Thrift Store Ghost Stories

The registers were at a counter just to the right of the entrance. About two feet from that were the showcases, and immediately after that were three small mini-boothd to the left, and a wall of shelves to the right. The vendor that occupied the shelves had books and movies in the first two set of shelve, then dishes and cookware in the three sets of shelves after that.

We closed up the store by 8PM, but clean up and balancing the books and what have you normally took around 30 or 40 minutes. I’m not sure exactly how long it took this particular night, but it waa most likely around 8:30, give or take ten minutes. We were behind the counter where the registers were located to clock out for the night- this being after the lights were all cut out, as well- when we heard a noise down the front aisle way.

I looked over to the security cameras across from the registers to check for people. It wouldn’t be the first time we shut the store down while customers were still tucked away in boothd shopping. But no one was there.

The noise happened again, like a knocking sound. I looked down toward the mini- booths where the noise was coming from. My co-worker- a large hulk of a young guy- hesitantly suggested one of us walk down there. I suggested it should be him since I am a petite woman, and he was nearly 6 foot tall, 250 pounds of man.

My co-worker did not agree. Instead, he hollered down the aisle way. A quick “Hey, who is there?” But we received no answer. Not verbally, anyway.

The knocking noise turned into more of a dragging sound- almost like a cane dragging against the flooring.

Checking the cameras again, I found the aisle- and the one around the corner from it- completely empty. I stepped slowly out from behind the counter, and in between the first row of showcases. My male co-worker found his courage then- and stepped directly behind me.

This time I called out to the noise in the darkness. “We’re closed. Come on and let us let you out!” Nothing. Just more hollow dragging in the pitch black before us.

I tomd my male co-worker to cut the showcase lights on to give us enough light to see the shelves next to the rows of glass cases.

He did, and we were able to see there was no one but us in the aisle. But the noise persisted. And it aas growing closer and closer.

“Stay behind me,” I told my co-worker.

We inched closer to the mini- booths and bookshelves through the showcases.

Then the noise stopped. So we stopped. And in the stillness we started to feel silly and childish.

Thats when a pit on the shelves launched full speed across the aisle into one of the mink- booths’ displays of glasses. The glasses came crashing down on the floor, and the pot made the metal clang clang clang against the floor until it came to a rest.

I slowly stepped backwards until my back met the solid mass that was my male co-worker.

“We gotta go,” I said, turning around and pushing against his chest.

“You saw that, right?” He asked me, still staring last me at the aisle.

“Yeah, let’s go,” I pushed his chest again.

We clocked out, set the security alarm, and locked the doors. We did not clean up the mess made, nor did we turn the showcase lights back off. I wanted no part of that side of the store that night.

The next morning, when the manager opened the sgore, she text us both asking what had happened. I told her I’d have to tell her when I came in for my shift to really explain it all.

“It’s a ghost,” was all my male co-worker would say by way of explanation.