Coaldale is a little community along the Arkansas River, between Salida and Canon City. It seems to be a hotbed for paranormal activity. According to stories that I have been told, two Indian tribes killed each other off in wars. Spirits of Indians and animals are reported to be seen walking through the walls of houses. There have also been reports of UFOs flying along the ridges of the mountains.
My parents rented several different houses there with the intention of buying a home eventually and living there permanently. Each home had its own oddity. I visited them several times while I was in the service. I wasn’t particularly comfortable in any of these houses and I didn’t like to be left alone. Actually, I never felt alone at all! I always felt like someone was watching me.
Their first house was nothing more than a fancy shack. It made a person dizzy because the floors had an odd slant. My father and brother occasionally would encounter the scent of cheap perfume, so strong that it smelled like a bottle was busted on the floor somewhere. The first time they smelled it, they searched the house thinking a cat knocked over a bottle of my mother’s perfume. My mother cannot wear perfume due to allergies, and they never did find the source.
The second house was newer and it was the summer home for some city people. My parents rented it for the winter, while they looked for a place to buy. There really are no stories with this house except for the mass amount of flies. I am not sure if there is anything about flies and the paranormal, but these were huge house flies beating themselves up against the windows in the dead of winter.
The third house was the most active in the paranormal sense. It was high in the hills with no neighbors near. The kitchen faucet would turn itself on quite frequently, but that could have been plumbing issues. Someone would knock on the door, and there would be no one there. One night my father was awaken by flashing lights and a car horn. He got up to find out that no one was around but his jeep was flashing and honking. This was before the automatic keys and panic buttons.
This house was sold to someone else, so they had to move once again, and found another trailer down the hill to rent. My brother decided to spend one last night in the house. He thought it would be great to have the house to himself and watch tv all night. After he fell asleep on the sofa, he was startled by some unusual noises. When he opened his eyes, a bright blue light was coming out of the fireplace towards him, and then would pull back before touching his face. This went on for a while and my brother told me he was too frightened to run away!
Footnote: I have recently been told that the old shack has been torn down. It seems one of the neighbors there now has been having odd things happen. He saw my aunt in town and asked if my parents had anything strange happen to them while living there. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t tell her what was happening to him.