Ghosts on a boat: Today So Far

What would you do if you woke up late at night, and someone was smoking next to your bed?

This post originally appeared in KUOW's Today So Far newsletter for October 28, 2022.

Joni was a straight-laced 19-year-old. Everything had to be neat before she left the house. She was generally skeptical. Joni describes herself as "rigid."

Perhaps the reason for her disposition is that Joni had dreams and goals, and no time for nonsense. She set her sights on a travel industry job, and found such a role working for a cruise company offering trips along Northwest rivers, though the Caribbean, to Tahiti, and to Alaska. It came with perks, quite attractive to a young person — free trips on cruise ships. Joni took full advantage. Many of her younger colleagues liked sailing up to Alaska where, at the time, the drinking age was 18. That wasn't the appeal for buttoned-up Joni, however.

"I was a typical Virgo," she said. "I took my profession very seriously, so consequently I didn't really drink around the people I worked with."

But the excitement of a free Alaskan trip soon faded, as Joni discovered that passengers and crew weren't the only ones aboard the boat. They were sharing this trip ... with something else.

"I think we were two nights into the cruise and I had turned in rather early, got in my little, tiny bunk — sound asleep by 11 p.m." Joni recalled.

Around 2 a.m., she awoke to the smell of cigarette smoke. She thought someone must have been smoking outside her room, in the hallway, but upon further inspection, no one was there.

"I glanced around the room and noticed sitting on the bed next to me was a woman who was dressed in this beautiful peach-colored summer dress, sitting there smoking a cigarette and blowing smoke rings into the air."

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, Joni stared at this women, wondering why she was there in her room.

"I leaned over and turned on the light, and she was still there, but now she was a little bit less solid," Joni said. "So I rubbed my eyes, put my head on the pillow and turned out the light and thought, 'I'm not going to deal with this.' I still smell cigarette smoke, and of course, now my heart is racing."

What happened next? Well, the smoking woman wasn't alone. To find out more, you'll have to listen to "Ghosts like vacation too," a special story from KUOW Shorts. It's one of a Halloween handful of stories KUOW released this week that includes creepy children, a river ghost, haunted theater attire, Northwest ghost hunters, and a renter who finds that the house he lives in holds a mystery ... but the house fights back to keep its secrets. Check out those stories here:

• The ghost in the river + Chloe loves horror
• But ... they’re my children
• Eleanor
• The secret room
• Ghosts like vacation too

Joni's story reminds me of a trip I once took to Hamburg. Like Joni, I wasn't far out of high school and jumped at a job that offered travel and something different — housekeeping. I was a housekeeper at a Bavarian hotel (and a waiter, kitchen staff, etc., but mostly a housekeeper). The great thing about the gig was that housekeeping was the largest department at the hotel, so it was easy to get time off, hop a train and be somewhere else fast.

That's how I found myself in Hamburg with a few hotel colleagues, hunting down places the Beatles performed and doing impressions of JFK talking about doughnuts (we were in Berlin the night before). I was sharing a room with a guy, let's call him Nicky. Imagine Shaggy from Scooby-Doo — that's basically Nicky. Late that night, Nicky woke up to see a figure walking on the other side of our dark room. They walked into the bathroom, turned a light on and off, and went about walking.

"I thought it was you," Nicky told me the next morning as he relayed what he saw. "But then I looked over at your bed and there you were ... so I just went back to sleep."

Why would you go back to sleep?! How about: "Oh crap, someone is in our room! Wake up, Dyer!"

Joni also opted to close her eyes and go back to sleep (spoiler alert: She didn't). Maybe some folks just really don't want to be disturbed when they're snoozing — the dead can wake, but not at their expense.

As we head into a Halloween weekend, I recommend you check out the latest spooky tales from KUOW Shorts. They will help set the mood. Hope your weekend is horrific!

AS SEEN ON KUOW

Taylor Swift debuted her latest music video for her new song, “Anti-Hero,” last Friday. To the surprise of a Bellevue-based company, it had an unexpected cameo. Halfway through the video, there’s a funeral scene where Swift emerges from a casket. The casket is the Orion series from Bellevue direct-to-consumer company, Titan Casket. (Courtesy of Liz and Josh Siegal)

DID YOU KNOW?

In the USA, we call it Halloween, but this time of year is known as a special season for cultures across the globe, each with their own take — some spooky, some joyful, but most deal with the supernatural and with those who have passed on.

In Guatemala, they fly massive kites over the graves of loved ones. The Barriletes Gigantes (giant kites) festival usually happens at the start of November and represents a connection between our world and the world beyond.

Italians celebrate Ognissanti, aka the All Saints Festival. Different regions celebrate it in their own way. Some say the dead rise from their graves to bring presents to good children. In other places, kids go door-to-door asking for presents from the dead. Romans have a tradition of going to the gravesite of a loved one and having a meal.

Día de los Muertos is in early November in Mexico. It's said that on the Day of the Dead, a loved one is able to come back from the afterlife to spend some time with family. It's a time for feasts and visiting gravesites.

China has the Qingming festival, which is not held during this time of year, rather it takes place around April, but it holds similar themes of honoring friends and family who have passed away. People will visit gravesites to sweep and clean them.

As NPR reports, some countries have taken to the US approach to Halloween, such as Japan where candy and costumes are a growing tradition. Check out more here.

ALSO ON OUR MINDS

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband was attacked by an intruder at home

An intruder broke into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco home early Friday morning and "violently assaulted" her husband, Paul Pelosi, according to a statement from Drew Hammill, the speaker's spokesperson. "The assailant is in custody and the motivation for the attack is under investigation," the statement read.

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