After the lights at my grandmother’s house went out another time, I asked my mom to take me home.

I was around age 6 or 7, my grandfather had passed away a few days before, and we weren’t sure what was happening. My family had gathered at my grandmother’s house on one of the days around the visitation and funeral.

On this particular night, the lights and power in my grandmother’s house started going off inexplicably. As I remember it, none of the neighbor’s homes were effected. About the time my adult relatives noticed this and that we hadn’t popped a breaker, I’d had enough. I was freaked out. I wanted out.

Looking back, I’m still not sure I’d call this as a ghost story, but it’s the closest I’ve ever come. To this day, no one has an explanation and offer a simple, “That was weird.”

The skeptic in me acknowledges that there’s an abundance of explainable causes for the power going out at an old rural home; however, that’s not as fun to think about.

With Halloween about a week away, this is the time of year to embrace the unexplained and swap a few spooky stories over a warm beverage as the days grow shorter, as the air turns crisp and as the leaves fall.

I come from a family of skeptics and non-believers when it comes to ghosts, but I always love stories about hauntings or weird, unexplained happenings.

Through the years at the Herald, I’ve gotten to interview ghost investigators, people who’ve had their own experiences, and I’ve even gotten to partake in a Herald ghost investigation of the Historic Paramount Theatre.

So in the spirit of sharing these fun, seasonal and spooky stories, we’re asking people to share their ghost stories for a possible Herald feature leading up to Halloween.

We’ve heard several stories about local hauntings at places like the Paramount, Sweet’s Hotel in LeRoy, and we’ve heard many stories of hauntings in the area around Skinner’s Hill in Austin.

So if you have a house you believe is haunted or a ghost story you wish to share, contact us by emailing reporter Deb Nicklay at deb.nicklay@austindailyherald.com.

As is said in my favorite ghost movie: “We’re ready to believe you.”