Vanessa Saunders, Paranormal Experiencer

Question: Vanessa Saunders, before we get into this interview, can you tell us something about yourself. Your family life, your schooling. Tell us about your hobbies, recreational activities. What is your favorite song? What are your favorite movies, TV shows and books?

Answer: I am a mother of three boys ages ranging from 18 to 24 and I have three beautiful grandchildren two boys and one girl. I have lived in the Sacramento area for the last 11 years. I have a BA in Child Development and a minor in Social Work. I have worked in the Child Development field for the last twenty years. I love children and the wonders they bring to the world. A child’s sense of wonder is awe inspiring.

I enjoy doing many crafts, you can catch me at Michaels on any given day…trying the latest craft craze. I try to balance my home time with family and friends. A good BBQ is always on the schedule, I love to go to festivals, camping and love good music. I can be talked into spontaneous trips, and have a passport ready to go on a moments notice if time permits.

I love reading a good romance novel, the latest being 50 Shades of Grey…yes, it’s a good book. I love to listen to all types of music, love oldies and R&B. I love to watch Grey’s Anatomy but I always make time for SyFy Channel’s Ghost Hunters.

Question: Can you tell me about your paranormal experience in Yosemite?

Answer: Well, this experience happened when I was twenty four and newly married. My ex-husband and I were staying at the Wawona Lodge in Yosemite. We were staying in a corner cabin. There was a door in and one window and the bed that faced the door. The experience happened about one in the morning. First I must say that my ex was a very sound sleeper and on any other day it would have taken a bomb to wake him. So now on to the experience we were laying in bed both supposedly asleep, when I felt as if someone was hovering in the corner of the room watching me, however I was not looking in that direction, I actually was faced in the opposite way and my ex was facing the other way with his back to me. I felt and if I couldn’t move and could picture in my brain the person in the corner. I said quietly “Jim”, he responded immediately by saying do you feel it? I said “yes, in the corner” he said “ in a white dress” I said “ I said Victorian Lady”, he said yes, I wanted him to get up but he was also unable to move. In a few minutes, the feeling went away and he jumped out of bed and turned on the light. There was nothing in the room and to this day we do not know what it was and have always wondered how we could both be able to explain what the other was seeing but neither of us actually looking in the corner of the room.

Question: Wow! You told me about something that is absolutely weird. Something about an entity slipping in bed with you and you smelling smoke. What the heck is that all about?

Answer: I was working in San Francisco and was staying in a hotel in San Francisco. I had been working on a report in the bed and watching TV when I feel asleep with my cell phone next to me. I was awakened around 5 am when I felt the blankets lift up ever so slightly and something slid into bed with me…and first thing I thought…”what the hell?” I can feel the hair on my arm tingle, as if someone was slightly brushing up against my arm, then I felt a hand rest upon my leg…I was really freaking out…”I was thinking, did someone slip in my bed and was I going to get raped?” I refused to open my eyes and turn my head towards it, I was thinking on how I could get out of this situation. I could feel the breath of someone breathing on my neck. I smelled the intense odor of cigarette smoke. I was telling myself, to calm down…calm down..at any moment I could feel myself ready to scream. When I finally gained the nerve to look over, there was absolutely nothing there. The smell of the smoke immediately dissipated. I picked up the phone in the early morning hours and called my friend, I was babbling incoherently to my friend…I knew I had either an intense vivid dream..or what I experienced was the paranormal…an entity was actually in my bed!

Question: Tell me about Weaverville?

Answer: Ok by now we know I travel for work and every week I am at a different location in California. I had to travel to a town in Northern California call Weaverville and in such a small town there is slim pickings as far as lodging goes so I stayed in a Motel called the Victorian Inn. I was there working with several other people however I was the only one that was given a room on the second floor. I was once again in bed watching TV when I fell asleep. I awoke to the feeling of something holding me down, hands on either side of my chest/shoulder, I was unable to move or scream. I open my eyes and could see a dark shadow that appeared to be a man , however I was able to see through him, I could see the TV through him. I closed my eyes and told myself to stay calm, and open my eyes once again still feeling the pressure on me , I quickly closed my eyes again and started saying in my head to go away, go away. When I opened my eyes I felt the pressure ease up and I jumped out of bed. I immediately turned on the lights and looked behind the curtains, under the bed in the bathroom behind the shower curtain. I looked out the room door but there was nothing there. I sat on the bed and just listened to the sound of the trucks going by. I was afraid to say anything to my co-workers for fear that they would think I was crazy.

This incident leads to my next experience I was in Mammoth Lakes staying at the Cinnamon Bear Inn. I was in a room that had a Victorian theme, 4 poster bed with a canopy that had little balls hanging from it. I go to bed, I’m sleeping soundly when all of the sudden I hear a loud crash and feel the bed move. I jump out of bed and turn on the light and I look around and try to open the room door but it is stuck and won’t open. I am not sure what happened and decide to get back in bed. I crawl in bed and am just about asleep when I hear another loud crash almost as if a semi hit the building and the bed starts to move back and forth, I opened my eyes to the balls from the canopy swinging side to side. I jump out of bed again turn on the light and try to leave the room but the door wont open, when it finally opens I do not see anyone else in the motel up and about. I leave the lights on and turn on the TV because I know I won’t sleep because that damn ghost followed me. The news comes on and it says that there was a earth quake…wow was I relieved . I finally told my co-workers about my experience in Weaverville and what I thought had happened with the ghost that was following me. My co-workers were laughing at me and told me I must have been dreaming in Weaverville. I thought in my head that I really did have a real life dream and that I dream very realistically.

Question: What happened when your grandfather passed away?

Answer: When my grandfather passed away in his apartment bedroom. Because I was there when he passed away, I was afraid to go into his bedroom, I was only 13 years old. I was sleeping on the couch one night when I heard my name and I saw my deceased grandfather sitting on his chair. He was sitting there with his hands on his cane and he was telling me there was no reason for me to be afraid. He told me that I needed to release the fear, that nothing was going to harm me. The next day, I felt fine, I did not fear my grandfather’s death, I felt relieved.

Question: Tell me about the pulling door incident?

Answer: There were four children from the ages of 10 to 13, we were in a house on 27th Street in Sacramento. We were all sitting in the living room watching a movie and all of sudden we felt an overwhelming urge or feeling that someone was in the house with us. The feeling kept getting stronger and stronger. We all decided at that time, it was time to leave. The four of us left out the front door, my brother was the last one to come out, when my brother was pulling the door to close it. My brother yelled that the door would not close and that the door was being forcefully pulled open! We ran like Hell, after that experience.

Question: Tell me about your international travels?

Answer: I have been to Cancun, Mexico; Maui, Hawaii; London, England; Paris, France and all over Italy – Milan, Venice, Pisa, Sienna, Florence, Rome.

Question: Is there anyway anyone can contact you?

Answer: Before you fully believe, take the time, to look, to analyze and to think about it, before coming to your final conclusion.

BELOW ARE HPI UPDATES, NEWS AND GOSSIP!

Shari Aresta with The Current Crew!

SHARI ARESTA’S HAUNTED STORY:
Before I moved to Elk Grove, there was a lot of activity at my home in San Jose, I had a ghost that followed me from house to house. At my last house I captured a photo of something floating above my granddaughter’s head, a plant rubbed against my son’s friend as he was sitting on the couch. It was a hanging plant next to him. I told him it was our ghost. He went up the stairs saying he didn’t believe in ghosts and something tripped him on the stairs. My daughter’s radio went on and when she unplugged it from the wall it still played. Toys (Army men) were all facing her when she woke up. Microwave oven went off by itself, music box went off by itself, and the worst thing I was watching a 6 1/2 week old baby and I sat her on the table in her little carrier and I was watching a unexplained cd in my computer, when it came to the part about children levitating the baby went from the carrier to the table to the floor. She didn’t cry. It was like something picked her up and put her on the floor. That frightened me to no end where I had to call a friend and have them come over. When I moved to Elk Grove, it followed me again. My grandmother’s crucifix was in the cubby of my dresser next to my bed and it flew off the shelf onto my bed. Doors slam, a week ago something was tapping lightly on my bedroom door. Over and over until I got up to look and when I opened my door no one was there. I have a surveillance system in my house and my garage light turned on by itself two nights in a row at 2:30am. In my kitchen, at 1am all the dishes flew out of my cabinet all over the kitchen counter top, my stove and the floor. All was destroyed. Strange things are happening in my home once again.

October 18, 2012 – Steven Paxiao, Writer; Carlos Guerrero, Photographer and Daniel Romandia, Photographer from The Current (American River College) came over to Shari Aresta’s home to conduct an impromptu ghost hunt at Shari’s home. They interviewed Shari and I. Shari told the reporters her ghostly experiences in the home, while I talked their ear off about the 700 paranormal investigations I have been on.