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A Haunting Perspective

Summer Noble House docent Katelaine Buske in the shadow’s of the historic Fish Creek home. Photo submitted by Laurie Buske.

“Imagine yourself before an old, rustic mirror. Now, look straight at your reflection and take away your modern day hair, clothing and make-up, sinking yourself into the appearance of a Victorian citizen. Continue to stare a little longer – reflect on the house behind you that is much older than you are. This house, The Alexander Noble House, tells a story of its own. And on some nights, if you are lucky, you won’t be the only person staring back at you in the mirror.”

So are the words of Fish Creek resident Katelaine Buske who, for three months this summer, worked as a nighttime docent at the Alexander Noble House for the Door County Haunted Trolley Tour.

While her job description required donning Victorian-era clothing (think ankle-length black skirt, long sleeve white button up, black lace shawl and veiled black hat), the one thing it didn’t require of her was encountering the spirits that Buske says walk the halls of the historic home. But maybe it was right of her to expect that part.

“Working the Noble House’s part of the late night Door County Haunted Trolley Tour is an experience in itself,” Buske says. “While those who take the tour expect a good spooking, some nights you find yourself on the same piece of terror they all cling to.”

Every night preparing the home for the trolley visits was the same – closing the blinds and doors, and placing electric candles around the home. Buske recalls the luckier nights – those when the sun hadn’t completely set and the house could be prepped in daylight. She also recalls the not-so-lucky evenings.

The Alexander Noble House prior to becoming a museum. Photo submitted by Laurie Buske, Gibraltar Historical Association.

“Some nights aren’t so forgiving when a storm rolls in from the lake and dresses the home in gloomy, heavy fog,” Buske says. “When stepping into the home each night, there’s an eerie feeling that never lets you forget that you are not the only one home. On some nights this can be comforting, but on those fog-filled, sepia-toned nights, you feel otherwise.”

When the home is dressed for the likings of a ghost tour, the waiting begins, a time Buske refers to as “the absolute worst part.”

That terror showed itself on the very first night Buske set foot in the home as a docent.

While speaking on the death of the Nobles’ mother, Buske recalls feeling someone consoling and touching her back. From there, the nights became more interesting with unexplained happenings that she was often the only one around to hear or witness – flickering lights, falling picture frames, crying children, slamming doors and, for a couple weeks, a man’s apparition that appeared above her head when she looked in one of the house’s mirrors.

For Buske, the haunted happenings only heightened her love and respect for the home. Buske considers herself a lifelong “magnet” of spiritual happenings.

“I’ve always had weird spiritual happenings around me, so I treated it as though it was me with another person,” she says. “I would greet them when I came into the home.”

Door County Haunted Trolley Tour docent Katelaine Buske on the porch of the Alexander Noble House in Fish Creek. Photo submitted by Laurie Buske, Gibraltar Historical Association.

So who could the spirits be? Remaining members of the family who want their place to be known, Buske says. They aren’t angry and they certainly aren’t dangerous.

“They’re just making sure everyone still knows that they’re alive and chilling in the home. You just need to respect them as if you’re visiting their house and see it that way.”

Although Buske is now hours away at college in Chicago, her experience as a Victorian docent at the Alexander Noble House remains a small part of her. And the odd happenings, be they apparitions or other spooky, unsettling occurrences, have lent themselves to the many stories she told the visitors of the haunted trolley tours.

“Working within the Noble House is more than just a job,” Buske says. “It is you inserting your stories and experiences into one of the oldest homes in Door County, making you just as unforgettable as the spirits resting in reach room.”