Ulalume
tart of darkness
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2009
- Messages
- 3,340
- Location
- Not Texas
Late last night, when everyone in the house was asleep except me, some odd things began to happen.
For convenience, I'll describe the layout of the house and where everyone was sleeping, hopefully it will give a better idea of what it was like: The bedrooms are on one side of the house, in an L shape. Our 13 year old son is in the front bedroom, which is next to the living room at the front of the house. The bedroom next to that is shared by my husband, myself and our youngerst child. Mother's room is next in line at the southwestern corner of the house, and our 18 year-old is in the back bedroom at the very end of the hallway. The other side of the house contains the bathrooms, kitchen, laundry room, etc. It's a ranch-style house, so it's all on one level and there are no stairs.
I was sleepless as usual, so I was just sitting in our bedroom reading. Some time between 12:30 and 1:00 AM, I heard the door to the back bedroom make a sound. What I mean by this is, the doorknob on that particular door makes a distinctive metallic ringing sound when it's touched. It was very quiet in the house so I heard this clearly. I heard the back bedroom door creak a bit, and some very soft footsteps coming down the hall. I assumed S18 (who had been sound asleep last I checked) had got up for some reason - even thought the footsteps seemed far too soft to be his. I heard the steps go past our room (and our door handle move as it was touched or brushed up against) and into the living room. Again, I didn't wonder much at this. Then I heard the doorknob to the front door rattle and a noise as if someone were opening the front door. This caught my attention, because it would be highly unusual for S18 to go outside late at night, as it makes him nervous.
I listened carefully, because I was on the verge of going out there to ask if he needed anything. Now, as is common in this part of the country, there is a screen door at the front of the house, as well as a wooden one, and while a person may be able to open the wooden door quietly, the spring on the screen door makes a lot of noise. So, I was waiting to hear the screen door, but the sound never came. Instead, there were muffled noises of things being moved around in the living room and kitchen. It sounded random - as if there was no purpose to the movements. I was just about to go out there when the sounds escalated to loud thumpings. My husband sat straight up and said "what's that banging? Is your mother out there?" I said no, I didn't think so because I hadn't heard her leave her room (the door to her room sticks a bit and makes a popping noise whenever she opens it). S13's room (with which we share a wall) had been totally silent, so I didn't think it was him either.
Husband gets alarmed, tells me to stay there and gets up to look around. He comes back and says that everyone is asleep in the usual places and nothing has been moved. I asked if S18 wasn't awake, and he said no, he's sound asleep in his room. By this time I'm beginning to think "burglars", even though that would be extremely rare out here in the country. I go out myself and double check all the bedrooms, the baths, the utility room, anywhere someone might hide. There's nothing unusual though. Also, our dog would have been barking like crazy if a stranger was on the property. I considered going outdoors to check on things, but I found myself fearful. I couldn't bring myself to step outside. It "felt" like someone was around - what I mean is, just as I'd assumed at first it was S18 up and around, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was someone in the house I hadn't accounted for.
My husband went back to sleep (or so I thought) and I tried to sleep too, but I was unsettled enough that it was 45 minutes before I drifted off. My husband, it turned out, had a rather bad night. He told me later that he'd been too nervous to sleep and got up craving a cigarette. He doesn't smoke in the house, though, so he would have to go outside. He just couldn't bring himself to go out there either. He just sat there feeling, as he put it, "unsafe".
According to him, at about 2 AM, there came a tapping at our window. Three distinct taps, "the kind of tap a person would make if they wanted to get someone's attention if they were awake, but not disturb them if they were asleep." I asked if he'd looked out the window. He said "oh, good lord, no!"
A little while later, the same tapping came at our bedroom door. It happened twice, he said, three distinct taps each time. All he could do was sit there, too scared to go for a smoke or even open the door. (I'm pretty glad I wasn't awake for that part of it!) About 4 AM, the feeling finally went away and the house felt safe again.
I asked everyone else in the house this morning if they'd got up in the night or heard any noises, and they all looked at me as if I was crazy.
I recalled that the last time I'd experienced such strange noises and movements in this house was years ago, at the exact time my great-aunt (whom I mentioned recently in the "dreaming of the dead' thread) passed away. At that time, the doorknobs to each of the rooms had been rattled in turn and things were knocked around. When recalling this to my spouse, I suddenly recalled that yesterday (February 19) was this same great-aunt's birthday. The only problem with the idea that it was a ghostly birthday visit is that it was a little late - it happened just after midnight, so technically it was February 20th.
But all in all, it was a spooky and disturbing night, which I wanted to report here for posterity.
Any thoughts or comments are welcome.
For convenience, I'll describe the layout of the house and where everyone was sleeping, hopefully it will give a better idea of what it was like: The bedrooms are on one side of the house, in an L shape. Our 13 year old son is in the front bedroom, which is next to the living room at the front of the house. The bedroom next to that is shared by my husband, myself and our youngerst child. Mother's room is next in line at the southwestern corner of the house, and our 18 year-old is in the back bedroom at the very end of the hallway. The other side of the house contains the bathrooms, kitchen, laundry room, etc. It's a ranch-style house, so it's all on one level and there are no stairs.
I was sleepless as usual, so I was just sitting in our bedroom reading. Some time between 12:30 and 1:00 AM, I heard the door to the back bedroom make a sound. What I mean by this is, the doorknob on that particular door makes a distinctive metallic ringing sound when it's touched. It was very quiet in the house so I heard this clearly. I heard the back bedroom door creak a bit, and some very soft footsteps coming down the hall. I assumed S18 (who had been sound asleep last I checked) had got up for some reason - even thought the footsteps seemed far too soft to be his. I heard the steps go past our room (and our door handle move as it was touched or brushed up against) and into the living room. Again, I didn't wonder much at this. Then I heard the doorknob to the front door rattle and a noise as if someone were opening the front door. This caught my attention, because it would be highly unusual for S18 to go outside late at night, as it makes him nervous.
I listened carefully, because I was on the verge of going out there to ask if he needed anything. Now, as is common in this part of the country, there is a screen door at the front of the house, as well as a wooden one, and while a person may be able to open the wooden door quietly, the spring on the screen door makes a lot of noise. So, I was waiting to hear the screen door, but the sound never came. Instead, there were muffled noises of things being moved around in the living room and kitchen. It sounded random - as if there was no purpose to the movements. I was just about to go out there when the sounds escalated to loud thumpings. My husband sat straight up and said "what's that banging? Is your mother out there?" I said no, I didn't think so because I hadn't heard her leave her room (the door to her room sticks a bit and makes a popping noise whenever she opens it). S13's room (with which we share a wall) had been totally silent, so I didn't think it was him either.
Husband gets alarmed, tells me to stay there and gets up to look around. He comes back and says that everyone is asleep in the usual places and nothing has been moved. I asked if S18 wasn't awake, and he said no, he's sound asleep in his room. By this time I'm beginning to think "burglars", even though that would be extremely rare out here in the country. I go out myself and double check all the bedrooms, the baths, the utility room, anywhere someone might hide. There's nothing unusual though. Also, our dog would have been barking like crazy if a stranger was on the property. I considered going outdoors to check on things, but I found myself fearful. I couldn't bring myself to step outside. It "felt" like someone was around - what I mean is, just as I'd assumed at first it was S18 up and around, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was someone in the house I hadn't accounted for.
My husband went back to sleep (or so I thought) and I tried to sleep too, but I was unsettled enough that it was 45 minutes before I drifted off. My husband, it turned out, had a rather bad night. He told me later that he'd been too nervous to sleep and got up craving a cigarette. He doesn't smoke in the house, though, so he would have to go outside. He just couldn't bring himself to go out there either. He just sat there feeling, as he put it, "unsafe".
According to him, at about 2 AM, there came a tapping at our window. Three distinct taps, "the kind of tap a person would make if they wanted to get someone's attention if they were awake, but not disturb them if they were asleep." I asked if he'd looked out the window. He said "oh, good lord, no!"
A little while later, the same tapping came at our bedroom door. It happened twice, he said, three distinct taps each time. All he could do was sit there, too scared to go for a smoke or even open the door. (I'm pretty glad I wasn't awake for that part of it!) About 4 AM, the feeling finally went away and the house felt safe again.
I asked everyone else in the house this morning if they'd got up in the night or heard any noises, and they all looked at me as if I was crazy.
I recalled that the last time I'd experienced such strange noises and movements in this house was years ago, at the exact time my great-aunt (whom I mentioned recently in the "dreaming of the dead' thread) passed away. At that time, the doorknobs to each of the rooms had been rattled in turn and things were knocked around. When recalling this to my spouse, I suddenly recalled that yesterday (February 19) was this same great-aunt's birthday. The only problem with the idea that it was a ghostly birthday visit is that it was a little late - it happened just after midnight, so technically it was February 20th.
But all in all, it was a spooky and disturbing night, which I wanted to report here for posterity.
Any thoughts or comments are welcome.
