My Experience At a Haunted Bed And Breakfast!

My husband and I had to go out of state for a wedding that was in Newberry, South Carolina. We had previously stayed at a bed and breakfast in North Carolina so I figured a few days at a bed and breakfast would be great. There were only two in Newberry and they were booked. I used Map Quest and found a bed and breakfast in Union, South Carolina, which was only about 35 minutes north of Newberry. It was called The Inn At Merridun.

The Inn at Merridun was built in 1857 and was listed as a southern antebellum mansion. I reserved a room there called the Governor's Gallery Room for Friday and Saturday night. Later on, I did a quick internet search to see what other people had said about this intriguing bed and breakfast.  You can imagine my surprise when it came up in searches under top ten most haunted bed and breakfasts in South Carolina and under other searches for most haunted bed and breakfasts in the United States. I was quite excited having never stayed somewhere that was supposed to be haunted.

When we got there, I could not believe how old and beautiful it was. There was a sense of being in the past when you walked in the mansion and up the long hardwood spiral staircase. It was like I had stepped into another time period.  Our room was beyond gorgeous complete with a king size rice bed. The house was full of antiques and even had a tea room.

I have to admit that the thought of staying at a supposed haunted place fascinated me for some reason. When we first got there, I had to use the bathroom. I went in the bathroom, turned on the light and closed the door. As soon as I sat down, the light went off. My husband checked the lights when I got out and figured out that if you turn on the heat switch and the light switch, the power would go off in the bathroom. So much for my first haunting.

The first night we were there, I slept soundly and did not notice anything out of the ordinary. On Saturday morning, the owner of the inn served us quite possibly the best food I have ever had. She whipped up a gourmet breakfast that kept me full until dinner.

Saturday night was a different story. I tossed and turned but could not seem to stay asleep. At one point, I looked at the clock and it said 4:00 a.m. I turned over and tried to go back to sleep. Imagine my surprise when I heard a woman's voice call out in the hall. I could not make out what she was saying but it was clearly a woman's voice. Then I heard knocking on the wall or the door.

The next morning I asked the innkeeper if she was up at the time of the night and she said no, she was asleep. I told her what I heard and she said other people had said they had heard or seen spirits when they stayed there. We were the only guests in the inn that night and there was a woman upstairs that worked there but her room was a few doors down. She also assured me she did not get up in the night and that at 4:00 a.m. she was fast asleep in her bed.

Before we left, I read the guest book upstairs in our room and there were some entries where people said they had seen shadows on the walls and heard a woman’s and a man’s voice. Many people indicated they thought there were spirits in the house but could not determine what. How interesting reading their entries. Of course, the majority of the entries were regarding the good food and hospitality.

I took our digital camera with us there to take pictures. Our camera worked fine before we got there but after taking a few pictures, the batteries died. We went to the store and got a brand new pack of batteries. When we got to the inn, we replaced the batteries and then took another picture. The camera died again. I replaced the batteries for a second time and it did the same thing. I was able to take some pictures but it was only when the camera was cooperative. When we got home, of course, the camera worked fine with the same batteries that we had bought. I downloaded all of my pictures and noticed that several of the pictures had little circles on them or dots that were not there when I took the pictures. I am not sure what they were but they did make the pictures look interesting.

Overall all, The Inn at Merridun is certainly a beautiful and historical house. It also has the mystery surrounding it of whether or not it is haunted. The huge white mansion with a wrap around porch and rocking chairs, complete with high vaulted ceilings and long spiral staircase appear to hold secrets of a time long forgotten. 

Whether or not it was haunted, the atmosphere and the owner's heavenly and plentiful meals were reason enough to go back and it only cost us about $20 more than the price of a hotel. That makes it a favorite for my list of bed and breakfasts. I am looking forward to going there again.