Grandpa’s Ghost

There are many stories of how people have used creative ways to get rid of a ghost haunting their home but the following story from Hobart, Indiana is one of the most unique.

After Mary Anderson’s father died her 6-year old son Collin began to act differently. He would follow his mother from room to room—apparently now afraid of his own home.

Anderson family with their grandfather.

He appeared terrified and refused to even go to the bathroom alone. Mary discovered that Collin believed his deceased grandfather's ghost was haunting their home.

He told his mother he had seen his grandpa's figure on several occasions—he explained to her he stayed close to her afraid he would see his grandpa's ghost again.

Collin would even sit outside the bathroom door the whole time his mother bathed. Mary perplexed, wondered what she could do to alleviate his fears.

She tried to convince her son at one point that he should not worry for his grandfather would eventually just leave their home.

As it turned out Collin himself came up with the solution to his problem. One day he innocently suggested to his mother she should sell his grandfather on eBay.

Mary did some research and found that eBay does not allow people to sell intangible items where delivery cannot be confirmed. This is when she came up with an unique idea.

She possessed her father’s cane. While alive he had never been separated from his favorite walking stick.

In order to ease Collin’s fears Mary proceeded to post her father’s cane on eBay in a 7-day sale. Her only request was that the buyer should send a letter to Collin stating that they had received the cane as well as his grandfather and that both were doing well.

To Mary’s surprise the cane with her father’s ghost connected to it generated 137 bids. 

The various responses she received from bidders ranged from concern for Collin to one man wondering if she would offer a guarantee stating that he had other ghosts go bad before and he would not purchase without a warranty.

An online casino called the Golden Palace offered the winning bid for $65,000 on December 4, 2004.

This casino based out of Antigua wanted the cane with a ghost attached to it for they specialize in oddities. Another purchase they made in recent years is $25,000 for a grilled cheese sandwich displaying the image of the Virgin Mary.

When the requested letter was sent from the casino Mary framed it and hung it in Collin’s bedroom.

This creative solution worked, after this purchase Collin no longer saw his deceased grandfather.