Thursday, August 27, 2009

It's Just The Wind

Neat article on assessing the possibility of your home being haunted, and what to do if it is.

Even if your house is not haunted, it's easy to get caught up in the idea that it is, thinking every bump and creak you hear is something ghostly. And it's not long before your family picks up on your fears, and begins hearing the "unexplainable" sounds and seeing the resident "ghost."

This Old House.


Image source.


Never had anything ghostly happen to me that would make me a solid believer, but I've known a few people that have had neat experiences. Two that come to mind involve my parents and a friend of theirs. My mother's mother passed away when I was in grade school. Shortly after she did, my parents were watching TV one night and my mother and father heard my mother's name called. Loudly, and from the top of the stairs. My father jumped up and was rather disturbed, "WHAT THE HELLLLLL WAS THAT?!" They said it was the voice of my grandmother.

Granted, it could have been a noise that was perfectly tuned to sound like a name being called, but it makes for a creepy little story. The second is somewhat more solid. A friend of my parents died in his house while his wife and son were down in the living room. Very sudden. Very devastating. Many years after the man's passing, his wife shared a story with my mother. A week after his death, she was watching TV with her son and looked to the top of the stairs and saw her husband start to descend the stairs, but then looked as though he had forgotten something and quickly turned and rushed back up. She was telling the story to my mother because her son, all these years later (about fifteen years), had recently told her a story of the time he saw his dad, a week after his death, start to descend the stairway, turn, and go back up into the darkness.

She said she and her son kept it from each other for all those years after the incident, thinking they were each just a little crazy from the grief and the shock. Each thinking they were the only one who saw it. She told my mother they cried and hugged after that. For a long time.

6 comments:

Countess VonRauber (Heidi) said...

I love ghost encounter stories. The one about the mother and son is amazing and heart-warming.
A few people in my family seem to have a gift, for seeing ghosts. I've seen a lot of things in my periphal, but once, about a month after my Grandfather passed away, I saw him clearly. It was frightening, because I was home alone, but fascinating at the same time.

Sara said...

I love haunted house stories.

Especially if they have meaning behind them.

My very sensible dad claims he saw a little boy in drop-drawer pajamas hiding behind the curtain in their living room right before my mom was pregnant with my oldest brother. He also saw him again in the hallway that same year.

Dun Dun DUUUUUN.

Cabrina said...

Here's my newest one...I'll try to give you the cliffnotes version:

I bartend a few nights a week and felt something in the basement watching me. On my way back upstairs, somewhat in a panic, I saw the name Eugene and the image of a man in 1920 overalls and an Irish cap, in my mind.

My sister did some digging and the building use to be an apartment house, where a Eugene Riley resided in 1917. His daughter was killed nearby in a car that got hit by a city train.

We found pictures of the wreck in newspaper files from around that time.

I can't even tell you the size of the goosebumps I had when I heard I was right on the money!

crudedoodle.com said...

I remember a friend telling me a story of her friends (a couple) who were showering together and had the radio on and some favorite song of theirs came on and they were both belting it out and showering and having a fun time. All of a sudden, they both hear someone in their house, right outside the door of the bathroom, YELLING the lyrics of the song at the top of their lungs. One of them jumped out and ran around the place looking to kill someone and there was nobody there.

CatHerder said...

although i am a true believer, i never experienced anything in my life...even living in a home that was built in the early 1800's...until a couple months ago..my husband and i were sitting in a casino in atlantic city...and i actually felt a hand run across my back, shoulder and arm, my purse even fell down...i initially thought it was a waitress but there was no one behind us...i felt immediately cold, and it scared the hell out of me....i felt like i had just been reaped.

Rot said...

VERY cool.
I love the DEAD LIKE ME reference : )