My friend Jamie contacted me in a panic recently, in an email with the subject heading I often get from people: “I didn’t know who else to talk to about this.” After many, many years of hard work and saving, my friend has bought his first home in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Ypsilanti (pronounced IP-sih-LAN-tee, or “IP-see” for short) is an historic town adjacent to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Jamie and I went to school together in Ann Arbor, and were reunited at our 20 year (!) high school reunion five years ago.

Jamie was thrilled that he and his girlfriend could have their first home together, and when they moved in, everything was great. Until, of course, it became apparent that the ghost of the man who had built the home was still rattling around the place, breaking mirrors, unplugging electrical appliances, sitting on their bed at night and squeezing Jamie’s foot, and so on. Turns out that since the man passed away about five years ago, according to a neighbor, three other families had bought the home, moved in, and then moved out suddenly. In all the cases, the bank repossessed the home and re-sold it. Jamie could describe the vision of the man he saw sitting in the corner of his bedroom one evening, and his neighbor confirmed that his description was identical to that of the original homeowner.

The homeowner, whose first name was George, was reportedly very house-proud and also quite an introvert. His wife had left him, his kids weren’t close to him, and he did not seem to have much fulfillment in life beyond taking care of the home he had built himself. No surprise he’s still hanging around, then!

After I calmed Jamie down and told him some techniques for dealing with George, he decided that he was excited about co-housing with him and wanted to build a better relationship with him by opening up communication through a Ouija board. I strongly discouraged him from this, as dealing with Ouiji boards is kind of like opening a party line to a bunch of crackheads, and then telling them you’re having a permanent open house at your place! Most people using Ouiji boards don’t really know the techniques of how to “put the call through to the right party,” as it were, and so they end up communicating with a bunch of garbage troublemakers on the other end, who love to lie and mess with your head. Best to avoid these things, unless you really know techniques of protection and have an interest far greater than curiosity or alleviating boredom.

Jamie decided to simply acknowledge George when he was aware of him, and also to just set some ground rules with him. Simple rules, like “you don’t have to break something to get my attention,” seem to be working well for now. I haven’t heard from Jamie since our last conversation a few weeks ago, so I’m assuming that all’s well in Ypsi!