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Ooh-Err... Nasty House

My favourite recurring dream is of a house where I'm living which turns out to have lots of rooms that I didn't know about. They are sometimes reached through oddly-shaped doors or round corners and up steps. Everywhere is wood-panelled and there are windows with small panes of glass, sometimes coloured. Some ceilings are high, some low. It's a beautiful, quirky house.

When I was little I would dream of a giant haunted house which spiralled further and further underground, and a giant blue hand would block the entrance.
 
This reads like an MR James story!

Especially this bit -



Not suggesting that you've made it up! but the feeling that the space is much bigger than it appears, and contains... what? comes up in James' stories. Also in HP Lovecraft's fiction.
I was (and still am) a big fan of both M.R.James and H.P,Lovecraft - and discovered the latter while living in that house. I have no doubt that my experiences of that house were certainly filtered through the lens of my rather Fortean interests it must be said!
 
I was (and still am) a big fan of both M.R.James and H.P,Lovecraft - and discovered the latter while living in that house. I have no doubt that my experiences of that house were certainly filtered through the lens of my rather Fortean interests it must be said!

We have a thread on the big/small psychological thing which you might enjoy. I reread it every few months, it fascinates me.
 
My favourite recurring dream is of a house where I'm living which turns out to have lots of rooms that I didn't know about. They are sometimes reached through oddly-shaped doors or round corners and up steps. Everywhere is wood-panelled and there are windows with small panes of glass, sometimes coloured. Some ceilings are high, some low. It's a beautiful, quirky house.

My subconscious must be telling me something!

You need to come out of your shell a bit.
 
My favourite recurring dream is of a house where I'm living which turns out to have lots of rooms that I didn't know about. They are sometimes reached through oddly-shaped doors or round corners and up steps. Everywhere is wood-panelled and there are windows with small panes of glass, sometimes coloured. Some ceilings are high, some low. It's a beautiful, quirky house.
My subconscious must be telling me something!

The coloured glass could be symbolic of stained glass church windows, and the undiscovered rooms could be symbolic of spirituality in general, so perhaps your subconscious is telling you to get some spiritual depth into your life, not necessarily by going to church (I don't go myself) but by cultivating a more unworldly mindset?
"For we look at things unseen rather than the seen, for the seen are temporary, but the unseen are eternal" (2 Cor 4:18 )

Stained glass in Star Trek Voyager: Spirit Folk-
Star_Trek_Voyager_Spirit_Folk_zps30e5bbaf.jpg~original
 
Yes, I love that dream too. :nods: It is not always the same house/rooms for me though it sometimes is.

My favoured dream theory is that all dreams are about oneself, and our subconscious is certainly clever enough to show us ourselves as buildings.

The stained glass in my dream building is nothing to do with churches. It's often seen in elegant Art Nouveau architecture which I very much admire. My ideal home would be a nicely-aged AN medium-sized country house.
 
My favourite recurring dream is of a house where I'm living which turns out to have lots of rooms that I didn't know about. They are sometimes reached through oddly-shaped doors or round corners and up steps. Everywhere is wood-panelled and there are windows with small panes of glass, sometimes coloured. Some ceilings are high, some low. It's a beautiful, quirky house.

My subconscious must be telling me something!

I frequently have this kind of dream and have done for years. Sometimes forgotten doors lead to store rooms that become museums, undiscovered gardens, and all sorts.

Rich pickings for some psychotherapist, I'm sure.
 
Clearly we need to bring back corporal punishment for houses. When they play tricks like this they need a damn good spanking!

:headbang::bmonk::hide::ghunt::dhorse::chain::comphit:
 
perhaps your subconscious is telling you to get some spiritual depth into your life, not necessarily by going to church (I don't go myself) but by cultivating a more unworldly mindset?

There's probably no more unwordly mindset than mine. ;)
 
There's probably no more unwordly mindset than mine. ;)

Fascinating, I looked at your profile to find out what belief wagon you've hitched your horses to but it's a blank, just like everybody elses; even mine is blank despite me having filled it in with basic details, perhaps I'm not clicking the right buttons or something.
 
Fascinating, I looked at your profile to find out what belief wagon you've hitched your horses to but it's a blank, just like everybody elses; even mine is blank despite me having filled it in with basic details, perhaps I'm not clicking the right buttons or something.

There's nothing to report. I'm not materialistic or interested in appearances. WYSIWYG, no hidden depths, all very boring.

I was raised a half-hearted Methodist so stained glass played no part in my upbringing. It has secular connotations, of art and beauty, for me.
 
My weird little workplace had another minor oddity. I got back around 4:15am and went in to the main area next to which is the staff kitchen. There was a distinct smell of recently made toast that vanished as soon as I got closer to the kitchen. As always I was the only one who been there since 22:30. I'm the only one allowed in that building at night.
 
My weird little workplace had another minor oddity. I got back around 4:15am and went in to the main area next to which is the staff kitchen. There was a distinct smell of recently made toast that vanished as soon as I got closer to the kitchen. As always I was the only one who been there since 22:30. I'm the only one allowed in that building at night.

Don't like to worry you, but smelling toast when it's not there can be the sign of a stroke.
 
Don't like to worry you, but smelling toast when it's not there can be the sign of a stroke.

Lol yeah that crossed my mind. So I'm making sure I'm taking my blood pressure pills! Don't think I had a TIA it was last week and there's no other weird physiological happenings.
 
Don't like to worry you, but smelling toast when it's not there can be the sign of a stroke.

Yup, the smell of burning is often a sign. The playwright Alan Bleasdale, who is a known hypochondriac, once drove home with his handbrake on. When he arrived he shouted to his wife 'Call an ambulance! I can smell smoke, I'm having a stroke!' to which she replied 'Calm down, your back wheels are on fire!'
 
That's a relief! But now you have to ask, what else can smell like toast? Toast can't be the only thing.
I sometimes smell toast in my bedroom, nowhere near my kitchen or anyone else's. I put it down to the ghost.
 
"Phantosmia is also called a phantom smell or an olfactory hallucination. The smells vary from person to person but are usually unpleasant, such as burnt toast,. . ."
Who says burnt toast is an unpleasant smell?

This article doesn't say anything about burnt toast smells, but it might provide some ideas of where a strange smell might come from, even in the dead of night when you are the only person allowed on site. Maybe something was blowing in through, or moldering in, the HVAC system.
https://www.firefighternation.com/2012/07/19/investigating-strange-odors/#gref
 
Especially if you top it off with burnt onions and the toaster catches on fire!
(No sense doing things half way.)
 
Who says burnt toast is an unpleasant smell?

It's the associations that're unpleasant.
- Your tea's going to taste nasty
- Or you might have to lob it and start again
- It might not just be the toast on fire. Your kitchen could burn out.
- Other people will smell it and know you've burnt your toast and mock you.
etc
 
This building has been quite until last night.

Just a reminder I am the only person who has any business in this building at night.

The pm guy handovers and leaves immediately and I do the usual environmental check 23:15. I find the Domestic storeroom unlocked, it's a big storeroom filled with junk and chairs nothing old or weird. I lock it. I check to see if anyone is in the room - it's empty. I check and lock every room in the building.

The Domestic storeroom door has a very solid lock. I pull it to me and as I've done a hundred times check that it is locked. It is really easy to lock and you just need to pull it to you. Remember no one is in this building or allowed to be in this building at night apart from me.

I go back to my work-station reply to a few email and decide I need a pee So I head back down to the staff toilet which is opposite the Domestic storeroom and notice the door is unlocked and open - the door is open. This is approx 00:15. I again check the room - it's empty.

I lock it again, a tad unnerved as I know I'd checked it and locked it before. I'm very anal about locking stuff.

I go out the building and start my rounds which takes me approx 2 hours as I get tied up dealing with a colleague's stupidity. I return late go in and because of the several cups of tea I had, I needed to go to the toilet again. I head down to the toilet opposite the Domestic storeroom door and find it unlocked and the door pushed wide open.

Not just unlocked but pushed opened. A heavy door with a solid lock which I'd locked myself.

For the first time I closed and locked the middle door between my office and the corridor to the Domestic storeroom. Even though I've found the small door of the side room next to my office open a few times before at my end of the building. It's never been as strange as this.

It is impossible that door was unlocked and opened twice.

Will keep you updated.

Back in my weird little building. On nightshift I have a tiny room, that we doze in, watch Netflix, etc. I'm mostly on call. It's the only room I actually feel comfortable in. My office is a couple of doors down from this room along a corridor.

So I come on for my nightshift. Do an environmental check which, as I've posted before, I do every time, making sure every room is locked up for the night.

I walk past the "snooze room" (we'll call it that), the door is closed. The door, if not closed properly, will always open as it's on an angle.

I walked past that room 3-4 times and the door is firmly closed.

I go out and about, do my rounds and come back two hours later walk down the corridor and the snooze room door is open. It's like someone has dumped ice water over me.

This is my safe room - or at least had been. As I've said before I'm the only person allowed in this building and I'm the senior guy working on nights and nobody is allowed in it. I never leave this door open myself as coming back into the building and seeing this room empty with the light on always gave me the chills. I always leave the door shut, locked and the light off until I return.

I've always liked this room as at night it's the least oppressive in the building.

I'm usually very fearless about Fortean stuff. I'm allowed to doze off, I'm in charge, I work long hours and I'm only a phone call away if the shit hits the fan. Cat-napping is a skill that I've picked up.

I'm pissed off the "door opener" has now picked my safe room. It only used to mess with the corner room and the domestics room.
 
Back in my weird little building. On nightshift I have a tiny room, that we doze in, watch Netflix, etc. I'm mostly on call. It's the only room I actually feel comfortable in. My office is a couple of doors down from this room along a corridor.

So I come on for my nightshift. Do an environmental check which, as I've posted before, I do every time, making sure every room is locked up for the night.

I walk past the "snooze room" (we'll call it that), the door is closed. The door, if not closed properly, will always open as it's on an angle.

I walked past that room 3-4 times and the door is firmly closed.

I go out and about, do my rounds and come back two hours later walk down the corridor and the snooze room door is open. It's like someone has dumped ice water over me.

This is my safe room - or at least had been. As I've said before I'm the only person allowed in this building and I'm the senior guy working on nights and nobody is allowed in it. I never leave this door open myself as coming back into the building and seeing this room empty with the light on always gave me the chills. I always leave the door shut, locked and the light off until I return.

I've always liked this room as at night it's the least oppressive in the building.

I'm usually very fearless about Fortean stuff. I'm allowed to doze off, I'm in charge, I work long hours and I'm only a phone call away if the shit hits the fan. Cat-napping is a skill that I've picked up.

I'm pissed off the "door opener" has now picked my safe room. It only used to mess with the corner room and the domestics room.
Is if possible that the building is gradually sinking and the door frames are shifting?
 
Back in my weird little building. On nightshift I have a tiny room, that we doze in, watch Netflix, etc. I'm mostly on call. It's the only room I actually feel comfortable in. My office is a couple of doors down from this room along a corridor. So I come on for my nightshift. Do an environmental check which, as I've posted before, I do every time, making sure every room is locked up for the night. I walk past the "snooze room" (we'll call it that), the door is closed. The door, if not closed properly, will always open as it's on an angle. I walked past that room 3-4 times and the door is firmly closed. I go out and about, do my rounds and come back two hours later walk down the corridor and the snooze room door is open. It's like someone has dumped ice water over me. This is my safe room - or at least had been. As I've said before I'm the only person allowed in this building and I'm the senior guy working on nights and nobody is allowed in it. I never leave this door open myself as coming back into the building and seeing this room empty with the light on always gave me the chills. I always leave the door shut, locked and the light off until I return. I've always liked this room as at night it's the least oppressive in the building. I'm usually very fearless about Fortean stuff. I'm allowed to doze off, I'm in charge, I work long hours and I'm only a phone call away if the shit hits the fan. Cat-napping is a skill that I've picked up. I'm pissed off the "door opener" has now picked my safe room. It only used to mess with the corner room and the domestics room.
If it is bugging you, you could perform an exorcism. Or is that NSFW? A good dose of ritual magic is often very efficacious.
 
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