mamerblog

beyond the grave

In eighth grade, my friend Amber and I held a seance so we could summon Kurt Cobain from the dead. Our first attempt was in my basement. It was just the two of us, and we were making things up as we went along. Not satisfied with our lack of results, Amber and I took a trip to the South Milwaukee Library (everyone knows that the South Milwaukee Library is the best source to find seance how-to books).

According to the book, a home is the worst place to summon spirits. We needed to find a neutral but indoor location, which was a problem since we were fourteen years old and couldn’t drive. Because we couldn’t use my house anymore, the next logical location we turned to was school, of course.

Amber and I roped all of the eighth grade girls into joining us. We skipped recess and snuck into the St. Adalbert gymnasium. In the girl’s locker room, we made a circle, lit a ton of candles, joined hands, and turned out the lights. Sitting on the floor in the dark, the ten of us chanted for several minutes. Everyone started to freak out, but Amber and I anxiously shouted above the chants, “Don’t let go! Don’t break the chain!” The room seemed colder and some of the girls started crying.

Just as the chanting was reaching its peak, a huge pile of folding chairs crashed behind us. We erupted in screams and scattered, breaking the chain. I guess we’ll never find out how Kurt is doing in the afterlife.