Posted on April 22, 2012 at 3:00 AM

I've kept this particular ghost story secret for a lot of reasons, but now I feel its time has come. It happened back when I was an undergraduate at Slippery Rock, my junior year. I had a friend that had been visiting from Pittsburgh. He had stayed later than planned, and there was a storm, so he wanted to find the closest hotel and spend the night. At that time, and probably still, the closest inn was The Applebutter Inn. It's a beautiful old house and bed and breakfast. There is a restaurant, The Wolf Creek School House, which is actually an old school house, that is next door. They have excellent food and even an herb garden. I had always wanted to stay at The Applebutter Inn, myself, or at least check it out, on the inside; but I'd heard it was very expensive. Judging from the outside, I believed it. My friend wanted to stay there, regardless. We walked in, rather late, out of the rain. There was nobody there, but the place was lit-up like a Christmas tree. There was a phone at the front desk, so my friend called to ask for a room. He called and called. Finally he got an answer. He said he needed a room for the night, only to be told, "We don't do that.", and hung-up on. My friend was more than well-to-do and was very put-out, to say the least. So, we decided to look around. All of the doors were wide open, and all of the lights were on. One room was more beautiful than the next. The place was full of fine antiques, and I remember thinking how strange that anybody could just walk in and rob the place. In one of the rooms a rocking chair was rocking by itself. It was early spring and raining, so all of the windows were closed. The entire house seemed to have a yellow glow. It wasn't eerie though, rather warm and inviting. My friend chose the nicest room. It had a king size canopy bed. The canopy was cotton and looked like a giant daisy. He said he wasn't worried about trespassing and would pay on his way out in the morning, which is standard procedure with pricey bed and breakfasts anyways. While sleeping I dreamt that a small man, a bit stocky, probably in his fifties, wearing a green vest, jumped out of a closet at me, smiling, in a yellow burst of light. His arms were outstretched, as if to say, "Ta-Da!", only he didn't speak a word. The next morning, the place was quiet again. Nobody at all was around. So, we left. Thinking it all very strange, after I got back to campus, I started asking around. I discovered that the inn was closed and would not reopen for business until summer. I also heard that it was supposedly haunted by a former owner who had died there. Anyways, he's alright by me.