This took place in the 1980s at The Columns in West Dennis, Massachusetts. The Columns has a very long history, everything from ship captain's home to bed & breakfast to restaurant. Many ghost stories are told around town about this place, from strange sounds to lights from an unpowered building.

This happened personally to my girlfriend, who at the time worked there back in the 1980s. She shared the top floor of the old barn out back with a few other kitchen crew, as we partied after the restaurant closed.


It was about 11 p.m. and my girlfriend announced that everyone had to leave. Thinking that meant alone time, I at first thought, cool! but she included me.

My first thought was, another guy. She said, "No, a ghost." And we all laughed at her. Boy, did we rib her about it! Finally she said, "Fine! Stay and you will see."

She claimed that midnight was when the ghost came, so we settled in with a brew and waited. At about 11:45, the room got cool very quickly and she said, "Oh, crap! He's mad." We all laughed again and she pointed to a knot tied on the beam above us and said, "Watch. It will start moving."

We all started laughing until it started swinging back and forth. Most of the others ran from the room and the temperature returned to normal. Then the rope stopped swinging. According to my girlfriend, the ghost made it cold and swung the rope to get people out that he didn't want in his domain. It worked on my friends.

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