My Story in the Paranormal - Part 2

By June Nixon

My whole life, I have been fascinated by the paranormal. Ghost stories, Halloween, old Universal monster movies—I love all of it. I was always drawn to the spooky side of things. I was never exactly goth, but someone once described me as a “colorful perky goth,” which honestly sounds like what would happen if Wednesday Addams discovered glitter and customer service.

When I was fourteen and a freshman in high school, my English teacher asked us to write a short story. Naturally, I wrote a horror story about twin boys—one deaf, one blind—who were, of course, possessed by evil spirits. You know, normal freshman girl stuff. Some kids wrote about summer vacation. I apparently submitted a tiny literary exorcism.

My teacher was very religious, and after reading my story, she asked me to stay after class. Then she held my hands and wanted to pray with me because she believed I was headed down a dangerous path of sin, darkness, and possibly paperback horror novels. I was mortified, especially when students started coming in for the next class and saw me standing there like I had just been caught summoning something in the supply closet.

The funny thing was, I did not think I was evil at all. I thought I was kind, caring, trusting, and only mildly interested in demonic possession for creative purposes. Of course, if a teacher did that today, there would probably be meetings, paperwork, and at least one strongly worded email. But I am Gen X, so at the time I just thought, “Well, that was awkward,” and went on with my life carrying both emotional confusion and a Trapper Keeper.

Still, it gave me something to think about. Maybe I needed to dial it back a little. So I did what many people do when life gets complicated: I got married, joined what I can only describe as a slightly cultish church, gained over 100 pounds, eventually got divorced, and then found myself with no kids, a lot of freedom, and a deep need to figure out what I actually believed. Very standard midlife starter pack.