I have to take back every mean thought I’ve had about the Carolina Inn in the last year. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fantastic place to stay (as well it should be, it’s a bit expensive) and I highly recommend it, but there’s been something odd going on.

The problem has been that since I wrote about our rather strange stay at the Inn last year for our anniversary, I’ve been getting random emails every couple of months from people explaining it’s haunted.

Sure. Fine. Whatever.

I think alcohol consumption by the idle rich (explaining the sounds of breaking glass at all hours and the bottles of very expensive champagne on the room service trays in the mornings) and an extremely attentive staff (explaining the constant appearance of clean sheets and towels 4 or 5 times a day) could also explain the oddities of the place. But what do I know?

What’s odd is that these messages almost always mention the exact room number of the room we stayed in, or, in the case of two of the messages, the room next door. The messages come months apart so I always vow to send the Inn a nastygram about this and then forget again. I just keep assuming it’s a practical joke being played by student employees doing things they shouldn’t with guest records.

It seems I was wrong. I had no idea how well-known the Inn was as a haunted structure until I saw a mention in the Washington Post two weeks ago followed by a message the next day clearing everything up. [dead link]

Coincidence? You decide!

This may just explain everything. [dead link, replaced by this one in 2011]

Or not. But in the spirit of Halloween I thought I’d post it anyway.