The Mysterious Reader at Barnes & Noble Bookstore

In 2011, when I visited Barnes & Noble at City Place in West Palm Beach Florida, I overheard a patron complaining that she felt uncomfortable setting in a particular seat. The clerk investigated. He sat down in the seat but felt nothing was wrong or out of place.

I thought nothing more of it but I noticed that however crowded the bookstore was, nobody sat in that seat or if they sit down, they would shortly move elsewhere. Out of curiosity, I tried sitting in the seat. In a few minutes, I felt uncomfortable as if I were sitting on somebody’s lap! I decided to sit elsewhere.

Finally, I simply asked the staff if they had any clues. They explained that they had consulted the architect, the engineer, and maintenance person to see if there was some of defect.

Finally, the clerk who had served longest in the bookstore recalled a particular incident that had taken place a few months that had been on the job. He recalled an elderly patron would come every day to look at the books and at the end of the week make a purchase.

Then the elderly reader complained of chest pains. The clerk called 911 to summon an ambulance. The elderly reader did not return. When a book came in that she ordered, he gave her a courtesy call to let know to pick it up. He was told by her daughter that she had died in the hospital from a massive heart attack. The clerk recalled the complaint of the uncomfortable seat coincided with the day she had died. Perhaps, her ghost was simply returning to her happy place to continue reading.

In 2014, Barnes & Nobel classed its bookstore at City Place. A gym opened up in its place. Reports of unusual activity disappeared because apparently the ghost was not into exercise.

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