Marla Pena's Shadow of the Shinigami: "Ghostly Tales From My Family"

Fellow Binnall of America columnist Maria Pena writes about her family stories of ghostly encounters in Marla Pena's Shadow of the Shinigami.

I grew up listening to my relatives talk about ghostly apparitions. As a child, I loved to go to my grandma's house where everybody would often gather to chat and visit, but the most interesting part of the conversation for me was every time the paranormal topics came up, like ghosts, apparitions, and UFO sightings (among others).

The first paranormal account came from two of my older aunts (who lived through the Mexican Revolution). They said that, as young girls, they started using the Ouija board often. They both said that they used to invoke, unintentionally, the spirit of a priest which conveyed beautiful poetry; poetry that they starting writing in paper. However, the most important incident for them came when another alleged spirit asked for their help to convey a message to a loved one. They were provided with a name and an address so they did as they were told. To their surprise, they were able to corroborate the information they were given.