There are few things as intrinsically scary as ghost stories. Considering the fact that Halloween is right around the corner, we thought it might be interesting to get some rock stars to share a few of their own. Scarily enough, we got more than we expected:
James Valentine, Maroon 5: We recorded our latest, It Won't Be Soon Before Long, at Rick Rubin's allegedly haunted house. One night, when I was there alone, I saw a figure walking up the stairs when there was nobody else in the house except my girlfriend. I was so certain that I'd seen someone that I called out to this thing, but there was nobody there. I don't know how to explain it, but that's what I saw.
Steve Bays, Hot Hot Heat: [I formed this band with this guy] and, on the night of our first jam, we drove forever out to his place, this really forested area. He hadn't drummed in a year because, he said, he'd been drinking and into drugs... But he says, "I've quit now." So I play guitar; he plays drums. But I remember he was sweating a lot, pretty profusely through the whole damned thing. That night, I have this really crazy dream where I go into the bathroom and see this guy in the mirror. This ghostly figure in the mirror is [basically] saying goodbye to me. The next day, I heard that three hours after the jam, he died. His heart stopped. I guess his body was so run down that drumming for three hours essentially killed him. It's creepy... when he died was basically when I had the dream."
Alice Cooper: I get out of rehab, and Joe Perry got out of rehab at the same time. I was going to write two songs for this movie I was going to be in and thought, "I'll call Joe, and we'll do this together." We checked into this big old house in the middle of [upstate New York], this big gothic-looking thing. I'm putting my clothes away. I leave the room and come back and... the drawer I was packing is closed. Hmm, I don't remember closing that. This house was so full of whatever that, on the second night we're there, we're eating dinner, and it sounds like somebody is moving furniture in the basement. It's making so much noise; it's not even trying to be subtle. I say to Joe, "We're the only ones here, right? Every time I put my coat down, I come back and it's gone." Joe said, "The same exact thing is happening to me too. I thought I was just going through a recovery thing, being forgetful." So we ran out of the place. I found out later The Amityville Horror [was written] in that house."
