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My Experiences Growing Up In A Haunted House

but did he ever mention ghosts or other phenomena, it seems not ?
As I said in an earlier post, he talked about ghosts and the paranormal in general quite often and was definitely a believer. But as for the house specifically, no, I can't ever recall it.

If that makes my story seem less believable and more like the creation of a scared child's imagination then so be it. There is no way now for me to prove that any of this happened, even to myself. But that's usually how these things go, isn't it :p
 
You know, it never actually occurred to me to investigate who the apparitions were!

We have a story on'ere about a house where ghostly people were sometimes seen, appearing to be looking through an internal upstairs window that wasn't there.
(Details might be hazy here, haven't read it for a while!)
Turned out that house used to be a dancing school or summat and there was indeed an internal window, used for serving snacks or watching the next class or whatever.

Here's the actual thread! Thank you @JamesWhitehead!


Spooky incident in a ballet school


Heh, I remembered most of it right!
 
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We have a story on'ere about a house where ghostly people were sometimes seen, appearing to be looking through an internal upstairs window that wasn't there.
(Details might be hazy here, haven't read it for a while!)
Turned out that house used to be a dancing school or summat and there was indeed an internal window, used for serving snacks or watching the next class or whatever.

Here's the actual thread! Thank you @JamesWhitehead!


Spooky incident in a ballet school


Heh, I remembered most of it right!
Ooh, that was a good one, thanks!

I was inspired by everyone's responses to try and start digging around on the internet yesterday for some kind of history on my old house. Sadly I didn't find much but if I get time this weekend I'll nip to our local library and see if I have any better luck in person (I don't live in the same town any more but I'm only in the next town over).
 
This is such an amazing story Starbuck, thank you. I am fascinated by the sheer quotidian nature of some of these 'mysterious happenings'. No back story, nothing really remarkable, just 'things happening', to no purpose.

Almost my favourite kind of tales of hauntings.
 
Ooh, that was a good one, thanks!

I was inspired by everyone's responses to try and start digging around on the internet yesterday for some kind of history on my old house. Sadly I didn't find much but if I get time this weekend I'll nip to our local library and see if I have any better luck in person (I don't live in the same town any more but I'm only in the next town over).

I started digging into the history of my old house Starbuck, and discovered that the houses was originally built by the MOD in the 1930’s, as convalescent homes for old soldiers.

WW2 came along and the construction work was halted, and the houses lay derelict and empty until the mid-1980’s, when the MOD sold them to a property developer, who in turn done them up and sold them on.

As far as I could tell nobody had ever died whilst living in the house or in its construction, also maps have shown me that prior to the MOD building the houses, the land they stood on was farmland, so why the house give us trouble is anybody guess.

In comparison the house I live in at the moment was built circa 1530, and apart from one strange occurrence the day we moved in, we’ve experienced nothing at all.

Strange isn't it.
 
This is such an amazing story Starbuck, thank you. I am fascinated by the sheer quotidian nature of some of these 'mysterious happenings'. No back story, nothing really remarkable, just 'things happening', to no purpose.

Almost my favourite kind of tales of hauntings.
Thankyou! :)
Out of interest (and because I'm always excited to find new stories to read), if this type is 'almost' your favourite kind of haunting tales, then what is your favourite?

And you're right, there really didn't seem to be any kind of connection between the things that happened. In fact, apart from the noises in the kitchen (and possibly the deep breathing in the bathroom, although I only feel, rather than know, that this occurred more than once), each other occurance only ever happened a single time.

Similarly with the sightings. Mine was a much more 'classic' ghostly people sighting and, although I was terrified at the time, I don't recall sensing any kind of malevolence from them.
Whereas my sister's sighting, of the blue man, was something different entirely. She claims that he DID feel malevolent.

I'm also fairly sure that I've read other stories about seeing a 'blue man' somewhere else, although for the life of me I can no longer remember where (possibly reddit?)
 
I started digging into the history of my old house Starbuck, and discovered that the houses was originally built by the MOD in the 1930’s, as convalescent homes for old soldiers.

WW2 came along and the construction work was halted, and the houses lay derelict and empty until the mid-1980’s, when the MOD sold them to a property developer, who in turn done them up and sold them on.

As far as I could tell nobody had ever died whilst living in the house or in its construction, also maps have shown me that prior to the MOD building the houses, the land they stood on was farmland, so why the house give us trouble is anybody guess.

In comparison the house I live in at the moment was built circa 1530, and apart from one strange occurrence the day we moved in, we’ve experienced nothing at all.

Strange isn't it.
It really is!

If you don't mind me asking, where did you look to find such detailed info on the house/land history? I tried searching my old house's street address in the online Lancashire archives and didn't come up with anything...so I'd appreciate any tips!

The house we moved in after this one was much older (although not 1530's older!) and there were several weird incidents there as well. Although only one that I can recall happened to me. My brother remembers a few things though!

Years later, my sister got a job at a stately home (that's open to the public) and she had a lot of creepy experiences there too (she was a cleaner so was often there alone in the dark, small hours!)
 
Thankyou! :)
Out of interest (and because I'm always excited to find new stories to read), if this type is 'almost' your favourite kind of haunting tales, then what is your favourite?

And you're right, there really didn't seem to be any kind of connection between the things that happened. In fact, apart from the noises in the kitchen (and possibly the deep breathing in the bathroom, although I only feel, rather than know, that this occurred more than once), each other occurance only ever happened a single time.

Similarly with the sightings. Mine was a much more 'classic' ghostly people sighting and, although I was terrified at the time, I don't recall sensing any kind of malevolence from them.
Whereas my sister's sighting, of the blue man, was something different entirely. She claims that he DID feel malevolent.

I'm also fairly sure that I've read other stories about seeing a 'blue man' somewhere else, although for the life of me I can no longer remember where (possibly reddit?)

My first great love isn't ghostly tales, it's time slips. No idea why, they just get my imagination going.
 
One of my brothers has reported a few odd things in his previously quiet house over the course of the last week or so. Three minor strangeness incidents needn't amount to more than a coincidence but perhaps i should note them down if they're the start of something.

Visiting on Wednesday he reported how a television, which is never in use, in an empty room switched itself on noisily in the middle of the night.

In the following days he noticed and pointed out to his wife how quiet the family dog was...where was she? They found her locked inside one of their daughters' rooms, having been trapped in their for a few hours. The girls said they hadn't been up there at all.

The first they put down to remote control batteries dying or some such. The second they surmised maybe the dog jumped up and accidentally shut the door behind itself.

But then yesterday he texted me to say he was in the living room with the eldest girl and he noticed a finch in the garden. He pointed it out to her and his iPhone - which was sitting untouched on the arm of the chair -switched on Siri (he claims you have to hold down a button to activate Siri on his phone), it paused and said "let me think about it" and switched itself off.

All minor, but a cluster over a short period is enough to get his attention. Things of note..said brother is interested in the spooky stuff in recent years and is trying his hand increasingly at offering people in a whatsapp group messages, names etc, seemingly with some success. He's also been prone since the deaths of our mother and brother a couple of years ago to experience a lot of electronic based incidents. The only recent death however has been his family cat about a week or so ago apparently. Finally the last of the above incidents was on his birthday. All perhaps of no relevance. But again noted here in case any more comes of it.
 
A friend said her TV switched itself on during the week, it happened at exactly 5am, so she wondered if there was some sort of glitch - like it switched itself on rather than than record a programme which began at 5, though, admittedly, she hadn't set it to record. My cousin's TV did the same thing at least once, in this case they had set it to record something overnight. They spoke to someone about this, either from the shop or manufacturer as it was a new TV at the time and they apparently said "it is supposed to that when it records", which sounds like bollocks to me. It could be a fault in modern digital TVs though or at least some of them.
 
We get reports of TVs turning themselves on here quite a bit. Simple solution to this glitch: don't leave your TV on standby, switch it off at the plug.

Did anyone's CRT TV turn itself on in the middle of the night back before modern LCD or plasma sets? Or were those sets never left on, because the continuity announcer always ordered you to switch them off properly at closedown?
 
We get reports of TVs turning themselves on here quite a bit. Simple solution to this glitch: don't leave your TV on standby, switch it off at the plug.

Did anyone's CRT TV turn itself on in the middle of the night back before modern LCD or plasma sets? Or were those sets never left on, because the continuity announcer always ordered you to switch them off properly at closedown?
Switch them off and unplug them if I remember correctly!
 
We get reports of TVs turning themselves on here quite a bit. Simple solution to this glitch: don't leave your TV on standby, switch it off at the plug.

Did anyone's CRT TV turn itself on in the middle of the night back before modern LCD or plasma sets? Or were those sets never left on, because the continuity announcer always ordered you to switch them off properly at closedown?

Part of the issue is that many people have Sky boxes (or equivalent) and they are apparently not supposed to be tuned off and their TV may well be plugged into the same extension as the box.
 
Part of the issue is that many people have Sky boxes (or equivalent) and they are apparently not supposed to be tuned off and their TV may well be plugged into the same extension as the box.

Yes, there is that, too. Would it really be such an issue if you turned off the box overnight, though?
 
Yes, there is that, too. Would it really be such an issue if you turned off the box overnight, though?

At least one person I know says they were told to not switch the box off. I don't know why.
 
Not a TV, but my sister was once woken up by the melodious sound of "Baker Street" at some ungodly hour of the morning - her radio/cassette player had turned itself on. It wasn't the alarm clock type, just an old-fashioned portable player such as we hep cats owned during the early 80s, non-programmable and with a pretty hefty on/off switch. That incident coloured her impressions of the song for years!
 
Ooo..I like to experience and test out various fortean related phenomena for myself where possible and report back here as accurately as possible on what did or didn't happen. A haunting or apparition would seem to be not the kind of thing i could readily arrange to witness. But an opportunity may have presented itself.

I've a long planned/booked holiday next February with a group of friends. 3 nights in San Francisco, 4 in Los Angeles. How glamorous. Accommodation was booked as ever entirely on the basis of what was affordable, covenient, with the requisite number of rooms and decent reviews. Nothing else.

Yesterday i was watching my new favourite program (albeit its a few years old now) Celebrity Ghost Stories...a talking heads with somewhat overdone re-enactments type documentary series in which familiar (to american tv viewers) faces recount their own brushes with the paranormal. I was struck by how many of their ghostly encounters take place in hotels and motels. And being celebs, frequently in California. An envious wish was born that our hotel would be haunted. I googled "haunted hotels San Francisco" and what do you know, our one appeared at number 3 in a list. Not just one ghost mind, but multiple presences, concentrating on particular rooms in said hotel. This morning i even found a 20 minute video about it. Now presumably thousands of people pass through its doors without reporting anything...but its a glimmer of hope that i may have something to report. Watch this space.

 
One of my brothers has reported a few odd things in his previously quiet house over the course of the last week or so. Three minor strangeness incidents needn't amount to more than a coincidence but perhaps i should note them down if they're the start of something.

I definitely wish I'd kept some sort of diary now, because at times I do wonder whether my memory is as reliable as I'd like to believe it is! And I get what you mean about these things being nothing more than coincidences - and taken in isolation, each separate incident in my old house could have been brushed off as just 'one of those things' - but I guess it's the sheer number of them that makes a difference sometimes!

Visiting on Wednesday he reported how a television, which is never in use, in an empty room switched itself on noisily in the middle of the night.

In the following days he noticed and pointed out to his wife how quiet the family dog was...where was she? They found her locked inside one of their daughters' rooms, having been trapped in their for a few hours. The girls said they hadn't been up there at all.

The first they put down to remote control batteries dying or some such. The second they surmised maybe the dog jumped up and accidentally shut the door behind itself.

But then yesterday he texted me to say he was in the living room with the eldest girl and he noticed a finch in the garden. He pointed it out to her and his iPhone - which was sitting untouched on the arm of the chair -switched on Siri (he claims you have to hold down a button to activate Siri on his phone), it paused and said "let me think about it" and switched itself off.

We never had a tv turn itself on, that I can recall, but we did have an old electronic game called 'Simon' (it would play a tune and then you'd have to repeat it in the same note and colour sequence - thrilling, haha!) that would turn itself on at times and begin to play without being activated.

Things of note..said brother is interested in the spooky stuff in recent years and is trying his hand increasingly at offering people in a whatsapp group messages, names etc, seemingly with some success. He's also been prone since the deaths of our mother and brother a couple of years ago to experience a lot of electronic based incidents. The only recent death however has been his family cat about a week or so ago apparently. Finally the last of the above incidents was on his birthday. All perhaps of no relevance. But again noted here in case any more comes of it.
Do you mean he's trying to be a medium via whatsapp? I'm not really sure whether I believe in mediums or not but always thought you'd have to be in the same room to make a 'connection'? Interesting approach.

I do also wonder whether certain events or periods in our lives see us more 'in tune' with paranormal stuff than at other times? Like, I experienced so much in this particular house, whereas in our next one, I only recall one single, tiny incident, while my brother experienced quite a bit.
 
Do you mean he's trying to be a medium via whatsapp? I'm not really sure whether I believe in mediums or not but always thought you'd have to be in the same room to make a 'connection'? Interesting approach.

Sorry, my words were vague because I'm vague about it myself. What I understand is that he's a) started using tarot cards. He doesn't express a definitive belief, more a curiosity that leads him to try it. b) he's in a whatsapp group with friends and acquaintances who are equally into the spiritual/new age/going for readings kind of stuff, and - from what i gather - they will occassionally offer up in the group names or images which have occurred to them in particular contexts, and he's reported several times that they've been seized on as uncanny hits by the recipient as eg the name of their recently deceased or an accurate description of them etc. He's as surprised as they are. Of course he's only reporting those instances where there is a match and where there's not he'd have no reason to mention it to me. He makes no claims to being a psychic or medium per se, but is clearly interested in it and playing with it - the relevance to his recent oddities at home being you could surmise eitehr that he's predisposed to see the potentially uncanny in mundane events or, alternatively, he's inviting genuinely paranormal events into his life by playing with and practicing the subject.
 
...the relevance to his recent oddities at home being you could surmise eitehr that he's predisposed to see the potentially uncanny in mundane events or, alternatively, he's inviting genuinely paranormal events into his life by playing with and practicing the subject.
As a teenager I went through a similar phase of dabbling with tarot cards and runes, then later reiki...although personally I don't recall any particular activity 'spikes' occurring around that time. But then I also know that my dad had played with a ouija board before I was born...so maybe it wasn't me who was the cause of the disturbances after all! (I did feel somewhat guilty for a while afterwards though, just incase I'd accidentally ushered in something unwanted).

This also makes me think of my absolute favourite story so far on this board...the one where the family's uncle has been practicing shared dreaming with friends and then slamming doors with his mind...and then after he leaves they discover something malevolent has been left behind!
 
I googled "haunted hotels San Francisco" and what do you know, our one appeared at number 3 in a list. Not just one ghost mind, but multiple presences, concentrating on particular rooms in said hotel.
I no longer live in SF but did for many years. Where is this hotel? Which one is it?

The only Fortean-ish experience I had near there was across the Bay in Oakland. I think I mentioned it on another thread—tiny specks of silvery light that rapidly coalesced into something I didn't see because I stupidly turned my back on it!
 
It really is!

If you don't mind me asking, where did you look to find such detailed info on the house/land history? I tried searching my old house's street address in the online Lancashire archives and didn't come up with anything...so I'd appreciate any tips!

The house we moved in after this one was much older (although not 1530's older!) and there were several weird incidents there as well. Although only one that I can recall happened to me. My brother remembers a few things though!

Years later, my sister got a job at a stately home (that's open to the public) and she had a lot of creepy experiences there too (she was a cleaner so was often there alone in the dark, small hours!)


Hi Starbuck.

The first port of call would obviously be your local library, and was mine when trying to find out the history of my old place. Anything you can find online of course is also useful.

There was an old Pathe news clip that my wife found on you tube, that had footage of the houses being built.

The footage was shot in the late 1930’s, and had the heading of “MOD comes to town”, (or something like that) but I’ve been searching you tube for the past few days without success, it must have been taken down for some reason.

Honestly though, the best source of info will be the local community.

I met an old chap that frequented a local pub, who had lived his entire life in the same street. His street was opposite to the street where my old house stood, and he remembered the houses being built, and remembered them laying derelict for 40 odd years. I got a lot of gen out of him, and it only cost me the price of the occasional pint of Guinness for the old guy.
 
It tells you on the youtube link in my posting. The San Remo.
What a great find! Charming with a decent price. I earnestly hope you are also treated to its supernatural amenities as well as the usual ones.
I'm not as familiar with that area as I am with others. It's a bit swankier than my old hangouts.
 
My mum once bought a new dress in the sales and initially hung it in one of the downstairs closets, where we kept the coats. That dress disappeared from inside the closet and was never seen again.

Good damn thieving. Moving stuff is one thing but just nicking things. Maybe it was one of the female ghosts.
 
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