GHOSTS IN THE MACHINE

Whitehall mother, daughter guide ghostly website

By Bob Pajich, Staff writer

8/7/03

Gloria and Genevieve Fritz have seen and felt things that have made the hair on their arms stand up and do the shiver. They say they've seen bags filled with pounds of coffee hop across Gloria's Whitehall kitchen. Genevieve talks of how her bed has shaked on its own volition and of white orbs that have floated across her room.

Gloria can't tell you how many coffee makers she's gone through over the years. So many, in fact, that she has one in reserve — still in the box — for when the latest one blows.

"I guess she doesn't like coffee," Gloria says.

Gloria's talking about the ghost that she says haunts her home — a home that otherwise is like any other in Whitehall. Though some will undoubtedly scoff at their type of ghost stories, Gloria and her daughter believe. They have created a place of their own on the internet for people who, like themselves, are certain they have felt things go bump in the night.

It's ghostchatter.com, which joined its sister site — haunteddiary.com — earlier this year.

"We wanted a place on the web to share our experiences and to let people know that they're not alone," Genevieve said.

They're not. At last count, more than 2,100 people have joined their online community since February, with about two dozen people applying to join each day.

The women monitor the Ghostchatter chatroom as much as they can to keep the unkind and vulgar element away. They also don't allow criticism.

"We don't want people to feel unwelcome in there," Genevieve said.

The welcoming atmosphere has created a active community.

"We get some really good, creepy stories," Gloria said.

Late last month, they invited members from the tri-state area to join them at Vickless' Point View restaurant to haunt some spirits and to put faces behind the chatroom handles.

With the July sun streaming through a basement door and emergency lights hanging in the corners, the cellar where runaway slaves were hid in the 1800s was scary only for its dust and clutter.

Members paired and braved the creaky wooden stairs. The stairs were particularly hard on Genevieve, thanks to the tall silver heels she wore for the occasion, but she hiked up and down them all afternoon.

"A lot of people were getting emotional," she warned as we reached the bottom of the building.

There, Rosylee McKoy — known as Raven in the chatroom — was trying to become a spirit barometer. Ghost-hunters claim that pictures of spirits can sometimes be captured on film and McKoy's camera had stopped working for no apparent reason. Her eyes darted around nervously.

"Whatever's in there said, 'No more pictures,'" McKoy said.

Right then in the sunny basement, her right arm bubbled with goosebumps.

"Oohh, do you feel that?" she said.

And then a nonbeliever felt it. A chill ran up his arm and left me standing there, if not completely spooked, then a little shaken.

There might've been a logical explanation for the chill. Atmospheric condition or the brain just playing tricks. These are the things people talk about at www.ghostchatter.com.

A door suddenly slams shut? Gloria says have the hinges checked. A television turns on and off on its own? Make sure the thing's not broken. A bump in the attic? You might want to call an exterminator before the Ghostbusters.

But she says sometimes things can't be explained away.

Like the three loud knocks that sent Gloria's 19-year-old son bolting out of bed and right out the front door. Or the electric knife-sharpener in the basement that kept turning itself on in the middle of the night when Gloria first moved in.

And remember the coffee maker? The electrician couldn't find a thing wrong with the wiring in the kitchen where coffee makers seemingly go to die.

All these stories and more can be found on haunteddiary.com, where Gloria and Genevieve tell stories about their spooks. If she could have it her way, Gloria would kick out her unwelcome roommate but that doesn't look like it will happen soon.

Recently, the long chain hanging from one of their cuckoo clocks started to swing back and forth. The other two chains stayed still, despite hanging only inches away, Gloria said.

"There's just things that defy logical explanations."