It turns out there’s a famous ghost story/incident that was supposed to have happened in the 1800’s, in the U.S, and I never heard of it til three nights ago! Lol. I love ghost stories, movies, and books! Three nights ago I was laying in bed in the dark looking at my BlackBerry Kindle app and Amazon suggested that I check out The Bell Witch by John F.D. Taff. This exact version of this book is a historical novel based on what are said to be true events. But there are books about it that are supposed to be more factual, not fiction, as well.
When I came across the book I was overcome with this childlike joy, just surging through me! I feel joy quite frequently but this kind I haven’t felt in so long; it was seriously like my inner-child was jumping for joy, like “Yay, a ghost story, I have to have it!!!”. Lol!
It has great reviews and a great description. The Bell Family in the 1800’s, a family of seven, I think, four boys, a girl, and a mom and dad, is supposed to have been terrorized for four years by a ghost or demon who says she was sent to kill the father of the family. She physically abuses the family members, assaulting them, and also emotional abuse, threats and all. The children are very young, the oldest, a boy, is about twenty-one years old. Betsy, the teenage girl and the father, it seems, are the main targets of the ghost for some reason. The ghost was supposed to have never said why she came to kill the dad.
There were supposed to have been many witnesses to these horrifying supernatural events, like neighbors, friends, people being held as slaves, anyone who set foot on the Bell property. Seven years after the father’s death, the spirit was supposed to have visited his wife and said she would be back in 135 (I think) years to visit a future family member.
I read that most people who visit or have visited that property agree that something tacky has been going on there. It’s still supposed to be haunted to this day. When people visit, they say strange things occur or strange feelings manifest. I don’t believe in the supernatural but love reading about it anyway!
It’s fun reading ghost stories at night or in the early morning! I fell asleep reading it two nights ago then I woke up at 5:00am to read more! Fun! I still have almost the whole book to read.
I love how it takes place in the bitter cold Winter like now! I like reading books where the season is close to the current season in reality.
But it wasn’t really my intention to write a book review tonight; I just want to share a few lines out of the book.
Beautiful scene.
“Then, he produced an implement from his bag that caused Powell to move around the bed to watch the doctor using it.
It was a strange mechanism, almost looking like a magical device. It was a hollow metal tube, both ends of which terminated in a cup, much like the mouthpiece of a bugle, only larger.
Placing one end tightly against Betsy’s bare upper chest and the other against his left ear, Hopson listened, moved the cup, listened, moved it again. All the while, he exhibited the tendencies of a small child with a new toy. ‘Fabulous!’ he said rising. ‘Wonderful gadget, isn’t it?’
He detached it from his ears and held it to Powell.
‘What is it?’ the schoolmaster asked, turning it over, looking into the ends.
‘It’s a stethoscope, a device for listening to heartbeats. I picked it up just two months ago during a visit to Atlanta. It’s quite new, and all the rage of European doctors. Here, listen for yourself.’
Powell’s face squinched as he concentrated, not knowing what to expect. Then, his eyes flew open as he heard the thump-THUMP-thump-THUMP of Betsy’s heart, strong and loud as the ticking of a great mantel clock.
Something substantial changed within Powell as those rhythms pounded through his eardrums. For the rest of his life, he would never forget that sound, the feeling that swept over him as he stood there, his head inclined toward the chest of this young girl listening to her heart.
At that moment, more strongly than any other, Richard Powell knew he was in love.
‘Amazing,” he whispered, pulling back in a daze and returning the stethoscope to Hopson, who motioned Lucy over.
‘Come, Luce, take this and hear what will keep your daughter alive through this illness and much more, I’m sure, if I’m any doctor at all.’
He bound mother and daughter together with the simple metal tube.
Lucy listened for a moment, silent tears streaming from her eyes.
After a minute or so, Hopson pulled her away tenderly, removed the stethoscope and tucked the covers back around Betsy.
The slow k-thump, k-thump of Betsy’s heart would resound through the ears of both Lucy and Powell for some time afterward.”
Isn’t it lovely?! Just perfect.
When I read the first couple lines, I was so delighted to read how fascinated and awestruck the characters are by this new instrument, the mystery of it, the novelty, the way it looks, its purpose…something that most of us probably know about today and don’t really think much of it.
I love the childlike wonder of the doctor with his new tool.
I read the first few lines over and over before reading the rest. Then the more I read, the more amazed I have become. It’s so beautiful the way the schoolteacher and mother are so inspired and deeply moved by the rhythm of life that pounds through this young girl’s chest, keeping her alive…..
I remember the day I first heard my own heartbeat. The rhythm of life pounding through my own chest. It was in Human Biology class when I was a student at Temple University.
Our professor brought in stethoscopes to listen to each other’s hearts and our own. I fell in love. It’s so amazing to feel and to hear that life force that let’s us live, be, experience….
I read a quote before that is something like “If you ever can’t think of anything to be thankful for, check your pulse.”
Just to be alive is a grand thing.
Put your hand to your own chest and let yourself fall in love.
“It’s not about loving people and things as much as loving life itself.”
I read this quote here:
It’s about how we can love life itself no matter what heartbreak we experience. The heartache of loss can sap our energy and contribute to our passion dwindling away but as long as we keep choosing love in every moment, we can and will survive.
You can read about The Bell Witch Legend here:
http://www.bellwitch.org/story.htm
And you can read about the novel here :
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00ED5QAZW
Much love to you.
xoxo Kim
