-Land Motor Inn. Just looking for a possible explanation and some closure. Thanks so much.

Hi,
Sorry about the delay in getting back to you...
SJGR has done a lot of investigations down the shore and in the Cape May Courthouse area, but I can't say we have done the Motor Inn. We guarantee our clients confidentiality when we investigate.
Generally speaking, areas such as the Jersey Shore region with so much salt water in the vicinity, typically are more prone to paranormal activity. Salt water is a great conductor of energy and there's always a lot of activity reported in this region.
As for your experience at the Motor Inn, I don't want to downplay what happened to you, but possibly put it in another light to help you get the closure you are looking for... Spirits keep the same personality in the afterlife they had here on Earth. It could be this spirit didn't want anyone staying in the room they may have felt was "their space". Without being able to speak or otherwise tell you so, they may have chosen to try to get you to leave another way... by creating the sound of footsteps. When that didn't seem to work, they may have tried to scare you by getting closer and creating that "whooshing" sound. You may very well have been picking up on the feelings of anger because the spirit wanted you to know you weren't welcome in their space. However, this doesn't mean the spirit was evil.
Another possibility is that the spirit actually did welcome you and your mother, and wanted to let you know of their presence. They created the footsteps sound to get your attention and when you stayed the night with them, they tried getting closer to you. We find in our research this is what most spirits are doing--looking for recognition and acknowledgement of their presence. Again, the situation is scary, but not really evil.
If you would like to talk more about any this, please feel free to contact me directly. I'll be happy to discuss your experiences with you.

Best Wishes,

Maureen Carroll
Assistant Director
South Jersey Ghost Research
[email protected]