On the subject of spirits, evil and otherwise

A recent Substack post of my brother’s (one can read it here) made mention of a “haunting” of a relative’s home during the 1970s. David was careful not to divulge much about the circumstances. I can confirm that the encounters with the “entity” or “entities” there persisted for some months, involved several witnesses, and concluded with an “exorcism” of the house. I stayed in that home frequently at the time, usually sleeping on the living room sofa, and I was witness to a share of unnerving occurrences. Indeed, my hair and beard were nearly set alight twice when flames flared up bizarrely from the kitchen stove into my face. Since that long-ago time, I’ve had a few brushes with such unsettling things, including a strange experience in a hotel room in Sweden about two years ago, but never again have I been confronted by one so seemingly malevolent. I commented on David’s post, and he responded by asking – with a touch of humor and without, I’m sure, expecting an answer – “What are these things?” (That’s not verbatim but it’s the gist.) If nothing else, that question invites some sort of response, but it’s wise to exercise some restraint in doing so.