Phantom Felines And Other Ghostly Animals - Gerina Dunwich 2006

The Haunted Cottage
Phantom Felines

by Eileen Smith

Irented an old cottage on an inlet in Point Pleasant, New Jersey. At night I always sat in this one chair to read or watch TV. At the same time each night, around 9 or 10, I had this incredible strong feeling that something had walked up behind my chair and was standing very close behind my left shoulder. So strong was this feeling that if I turned around I thought for sure I would see someone there.

My cat Amber, who has since passed on, was at the time plump and a little on the lazy side, very loving but not particularly playful. I noticed her sudden interest in the upstairs attic, which looked as if it at some time had served as a loft or bedroom. She also began to play for hours and hours with what I could only describe as a “playmate.” She would run after it, and then act like she was being playfully chased. She would do this all night long, especially on the stairs to the walk-up attic.

I then began to experience the sounds of a cat’s meow, which was very faint. I also saw what appeared to be a black-and-white cat in the corner of my eye. I discussed this with my husband at the time (we have since parted) and he told me he saw this cat, too!

My husband worked very late at night, and one time at 3 a.m. he needed to get a tool from the attic. He told me the next morning that he’d seen the reflecting eyes of a cat shining back at him while he was up there.

One night I awoke to see the figure of a woman in a dress (circa 1919) standing at the foot of the bed. This sounds rather fantastic, but it was just the body in the dress; I did not see the head. This did not frighten me for some reason. I really think these two ghosts rather liked us being there.

I became extremely creative and content in that house. Its energy was such that I wrote a children’s book and began to paint for the first time (I now am an active artist) and painted what I feel is probably one of my best works to date.

On the day my husband and I moved out, as it was just a winter rental, the ghost cat was seen constantly by both of us, just sitting in the middle of the room, or on the windowsills, watching, as if to say it knew we were moving and was sad to see us leave. I only wish we could have taken it with us.