My Own Haunted House

by James A. C.
(Massillon, Ohio, USA)

We bought our house in the fall of 1998 and took possession sometime in December of that year. Almost from the very beginning, I was hearing footsteps, doors open and close, lights turning themselves on and off, scratching sounds seemingly coming from within the walls, etc. The strange thing is, when we looked at the house, I never saw or heard or even felt anything out of the ordinary; the previous owners had relocated to Florida, and since they had the house very over-priced, it had been on the market (and vacant) for almost a year.

The first hints that there was something not quite right about the modest-looking, Cape Cod-style house began on the Saturday before we moved in.

We had previously come over to the house with the real estate agent and had Sears come out to measure for new carpet throughout the house, to be installed a day before we moved in; time was of the essence, and we had to get in to remove all of the old carpet before the set installation date.

Because my partner could not get away from work, this hefty job fell on me and me alone, with no help.....so I had to come alone, and I worked by myself all day and into the dark, ripping up old carpet, cutting it into strips, and hauling it all outside. I felt ok being here alone, in a strange and empty house, until it began to get dark outside......and that's when the noises started.

I'd be on the first floor, and I'd hear someone walking upstairs; I'd run up there to find nobody there. Same thing when I was in the basement. I just worked as fast as I could, getting more and more scared, looking over my shoulders constantly, KNOWING that not only was I not alone, but having the very distinct impression that I was definitely being watched. By 7:00PM, and well after dark, I was finally done, and I practically broke my neck getting out of here.

In the weeks ahead, nothing out of the ordinary happened, so I just chalked the events of that night up to just having been spooked by being alone in unfamiliar surroundings, a new house after dark. I know full good and well that whenever you move into a new place, there are new sounds and noises that you must become familiar with, the sounds that all houses have as a part of normal settling, age, the plumbing, new or different appliances, etc. Perhaps more importantly, though, I never mentioned anything to my partner about any of it.

As time went on, I began to remodel both bathrooms, the basement recreation room and finally, the kitchen, making many significant structural changes as I went. It wasn't until the dust settled that I once again began to focus on the bizarre noises; I've lost count of the times I've been in the basement shower and heard the kitchen door above me open and slam shut, all the times I've run up the steps, to find nobody there!

Then, one night a few years later, after we'd lived here awhile, my partner started asking me if I had ever heard this noise or that noise since moving in, and it was clear to me that he was scared. It was really then that I began to think that maybe the house was haunted.

Soon thereafter, the full-body apparitions started.......then the spinning, sometimes tumbling, balls of light, like camera flashes, in the basement when we'd be down there with all the lights off, watching television. At first, I thought it was an electrical problem; we called an electrician in who could find nothing wrong.

Then the scratching noises from inside the walls while we tried to sleep at night started.......the lamps turning themselves on and off.......the sound of someone or something on the stairs........the sudden icy blasts of cold air, the smell of perfumes, cigarette smoke (we don't smoke, nor will I allow it in the house) and the smell of food cooking, when nothing is being cooked.

Perhaps the most unsettling things have been waking up and seeing a shadowy human form standing there, in the dark, watching you sleep. The sound of someone walking around the bed at night. The blackish, shadowy thing that came right up into my personal space while I was folding laundry from the dryer one sunny summer afternoon and actually pushed me aside. The terrifying, long-haired, blond young man with the hideous grin on his face who definitely made eye contact with my partner before vanishing right into a basement wall.

......or maybe the most terrifying thing to happen to me so far.......about a week before Christmas a few years years ago, the apparition of an extremely angry--no, make that full-of-hate, older man who stared at me with piercing eyes, BLAZING with what I can only describe as sheer hatred from the very bowels of Hell itself. I actually left the house that night and didn't return until the following day, as I was home alone and my partner was out of town overnight on business.

The incidents come and go, sometimes with a few months of normal calm in between, but inevitably, it happens again.

We've thought of having the house investigated; I feel that this place is sitting on some kind of portal into the other side. I've asked neighbors if they know of anything bad that's ever happened here, but they all say no. We're at a loss in trying to determine just what is behind all of these things.

All I can tell anyone who may be reading this is that the only time I actually grabbed my car keys and fled from this house in terror was that horrifying incident just before Christmas a few years ago with that obviously evil guy who confronted me in the kitchen that night. Other than that, we've actually become accustomed to our other-worldly visitors.

We can't just up and leave, and with the economy the way it is, we'd lose money if we tried to sell, so we're not going anywhere.....unless, of course, the house would become uninhabitable, i.e., that evil presence was to return and stay. Then, and only then, would I consider abandoning this place. We simply have way too much invested here to leave. Has anyone else out there experienced things like this upon moving in to a new house?

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