I live in a historic district, and my house was built in the 1870s. Every time my roommate leaves town, or even goes out at night while I stay home, I get spooked by every single sound. Fluttering curtains turn into spirits, and, when walking by the doorway, the objects that can be seen lying on my roommate's bed turn into people. Well, not really...but sometimes I can almost convince myself that the house is haunted. I just get this really freaked out feeling...my heart starts beating like crazy, and I have to turn on the TV, or my music, or call someone, to calm down.

I looked up the history of the house, and it doesn't say anybody died in it, but the original occupants and family are buried in a cemetery just down the road.

Last night I had a dream...but I'm not sure if it was a dream...that I tried to get out of bed, but I couldn't...there was all this pressure on my body forcing me back down. I think it was a dream, but it was all so real.

What makes things even creepier is the old cistern in the back. There is a deck built over it, but there is also a hatch door that you can lift to peer into the huge circular cavity. It reminds me of The Ring!

Do you believe in ghosts? What makes you think they are or are not real?

My mother forbade us to walk backwards. That is how the dead walk, she would say. Where did she get this idea? Perhaps from a bad translation. The dead, after all, do not walk backwards but they do walk behind us. They have no lungs and cannot call out but would love for us to turn around. They are victims of love, many of them. (Anne Carson)

I sense a past presence in my house and have felt dat way since i was a child!! I thought it was only me...until

1) my cousin said she feelz weird at my house

and

2) My mother actualy admitted to feelin like 'something'was here from da time we moved in here!!

My house isn't as old as yourz (itz about 80 yearz old- art deco era!) but it is located in a very historic neighbourhood 2!!

Ever get da feeling you're being watched?

lilmissmissy said:

I masturbate when I get that feeling.

lilmissmissy said:

Yes!!! Sometimes when I stand in front of the mirror doing my makeup or brushing my hair, it's like there is something or someone standing behind me. It's something I can't really describe...just this heavy feeling I get.

Spookymuffin said:

No jacking!

I believe in good and evil, not necessarily ghosts. If I'd ever feel the presence of something supernatural I'd leave and never return.

JoeyMFinCoco said:

Even if it wasn't malicious?

Um, I don't know. Sometimes I think I do. I believe in aliens more than I believe in ghosts.

Yes I do, ive seen them 2, im going to get outta this thread or else i won't sleep 2nite byyyyye

thescandalouslife said:

Fuck the whole good spirits stuff. If it was good it wouldn't do things to scare the fuck out of me. Besides, maybe they're just like people and they act all nice at first and turn crazy on your ass later.

JoeyMFinCoco said:

jerseykrs said:

Why do you say sometimes?

JoeyMFinCoco said:

Maybe they don't mean to scare people. They can't help that they're dead and misty-looking. Maybe they just want to visit their old house and poke around a bit without disturbing you. (That's what I like telling myself.)

thescandalouslife said:

I don't know, I guess it depends on my mood. It's probably not a belief in ghosts in the traditional sense, more like that energy has to go somewhere, it can't just dissappear.

jerseykrs said:

I was going to say sometimes as well.

I'm not a supersticious person, but when I was in 7th grade, the house we lived always had strange things happening.
We'd dead bolt the front door at night, and in the morning when we got up the door would be wide open. One Night I woke up becuase I left my bed room door open, and it was very chilly in the house. I walked down the hall (knowing that the door would be open), and it was.

That was one of many very strange things about that house.

thescandalouslife said:

Associated Hypnagogic and Hypnopompic Experiences
Sleep Paralysis

http://watarts.uwaterloo..../S_P2.html
Nightmare (Detail)

Henry Fuseli
Sleep paralysis, or more properly, sleep paralysis with hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations have been singled out as a particularly likely source of beliefs concerning not only alien abductions, but all manner of beliefs in alternative realities and otherworldly creatures. Sleep paralysis is a condition in which someone, most often lying in a supine position, about to drop off to sleep, or just upon waking from sleep realizes that s/he is unable to move, or speak, or cry out. This may last a few seconds or several moments, occasionally longer. People frequently report feeling a "presence" that is often described as malevolent, threatening, or evil. An intense sense of dread and terror is very common. The presence is likely to be vaguely felt or sensed just out of sight but thought to be watching or monitoring, often with intense interest, sometimes standing by, or sitting on, the bed. On some occasions the presence may attack, strangling and exerting crushing pressure on the chest. People also report auditory, visual, proprioceptive, and tactile hallucinations, as well as floating sensations and out-of-body experiences (Hufford, 1982). These various sensory experiences have been referred to collectively as hypnagogic and hypnopompic experiences (HHEs). People frequently try, unsuccessfully, to cry out. After seconds or minutes one feels suddenly released from the paralysis, but may be left with a lingering anxiety. Extreme effort to move may even produce phantom movements in which there is proprioceptive feedback of movement that conflicts with visual disconfirmation of any movement of the limb. People may also report severe pain in the limbs when trying to move them. Several recent surveys including our own suggest that between 25-30% of the population reports that they have experienced at least a mild form of sleep paralysis at least once and about 20-30% of these have had the experience on several occasions. A few people may have very elaborate experiences almost nightly (or many times in a night) for years. Aside from many of the very disturbing features of the experience itself (described in succeeding sections) the phenomenon is quite benign. It was thought in the past that it was a significant part of the so-called "narcoleptic tetrad", but recent surveys of non-clinical populations, such as ours, suggest that the prevalence may be as high among the general population as among diagnosed narcoleptics. For a summary of SP Characteristics see Table 1.

i believe

i have been having lots of strange things happening here where i live, so much so that the kids and i named our 'friend' George. the kids were becomming more and more scared, and i was getting rather freaked as well... i told george one day ok, sure we can both live here, but you have to stop scaring my babies !! and since THAT day, we havent heard, seen, or felt it again

i think they are just lost souls hangin out.... not really dangerous, just lost.

jerseykrs said:

I know what you mean...the white sheeted floaty object seems to be more of a personification of an old idea rather than a reality. It's the energy that I feel in the house, a sort of weirdness that just pervades the area.

There are numerous stray cats (last count was 6) that wander about in the back...it's like the area is a magnet for them. I've always linked cats to the supernatural...ever seen a cat just stop and stare...at nothing? I think they can see things we can't. (I'm not crazy, I swear!)

What makes the situation creepier is that there is a really old abandoned house next door...it's very historic-looking, and it's falling apart. It reminds me of one of those houses that kids are always told to stay away from in movies.

XxAxX said:

That's some freaky shit!

Thanks!

nakedpianoplayer said:

I agree...that's why I posted that short poem after my post...I do believe they are "victims of love," kept on earth because someone can't let them go...or they can't let go of something.

Imago777 said:

Was it an old house? What other things happened?

thescandalouslife said:

lol. It was about 10 years old. But the neighborhood was built in an area of an old idian village. The town was called Motevallo, which I think means ghost of the hills or something like that.

Wierd things. My dad commuted and actually lived in a small apartment in Huntsville about 2.5 hours from where we lived, and we only saw him on weekends.

One weekDAY night, when was he was in a town 2.5 hours away from us, I saw the figure of a man about height and size of my dad standing at the doorway of my bedroom. I couldn't make out his features as it was very dark, but I saw him leaning on the frame of my door looking in in.

He was there for about fifteen minutes. Then he just dissapeared.

One night, my sister, who always had very bad dreams about the house (she often dreamt of our basement and meeting the "devil" there or something), came to me and asked me to look out of my window. We both looked out to see a little boy about 5 or 6 years of age dragging our forsale sign behind the house. Normally I would say it was definately a little boy if it wasn't for the fact that it was 2 am in the morning on a school night.

THe next day, my mom complained that somebody had taken the forsale sign away.
My sister and I searched our backyard, which was a large private backyard with a small wooded area behind it, and we found nothing.

One Day, while sitting on my front porch at about 10 PM, I looked up into the sky and saw that a cloud had formed into the shape of a triangle (not a rough mock up, but a triangle with sharp edges). There was also two moons. I rubbed my eyes to ensure I wasn't seeing things, but it was there. It last about 5 minutes. I ran in to show my sister and she came out of the house. She didnt' see the two moons (it becuase 1 by then), but saw what was left of the triangular cloud.

Again, I'm not a supersticous person. I was an atheist for 7 years, and never believed ghost stories and such.

.
[Edited 8/27/05 7:15am]

Imago777 said:

You just gave me chills. I mean, I'm literally cold. That's so fucking freaky...especially the triangular cloud...I mean, jesus! You poor kids!

I don't even have any concrete sightings or whatever to share; I just get a strange vibe from the house in general...and this could just be due to my penchant for watching horror movies. And the noises I hear aren't just old house creaky noises...I hear loud bangs in the kitchen, and tapping sounds in the hallway. But I just write them off as the cats outside, or a tree branch. Still, it scares me.

I only started believing in ghost stories when I started reading about places like old courthouses and military sites being haunted...and the testimonials of numerous people who visited or worked there. One individual's experience could be, like mine, clouded by a real belief in the supernatural, or a liking for scary movies...but many people combined, who have all experienced strange things....particularly in establishments where people have died, or people have unfinished business, I just find it hard not to believe.

ive seen my sister Numerous times standing at the foot of my bed looking at me. now mind you my sister could not walk nor talk when she was here. it was after ui had her name tatooed on my arm. i do believe she is my guardian angel. and when i want to make a left in life she warns me and i make a right.so yes i truly believe that when we pass our souls travel.

TheRealFiness said:

I believe that too, and I do believe she's looking out for you.

Reincarnate said:

all the time.. alllll the time

I don't use the term "ghosts" because I can't relate to it. It tends to describe something frightening and I don't believe that spirit entities exist to scare us.

I do believe in earth-bound spirits; people who have passed on but remain tied to their life here. These spirits need help in order to progress and reach the other side. Sometimes these souls are called ghosts.

I do believe in an afterlife, and reincarnation. I believe that most of us do head towards a bright light when our souls leave our bodies and that we go to a place that is pure spirit energy.

I also believe that buildings can hold memories, like a tape recorder, and that certain people (mediums for example) are very good at picking up on these energy patterns as well as communicating with people who have passed on to the other side and spirits who have remained earthbound.

I do believe that the term "poltergeist" describes an actual phenomena, where objects can be moved by energy or emotion (not by a "ghost" but more likely by energy relating to a living person).

Reincarnate said: