Ghostly Encounters

My baby sister, who is now 21 years old, and I were having a long conversation on the phone last night. She announced that she is finally moving out of our family home, leaving my parents alone for the first time in 43 years. They have been together for nearly 50 years and this will be their first "empty nest". My parents built the house in the 70s and we grew up together as a family in the home. Only my family has lived in that lot - before our house was built, the land behind the house was farm land. Mum could see cows across the street when she worked in the kitchen. Mum is very spiritual, she was raised Catholic and believed in ghosts. She swore her old house in London was haunted. Dad has always been a good man, but not much one for faith or religion. I think he's scarred from things he saw in his childhood during the second world war. He doesn't have an opinion one way or the other about the spiritual world.

The city has changed much since then, expanded. But the house, is pretty much the same. We were laughing last night as we recounted stories of the house itself. At night time when all is quiet or when you are alone, you can hear footsteps walking around the upper level. There is always unexplained knocking or sounds coming from the "attic" which is empty - just insulation. When things grow dark, your eyes play tricks on you and things move in the shadows. And then there's the basement.

Even as adults, we all hate that basement. The crawl space is dark and dingy and overcrowded with boxes. I don't think we've seen the floor in 30 years. No one likes to go in the crawl space. The grandkids will play in the main area, or the toy room as a group together. But none will play downstairs alone for very long. My niece Kate, refused to go downstairs alone for years. She's sensitive like me, an artistic child, very creative and shy.

And to this day, I find myself running up the stairs to get out of the basement. I haven't gone into the crawl space in about 10 years. Even my older sister, who is in her 40s, married with two kids, still will run up the stairs. We all hate that crawl space. The only one who doesn't seem to be bothered is my dad. Years later I did research into the land and several thousand years ago, the area had been part of a Cree Settlement, so I chalked up to whatever was there, to be part of the land itself. It felt like an ancient power associated with the land itself and it didn't feel human. I also did more research and the street my parents live on is considered to be a major crossroad on the south side of town. I don't think whatever is in my parent's house is ... threatening. But there is something there and everyone but my dad, has felt it at one time or another.

The point of this thread is to ask others: did you experience anything when you were younger in the house that you grew up? I'm not seeking advice, just curious to hear other stories. Were you the only one to have experiences, or did the rest of your family have similar experiences in the house?

Please keep on topic - ghost encounters, hauntings or land spirits.

Cheers.

reply to post by Charmeine


Edited to fix some typos...stupid stupid laptop

Hi there,

Thank you for sharing your story. I myself have not had anything happen to me in my adult life(yet) that I would consider paranormal. But I do have a very old memory, from when I was about 5 or 6. I remember seeing a beach ball sized "orb" of what I would now call energy near the ceiling of the basement room I slept in as a kid. In my memory I was more curious than scared but did not go over to investigate what it may have been. I just remember thinking it was very odd.

In my memory it had a multi colored glow to it. I think it may have been a red'ish color with some yellow in it. Has anyone ever seen anything similar over their life? If not, I will continue to believe it was just a case of child's imagination.

To go back to me never experiencing anything paranormal, I have just started conducting my own research into EVPs and all though I don't think I have found a valid EVP it has sparked my interest and I am going into this research head first now.

Yes, I have, but you have already heard about my experiences from my thread.
Giving you a S&F, OP.

reply to post by Charmeine
Hi, Charmeine. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. I think that every house I have ever lived in has had some form of spirit within it. Once you understand that spirits are forms of energy, it's easy to understand why. I personally believe that ALL houses have these energy forms in and/or around them unless some type of ceremony has been conducted to dissipate the energy (even then, you can bring in an object that has energy attached to it and there you go again). I also believe that we're all born with the ability to sense this energy to varying degrees, but we lose the ability to see, feel or want to believe in this as we grow older. There are just certain individuals that are more sensitive to those energies than others and a person can definitely re-engage or refine these abilities if he/she so wishes to do so, but I digress.

When I was growing up, we lived in an apartment. There was a lot of active energy in that apartment. TVs and lights would go on and off at all hours of the day and night. I remember that we had these old style roll up window shades with latch springs (you would pull the shade down slightly and it would roll all of the way up and then grab the base to physically pull it back down). Our window shades would always roll up and down without anyone touching them. Now, one could say that they had defective springs, but this wouldn't account for the fact that they went both up AND down by themselves. My sister, brother and I would all lie in our separate beds at night and hear the shades in the LR springing up and then rolling back down on most nights. Also, my parents bought an antique cabinet, which was obviously full of active energy, and we would hear the cabinet door banging open and shut at night. My sister and I became accustomed to these things – we could sense them our entire lives and nothing bad or negative ever happened from these objects so they became “normal” to us - but I believe that my brother still sleeps with a flashlight by his bed and will not leave his bedroom at night, even though he's now grown, married and lives in a different state.

When I was first married, we lived in a 120 year old house which I was immediately attracted to. It was situated in a very historic area where many battles from the civil war took place. The basement was made out of stacked blocks and probably mortar, although you couldn’t clearly see the mortar because everything had been painted over so many times, but you could still tell what the foundation, including the basement, was built of and believe me, it was as solid as could possibly be. There was definitely a different energy feel down in that basement, but in this instance, it was a positive feeling. There were two occasions when we had tornado warnings and our immediate neighbors (all of who had underground basements as well - but not 120 year old basements) were just naturally drawn to our basement. As scary as those occasions were, it was like a big party down there with all of our neighbors and the safety that the environment emitted.

Lastly, we lived in another house which had an extension that had been added by a previous owner. We updated this room and used it as a family room. It was right next to the kitchen. It was a great big room with lots of windows and natural light. There were many people who entered that room and stated that they couldn't understand why, but it was as if they had just entered a cave - the feeling of the air in that room was definitely different (moister and thicker) and the entire feel was just "cave-like" if that makes any sense. We lived in a flood area and had a central dehumidifier in the house so that the air in all rooms was supposed to be even but everyone still got a strange feeling when they walked into this particular room (there were other extensions added on the house but none gave off this feeling). I myself am sensitive to the feeling of energies, but my sister can see them take physical form more often than I can. She has said that on several nights when she stayed with us, she would walk into the kitchen to get something out of the refrigerator and glance into the family room only to see something that seemed to have the huge form of a woolly mammoth (she could see an outline of the huge shape and the horns); however, as soon as she turned the lights on, the form would disappear (not unusual with certain types of echo energy).

Otherwise, in every other house, building or apartment I've ever lived, there have always been flickers of light that I've seen in my peripheral vision at various times. Again, these are all energy sources (or spirits as some call them) and unless you intuitively feel that there is something dangerous or negative, they are usually harmless.

Take care and thanks again for sharing your story.

Timidgal

reply to post by timidgal


I agree with you about energy. I haven't really "seen" anything per se, just go by my feelings. You know when the hair on the back of your neck stands up or when you feel like you are not alone. I think older houses are spookier and more intriguing because they are older and have history associated with it. I visited one house, it was about a 100 years old at the time in the oldest part of the city. It was a creepy house. There was a basement which you had to access under the stair case. And to get into the basement, you had to go through a latch door in the floor. It was all very creepy like the houses you see in horror movies. The light switch was at the bottom of the stairs. I didn't stay long for my visit and was glad when we finally left. It was one house I couldn't wait to get out of.

We're all bound by energy to the Earth and even as part of the universe so it's easy for me to say that when people pass on, I think sometimes that residual energy of their bodies and spirits get left behind and that's why so many of them communicate through electrical devices (televisions, lights, stereos, etc).

Thanks for your story.

@Sled Yep! Trying not to take away from yours. Just wanting to know about house hauntings specifically and family experiences.

reply to post by mcx1942


Just be careful if you do start exploring. Even for those that don't believe. I always have believed from my own experiences at my old house and from what my family has told me. Just make sure to be careful because once you start investigating - you can come across some nasty stuff that is hard to get rid of. Thanks for sharing your story.

Thank you

So far in my sessions, I have felt completely calm while recording. No negative energy what so ever.

But yesterday I decided to record an audio session while not being in the room just to see if the spirits might feel more comfortable talking when I am away.

I was gone about 7 minutes and on review I did catch something on my recorder, after a 10 db amplification and one go over of noise removal I heard a -F*** you- on my audio. At first I was a little uneasy, I am not going to lie. But after thinking more about it, I came to the conclusion that it may just be an annoyed spirit and not one that wants to cause harm.

I am stepping into waters that I have not been before, so after that recording I am definately going to be more careful. I have always been very polite when doing my evp sessions and will continue to be. Thanks again.

reply to post by Charmeine

I agree with you about energy. I haven't really "seen" anything per se, just go by my feelings. You know when the hair on the back of your neck stands up or when you feel like you are not alone. I think older houses are spookier and more intriguing because they are older and have history associated with it. I visited one house, it was about a 100 years old at the time in the oldest part of the city. It was a creepy house. There was a basement which you had to access under the stair case. And to get into the basement, you had to go through a latch door in the floor. It was all very creepy like the houses you see in horror movies. The light switch was at the bottom of the stairs. I didn't stay long for my visit and was glad when we finally left.

You are spot on in that our imaginations often times play a large part in our experiences. We can’t discount the reality that we've become more susceptible to "feeling the willies" based on our exposure via the Hollywood machine and other fear-mongering enterprises intent on profiting off of our fear - your own astute comments bespeak the truth of this statement, but yes, there is definitely such a thing as negative and positive energies.

We're all bound by energy to the Earth and even as part of the universe so it's easy for me to say that when people pass on, I think sometimes that residual energy of their bodies and spirits get left behind and that's why so many of them communicate through electrical devices (televisions, lights, stereos, etc).

I definitely agree but there's also a form of passive (as opposed to active) echo energy which is more or less a loop of a particular event that has imbedded itself into a particular environment or space and time. It's no less scary to encounter this type of energy and in this instance, especially since it's the remnants of some type of traumatic event, the energy should be helped to move on. As for passive energy, it's important to know if it's of a benevolent or malevolent nature and then consult with a person knowlegeable in the processes of either abolishing these negative loops of energy or freeing the positive ones and helping the energy move on..

TG

reply to post by mcx1942


That's the thing. I watch all the ghost hunting shows and I hate it when they antagonize the spirit or energy - when they mock it or bring it out. I think it's silly. If something is there it will communicate with you naturally. Most spirits or energies want to be noticed. Usually they just want people to know they are there.

When I was 10 we rented an acerage for 6 months and my mother made us move out. I don't remember the stories anymore, but that would be the only one.

My younger sister told me that there is a ghost at the bar she tends. She says a former worker committed suicide in the bathroom of the bar in the upper level. When my sister is there at night, she often feels like she is watched. you know that feeling when the hair on your arms stand up. She hasn't seen a full apparition but can see outlines of the girl, kind of like shadows. Glasses are moved on tables and lights flicker on and off...my sister is now a believer!

Bumping this thread to share a weird dream I had last night about my parent's basement. WOW.

This is the first dream I've had of whatever is in that house and I remember waking up at four am thinking "I should write this one down." And then I had another dream of another apartment. Not mine but someone who was a friend apparently, I was staying with. And I remember every little detail of the apartment. Wild.

Anyway, in my first dream, I was sleeping in the basement of my parent's house near the bar - which for years as a kid served as my bedroom. Four out of five of us kids were living at home then, the younger sister hadn't been born yet. The house was pretty crowded. Mom and dad never expected to have that many kids so we had to improvise on space.

Nothing ever happened in the basement when we were kids. Or maybe it did and I was oblivious to it. In the dream i remember waking up (weird huh) and was frozen in bed with fear. Not from sleep paralysis but because I felt a presence in the room. I couldn't really see it but I knew it was there, I could hear it. And it terrified me. It was old and dark. I think I ran upstairs.

Then it was day time and I looked outside to the street and there was a half dead cow on the road and a dog laying next to him. Like they were waiting to be sacrificed to a God or something. Or maybe the cow showed up because mom used to see cows while she was cooking in the kitchen - she could see them in the farmer's field across the "highway" which is now a major intersection.

The dream just got weirder and weirder even for me. The presence had followed me upstairs and started creating all kinds of havoc. I invited my spiritual friends over for a drumming circle and ritual to banish the spirit. Half way through my friends all ran out of the house saying "he will never leave, you will just have to live with it. Leave it alone and it will leave you alone."

The dream then flashed to a different house, somewhere I have never been and the spirit was there too. Too weird to describe what happened but there were men who were possessed in the dream and the word hell kept coming up. There were machines that I had to destroy and bury. It was totally wild. I really should start writing books from my dreams like Stephen King does with his nightmares.

Anyway, I woke up totally scared in real in life. I wondered, how much of this was just a random dream - or was the house trying to tell me something? All my profound dreams and prophetic dreams take place in that house and now I'm wondering...exactly what is there?

maybe I have been watching too many ghost hunting shows lately

reply to post by Charmeine


GOOD GRIEF!!!! What a terrifying dream!

Yeah, that one leaves me wondering about that house too! Geeze!!!

reply to post by sled735


I think the message in that dream if there is anything to take from it, "Leave it alone, it will leave you alone"