Many people claim that the Tumble Inn lake cottage is
haunted. However, several of the stories center around one area in the house:
the back bedroom.
One of the ghosts that is rumored to "live"
in the back bedroom is Bob Walburn. He was killed in a car
accident while he was in college.
Another ghost that haunts the back bedroom is that of a
strange man, possibly a boxer who slept in that room at one time and was killed
in the ring later.
The back bedroom has also inspired several strange
dreams, and it seems that the ghosts have invaded the "middle bedroom"
as well.
"Uncle Bob searches
for head in back bedroom" Aunt Lacy, now deceased (as told to Betty Sheridan and then passed
down to son P.V.Sheridan): I was riding in the car with my older
brother, Bob, and his friend. We were on our way back from the Dance Hall at
Tippee where we had spent a wonderful time dancing the jitterbug.
Suddenly, a car appeared from
nowhere and hit us head on. Bob was a big linesman from Ball State and as he
went through the windshield he pushed me (Lacy) back. Bob's head was cut off and
I was the only survivor. We had an open casket wake for my dear brother who
saved my life. He was a wonderful young man. His death destroyed my father who
never was quite the same again. Danny and Meng Sheridan: Many years later, grandchildren who have slept
in the back bedroom (where his casket was) have reported seeing a man walking
around the room looking for his head. [For an explanation of what the ghostly "Uncle Bob" looks and must
feel like, Danny and Meng recommend that you read Shel Silverstein's "The
Loser."]
Lacy and Bob
Walburn.
Bob Walburn,
holding Rex with John.
"Strange man appears in back bedroom"
Donnie Kuzma: In the back bedroom of Grandma and Grandpa’s cottage, me
and J.R. were sleeping—Emmett was there—and it was about five years ago,
maybe. We were telling jokes and stuff about how everyone was saying that there
were people in the back bedroom, and in the middle of the night—you take it
from here. J.R Kuzma: All right. In the middle of the night, Emmett got up because
it got really cold. He looked up and he got real scared. Donnie looked over and
said "What do you want?" Then Donnie looks up, he taps me on the
shoulder, we look over, and we see this guy walking back and forth. We’re like
"Who is it?" The guy doesn’t answer. Then we said "Dad, is that
you?" But then, it couldn’t be Dad because, well, Dad—well, he wasn’t
home. We thought it might have been Lewis, but he was too tall. And Lewis was
only about two years old at the time, anyway, so it couldn’t have been him. So
the guy turned around and looked at us—then we went back to bed. We never
figured out who he was. Donnie: Emmett said later that he had woken up because he felt something
bumping at the end of the bed.
"Boxer sleeps in back bedroom"
Bob Sheridan: You know who that man was in the back bedroom, don’t you?
It was that boxer that used to sleep in that room who got beat to death in the
ring. There was an autographed picture (that used to hang on the wall) of this
fighter —and he slept in that room. He got beat up and killed in the ring, and
every once in a while, he comes to that back bedroom and walks back and forth.
The back bedroom.
"Strange man appears in dream"
Mary Kuzma: I do have a story about the back bedroom. It happened when I
was in high school. I was asleep and dreaming about a man (who I now believe was
Uncle Bob) coming for me. Now we all have dreams that are weird like that but
that night when the man was almost to me ]the temperature in the room became
frigid and when that happened I struggled, but woke up. I was so afraid I went
into your Grandma's room and made your Grandpa go sleep in the back bedroom, and
I stayed the rest of the night with Grandma. I am convinced that if the man ever
got to me I would have gone with him (died).
"Back bedroom inspires strange dream" Norma Walburn: Years ago,
when I was pregnant with Johnny, Rex and I were in the back bedroom asleep, and—this
was just a dream, it wasn’t a ghost or anything—I dreamed that John Walburn
came walking in our bedroom, and he didn’t look right or left, he just walked
straight in. And I let out a scream, and I guess I screamed out loud. That’s
the extent of it; there weren’t any ghosts or anything, but it was just such a
weird experience, and it has stayed with me all of my life.
Wardrobe in the
back bedroom.
Another
view of the back bedroom.
"Cold temperatures and moonlight in the back bedroom"
Jennifer Sheridan: When I was little I would always sleep in the back
bedroom. I liked to sleep there because it was always nice and cool in that
room, even if it were ninety degrees outside. I never knew there were ghosts in
there or I never would have slept there. Anyway, the moonlight would always cast
strange shadows in there. There used to be a towel that hung where the closet
door should be because there was no door. On the towel—it was a beach towel—there
was a picture of a sun at the top, and a moon at the bottom. The moonlight would
shine right through the window and hit that moon at just the right spot so that
it would look like there was a face glowing on that towel. I would never get out
of bed when the moon’s face glowed because I was convinced that something
inside the closet was going to grab me or something. There was also an old
wardrobe in there that looked like it should have a dead body in it or
something. The back bedroom was a spooky place.
"Friend scared to sleep alone in the middle bedroom"
Ryan Sheridan: One time, me and two of my friends slept over at the
cottage. We didn’t get back until late at night. One of my friends and I slept
in the back bedroom, the one that’s supposedly haunted, but really, they’re
[the bedrooms] all haunted. My other friend slept in the middle room, and we had
just told him stories about how it was really haunted and about how the ghosts
were always in there. The friend that was sleeping alone was 6’5" 280
pounds, so he’s a big guy, and you’d think that kind of stuff wouldn’t
bother him. So anyway, me and my friend slept in the back room, where Uncle Bob’s
ghost or whatever was, and we went to sleep fine. In the middle of the night, my
6’5" friend comes into our room, and says he’s scared; he can’t sleep
alone in the middle bedroom. He claimed that the door kept opening on its own.
He slept on the floor in the back bedroom instead of sleeping by himself. So,
that’s our story.
