Montana has a rich history of ghost towns and haunted buildings including some in the Flathead Valley, which have several spooky tales to tell. Having experienced paranormal activity, the RMKK People would like to take this opportunity to tell some of their chilling true stories.
We will now whet your appetite for the macabre with four stories about our 100 year old house in Kalispell. They fall under the category of the unexplained, the otherworldly. Whether these strange events were contributed by ghosts, or something or someone out of sync from another dimension, we do not know. What we do know is that in the 100 years of the life of the house, there would most certainly be the possibility that someone had died in the house and had not crossed over, even unto this day.
–We begin with “the footsteps”.
After David would leave in the early morning hours, Marlene would regularly sit in bed reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee. All was quiet while her young daughters lie in their beds in an adjacent room, fast asleep. Out of nowhere, footsteps could be heard coming from the kitchen and walking across the living room past the bedroom door. Once past the bedroom, the walking stopped. Marlene didn’t feel threatened; only curious. But she never got up to see who it was. She simply accepted it as an unexplained visitor.
–The second story is “the voice”.
Being a light sleeper since her children were born, Marlene would hear and instinctively know when her children called for her in the middle of the night. On at least two occasions in the little house in Kalispell, a child’s voice called out in the witching hours, “Mom”. The voice repeated, “Mom”. Marlene promptly got up to go see what was the matter, only to find her daughters sleeping peacefully.
–Story number three is “The tap on the glass”.
This phenomenon was experienced by David while lying awake in bed as everyone else slept. From time to time, a tapping or knock on the glass at the back door of the house would catch his attention. He would listen intently and then it would stop, but he never got up to see if someone was there as he seemed to know that the tapping was caused by something unearthly.
–Story number four is “the phantom cat”.
The humans are not the only ones to have noted paranormal activity in the old house. Sometimes Wes, the cat, simply would not go near his bed. He would crouch around the area and slink and sniff. If you tried to pick him up and place him in his bed, he’d react as though he had touched an invisible electric barrier. More than once, Wes ran up the stairs from the basement as if being chased – and sure enough, someone once spotted a translucent black shape in hot pursuit. As far as the basement goes, Eileen was always reluctant to be there alone as it scared her to do so.
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As one might imagine, our little house in Kalispell is not the only home in the neighborhood to have had ghostly encounters. The historic Conrad Mansion, one of the largest homes in the city is also likely to be one of the most haunted, or at least the most famous for its earthbound spirits. We now offer some skin crawling tales of the Conrad Mansion.
-The mysterious smoke.
It was an autumn evening and Marlene and David were taking their usual walk around the neighborhood. Their route took them past the Conrad Mansion. Everything was routine until they noticed something unusual at the mansion. Smoke rose from the north end of the roof. Knowing the mansion to be one of Kalispell’s treasures, they entered the grounds and walked around to the other side of the building to try and get a better view of the smoke. However, nothing at all was seen. No smoke. Being a concerned citizen, Marlene called the museum’s office the next morning only to discover that there had been no fire, no smoke, and that everything was perfectly fine. The fireplaces in the mansion have not burned in almost fifty years, but obviously something weird had been going on that night.
Later they discovered that indeed there had been a fire at the Mansion – it had occurred in 1908. The fire had been started by a spark that had flown out of the chimney and landed on the north end of the roof, just where Marlene and David had spotted the smoke. The fire of 1908 helped to create the most sensational Halloween party in Kalispell that year.
-Halloween ghost tours are given at the Conrad Mansion each October.
Because Mallory is now a seasonal employee of the mansion, the RMKK People had the opportunity to volunteer and be a part of the annual ghost tour event. Dressed in Victorian garb, they and other volunteers filed through the darkened house guiding tourists. They held glowing battery operated candles and faulty flashlights as shadowy guides shared stories of ghostly happenings in the house.
Mallory’s station happened to be on the “dreaded” third floor. It is well known by the employees of the mansion that the top or third floor of the house is the most haunted. It is one of the things that tour guides don’t mention to tourists, except on the Halloween ghost tours. There are tales of Sweetie Pie, the Conrad cat, playing with phantom cats and also accounts of a young girl with ringlet curls thought to be the young Alicia Conrad. It is so haunted that some guides refuse to go up there alone simply because it sends cold shivers up their spines.
-The sleepover that turned into a fright night.
During the mansion ghost tours, one guide recounted her ghostly encounter. She was around sixteen years old and working as a docent at the mansion when she and some other young ladies decided to sleep overnight in the house. They brought their sleeping bags up to the third floor and gathered around for the night. For a while, they chatted and played board games. The house was empty and pitch black. Nothing unusual was heard until a door slammed on the first floor. The group listened as door after door slammed.
Doors began to slam on the 2nd floor. They could hear footsteps going down the hall toward the staircase that lead up to the 3rd floor. The group sat waiting. They heard the creak on the staircase that leads to the 3rd floor. Whatever had been slamming the doors in this empty old house was now coming up the stairs to greet the group on the third floor.
The young guide was terrified! She did not intend to find out who or what was coming up to the 3rd floor. She stood up and ran out and down the fire escape. Still wearing her pajamas, she ran all the way home and did not return to retrieve her belongings until the next day. It has been about 15 years since she was spooked at the Conrad Mansion. She gives the annual Halloween tours each year, but understandably refuses to stay in any of the rooms alone.
-Eileen’s strange experience on a ghost tour.
After one of the tours, Eileen was getting a drink of water from the washbasin in the Grandmother’s bathroom located behind the mansion’s gift shop.
One of the tourists stood in the gift shop talking to another volunteer when she pointed towards Eileen and said, “It was her.”
Intrigued, Eileen asked, “Me?”
Eileen was then informed that while on the tour, the tourist had noticed Eileen turn and look over her shoulder just after someone passed through the dining room behind her.
“Didn’t you see a person pass?”
“No,” Eileen responded.
Eerie, yes? There had been no earthly provocation for Eileen to look behind herself to the dark dining room. What had possessed her to turn at the the very moment someone else had seen a figure go by? Was it Alicia Conrad? It has been reported that the spirit of Alicia Conrad has been seen in that very room. Many believe it was she that paid a visit that night.
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That concludes our spine tingling tales of the supernatural.
Boowaaahahaha……..we hope we gave you goosebumps………Happy Halloween!
Everywhere you look, life’s an adventure.
