I have had a few strange experiences in my life, but this one has stayed with me for for the past 22 years, and I remember it as vividly as if it happened only yesterday.

In the winter of 1986, I was a freshman at Salve Regina College (now University), in Newport RI. I went home one weekend, and when I came back, my friends told me of a terrifying experience they had had while I was away. They had played with a Ouija board in the attic of Carey Mansion, which was an old mansion and a boys dormitory. Note to the readers,rumor had it that they had filmed portions of "Dark Shadows", the 1960's vampire soap opera, there. So, you can imagine how creepy it looked. All I knew is that every time we went there, I got the creeps big time. I would not even go to use the bathroom by myself, but would drag a friend with me. There was more than just the creepy gargolyes on the fireplaces. I would just get this very strange feeling when I was there. So, the story they told me did not really suprise me because of the way I fel there, and also because I am a believer of the supernatural, etc. The main thing they claimed happened was that they heard knocking coming from the inside of a room that was boarded shut in the attic. That in itself was very strange.

Well, the following weekend, a bunch of girls wanted to go back to Carey Mansion and do the Ouija board again, and they asked me to go with them. I said "absolutely not" ! Then they promised we would just go into a regular room, not the "bowling room" which was what they called the attic because it was a long, long room. There were at least 10 of us that Saturday night. I did not want to look like a big baby, so I agreed to go.

In Carey Mansion, they had this "study room", which was basically a big room with several tables where the boys could go and do work in quiet. I had been in there before. There were these huge windows- the kind with thick glass and iron panes. Those windows were so heavy that they were never opened- always closed. So, that night we snuck into the mansion/dorm, and headed to this study room. We sat in the dark around a long table, and two girls sat on the table with the Ouija board on their laps. We all held up lighters so we could see. My best friend was one of the girls with the board on her lap. We started asking questions. "Is there a spirit here", answer "yes". "Are you a good spirit or a bad spirit/", answer: "bad". Mind you, these questions and answers were taking quite a long time. They then asked the spirit what his name was, and after what seemed to be an hour, it spelled out "Sebastian". At this point, we were tired of sitting there, and I was very skeptical of the whole thing, although I had to admit that it did not look like they were pushing the piece on the Ouija board. Well, I was half scared and half bored and disbelieving, and a bunch of us said, "come on, lets go". Half wanted to stay. So, I looked at the huge windows. It was dark and snowing outside. The girls asked "Sebsatian" to show us a sign, and nothing happened. So, I said, jokingly, "Sebastian, if you are here, show us a sign". Nothing happened again. Then I said to my friends, "yeah, like he will open the window for us or something...", and, as God's is my witness, no sooner did the words leave my mouth, one of those huge hundreds-year-old windows FLEW OPEN all by itself (we were on second or third floor), and snow came blowing in the room off the ocean! Well, I was sitting closest to the door, and in one second flat, I had that door opened and I was in the hallway, and another girl landed on top of me, and it was mass chaos ! And, wouldn't you know, as we were running down the hall to get the hell out of there, who did I literally run smack into? The Irish priest that lived in the dorm, Father Meade. I was crying, and he asked what was the matter, and I was afraid to tell him because I thought that using the Ouija board was considered a sin. I told him and he said it was only a sin if I believed in it ! Meanwhile, I was so terrified, I was crying ! Then, he saw the rest of the girls running out of the room, and he sees the window open, and starts yelling at us "how did you open that window?", and "WHY did you open it?", "How am I going to SHUT it?" and so forth. Well, when we told him it flew open on its own, he told us that was "impossible!" and did not believe us, and then he told us to leave and pray for forgiveness or something to that effect. I was TERRIFIED ! I do not think that I slept a wink that night, nor did I sleep well for a long time afterwards ! No one believed us when we told them, but there were many of us in that room that night, and we know what we saw.

I was 18 then, and am 40 now, and it STILL freaks me out when I think about it! And, every summer when I go to Newport, I drive by Carey Mansion. And, when I look up to that room, those windows are always closed. I NEVER stepped foot in that mansion again, and NEVER will again. Nor have I ever even thought of using a Ouija board again!

Hi Risa!

My name is Katie, I am an author currently working on a book called Creepy Ghosts and Spooky Legends of Rhode Island. Would it be possible to use your account at the Carey Mansion. I think a first person account such as yours would be a wonderful addition

What a great story, Risa! I googled the Carey Mansion - it's a frightening looking building! It says that it was used for exterior shots of "Collinwood," the vampyre's home, in Dark Shadows. Very scary - I don't blame you for being terrified after what happened to you there! Thanks for sharing!

Risa/Katie
i lived in Carey Mansion as a Freshman in 1989-90.
the Mansion is definitely Haunted - my dorm mate Brian Meade who was the Nephew of Father Meade lived in the "round room" next to it was a room that had been boarded up for years - the rumor is that a Young Nun had hung herself in that room - one day a local psychic was touring the mansion, stopped in front of the room and started yelling hysterically and ran out of the building yelling that there was something disturbing in there - freaked us out. There was many a night when ghostly sounds and things would come up missing. I have no doubt that there are spirits that haunt that Mansion.