O'Neill's Ghostories This Week: Eternal Flames

Eternal Flames
from Joe McKenzie
Hailing From: Calhoun, GA
Where it Happened: At a friend's church

I can't imagine anything spookier than the inside of a large, dimly-lit church at three o'clock in the morning. Nonetheless, that is where I found myself one early morning in the winter of 1977.

I was staying over at a friend's house one Friday night after school. He lived across the street from a large Methodist church where his congregation was sponsoring an all-night prayer vigil (for reasons that I have long forgotten). Steve (my friend) had signed up for the 0330-0400 slot because that was the only slot left. Since I was staying over, I agreed to go with him to the church.

It was mid-November when we left his house and outside it was very cold and windy. When we entered the church, we were happy to get in from the cold. As soon as we closed the big double doors behind us, I was immediately left with the impression of a large dark cave with a lighted altar far off into the distance. There were no lights, just candles glowing on the altar in front of us. It was so dark that we could not see the entire room we were in.

After taking off our coats and placing them on the front pew (it was very stuffy in the church) Steve went up to the altar, knelt, and began to pray. I just sat on the front pew behind Steve glancing around the church. After praying, Steve lit up a piece of straw and started to light one of the candles that were still unlit. It was at this moment that a strong, icy-cold wind blew in from behind us and briefly blew out all of the candles!

I sat in fear as I watched all of the candles begin to relight themselves (sorta like trick birthday candles). However, Steve's candle did not light back up.

Steve looked back at me and calmly said, "Someone must have come in the church."

He shrugged and proceeded to relight his candle when another strong, icy wind blew from in front of us and again blew out the candles! Yes, I said the wind came from the direction of the altar! Again, the candles began to relight themselves -- all except for Steve's candle!

I half-jokingly (and quite nervously) told Steve that I thought that someone did not want him to light that candle. Steve, a little nervously this time, said he didn't believe in that nonsense and there must be something wrong with the heating system.

When he lit his candle a third time, I almost ran to the altar next to Steve when that icy-cold wind blew from behind us and extinguished the candles again!

And again -- you guessed it -- all of the candles, except for Steve's lit back up.

This time, Steve and I knelt and prayed good and hard for about five straight minutes. When I finished, I offered to light a candle (I took care to light a different candle than the one Steve had tried to light), and it stayed lit.

We had no more encounters with that ghostly "wind". Needless to say, after I lit the candle, we left that church in a hurry!

As a final note, Steve and I noticed a person standing by the door in the shadows as we left the church. I saw an old woman dressed in a black overcoat and black shawl. Steve saw a man dressed in a monk's habit standing in the very place I saw the woman standing! I do not know why we saw different things, but to this day, I will not go into a Methodist church late at night!