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MARK L. BAKKE'S
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REPLY #5 TO
"PSEUDOSCIENCE AND THE PARANORMAL"
Boldfaced statements are parts of the original essay (or a subsequent reply) to which the respondent has directed his comments.
 Italicized/emphasized comments prefaced by (R) are those of the respondent and are presented unedited. My replies appear under the respondent's comments in blue text and are prefaced by my initials (MB). (R) By rereading my own ghost story I see how you misunderstood many key points. One, the night in question was the second night of the vacation, I had already been in Ireland three months. (MB) There was no misunderstanding there, nor is it relevant to the story how long you had already been elsewhere in Ireland. All that matters is that you were on your second night at the place in question. (R) Second, I found out about the priests death on day three, the day after I heard the first steps.The steps sounded at what later turned out to be the exact hour of his death. (MB) Your original story has you finding out about the priest's death on the same night you first heard the steps -- not on "day three". This also does not explain how you could not have known about his death since your timetable has a one day overlap between your arrival and his death -- which supposedly occurred in the same room in which you were staying. (R) Third, as to your suspicion that it was an elaborate scam, within the four building complex I was the only occupant, everyone else was gone, no one can enter the complex at night(good security). (MB) What better setup could there be? Your story has you as the only visitor on the premises. Certainly, your pending arrival was known ahead of time and certainly you were not the first visitor to have been there. You said that you were already known to your hosts as having an affinity for the supernatural. Good-natured pranks as "rites of passage" are rather commonplace. I'd say that there's a pretty fair chance that you were on the receiving end of one. (R) In response to your asking why no proof exists, Ireland is still at heart a superstitious culture, and no ghost hunters exist there. (MB) That doesn't make much sense. One would think that ghost hunters would be rather prevalent in any society with a superstitious culture. Certainly, the chances of finding them in such a culture would be much greater than finding any in a culture that is not superstitious. Also, in the case of a prank, it's quite likely that any ghost hunter that your hosts might lead a "victim" to would be in on the joke. (R) If you or any of your readers are ever in Maynooth, Ireland, go to the seminary and visit the room where two suicides took place. On the floor is the blood marks from one of the suicides. Though the floorboards have been replaced numerous times, they re appear. (MB) Is this a different ghost story? There was no mention of suicide in your original story. (R) Just wanted to clear things up (MB) I appreciate the additional information.
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