Well, here's my contribution... My grandfather used to tell this true story to my mother when she was little, and she in turn told it to my sisters and I. Here it is: when my grandfather was young (circa early 1920's) he used to hang out with the neighbor kids (my grandfather's name was Velivelo Loro, the child of Italian immigrants, but his buds called him "Willy Jones.") As he and his friends were walking home one day, they happened to pass by an very old house (there are many in Philadelphia) which was vacant. One of his friends said that no one lived in the house because it was haunted, and that they should run till the scary house was far behind them. My grandfather said "Aw, that house isn't haunted, you're crazy!" But his friends insisted that it was. To relieve their fears, he said "There's no ghosts in their, and I'll prove it to you. I'm going to spend the night in there--this very night! And if you'll come around at about 9:00pm, I'll stand in front of the windows and wave to you, to show that there are no ghosts to get me." His friends thought he was insane, but agreed to come at 9 to see if he was all right. When grandpop got home, he got his sleeping things together and made ready for his night in the haunted house. At 9, his friends came, waiting for "Willy" to wave from the upstairs window, and show he was OK. As they looked at the window expectantly, there appeared a ghostly white form, undulating silently before their eyes. His friends screamed "A ghost!!! It must have got him!! Let's get out of here!!" meanwhile my grandfather stood in front of the window, laughing, and removed a white sheet from over his head. They said there was a ghost, so he gave them a ghost! But his merry mood was cut short when he got home, and his mother punished him for cutting 2 holes in one of her best sheets with scissors!

Buona Sera -- Mbo