I remember very little of my childhood, but one memory sticks with me always.
I was four years old and was in bed awaiting my mother to come and tuck me in, when I saw a woman in my doorway.
She was truly beautiful.
She had fair skin and strawberry blonde hair and pale blue eyes. Her hair was long and wavy and fell around her shoulders naturally framing her face.
She smiled at me and came and sat next to me on my bed. We proceeded to talk for what seemed like hours. I have no clear memory of what we discussed, only that she told me that someday I would remember our conversation when the time was right. She got up and walked back over to the doorway. Once again with the light from the hallway behind her she looked so beatiful and kind.. she wore an all white flowing gown. Just as she was waving goodbye my mother came to tuck me in and asked me who I was talking to.
I could see my mother through her!! I pointed to the woman and said she is standing right in front of you. Can't you see her? She told me that there was no one there, and at that moment the woman faded away smiling at me as she went. My mother came in and I told her about the woman, and to this day even my mother remembers that night.
Since then I have been told that my description matches that of my Grandfathers mother.
Was it a ghost? I don't know for certain. I just remember that it happened and that I have NEVER forgotten her.

So I am curious have any other people here ever had something like this happen?
I would love to hear your stories.

I've had similar encounters with a ghostly woman when I was younger (repeated encounters) while I was in my bed. If you'd like to talk about ghosts or our encounters feel free to u2u me

I haven't seen one myself, but my mother, who is fairly skeptical, saw her father (my grandfather) standing before her in his usual clothes looking for all intents and purposes fine right after he had died in the hospital just a few rooms away. She was overwhelmed with grief at the time, so I am unsure if she truly saw anything tangible.

I will remain skeptical until I see one.

[Edited on 20-9-2003 by heelstone]

I had a similar experience when I was about the same age. I was lying in bed awake, and saw a group of men standing half way across the room. They were looking at me and laughing. It made me feel terrified. I started to scream for my parents and as soon as the lights went on the people disappeared. My parents tried to reassure me that I was asleep, but I knew I wasnt then, and I am still certain I was awake even now. Its an odd thing, that is the only time I have had an experience like that, although I do remember vaguely some disturbing experiences with shadows as a young child as well.

Originally posted by William One Sac
I had a similar experience when I was about the same age. I was lying in bed awake, and saw a group of men standing half way across the room. They were looking at me and laughing. It made me feel terrified. I started to scream for my parents and as soon as the lights went on the people disappeared. My parents tried to reassure me that I was asleep, but I knew I wasnt then, and I am still certain I was awake even now. Its an odd thing, that is the only time I have had an experience like that, although I do remember vaguely some disturbing experiences with shadows as a young child as well.

Ah yes, that is another thing I wanted to discuss.
Anyone else have that "corner of your eye" experience?
You see someone out of the corner of your eye, you know you saw them, but when you turn to look..... there is no one there.
This happens alot, still.

yup, although I never saw them as a child in my own house. (I saw one at a friend's house, though.) the oldest house we lived in was also the non-haunted one. who knew? the earliest one I saw when I was about 7, I was at my friend Morgan's house (it was this absolutely massive house (4 floors not counting the basement...really, it was closer to a mansion), and they only had 3 kids, so their parents let each kid take a floor. (yeah, I know! I was jealous, too!) me and Morgan were on her second oldest brother's floor, basically being pests. he had tossed us out of his room, and while we were standing in the hallway, it suddenly got freezing cold. right next to the radiator at the far end of the hallway, there was something that looked like a person coming together out of a cloud. needless to say, we ran like hell back downstairs. neither her parents nor her brother believed us.
later on, we moved to another house when I was 11. there was one ghost that sticks out. our computer was in the basement, and I was (and still am) a total insomniac, so I'd slip downstairs to hang around online at night. occasionally I'd go back upstairs to the kitchen to get a pop or something, and one night, I looked up the stairs and on the landing in front of the side door was a man wearing overalls and a fedora-like hat. scared the bejeezus out of me. I went back to the computer desk for the rest of the night. I saw it again about a week later. that time, I kind of peeked my head around the corner and watched it. the man just tipped his hat, and disappeared. I saw him quite regularly after that, and he'd tip his hat and disappear. I think he was more of a person's impression on a place than a ghost, though.
my parents just moved to a new house about 3 years ago. this one has ghosts, too. there's one that looks for all the world like a bat, that hangs out in the basement. everyone in my family's seen it. my mom tried to swat it with a broom one day...and the broom went right through it. we decided to leave it alone after that. another is an opaque mist that kind of floats around the hallway between my room and my parents' room. it's not smoke; we aren't allowed to smoke inside, and it's not water vapor either. get too close to it though, and it's freezing cold. we pretty much leave that one alone, too.
sorry for the mega-post. I guess I've got a lot of ghosty goodness to share

edit: about the 'corner of the eye' experience, I get that at least once a day. a lot of the time it's probably just the shadow of a car going by or something, but there are times where there's nothing it could possibly be.

[Edited on 9/20/2003 by MorningtonCrescent]

Never seen a ghost, not sure if I want to or not but I guess it is not our choice is it?

I have felt them though! The cold rush that goes right through you especially when you are talking about someone who is related that is dead!

Seen cats and dogs chasing imaginary things and them barking and meowing at thin air. Some say that their sight is much better than ours and they can actually see them.

Watched my cat last night run right into the wall chasing after something, but there was nothing? She continued around the other side to follow it and still I saw nothing? Is she crazy, then all cats and dogs must be then, every single one of them?

Yes, I have seen the dark motion out of the corner of my eye more than a few times only to find nothing there that I can see. Sometimes I think you can see more by looking through your eyes sideways but not sure if there is any physical or biological reason for this.

[Edited on 20-9-2003 by THENEO]

I have also a different times noticed shadows flitting through my peripheral vision. I am not sure what causes it. Actually, I mentioned it to a friend once and he told me that what I was seeing were evil spirits trying to do me harm on a spiritual level. He is a native American and believes deeply in the spirit world. He told me that I should pray as hard as I can when I see them.


It is an interesting phenomenon, even though I am pretty sure there is a mundane explanation for it. It comes and goes, they seem to happen in bunches...

Mornington it sounds like you are very atuned to sensing spirits.
I think I lost that at least to some degree as I got older.. I still have it, only not as strong as it was when I was younger.

yes I have seen a ghost before, they used to scare the shiz out of me, but when you live with them you learn how to cope, although it does kinda surprise you when you get a guy poking his head round the door in the middle of the night he's a nice guy though