Encounters With The Other Side

When I was in my 20's a friend was killed in an car accident. Killed leaving the bar we all had been hanging out at only hours before. In fact, I might have been the last person to talk to him.

At that time I was housesitting with a friend who had dated Marty. The next night we were in the family room which had a sliding glass door covered by draperies. All of a sudden I knew Marty was on the other side of those glass doors. I knew all I had to do was pull aside the curtain and there he would be. I couldn't do it. Because I knew that not only was he there, he was also a soul in torment, forever cut off from the human companionship he craved. I knew he was trying to get back to where he could never again go.


This is the same house that earlier when my friend and I stayed there I heard footsteps in the hall in the night. Footsteps that stopped outside my door. I waited, thinking it was my friend, but nothing was said and the footsteps then retreated.

In the morning, my friend asked me why I walked up to her door in the night. She said she even sat up in bed and asked me what I wanted. But of course there was no answer. Only ghostly footsteps in the night......

I bought a house, and soon after we moved in, we would hear doors closing in rooms where no one was or footsteps going up or down the stairs. Sometimes when I would go upstairs, I could smell a faint trace of perfume at the landing. It was similar to a bath powder scent, and if I moved away from that spot, the scent would go away. One night while I was sleeping for some reason I just woke up. I looked around the darkened room and a woman was standing beside the bed right next to me, looking at me. I screamed and sat up with a jolt. She disappeared. The sounds and the trace of her perfume did not occur again after that.
I later learned that not long after the man and woman built that beautiful house and moved in, she became ill and died in bed one night in the same room where I slept.

O'siyo,
Something that attracted me to this big 'ol house of mine enough so to purchase it was the energy I felt from it the first time I walked through the front doors~
Around Christmas time, my first Christmas here '03, I had some friends over for a 'celebration' of sorts..one of my girlfriends brought her youngest daughter, Savannah, to the festivities..she and a couple of the other children were down in the basement watching Christmas cartoons when all of a sudden I heard her, not in a panic, yell my name...I went down to the basement where she was sitting on a chair she had moved in front of a shower in the laundry area..when I asked what was the matter she whispered in the most calm, peaceful voice, 'who's the old man in the shower? Is it your grandpa?'...of course being a believer in the 'supernatural' and the 'spirit world' and knowing what/who she had seen, I got cold chills because of her innocence and her 'gift' of sight I couldn't say anything..all I could do is fight back the tears and allow myself to smile~ She is at the tender age of 6 and being respectful to others I didn't want to 'explain' anything in that realm to her without permission from her parents nor did I wish for it to go ignored...I explained to her that it was a man that used to live here and from time to time he likes to come back and visit She stood up, pulled the shower curtain back and said, 'I told you it was okay for you to watch cartoons with me'...without missing a beat she went back to the TV area and continued to watch cartoons.
New Year's Eve, I, again had some friends over for festivities and again, Savannah blessed me with her presence..I had been doing research on this home for several months and had come across some old black and white photographs from the public library and county courthouse of the previous owners and stumbled onto some photographs of the man that built this home in the early 1900's..I made copies and brought them back here...well before everyone showed up I got out my scrapbook and laid some of the pictures on the dining room table..when Savannah arrived she went into the dining room and amongst several photographs she picked out 3..she brought them into me and asked me if I knew who this man was...I made myself not smile and before answering I asked her if she knew who it was...'But yes I do, it is the old man that was in the shower and is over by the fireplace now'... She took my hand and together we walked into my living room, sat down in a rocking chair and watched the old man standing by the fireplace smoking his cigar..not once did she ask me if I was scared and I knew without a doubt that this angel of a child didn't fear this man that was 'invisible' to everyone else
I shall cherish this experience for as long as I am blessed with life here on Mother Earth~~
~~Eyes wide open for anything is possible,
Sty-U

O'siyo,
Well, just letting all know that this 'ol house is still 'active' While searching for a set of golf clubs this eve, I had to go into a closet that also has the entrance to my attic in it..While in there, the closet door kept closing on me and the door to the attic began to rattle a bit I just love this 'ol house!~
~Sty-U

O'siyo,
~Well perhaps it has been due to the 2 Full Moons in September and the Harvest Moon, Native Americans also know this Moon as the Hunters Moon, this month that has 'increased the activity' in my home I have been experiencing so much more activity than usual~ I have several pieces of NA Pottery in my living room on the main floor and since I have been home from my travels, pieces of it are getting moved around on my mantle~ When I am in the basement I can hear footsteps upstairs and I am the only one home~ My dining room chairs are pulled away from the table and this little detail is kind of 'wigging' out my house-mate~ I just adore this 'ol home~
~~Sty-U

I live in an active house too. We've been here for almost seven years, and while the activity waxes and wanes, there's very few dull moments around here.

My niece was over for a few days not long ago, and I saw her toddle into the kitchen (she's 3) and didn't come back out to ask for something to eat, and I didn't hear her getting into anything, but I followed her in just the same. There she is standing at the top of the basement stairs, looking down the stairwell. No panic, no fear, nothing. She casually looked up at me and said "who's that? Is that your mommy?"

I sort of blinked and turned the light on to the stairs, but still didn't see anything, though I had that "feeling" creeping up on me. I asked her what she saw, and she said that there was a lady there standing, but it was ok, she won't hurt us. Then she wandered back into the living room to play with my daughters.

My eldest daughter can see them so well that she sometimes has trouble distinguishing between real people and spirits. One day this summer I was sitting on the porch talking with my husband while she played with her sidewalk chalk, and all of a sudden she stood up, walked over to the corner of the sidewalk, and yelled at someone in the road to "leave my mommy and daddy alone!" Then went back to drawing like nothing happened. I suppose I should mention that there's a funeral home on the next block down, where she was facing...

I've got a million stories! Pick my brain!

O'siyo Sekhmet,
~ I would just love to 'pick your brain' for interesting 'ghost stories' I have had the 'gift' of vision since a young girl, my grandmother says I was about 3 years old when I saw my first 'spirit'...so I could share some intersting stories with you as well Perhaps we could have some tea and chat one morn or eve!~ Have a blessed and peaceful day and eve~ By the way, if you haven't already, have you considered starting a journal of sorts to document the 'sightings'? I keep one because I want to document the 'history' of this home as well as other 'sightings' I have encountered....perhaps I will one day give it to my nieces and nephews so I can traumatize them
~~Sty-U

Things started the first day I was in this house. Actually, the odd thing was that our landlord had trouble renting this house for quite some time, even to his son and his family. Apparently things got so bad that they packed up and moved out in the middle of the night and refused to come back save to move out. It's gotten kinda hairy here a few times, but not to that point by any means.

I'd discussed the house on various forums, and I do some ghosthunting every so often, so a local group was in here about three years ago and did a formal investigation. An author was there too, and now we're featured in a ghost book. Woot. There was a little bit of activity in the house while they were there, and photos taken produced a couple of definite maybes, but nothing spectacular.

I'm a historian, so investigating the house was one of the first things I did when I got the chance. Before the landlord there was just one other owner. He was a railyard worker, an immigrant from Ireland. He built the house and put on the additions as well, and he died either in the master bedroom or the living room; the stories vary. I'm inclined to say the living room simply because of the activity in there. But he's a gentle old soul, so we get along fine. There's three others that we knew of before my neice mentioned the lady on the stairs. *That* one I'm trying to figure out.

But yeah...PM me whenever you want to chat!

Sekhmet,

Did your landlord tell you about the other renters he's had? How many years has he been renting it out? Do you know who the three others are, and how did you know they were there? I wonder if your landlord would know who the new lady is.

We're fortunate to live in an antique house also, and have always been mindful of the generations who've lived here before us. You can't help but to wonder about them as you're climbing stairs that are worn down in the middle by all the years of use! Also, interesting things are always pushing their way up out of the ground from years past. We've saved nearly everything, except the obviously contemporary things. My hubby thinks we're nuts to keep them all, but our girls and I look at those things as treasures, and reminders of other lives.

I think your house, and "guests", are lucky to have such a sympathetic and understanding family there now. I hope you're able to find out more!

Dreamer1

Here is something to consider:

All life is like a movie in the respect that there are frames of life,

any number of entities can inhabit those frames at anytime.

The place never changes ( in a metophysical sence ) but the energy that occupies it does. We all can walk through these frames and encounter those who also walk through these frames. It is hightened awareness of that energy that creates "ghosts", the energy that is always there in the same frame.

O'siyo Shadow,
~ 'frames of life..many entities can inhabit the same frame' Indeed~
But, I believe the metaphysical does change for that is what 'attracts' so many entities in the same frame at the same tyme~ Something of common interest but, not without change 'caused' this 'gathering'~
Okay, just my 'two-cents'
~Sty-U

Sorry I didn't get to this sooner...kept slipping my mind!

Actually, when we moved in, the landlord mentioned the strange things going on, but then dropped the subject later on and acted like he'd never mentioned it. His wife, when I tried to broach the subject, got downright angry with me. About a week or so later, she was down at my girlfriend's house, and she told her *everything*. She didn't want us to get upset or spooked and leave, and so she just denied everything. Now, why she went and made a full confession to my girlfriend, knowing it was going to go straight to me, is anyone's guess.

He had originally bought the house for himself, and had been in the process of renovating it when his father died, and they inherited his house. Since they were paying mortgage on this one, and he really wanted his childhood home, my landlord began to rent this one out. I believe they said that it had stood vacant for a year or so, then they had bought it. First family that was in here was my landlord's son and his wife and children. I *still* don't know what went on that made them leave in the middle of the night. That much was never mentioned.

The second family was a single mother and her children, and they stayed here maybe two years. The third was another single mother, and to say she was a little off her rocker would have been a mild understatement. She skipped out on the house and left it an absolute wreck. I mean...we're talking defying belief wreckage. It took between my landlord and my husband and roomate at the time weeks to get it habitable for my newborn daughter and I.

Things actually started that first night. I started hearing things being moved around in the attic while I was in the tub, but being on the heavy painkillers I was on, and as dead tired as I was, I initially thought that it was my neighbors upstairs in our old apartment building. That was the first "waitaminit" moment I had.

I'll continue this on another post...this one's getting kinda long.

Maybe it was a case of mixed emotions? She felt you deserved to know what to expect, but didn't want to lose another tenant, or upset her husband?

If the house was vacant for a year or more, do you think that was after the original owner had passed away (or moved), or were there more owners between the original and the vacant time?

Please go on!
(We don't mind long Posts )

It's possible. I haven't gone down to the courthouse to research the deed like I should've by now. I can't remember offhand whether the first owner died, then his wife went to a rest home, or if it was the other way around now. In either case, the wife didn't die there, just the husband.

Patrick seems to frequent most parts of the house, but most especially the living room and the master bedroom. He'll make brief forays into the dining room every so often too. He's gentle, though...and he seems to like the children. I've watched toys and bottles roll right to them while they played on the floor, back when my oldest had her crib in my room the mobile would turn on its own, but not play the music box. She'd sit there and coo and giggle at something every so often, but I only remember her being startled once. She was napping and so was I one afternoon, and she woke up with an unholy shriek that jumped me out of bed before I knew what was going on. I remember scooping her up in my arms and then there was a blast of cold air, then nothing, and she was fine. He's shut off lamps, knocked a few things over, that sort of thing, but he's never been agressive.

I've heard (and so has my husband) a baby cry once in awhile, though it's been a few years since I've heard it. It's that distinct newborn's cry. One day I was up in my room getting a book for my girlfriend, and was heading downstairs to leave when I heard a baby cry. Now, with my first only being a few months old and I was pregnant again to boot, the maternal instincts kicked in without even thinking, and I turned around and headed back up to tend to the baby. Which was one of my other "waitaminit" moments: nobody else was home; they were all at my girlfriend's house at the time. The sound came from the small bedroom next to the master bedroom, and when I got there, naturally enough, nothing was there. I've been rousted out of bed more than once with this one.

The third one might just be residuals from someone or other. We'll hear a female voice speaking, but in very low, hushed tones. Meanwhile everyone's going nuts trying to figure out who's outside, or if there's a clock radio on, or the television's on somewhere. They're not, and it eventually fades and we never find the source. *That* one can be maddening.

The fourth is the one that causes the most problems. Back in the 40s, a man was attempting to cross the street in front of our house when he got picked off by a truck, and his body was thrown up onto the porch. He's been...shall we say, a little less than happy ever since? You can hear heavy footsteps on the porch, particularly late at night, but I've heard them in broad daylight, and there's nobody there. It feels like someone's staring into our living room windows (that classic "feel like you're being watched" sensation), particularly the picture window on a regular basis, and it's gotten much worse than that.

I've seen the porch chairs go flying of their own volition, he's hammered on the doors and the wall next to them so hard that he's rattled the glass in the windows, and of course when you go out to look...nothing. He's sent my sister into a full-blown panic more than once while she was staying overnight. Now she sleeps in the spare bedroom and won't stay on the couch. He's just...not a happy camper. Ever.

Now there's been other odd things that have gone on that we can't really attribute to one or another. Everyone at least once has seen a vaguely humanoid, shadowy shape go up the stairs. There's still the random noises up in the attic on occasion, which sounds like someone's moving boxes or heavy furniture around. When we used to dogsit, Face (he was a malamute/shepherd) liked to guard me and the girls, but he would never follow us into the living room. He'd get to the doorway, then lay there and bawl. If we went to any other room in the house, he was fine.

Needless to say, there's few dull moments in this house. But honestly, I've never felt threatened...or more to the point, I haven't let Mr. Happy on the porch bother me. The day my daughter very proudly claimed that she "grounded" the ghosts up to the attic I laughed, but for days after that the noise up there was much more frequent. Kinda makes me wonder if she did after all.

Excellent! You really don't have many dull moments in your home.