Ghost Story Sunday: The Paranormal Moms Society

These suburban mothers are deadly serious about chasing ghosts.

It’s spoooooooooky season and we all love a good ghost story. Because truth is always stranger than fiction, for the next few Sundays we’re sharing our favorite Narratively nonfiction ghost stories, starting with this very fun piece about a group of suburban moms who definitely ain’t afraid of no ghosts.

Photos by Sebastián Hidalgo | Story edited by Genelle Levy

Christie Carpenter-Chaidez and her neighbor stepped through the gates of Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery, equipped with a tiny electronic voice phenomenon (EVP) recorder that they’d bought on eBay. The long-abandoned 82-plot cemetery, set on the edge of a forest in Midlothian, Illinois, is known for its paranormal happenings. Legend has it the mob used the cemetery as a dumping ground for dead bodies back in the 1920s, and spooky sightings have included pale ghostly figures sitting atop graves, phantom cars whipping down the street, and orbs of light floating through the overgrown grounds at night.

The air was heavy as the women ambled up the path into the grounds after nightfall, and Carpenter-Chaidez tried singing to lighten the mood. The sound reverberated in every direction. Then suddenly, she felt something scratch her on the leg.