Halloween is a mere eight days away, so it seems like a good time as any to remind you that ghosts are real (read: probably not real) and they are just like you: they like to hang out at coffee shops. Or at least they like to hang out at one particular coffee shop, Cool Beans Coffee Roasters in Marietta, Georgia, which real-life paranormal investigators have described as “definitely haunted.”
According to the Marietta Daily Journal, Cool Beans (which I assume has already changed their name to Ghoul Beans) invited paranormal investigators Will Aymerich and Christina Kieffer to look into “strange occurrences” that had been reported by baristas, including a “ghostly whisper” rising from behind a pastry rack, knocked over chairs, and other items being out of place.
To check for the presence of spirits, the pair-of-paranormalists “swept the coffee shop with an array of equipment ranging from high-tech gadgets designed to read electromagnetic fields to flashlights, a tennis ball, and a rubber ducky.” They also had a squirt gun full of holy water just in case things went sideways, which thankfully they didn’t.
Most of the paranormal activity was focused on two areas: a private booth in the corner of the cafe and the back hall leading to the restroom. The spirits in the booth proved to be friendly if uncooperative. They did respond, however, when asked if they liked tacos. Using some sort of AM/FM dial type device the paranormal investigators had on hand that the spirits like to use to communicate, the eternal camper responded with “taco.” I assume that means they like tacos, because who doesn’t like tacos? As the Daily Journal also notes, “the voices in the spirit box also uttered what may have been the monosyllabic name of the MDJ reporter on the assignment when asked.”
But in the hallway, though, less friendly specters took residence. As the investigators were investigating the upstairs, they heard what sounded like a baby crying below, which a Cool Beans barista later corroborated hearing, thinking it was coming from the upstairs. Aymerich states that ghosts appearing as children are “often up to no good” and are demons disguising themselves as more innocent creatures.
Also, dude, “demons” is not the preferred nomenclature. “Inhuman spirits,” please.
The bad spirits were also being uncooperative, not answering to questions, but Aymerich believes these ghosts were from the Marietta Museum of History nearby. And how was he able to tell these noncompliant spirits were there at all? He got mad.
Back here, I was getting angry, and that’s something which is not a good sign… I can tell when there’s a spirit around sometimes just because of how my body reacts, my hair stands up on end, I can feel something behind me.
Now, none of this will probably convince a skeptic that ghosts are real. Or at least it isn’t enough to persuade one particular skeptic (the one writing this article). But it nonetheless gives me comfort to know that even if I’m wrong about the whole “there being sprits” thing, I may get to spend all the afterlife hanging out at a coffee shop, and that doesn’t sound half bad.
BOO!
Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
Top image via 13 Positively Ghoulish Latte Art Frights