counting sheep

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Somebody is walking upstairs and it ain't me!


When our son was little we lived in a 1940's two story. The day we moved in to that place it felt like it was occupied already. Being our first home purchase I was still in love with its golden oak woodwork, open staircase and upstairs laundry shoot that went straight down to the basement, what fun.  The first night we moved in I was on the stairwell landing putting up a shade when it felt like somebody picked up a strand of my hair and held it up a second or two before letting it fall. Chills ran up and down my spine as I continued to hang the shade and I felt the whole time like somebody was glaring at me from behind.

About a week later I sat watching tv with our son while my husband worked second shift and every once in awhile it sounded like somebody was walking back and forth upstairs. As time marched on it came to be a regular occurance. Sometimes they walked softly, sometimes it sounded like they were pacing, it seemed to only happen once it was dark outside.

As I did laundry I could always feel a presence watching me, I would run all the way back upstairs once I was done folding the clothes, it felt like something was after me.  One day as I went down the basement steps the whole staircase collapsed with me on it! We had to rebuild a whole new set of steps.  The steps that fell never gave any indication that they were weak, never made noises and we certainly didn't notice where they were coming apart anywhere either.

Soon we got a new puppy, we named her Sissy. She was about 10 weeks old and still pretty little so we needed a place to keep her safe while I shopped or whatever. Our basement stairwell had a landing so we made two  half doors, one for the basement door entrance and one just on the other edge of the landing. I placed Sissy in the space and went to the store. When I returned home Sissy was not in the space yet both half doors were locked. She was just a tiny puppy and there was no way she could have jumped over the door but there she lay on the basement floor only half concience! I quickly scooped her up and carried her upstairs to our bedroom and placed her on the bed till I could figure out what to do. It was too late to go to the vet so I watched her closely all night and she growled at the wall off and on as if she was watching something.  She sustained a concussion and was kept at the vets for about three days. After which I never left her alone until she was full grown.  Our neighbor told me that whenever we went away our dog raised "hell."  Not like she was barking at a sound but like she was literally fighting something...  She was never injured again however and seemed fairly comfortable as long as someone was home.

One spring I decided that I would paper the spare bedroom. The afternoon I finished it I was so proud, it looked so bright and cheerful.  I went back down the stairs and began to make supper. Later that evening I went back upstairs. Just as I crested the top of the staircase a smell hit me that about knocked me backwards. All I can say that it smelled like was a dead animal or something. It also had a woodsmoke smell to it as well, almost like rotten bacon. The smell came from the newly papered bedroom. We tried everything to get rid of it. We could not imagine what was causing it! My husband decided he would look in the attic above the room, possibly an animal had gotten in somehow and died and that was causing the smell. We had never been in our attic before, it was never finished or anything but away he went. He crawled all over it and not a sign of a dead anything. The only thing that was up there was a child's bed, just the headboard and foot board. It was so strange because you would have thought it would have been placed close to the attic entrance due to there was no floor, but no, it was clear in the front of the peak... never understood that one.  The smell continued just as strong as at first... We kept the door closed and a towel rolled at the door bottom, trying to keep the smell in the room.

Later that week our son had gone to bed, he was about five years old. I had said goodnight and went back downstairs.  About an hour later I jumped clear off the couch. There was a noise so loud upstairs like an explosion almost! I ran up the stairs my feet barely touching the steps and there in the hallway stood my son's bed pillow, standing straight up against the wall. It would have had to been thrown on a curve to land where it did. My son was sound asleep, no pillow under his head. I picked him up and carried him back downstairs till my husband came home. We didn't know what to make of it but I started to get really scared at this point.  The smell continued in the spare room... The walking continued and the steps seemed to be heavier.

One night I had a family member over and she and I had been laying across my bed looking at decorating magazines and talking. She asked me if I heard what she was hearing and as I listened you could hear a sound like somebody was rustling papers or  something, all of a sudden my son came stumbling into the room and told me his comic books were flying around! We ran in there and all across his bed and on the floor were his comic books (he had quite a collection). I was just freaked out. Again we all went downstairs and waited for my husband to get home from work. At this point I think he was starting to think we were a bunch of fraidy cats.

The more I thought about what was happening I began to really worry that whatever it was might hurt my son and I started to pray that God would step in and get rid of it. I called our Pastor at that time and told him all that had been going on. Not sure if he believed me or not but he came over and said a prayer with me and prayed a blessing on my family.  The smell left and it left just as quickly as it started. There was not even a remnant of the scent, nothing.  The house felt better but I still was uneasy, I would still hear the walking occasionally. Shortly after that we bought some country property and moved.  I have thought of that house many times and wondered what the heck it was. I never felt like it was a ghost, it felt really evil. I read someplace that smells like that can be associated with evil.  I hope to not ever have that happen again.

The home I live in now fells good although I have had a couple of experiences here but nothing like the before but thats another story for a later time isn't it....

7 comments:

  1. Wow! I feel like you just gave us an episode of The Haunting! How strange and terrifying all that must have been. I'm glad you got out! I have always been interested in the whole "ghost" thing, but I guess really living it would be a whole other manner!

    ReplyDelete
  2. yikes! that is spooky, I am not sure if I could have stayed there that long.
    Cathy

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love scary stories, but I sure as heck wouldn't want to live in one! I have heard of houses being possessed with demons...maybe that is what was going on there, especially with the bad smell! I'm glad that none of you were actually hurt, and that you got out of there.

    XOXO,

    Cyndi

    ReplyDelete
  4. The house I live in now, was built by a retired couple.She died in an accident, and he died 8 years later, due to poor health. I'm not sure if he died in our house or not, but when we bought it and moved in, we would hear footsteps. Doors would sometimes mysteriously be closed, but nothing evil. Most times when we hear it, we are in the basement, and the footsteps come from above. Noon seemed to be a common time. One day, while I had some quilting ladies here, we all heard someone. We waited for someone to come downstairs, but no one ever did. I went to see if my husband was up there, and no one was. It's happened many times, but not a lot lately. He must be used to us now. One night though, right after we moved in, I was asleep in my chair, and I woke up to a man's voice. I thought it was my husband. I answered, and he didn't. I called to him a few more times, and was getting annoyed because he wouldn't answer me. I got up to go see where he was, and he was in his shop, which is a separate room closed off behind our attached garage. He said it was not him. It was Leo. I'm sure of it.

    What you experienced was much more disturbing. I'm glad you got out of there.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I also meant to say that a friend of mine and her husband rented a home one time while they were waiting to close on their new home. She claims the house was haunted. That house is always on the market. It seems like buyers and sellers go through a revolving door. There is always a For Sale sign out front. I think she must be right.

    ReplyDelete
  6. OMG how scary and it sounds like you are a bit psychic and tapping in on their energy,did your husband ever witness anything?

    ReplyDelete
  7. When we first moved in to this house, I felt that same sensation, that someone was glaring at me. Finally I just decided to talk with this"feeling" I said, out loud, no one else was around, just me and the ghost, T"This is not your house any more, you must move one" The very distinct reply"You are not taking good care of this house, DON'T PAINT THE WOODWORK" I said right back"This is my house I will do what I want." Don't paint the woodwork over and over. Well i did not paint over the woodwork (it had been painted once,) and come to find out there was gogeous cherry wood underneath the old ugly paint. That ghost is gone, moved on and we are just fine here now. Ithelps to have three dogs and this ghost was not evil, sounds like yours was.

    ReplyDelete