So it's Christmas Eve...

I was sitting in the living room with the family, which is an unusual occurrence on Christmas Eve, at least at this house. Every other year except for one in my life time, we either go to our Grandmother's house or our Aunt's.

So we are sitting there, relaxing after a nice dinner and all 4 of us hear a distinct knock. Come to think of it, I don't think I could locate the knock within the house, but we all assumed it was from the door and sounded like someone knocking on wood.

I go to open it and...nothing. Nobody there. Turn the outside light on. No one. Walk down the steps outside, looking around, assuming it was either a friend of mine or my brother's messing with us. Nope.

We all heard it distinctly, nobody was imagining anything. It popped into my head that perhaps, spirits are a bit more restless/able to communicate on days where people are in a state of mind focused on family.

Anyone experience anything like this? Thanks in advance.

Need more information really.

Do you or does anyone in the house have a history of paranormal activity surrounding them? Does the house have a history?

As for normal explanations, it could be a friend like you said, an animal, wind or the house settling.

Santa Claus letting you know that it is time to go to sleep so he can break into your house and leave presents?

reply to post by FrostForests


I see you live in Northern California. It could have been Bigfoot!! (dramatic music here) In any case Merry Christmas!

On the topic of being focused on family I had a long conversation with my aunt and my father about their mother (my grandmother) and her final days. Long story short we all felt that she was there watching over us. Might have been the Samual Adams winter lager and the American Honey but I honestly felt a very peaceful presence settle in the house as we talked about her.
Merry Christmas!

reply to post by Dispo


No, not that I know of, but we've only lived here a year and a half.

As for realistic explanations, it wasn't the wind, it wasn't an animal, and trust me, if a friend had done it, they would have followed through with the joke.

4-5 loud, consistent knocks, *edit*(I had previously stated knock as a singular event, not noting that it was knocks plural, otherwise I would not have made a thread over a single knock, I can assure you), as if a person had intentionally knocked, but what gets me now in retrospect, is that, as I noted, it wasn't area specific, as if someone had knocked at the door, or in another room, it just kinda cut through everything and resonated everywhere, which I think is why we all looked at each other before I got up to check the door, it was surreal.

Thanks for the comments, and a merry christmas.

Had a very weird and similar thing happen to me today -- was doing something in the kitchen and I heard a distinct knocking coming from the entryway of the house. That was odd, because people usually ring the bell, and because whether knock or ring, Oscar the dog always freaks out, and he was snoozing obliviously on the couch.

But as I walked over to the door, as I went past a large floor humidifier, the knocking sound came again, this time clearly coming from the humidifier. It was very strange -- sounded just like a knock on the door, but it was obviously something mechanical with the humidifier fan, and the dog ignored it, so it must not have sounded as much like a rap on the door as I thought.

Maybe yours is a similarly mundane answer.

reply to post by FrostForests


House settling - old home popping and crackling most likely.

With the heat on and the addition of people - the old place settled a bit. After lights out and the heat is turned down - it'll happen a bit more. Freaky, but real wooden structures do that. It'll start more so from the kitchen then move to the bathroom then it'll be the living room (from moisture/heat rich rooms to the least moisture/heat rich rooms). Just my observation from living in old places.

Hope it doesn't get worse.