I think I have a ghost

Oh shit, OP!!!!

NOT HELPING! LOL. But thanks for talking to me! Better you thank Cujo or Farmer Killer Brown or whoever the fuck it is.

We’ve done a lot to our old house and have had a few similar experiences, mainly an old-time radio playing and aromas, mainly cooking.

The cooking is usually early in the morning. A few things such as you have experienced.

I have no answers

PLEASE STOP, you're freaking me out, and I'm also beginning to hear things.

People say having a priest over to perform a sanctification of the house or whatever helps with these things.

I had a horrible time once when, again, I was home alone at night. Suddenly, my cat (who rarely ever makes a peep) started meowing loudly and disturbingly, with a little wail, while staring wide-eyed at an empty space in the air.

Then she circled the space as if there was something in it, never taking her eyes off it, and started wailing again. I freaked out. There weren't any moths, flies, or even mosquitoes in the room.

It was the room where my great-grandmother died.

R3... does it end? Or reduce? Because I feel like we're on the upswing here and I'm starting to - I don't like being alone in the house now and that's not practical. It is a weekend/summer place and my work lets me come up ahead of my husband.

It could be bad wiring giving off EMF fields. You could also have an animal in your attic or in the walls. I had 2 birds in my house that came in while I had opened the door to trick r treaters. They got in my bathroom and knocked over my listerine bottles and cups.

Also, there’s branches over my house where squirrels get into the roof and make thumping noises. A squirrel or rat has also gotten into the attic before.

I had similar issues when I lived in an old house in upstate CT. Never know if it was old house noises and issues - or just my paranoia of being in the middle of nowhere alone, I decided that as much as I love the country, it wasn’t a healthy place to live.

My husband is half an hour away so I don't have to ride this out much longer. R7, did your noises go away or was it constant? What made you think it was ghosty? Or did you not but just it was your imagination? I cannot explain that broken drinking glass. There is no good answer for it.

You in danger, gurl! OP, my great-grandma believed she had spirits. She said they left after she confronted them by screaming indignantly, "You are not wanted here!!! Leave my house!!!"

There are no such things as ghosts.

It's a human & he's a murderer. He's stalking you inside your house.

He's going to kill you.

I never believed in ghosts until I lived in a haunted house and just had to accept they are real. I did everything I could to rationally explain it: got in plumbers, electricians, builders to try and figure out what was wrong, but there was nothing wrong with the house. I ended up moving out because it wasn't actually scary, just annoying and inconvenient.

LOL @ R10.

R9... seriously... that worked?

You should have your house checked for carbon monoxide. All of the things you described hearing and seeing can be attributed to the physical effects of carbon monoxide poisoning. The recent renovations might have created a source of the gas building up in your house. You can get a detector at Home Depot.

R13, we got 'em. But maybe I should smoke some weed.

R12- OP, she said it did. Think about it, a haint is a lost, misguided soul and can't really physically harm you. You must be firm and resolute in kicking them out.

My husband is a litigator. I'll make him do it. (Yes, I'm mostly the bottom.)

OP, if it were me I would start talking out loud to whatever it is. And don't stop. Tell it it's your home, you mean it no harm. Another thing to say is that you're not going away. And yell and get angry. Let this shit out! Turn on all the lights. Confront it. When this happens it's sometimes the spirit of somebody who died but doesn't know they're dead, so they're hanging around. I'd also burn sage, and talk to your husband about getting some kind of person like a shaman in there to dispel this. But let it know you're staying, and you're done being frightened in your home. Just don't let up. This might sound crazy, but it's fucking crazy for something to be scaring you in your own home. I'd even start telling bad jokes just to lighten your stress. Good luck. Please keep us posted!

I had a ghost and I got rid of it. I have a Santeria store near my house and they helped me. Don’t waste time wondering if it’s real, just take care of it like you would if your sink was leaking. Mine was coming in the shower with me and was a real leach.

When I started talking to mine the activity got dramatically worse. I would either move or get someone in to remove it.

Tell me about a ghost in the shower. It doesn't sound hot but it does sound kind of amazing.

I had one a few months back. Object in a certain part of my kitchen kept falling/being knocked over. A glass, a bowl, an egg...all set down sturdily in one part of the kitchen. I got kissed one night and provoked it. Saying you don’t live here, you don’t pay rent, get the fuck out! Then something really odd happened. A fly strip attached to the ceiling betgan to twist to and fro one night while I was cooked Ng. Twisting deliberately and exactly. As if being twisted by someone from the bottom. I called on Jesus for it to leave and it didn’t stop. I saw white whisky mist around it and took video. Scared the shit out of me. I watch a lot of paranormal shows so the next day I started recording on my phone. Told it my name and I wasn’t here to hurt it. I apologized for screaming and asked who it was. I caught a faint female voice on the recording. I heard if you set up a white candle by the window and coax it to leave, it might. I told her I would help. She didn’t belong here and should follow the light. I wished her well. Next day, a noticeable lightness in the kitchen. No more incidents. The video and audi freaked my colleagues and family OUT. By the way, before the provocation there were hundreds of flies appearing in the house weekly. Every day I was spraying. Good luck. I hope it’s a kind one. Mine just needed a little help moving on.

Typing on my phone, sorry about the typos.

Do you have a cat? Mine make noise at night and knocks things over. Their vomit looks like what you described.

OK, we have an unusual number of flies. I had been chalking it up to the country and them getting in an old house over the summer and not getting out.

R23, no cat.

OP, you should definitely get a kitty, or a dog, if so inclined. They help in these matters by being vigilant.

The new exorcist is in town and on his way to your house.

[quote]r19 There are no such things as ghosts. It's a human & he's a murderer. He's stalking you inside your house.

Agreed. There is obviously a hidden room in the house, where the elderly couple kept their nephew after he escaped from a mental institution. (Or jail?)

Anyway, he knows the place better than you, OP. Watch your back.

Have a New Age person come over to your house - they burn sage and know how to deal with restless spirits and psychic activity.

I smell a 5150 happening soon.

[quote] And yell and get angry. Let this shit out!

Woo, boy. Don't do that.

Think of the ghost like a person who simply doesn't have a body. What would you do if someone told you off in that manner? If you think you're tougher and better than they are you're going to attack them. Don't be silly.

1. Research the house and figure out who was there before you moved in. It's usually pretty easy these days. There should have been a chain of title done when you got the property by the real estate agency.

2. You can totally use the internet to find out if anyone has died at your address by cross referencing it with newspapers.

3. You can try bargaining with the ghost. It thinks that this place is their home still. Say something like, "Don't bother me when I'm sleeping, I don't want to see you, if you want to wander around just avoid me. I get it. I know you love this place too but so do I."

4. You can call a spiritualist to cleanse the place and try and get it to move on. A good one will tell you if it's not going to work.

My family has always believed in ghosts. My grandparent's house was haunted when I was a kid. There was a room everyone knew felt off. We knew the ghost was the previous owner. People who had never heard about the weird stuff that happened there felt it when they walked in. At one point (when I was staying with them as a kid) it moved into my room and started playing pranks on me. I eventually told it that I was sorry what happened to it but it was scaring me and I'm just a kid. I even told it my parents had gotten a divorce and I didn't want to be there but we had to stay for a while. It left me alone.

Decades later I returned to paint a room in their house for them, that scary room. I felt like I was being watched. I asked if there was something it wanted. I heard a noise behind me, followed it and I found a hidden attic door that had been painted over. There were women's clothes and pictures in there. I pulled them out, sat one on a shelf and said, "So there you are." I told her her husband moved on, her kids were grown now, my mom ran into them a year or two before but she should move on. I said I'd leave the picture up so we wouldn't forget her.

No one felt anything in that room after that.

Question: why do we never hear about spirits or ghosts coming to us while they are high on drugs?

Two words

Ooh, I never thought yelling at it might provike it or make it worse. I thought it would feel the energy that it wasn't welcome and leave. Sorry, OP. To quote Kate Clinton, "I'm not codependent, I'm just trying to help!" ;`]

I have no doubt my place is haunted. All kinds of strange sounds and happenings at night.

I once knew a person who had ghostly experiences and it did not end well. She wrote a book about it.

Her name is Pat Montandon and she was a local celebrity in San Francisco. Hosted a morning show in the 60s, married well and was a socialite for a long while.

She had a fabulous apartment with killer views on the crooked part of Lombard Street on Russian Hill in San Francisco. She mentioned odd things that happened their but I don't remember the details. Strange things, like the place was haunted.

One weekend she was out of town and her good friend and personal secretary stayed in the place. A fire broke out in the closet one night and burned in an arrow shape to the bed where her friend was sleeping. She died in that bed, but I believe from smoke inhalation but I'm not sure.

Odd thing was I was at the friend's house a few weeks prior when she received a call and burst out crying and said, "why do the best people have to die so young?" She herself was a young widow in her 40s. Three weeks later she was dead. Having known her, she was a very kind person, I wondered the same thing.

R33 great movie.

From what I can gather OP if you would like this entity, or entities whichever the case may be, to leave your house you will need a medium who will help them crossover.

If cannot find or afford a medium you can try do it yourself by simply asking them to leave.

As another poster suggested, explain to the spirit or spirits that they have passed away and that they need to "go into the light" where they will find their loved ones and where they will find peace.

In my experience the deceased are obligated to leave if the living gently but very firmly tells them that it is time to move on.

'4 Steps To Help A Lost Soul Cross Over':

1. Set boundaries and have an intention. 2. Talk to the Earthbound Soul with compassion. 3. Call in their loved ones and Angels on the other side to assist. 4. Close the Portal.

Don't you have to open the portal first, so they have somewhere to go to?

OP, here is a prayer you can recite in order to help earthbound spirits to help them leave this realm and go to where they will be at peace.

R39 If the spirits are haunting a house the portal is already open and the spirits need to leave the same way that they came in.

Wow R21.

A lot of you should be evaluated by a psychiatrist.

Interesting theory, r41. I was taught that they are earthbound and the books I've read by spirit workers implied that a portal has to be opened so that they could see "the way out".

'Spirit Cleansing Your Home'

R44 Maybe I should do more research before I disagree with someone.

It sounds like opening and closing portals should probably be done by a medium or a spiritualist.

R43 I can appreciate your skepticism but no one is forcing you to be a part of this thread.

Could R11 please tell his/her story?

R36, who was dead three weeks later? Pat or the assistant that died in the bed?

R21, could you please post your video on youtube and share the link with us?

OP, please tell us the part of the country you're in, so we have a picture of the setting.

thanks

OP I think sage and candles certainly cannot hurt, however I would call in a priest. I think the Catholics have this market cornered for good reason: they really believe in these phenomena, and they have the requisite prayers, training, and tradition.

Perhaps I watch too many demonic themed horror films, but even as a Jew, I would seek a Catholic priest if I were you. Light a candle and say some prayers. I would probably burn incense as well.

T.M. Simmons has written a few books about moving ghosts along. They are dirt cheap on Kindle.

I should add OP, I would be reticent to drink or smoke grass, or indulge in other drugs whilst there, as I've heard one reason disembodied spirits stick around is to vicariously enjoy former vices. I've read many accounts where these spirits somehow occupy you when you're compromised, so as to feel what your body is experiencing. Just to be vigilant, I'd keep QUITE sober.

Could you have inadvertently removed a necessary retaining wall or support that is causing house settling noises and uneven flooring? My grandmother's old house had a breakfast nook where part of the foundation collapsed around some tree roots in a place we couldn't easily see it, and she had weird banging noises as well as stuff rolling off her breakfast table before we fixed it.

The white stuff by the fireplace could be a leak coming through the brick or stone and leaving behind a residue.

It's rats

Where did the glass come from that was broken? Do you have open cabinets that hold your dishes? Could it have rolled off an uneven countertop?

OP a novena is your only answer. That and a shake of holy water in every room.

This is a great thread.

Could [R11] please tell his/her story?

I've told it on DL before. Basically it started with knocking on the walls (which is why I called a plumber to check the pipes and then a builder when the plumber said everything was fine) and electrical issues with appliances and lights turning on and off on their own (so I called an electrician). It graduated pretty quickly to physical things with draws and doors opening and things going missing only to turn up in a weird place (my spare keys inside a bag of cat food etc).

I was living with flatmates and suspected them of doing things but it also happened when they were away for a week on vacation. It became annoying and was disrupting my daily life. We tried talking to it but it just got worse afterwards.

The final straw for me was when my flatmate bought a potted plant and put it on the coffee table, then we all went out to the movies. When we came back, the plant was ripped out of the pot and shredded. There was dirt all over the floor and muddy handprints up the wall to the ceiling. No sign of broken entry and someone would've needed a ladder to get up that high. I was over it by then and just wanted to live in a house where weird shit DIDN'T happen. My flatmates moved out shortly afterwards when they got sick of it too.

^^ oh and the house was brand new, so I don't know where the fuck it came from.

OP, please stop playing Ouija.

R58 Did you have flies as well? When OP had mentioned them, I must confess I felt a bit of a shiver come over me. Several accounts have flies... even in the dead of winter, sometimes coming down the chimney, or turning up in other unlikely places.

I lived in an old place many years ago. It wasn’t in great condition, but it suited the purpose at the time, and was in a good location. It had previously been occupied by two old, but unrelated people who kept to their side of the place. Cutting to the chase - I woke up one night to see an old man sitting on a daybed we had rescued from outside and fixed up. He had on a hat and dressing gown, much like the old man on Benny Hill. He had a pool of light around him, like a spotlight. Inexplicably, I didn’t mention this to my then partner for quite a while. He had also seen him, and described the clothing. The really spooky thing was that I had thought the old guy occupied the other side of the house from where I saw him, but turns out he didn’t. Also turns out that he was found dead on that daybed.

R57, I think I remember your story. You were from New Orleans, right?

[quote]R34 Ooh, I never thought yelling at it might provoke it or make it worse.

That’s the problem - you just don’t [italic]think.[/italic]

And here we are...

[quote]R38 .... 3. Call in their loved ones and Angels on the other side to assist. 4. Close the Portal.

You close YOUR portal.

It stinks in here.

Growing up, my Grandma's house was haunted. My Dad told me that, once while his whole family was in the kitchen, his father saw a ghost at the base of the back stairs, and ran and chased it up the stairs, telling it to get out of his house. Later on, my three cousins used to stay overnight, and they all reported seeing and hearing all sorts of activity. I've never had any reason to doubt any of my relatives. And yes, I would call in a priest (I'm Catholic).

OP, there is a lot of good advice here.

The ghostly food aromas are sporadic, not more than a few times a year. They do not bother me and my partner does not smell them. We both hear sounds. It’s not animals. We’ve had squirrels in the attic, and the sound is not the least bit similar. We have flies, too, but I chalk that up to this being an old house. Once we had dozens in the bedroom and had to sleep downstairs while the fly strips did their work.

Things rarely go missing. Whatever we have here is benevolent.

Once we had a putrid, rotting smell, but it was fleeting.

[R63] do you feel better now? After all, it's probably the first time today you've taken an opportunity to be a mean fuck to someone you don't know. But the day is young, and you have plenty more opportunities to show everybody what an unhappy disease you really are.

Right on R67. I don't care for that style of "quoting" either, especially when they cherry pick and leave out your funny bits, and the apology in your case here.

I'll be the one to ease your mind, OP - It's just some little animals deciding to be rent free and moved in.

R62 - I'm a kiwi and it was in Auckland, NZ.

R70 Did you have flies?

I never had any experiences nor believed in any of this until my husband and I moved to London a couple of years ago. We are both in finance and tend to be logical so you can imagine the state of us when things started to happen. It got so bad that we got holy water and sage, etc.. That helped but didn’t completely get rid of it. It really started to disturb our life and our pets. There was a very dark energy on top of things moving, etc.. We thought we were losing our minds. Never had anything like this happen and thought that it was just for scary movies. I searched around and then found a woman who is a healer and that doused energies. Yes it seemed crazy but we were desperate. It took her a few weeks and in that time the energies picked up a bit. She kept with it and it all eventually went away. She will work remotely and I really recommend her if you can’t find anyone in your area as it’s embarrassing to share this with others. Her name is Debbie Rye In England. We were about to put our home on the market but so far nothing else has happened, knock on wood. I think they are just earthbound souls who are stuck or something. I don’t really understand it all. I just know that it was frightening and now it is gone. Best of luck OP.

Is your house built on an ancient Native American burial ground??

If so, you’re fucked.

In my house, I frequently see cats who have lived here and passed on. I can recognize each one. Even my partner, who believes in this stuff, but never sees anything, actually did see one of them a short time ago. I think that some people have a certain ability to see spirits, or whatever you want to call them. I've also seen one of our former canine residents. However, all my ghosts have been very much benign. If I was in your situation, and these "visitations" seemed not so friendly, I'd call in a priest. I'm not a religious person, but I'm spiritual, as the old saying goes. Good luck to you.

[quote]I am certain I saw something - like a figure - move on the main floor. It was a shadow.

Beware of shadow people. They are always evil.

OP, I don’t believe in ghosts, however, I’ve experienced weird shit.

I was under unusually high stress levels around 4 -6 months ago, & odd things started happening.

I believed that I was seeing things from the corners of my eyes, things that I couldn’t explain, like what appeared to be fleeting, moving shadows or figures.

I quickly realized that my energy needed to be re-centered, & I made a concerted effort to calm myself down by elongating my meditation practice, & consciously working on my breathing.

Once I became aware of the stress that I was under, & paid attention to Thais issue in positive ways, where I recognized that I was in control of my body, if I chose to be, the odd incidents ceased.

In my experience, I tend to side with logic, and I find solutions from that perspective, rather than unexplained phenomena. Because I do that, I am able to diminish fear, and get back in the driver’s seat, so to speak.

Also, you probably have a small rodent in your home, ergo, the broken glass & stains.

OP, I forgot to link this...👇🏽

bumped

R3/R66 - those "cooking smells" you described that your partner doesn't notice might point to a problem far more sinister than a little ghosty - go to a doctor!

Good morning... we had an interesting night. Last night right after my last post I heard three more bangs in sequence. Loud. Bangs, like somebody was dropping something heavy or throwing it against the floor upstairs. I nearly jumped out of my skin. I just grabbed my keys and went out to get my car scared witless, when my husband came up the road so at least I wasn't alone. So obviously I seem like an unhinged lunatic by this point and he does a walk around, upstairs and down and finds nothing. But he concedes he gets a sense strange things happen - sometimes - and told me he saw something last weekend that sounds like the shadowy thing I described and he has wondered if he heard whispering too when he's been up reading late. Where we disagree is how to deal with it. It really unnerves me now. He's not thrilled but says he isn't going to take it too seriously. So I am not having a fight about a ghost. We went out to the hot tub and soaked and smoked and messed around for awhile and then went up to bed and had a normal night. When I came down this morning, there was a light on on the main floor that was off when we went up last night. I know that because the main floor was pitch black when we went up (and we weren't that high at that point lol.)

I am going to suggest we invite the people who sold us the place to come over for a lunch, ostensibly to see the place. See if they tell us any stories. I am not going to ask flat out if it's haunted, that would be stupid. I'm also going to call the real estate agent today and ask if he knows anything about the place and I'm going to try some sage and salt stuff before we go on Sunday. I am not going to talk to it (if there's an it.) I don't know what I'm doing and it's frightening/unnverving but it isn't really threatening in any way I don't think. Still if there's really something there I am not going to mess with it unless I know what I am doing.

Thanks for the Debbie Rye name. To whoever asked there was no way that glass could have fallen there. It was in the middle of the kitchen floor. The glasses are up in a cupboard. Googled says southern VT has a paranormal society so I am going to get in touch with them today and see if they have anything to say. I was going to stay through Tuesday but am going back with my husband Sunday night now. Not staying here. It makes me feel so sad. Suddenly I'm on alert to see what my fucking house is going to do next and the more I try to work out an explanation the more frustrated and sad I get. I loved this place. We were very happy here. It's gorgeous and private we have a great natural swimming pool we put in and it's so private I don't think I had clothes on on a sunny day once this summer. It was fun. Now some fucking thing doesn't like it and is acting up. Or is it? Am I nuts? Anyway, I blathered last night when I didn't want to be alone so thanks for posting those who did and keeping me company while asshole ghost acted up. (I hope it doesn't read DL over my shoulder.)

I didn't believe in ghosts until I saw one. Note that the common expression "You look like you've seen a ghost" isn't "You look like you think you've seen a ghost". Once it happens to you, you can't "not believe" anymore.

OP- Thanks for the update. Number 1- Calm down, nothing bad is going to happen to you or your partner. Smoking and having sex was a GREAT way to break the energy. If you're alone, use humor. Play clips of you're favorite stand-ups if you're feeling scared. If you hear banging at night. Yell at them to shut the hell up, like they were misbehaving children.

I know nothing about this, but I have heard mediums speak of haunted objects. Did you buy some fabulous piece of furniture "to die for"? Maybe you have some queen's armoire that he wouldn't give up "over his dead body".

Final thought- My ghost was an ex-lover who died and I didn't know. Perhaps, it's a loved one who is trying to get a message to you. You're on the right track. Keep us posted. Again, you are not in any danger, for sure.

Don't spend money on quacks.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

R81... I agree we're not in any danger but if it is something, why is it being aggressive? These noises aren't subtle in some instances, like the banging. You couldn't mistake it last night. It was loud banging and it frightened me, because it was loud in an empty house and it came out of nowhere. I don't know why it can't just be mellow. Anyway, we've got a full day. But for sure I feel haunted because it's in my head now.

There's a ghost in our home, watching you without me.

Sigh R64!

What you are smelling is the evil stench of demonic farts, not R38. Everyone knows that constantly consuming mortal souls causes demonic gastrointestinal back up. This is one of the top three reasons portals need to be closed.

Don't you know anything??

OP, your ghost just called me, & dedicated a song to you!

Here ya go...

Molly-filled OP, you in danger girl.

OP, have you ever shared an apartment with a roast?

Thanks, R79. I work in the healthcare industry and got that ruled out years ago.

Our aromas are cinnamon bread, chocolate cookies, cherry muffins,pancakes etc. Always early in the morning.

Once on a holiday, we smelled apple pie baked just before noon.

Bump...rattle...*whisper whisper*...knock! knock! knock!...wail...moan...mysterious footsteps....

I've followed you to Datalounge OP

Knock three times on the wall if want to contact the living, twice on the floor...if you're a demon looking for a human body...

Install cameras and catch the ghost!

I'm pretty sure I had a ghost. But we got along just fine. He stayed in what was once the hayloft. (Very old stable, converted to a house in 1920.) The house had a civil war story. One Christmas I put some of my wrapped Christmas purchases up the hayloft as I had nowhere else to put them. When I went up to get them on Christmas Eve, there was confederate money on the desk. Next to the gifts. I still have the money.

I never felt a menacing presence. Kind of the opposite.

r93 the ghost must have thought you put those there for him so paid you for them. lol

OP, just tell the spirit you know he's there, you mean no harm, you and your partner/spouse will take care of the home. You only did renovations to improve the place and you hope he likes them. Then ask him not to break anymore of your things. Then don't talk to him again.

OP is doing the right thing by talking to the previous owners of the house.

Advice: sometimes people don't want to be open about their experiences because they don't want anyone to think they're crazy so I'd strongly advise you to give them a little "in" to open up to you. You should be okay to ask "Have you ever heard any weird noises here?" rather than hope they open up and say something.

Finally I wanted to comment on this:

[quote]If the spirits are haunting a house the portal is already open and the spirits need to leave the same way that they came in.

There are multiple ways ghosts/earthbound energies/demonic spirits enter the home.

Yes sometimes there's a portal open. The portal was either opened by someone by accident, a traumatic event occurred there or the portal was always there. Whatever comes through that kind of a portal can be anything of any origin. That kind of entity doesn't have to have an association with the house or the land. This is what happens when people use a Ouija board. It's like leaving your front door unlocked: you never know what will walk in.

However, you don't need a portal to have a ghost. You do need to open one to get the ghost to leave, however and that's not something that everyone is comfortable doing. There's a reason for that though. If you don't open and close it properly you will have issues.

There are different kinds of hauntings:

Classic Haunting/Residual: This is just when the walls of a place absorb "energies" and what goes on repeats constantly. There isn't really a "ghost" per say but the house absorbs the activity of the person's life. Sometimes the ground absorbs the energy. (Gettysburg for example.) These kinds of spirits don't interact. It's basically like watching an old movie. They won't bother you but that might scare you.

Poltergeists: Contrary to popular belief this is actually caused by an individual and they don't know that they're doing it. You ever have experiences when only a certain person is around? That's a poltergeist. Weird noises happen around them. Bangs and crashes occur. Knocking. Things falling off of shelves. That kind of stuff. It may be harmless, it may get worse as time goes on, it may go away entirely at some point but it's always centered around a person.

Intelligent Hauntings: This is when the ghost knows you are there. It may not know that it is dead. It may know that it is dead. It responds to things you do or say. There are many theories surrounding this. Some believe they're on an overlapping plane and occasionally you cross over into it so, like the movie "The Others" YOU seem like a ghost to them. However it's clear that's not always the case. These are the ones people typically get when they remodel a home since you are forcefully changing THEIR home.

Also it's important to remember that a ghost is just a person without a body. If it was nice when it was alive, it will be nice in death. If it was mean when it was alive, it's going to be the same way in death. It's sort of like people who say that a child is messing with them. Yeah well kids are mischievous.

Non-Human: These energies were never human and you must tread lightly. They are more than normally bad news.

Calling in an investigator will tell you what kind you have. They'll do things you might be scared to do and document it. Good investigators have connections with spiritualists/priests/people they trust to help you deal with the haunting.

Good luck, OP! Don't be frightened. A lot of people have gone through what you have but everyone is usually too uptight to talk about it.

[quote] I don't think I had clothes on on a sunny day once this summer.

and you wonder why the spirits are protesting.

I’ve told the story on DL before, so I won’t go into the details, but my apartment was haunted by a previous tenant. I found our her name and left her a note apologizing for disturbing her, recognizing it was always her home, and saying she could stay as long as she liked. The weird shit stopped.

^should have mentioned problems began after a reconfiguration of the space.

Please keep us posted OP.

But do you have a roast?

Hello, people. I have nothing to tell you as we were out all day and I was very glad of it, myself. We are home now and together (with more lights on than usual, which my husband has been teasing me about.) When we got back, everything was as we left it.

To someone upthread, yes, there is furniture etc. that we bought from around the state and it's old or second hand so maybe we've got somebody's precious commode or something. And, like R98, our weirdness started to emerge after the major reno/addition. Walls got removed. It is a big change. The house is probably close to twice the size and it was a major reno... new wiring, new plumbing, new roof... the guts of the place. It was super old, it had to be done... it felt kind of like a firetrap. The people who we bought from accepted our invitation and are coming over tomorrow for lunch (so rush soup is underway and more importantly a roast.... chicken.... is planned.) I reached out to the paranormal group but I haven't heard back. The realtor wanted to come over Monday. I so am not here alone in this stupid house on Monday. R95 (Val)... thank you for that detail. Is it possible to have an intelligent haunting that acts like a poltergeist or does poltergeisty kind of things? Because we have had thumps and bumps and broken glasses. If it knows we are here, do we say things that piss it off or are we just by being here pissing it off? And similarly, can you explain how that light got on overnight? Can they do that? Switch a light on? Because it would seem to me to take a lot of energy for a ghost to turn a switch on. My husband fiddled with it and he thinks it sticks a bit and that it turned off but it didn't lock in the off position. (I unplugged it and I having the fucking thing rewired. I've got enough trouble without cheap lamps contributing.)

Like I said, nothing while we were gone. It was a normal morning. It feels very normal and usual tonight. Maybe it is rats or mice or the Green Mountain tarantula or something. I feel tonight it may all be explicable without it being explained by a ghost after all.

it’s waiting for hubs to leave tomorrow, OP

ghosts don't flip switches They are pure energy and can control a lot of things. I was looking for someone's grave once and didn't know where he was buried so I asked him to show me. A friend was driving and all of a sudden the car shut off. we decided to check to make sure we were in the right cemetery and came back to the spot where the car stalled. My friend said they didn't remember the exact spot and I said don't worry. Again the car stalled. we got out and were looking but couldn't find it. I opened the car door and sat sideways with my feet dangling out of the car. My friend continued to look then said, I found it. I jumped out of the car, walked about 40 feet straight ahead and I was standing on the grave. He didn't literally turn the key to shut the car off but was able to use energy to make it stop.

Call a woo woo specialist

[quote]Last night right after my last post I heard three more bangs in sequence.

Maybe, the ghost is waiting for a reply. Have you tried knocking on the pipes?

[quote]... Knock three times on the ceiling if you want me. Mm, twice on the pipe if the answer is no ....

Whatever you do, don't open a portal. There are more just waiting to get in.

How is a portal opened?

Probably mice, they like to come in this time of year when the weather is getting cold.

I should make this clear: I don't necessarily believe in psychics and all of that stuff. I do believe ghosts are a scientific manifestation of residual energy. I guess maybe I believe some people are more sensitive than others to perceiving that energy but I also think that's rare. However, I do think it can be tracked with actual equipment to measure EMF Fields, etc.

Speaking of EMF fields: "bad wiring" / unshielded wiring can make people think that someone is watching them or that they're seeing things. If you're having your place rewired that can account for some of what you're feeling and seeing. Investigators will use their electromagnentic field detectors and be able to tell you that. Actually, anyone can. High emf levels will make you a little wacky. This isn't a spiritual phenom. This is a, "get an electrician" issue.

But that doesn't account for what you're hearing.

[quote]Is it possible to have an intelligent haunting that acts like a poltergeist or does poltergeisty kind of things? Because we have had thumps and bumps and broken glasses.

No problem OP and it just seems intelligent. We'd only say poltergeist if the activity only happens when certain people are around or doesn't happen when you are around. They're usually linked to women and teen girls at that (usually around puberty.) I have no clue why that is but that's less likely to be caused by men. It can happen but it's unlikely.

As soon as it starts breaking patterns and doing more than just breaking things, since you believe you and your partner have seen it, then it's automatically moving into intelligent haunting category at the least.

[quote]If it knows we are here, do we say things that piss it off or are we just by being here pissing it off?

Just think of it like a person that doesn't have a body. It can hear you at times but it can't properly communicate with you in a way that you can hear it. So if you say something mean then yeah it might get annoyed. It may not want you messing with the property. So it does what it can to get your attention. It may think you or your husband looks like someone it doesn't like from its past. It may not like that you're gay. It's just a "person." So anything is possible.

But here's the thing, you don't know because it can't tell you in a way that is easy for you to understand because it doesn't have a body. Investigators will help you figure that out. I really do think once you talk to the previous owners, if there was activity prior to you being there, they'll have some answers. If not, then it may be related to the renovations or to either one of you (or your partner.)

[quote]And similarly, can you explain how that light got on overnight? Can they do that? Switch a light on? Because it would seem to me to take a lot of energy for a ghost to turn a switch on. My husband fiddled with it and he thinks it sticks a bit and that it turned off but it didn't lock in the off position. (I unplugged it and I having the fucking thing rewired. I've got enough trouble without cheap lamps contributing.)

Ghosts require energy to do things: They require it to manifest, they require it to speak in an audible way, they require it to move objects. If you think of a ghost as an energy form then see it as one that doesn't have enough energy of its own to do what it wants so it sucks it from wherever it can. That can come from batteries, your electricity (lights flickering, things going on and off, breakers tripping) and yes that can also come from you but you don't want that. (Only bad spirits do that.)

R103's story can be explained by the ghost sucking energy from the car to stop it.

It could also just be a wiring issue or like your partner mentioned, the switch got stuck. Maybe it moved the tiniest bit and made the connection.

That's why investigators take videos and many are skeptics because they will document everything and debunk every possible solution so that you and they are SURE of what is happening.

Keep us posted, I'm sure you'll have more answers after you talk to the previous owners.

[quote] story can be explained by the ghost sucking energy from the car to stop it.

It's me, the lesbian from the catalytic converter thread.

I would like to know how a ghost can "suck energy" from a gas engine. How does a ghost interrupt a fuel line (or a fuel pump)?

R110 Excellent question! Ghosts must use very long and thin straws... I have heard this sort of thing before though, all joking aside... whether it be electric, fuel oil, etc. Sort of how alien crafts cause people's engines to stop.

R110, Maybe I needed a coma or a dash or something there.

I was saying there was an energy source to draw from and then it can use that to do whatever it wants or in that figure out some way to stop it.

Your produces a flow of electrical energy from the battery which I guess delivers voltage to the starter? Maybe disrupting the flow stopped it/stalled it?

What did it do internally? I can't tell you. I'm not a car expert. But my point was, there's a source to draw from in order to actually "do" something.

That's what I am saying--there is no flow of electrical energy going from the battery to the engine once it's running. (Actually, it's the opposite--but that wouldn't cause a car to stall.) Only when you start the car does the battery get the engine going.

I can imagine how a person who subscribes to the theory that ghosts are energy could interrupt or short small electrical appliances--light bulbs, cell phones, your nightstand clock. But an engine powered by explosions of gasoline, many hundreds of horsies strong? By what mechanism would that even be possible?

That's like saying a ghost could cause the boiler in a steam-powered locomotive to just stop working. Unless he or she did something to the coal inside the furnace, that machine is either going forward or exploding.

R113, There's not a flow of electrical energy but there is a source of one. The battery isn't completely drained. It's like people who believe that activity picks up during thunderstorms. (During that "investigative" period of my life I never did it long enough to figure out that for myself. If there's a storm I'm staying my ass inside. HA!)

But what it did to stop it, like I said. I don't know. In any case, I wasn't there and I can't discount your experience. I can't tell you much about cars but YOU know about cars a lot more than me!

It's sort of like with OP's last post. Maybe it was a ghost that did this. Or maybe there's just an electrical problem with old wiring. Maybe it had enough energy to flip the switch. Maybe OP left it like that by accident. (I said both because I don't know. I'm not there.) Like anything someone would have to investigate in person to figure out what's happening in their home or in your case, why did the car actually stop? Let's say ghosts aren't energy forms and they don't need energy to make things happen, then what exactly did it do? What would cause a normally working car to stop? I wouldn't know that. A mechanic might but these days I'm just a pretty regularly working actor.

I am however extremely glad you were able to find your friend. I'm glad you shared that. It's wonderful to hear. No matter "how" it happened it's very sweet.

Surveillance cameras or "nanny cams" are affordable. Just put one in every room, especially the kitchen so you can see how the glass was broken if it happens again. Review the recordings in the rooms where you think you hear things & then review the video on your computer.

Do you remember there was a TV series about famous Hollywood hauntings? I couldn't believe that many famous people had lived in haunted houses. But the show ran for ages. A different entertainer every week. Most were in LA, but a few in NYC. What was the show called? Anyone remember?

R79 brings up a valid concern. I have phantosmia, which started not long after I began having photosensitive seizures. The two often go hand-in-hand.

R3 here.

Yes, phantosmia does occur, and if you smell odd aromas, but all means, have it checked out.

I have a mildly deviated septum, and I suppose that could be the cause. But there are a few reasons I think that is not the case:

1. The routine aromas are all pleasant, related to baking, and occur early in the morning, like 5-6 a.m. They have been happening for more than 20 years.

2. On a few occasions, my partner has smelled them. He just doesn’t tend to be awakened by them.

3. There was one occasion where a both guest and I could smell something that we thing was triggered by an activity related to a physical change in the house.

But, R112 et al., houses have only been electrified for 100 years, plus or minus. Engines and other energy-generating devices were mostly invented in the 19th century. Where would pre-Victorian ghosts have drawn their energy in a house - or an entire city - with nothing but oil lamps, candles, and human and animal power?

I posted about the car stalling. I want to add that the car had never done it before and it never did it again. I will also add that that same spirit lives with me. He has also proven it when I have asked by making items disappear and then reappear. No matter how much experience or investigation one does we still don't have any idea of the capabilities of those that have passed on but I have a feeling they have far greater power than we realize.

Very interesting re: poltergeists. I can usually find a reasonable explanation for things that go bump in the night, however this made me recall two events that happened during a very short period of time - living with a boyfriend. In summary he turned out to be quite an angry and abusive asshole. Super possessive and controlling.

We came home from a night out and right when we opened the front door and entered, a large ivy that I had re-potted earlier that week went flying from the top of the refrigerator to the middle of the kitchen floor. It was pretty heavy, and had it fallen off it would have landed next to the fridge - not several feet out in the middle of the room. And I assure you it was firmly centered on the top.

The second incident came a couple months later. I’d gone to bed and he’d elected to stay up and watch a movie in the living room on the opposite side of the house. I heard something hit the door and went to investigate. When I opened the door I found a pair of scissors on the floor in the hallway just outside the door. When I walked out to the living room he was on the couch watching his movie.

I finally got tired of his shit and ended it. Nothing like that has happened to me in the many years since. I never felt like either of these events were a ghost, the house, etc......just his darkness. This kind of confirms the feeling I’ve always had.

OP - anyone with a dark energy been around? Guest, member of renovation crew, etc? Though in my case the weird things only happened when he was also there....

[quote]Where would pre-Victorian ghosts have drawn their energy in a house - or an entire city - with nothing but oil lamps, candles, and human and animal power?

The same thing that makes compasses go crazy when they spin and tells fish where to swim.

EMF: from the sun, from the planet, the very ground.

My belief is they need "extra" energy to do things not to exist. There's literally energy all around us at all times and in some places you'll get higher natural EMF readings than usual.

And I think that's why certain places (especially with certain materials in the ground) are hotbeds for paranormal activity.

R122, what materials would those be?

OP here... We heard nothing overnight (but I kept waking up all night) and everything was normal when we came down this morning. The old people came over and they were really lovely and loved what we’d done to the place. It was in their family a long time. We learned a lot more about the property than we ever knew. The first part was built in 1790 by one family who sold up because there were literally no sons left after the Civil War. Then it stayed in these people’s families since then.

What was interesting was that the reason the house didn’t make a lot of sense inside was because people kept adding to it. The rooms on the east side were all small and carved it up. The rooms on the west side were big in comparison. What originally seemed like a center hall was the width of the first farmhouse (the fireplace in the kitchen is original to the original) but they added rooms a couple of times where and when needed. In the late 1800s somebody added the double parlour on the west side that made all the other rooms look even smaller on the east. The original inside never made sense to us until the old lady explained the sequencing of the additions. The only thing she said I wish she hadn’t said was she pointed to where we took out a bay window and says that bay was big enough for our Christmas trees and our coffins so we always hoped nobody died in December. And I’m thinking….awesome… just what I wanted to know. I mean, it’s two hundred years old… I knew people had to have been dead in it… it just wasn’t confirmed.

But it was all very interesting to hear who had lived here and the history of the place (no murders, near as I could tell.) They really didn’t have anything unusual to say. They seemed like normal people who lived normal lives and they seemed happy that the house had a new lease on life with us. I didn’t flat out ask them if it was haunted when she lived there but I made enough hints about noise at night that my husband rolled his eyes at least once. He’s now of the view it’s just a creaky, whispery old house. He’s probably right but still after Friday night and the light Saturday morning, I’m not 100% sure and I look at the place differently and don’t want to be here alone. My favourite reading spot is (was) right next to where we used to keep the coffins, apparently.

The paranormal people emailed and said they’d never heard anything about the farm of the haunting sort and the lady said she would come out and have a look this week if I wanted but I don’t know who’d see her because it isn’t gonna be me! Maybe the ghost can let her in. I think I will leave well enough alone. The thing I hate is my work is pretty flexible and would often take the train up on my own when I liked during the week and if it snowed it didn’t matter. But I am less keen on staying at the Overlook alone from now on. I don’t know. It seems ridiculous but there was stuff happened and I don’t get it but I don’t really want to be here alone. It was OK with my husband here but I was still edgy. It’s easy to say it won’t harm you but if it’s real it’s pretty f-ing scary and even if it isn’t my imagination is now working overtime. So that was my weekend. Cheers.

I had one when I moved to a 100 year old house in downtown Albuquerque. I saw objects fly off the table and shelves almost everyday. This didn't really bother me but waking up one morning and finding my windows covered with flies was too much.

I went to a catholic church, got some holy water and sprinkled it all over the house while saying the Lords Prayer.

Problem solved.

I don't know how it couldn't bother somebody. I am really creeped out. I guess it is a control thing but the whole mystical world stuff has me really unsettled. If I am to believe this something is in my home. I hate it. I hate the idea of it there, doing whatever it does when it isn't switching on lights or banging around. I don't know how people literally LIVE with it. I am totally creeped. I can tell my husband is too because he's very quiet about it and generally since he got here Friday night. He's trying not to wind me up but he's awfully keen for us to get on the road back to the city. Logically I know there's been more hours without any nonsense than any this weekend but I still hate it because this weekend wasn't first just the most noticeable. Anyway, first thing tomorrow I'm going to buy seven tons of sage to dry before we come back for wall to wall sage burning. And hardcore, organic, expensive WHOLE FOODS sage. I'm not fucking around. ;)

I mentioned mine got in the shower, so it could be worse, OP. He was a cold, icy blob who liked to hover in the upstairs hall. If you took a shower up there ( never downstairs) he would appear alongside you as a freezing mass. I know it’s a “he” because he called everyone in the house by name in a male voice, if you were on the upstairs level of our split level. Sometimes he would bark like a dog and run around outside. I think whoever it is must’ve died in the front room. He imitated the voices of people, too. If you came home and weren’t sure if someone was home and called out for them, he would answer as if he were them. Then you’d discover you were alone in the house. . I thought he was more a trickster than anything, but I hated him in the shower. I did some stuff with rose water, wax cubes, sage, and salt. He went away after that. The Santeria helped me with all the steps.

R116 "Celebrity Ghost Stories"

What a fascinating thread.

Hmm. I don’t know what to say. I don’t believe that consciousness remains post death. I’ve been next to loved ones who passed due to illness, & I’ve never seen this sort of thing, even at the moment when one would think it’s the most likely time for one to see a ghost: deaths door.

I have experienced lots of precognition. No ghosts, however.

Interesting.

R128, "Celebrity Ghost Stories" was great. They had a few guests on there that I never thought they could pull in a million years. Okay Mindy Cohen I get but Regis Philbman and Ming Na?

I loved Joan Rivers' story. Loretta Lynn's made me sad.

Looking over the list of people who appeared it makes me sad that a few like Alan Thicke and Jerry Stiller (as well as the one below and the two I mentioned earlier) are no longer with us.

Of course some of our Datalounge favorites appeared. (A lot of them can be found on Youtube.)

Rue McClennahan's story was nice.

That psychic Kim (what's her name?) did a follow up TV series where she re-interviewed some of the Celebrity Ghost Stories guests at the place where their ghost story happened.

Here's the full list of appearances for anyone interested in seeking some out.

I just noticed that Lewis Black and Mesach Taylor appeared on the same show. Wow. RIP.

R131, yup. The spinoff was called, "The Haunting Of ..."

[quote] mentioned mine got in the shower, so it could be worse, OP. He was a cold, icy blob who liked to hover in the upstairs hall. If you took a shower up there ( never downstairs) he would appear alongside you as a freezing mass. I know it’s a “he” because he called everyone in the house by name in a male voice, if you were on the upstairs level of our split level. Sometimes he would bark like a dog and run around outside.

Jesus Fucking Christ this place is a hotbed of delusional idiots.

“So I got some salt & aromatherapy & it went away.”

“So I burned some sage & said the Lord’s Prayer and it went away.”

“So I bought candles at the local Santeria store & it went away.”

“I asked it to leave & it went away.”

“I very sternly pointed out to the ghost that he was dead & must leave immediately to go see his loved ones on the other side.”

“So I got a lady who was a healer to come in and chant and burn incense & it went away.”

“So I left the ghost a note apologizing to it & that seemed to do the trick and the ghost went away.”

“So I shit in my hand and sprinkled Ajax on the floor to negate the energy of the minerals in the ground and it went away.”

“You MUST close the portal!”

“You’re not in danger and they’re not going to hurt you, but you could become possessed and in my experience, that can be annoying.”

“its imperative that you don’t let anyone with dark energy into your house! You will get a spirit that can suck fuel through a long straw and suddenly....exist.”

Jerry Stiller is still alive, R130. You're probably misremembering Anne Meara's death.

OP, I’m glad you got more info on the house. It really sounds charming.

I understand your reluctance to be there alone. I hope you come to peace with your home’s spirits.

Good luck.

In my day when we had haints or goblins, I just tied an onion to my belt and told the ghost to go to Morganville, which is what Shelbyville was called at the time. Ghosts can’t cross water. I couldn't use a white onion because it was during the war so I used one of the big yellow ones, they only cost a ha’penny but I tell you - it did the trick just as good. I must’ve got rid of near about 10 or11 ghost, goblins, haints , daemons, incubus, succubus...you name it. You just got to keep sending them on their way or they’ll suck all the fuel out of your gas lamps and believe me, that does not smell good & it’s dangerous too. I suppose nowadays you could tell it to go to Shelbyville, due to name our changes and such. I think it wouldn’t really know Morganville unless it was a ghost who was born before the partition.

[quote]I don't know how it couldn't bother somebody. I am really creeped out.

I was never creeped out - just annoyed with the inconvenience of it all.

It’s creepy to hear an old-radio coming out of nowhere. The night we smelled incense and beeswax was scary, too. The occasional footfalls on the stairs are frightening!

I don't understand why there's always someone who feels the need to come into these kinds of threads, and insult all the people who have posted. There are people who've actually experienced hauntings, and have had to try to figure out how to deal with them. People who actually have real life experiences, and aren't just sitting on their fat asses somewhere else, assuming they know better. I posted somewhere upthread, to mention that most of my family has had encounters. I will trust my own family over some anonymous fuck-wit on the internet. Life experience actually counts for something (to me, at least). There are lots of different people who add their stories to these threads. If you think we'e all nuts, just move on to the latest Shawn Mendes thread, and spread your jizz all over that.

R139, thank you.

The people you refer to are annoying and make the rest of us look bad.

They are not funny.

Bravo, R139 !

I was very curious about the phenomenon of the swarming flies, decided to search online and found this article. It mentions many of the events described by OP. Yes, it's Huff Post and the accompanying photos are a little silly, but it's still an interesting read.

I don't really believe in ghosts myself, but my mother says she used to live in a haunted house. It was in a countryside with a violent history (a few murders, a long time ago) and having a haunted house was seen as pretty banal. You just had to call a priest who would bless the house or say a Mass for the souls of the people who where stuck there and then you were good.

In my mother's case they were not particularly scary ghosts, they just liked to party. They were voices in the night of people talking and laughing and the clinking of dinnerware that would sometimes be out on the table in the morning when it was put away the night before. Also glasses that were supposed to be clean were repeatedly found dirty in the cupboards. Pretty innocuous but it seems it went away after the priest came.

i'll be so freaked out i won't remember whether it's Morganville or Shelbyville....

I e heard the Bellagio Hotel is haunted. It’s kind of like when little Danny in The Shining sees an ocean of blood near the elevator, only in the Bellagio it’s a river of poo rising up to cover one’s shoes in the lady’s room.

The former owners.

Hello from Vermont… I am up tonight because the neighbour up the road who watches the house called Tuesday to say it looked like the TV had been on since Sunday night but that the rest of the house was dark. So I asked him to go in and turn it off. When I called him back he said he walked in and it was still on and he couldn’t find the remote, but all the doors were locked and he walked the whole house and found nothing unusual. It was on again by Tuesday night, so he went back in and turned it off. So I decided to meet with the paranormal lady. This morning he called again. It was back on. When we got here I found the remote was in between cushions so maybe it was turning itself on. The thing I hate is all the bedroom doors upstairs were closed, which they never are because I like as much natural light as possible. But it’s probably our neighbor shut them behind him when he did his walk through. I’m not going to ask until tomorrow because I am hoping to sleep tonight. It feels normal but creepy but assume that’s just my imagination.

I have been on DL for awhile. I keep waiting for someone to tell me to get a blog! I appreciate the interest. So happy to be back…

R147, PLEASE keep us up to date. This is the best thread on DL.

When is the paranormal lady coming?

Well, maybe tonight you’ll find out what’s going on with the TV.

I thought since this was posted right after Hallowe'en that OP was taking the piss. Fuck oh dear.... I'm checking back on this later. My stomach bug has decided it likes our new relationship so much it wants to stay another night. Fine, I took half a mg. of Xanax and ate a magic mushroom caramel. If my stomach's going to be a bitch, I'll just be too stoned to care...

The paranormal lady comes tomorrow afternoon. It's normal here tonight except for my nerves. LOL. Kind of.

Maybe it's Willard in a secret room.

OP, the moment the paranormal lady leaves, TELL US EVERYTHING.

Thank you

what was the ghost watching, OP? you could leave the TV on for it, like a pet.

The facts are clear. The ghost(s), I think there's more than one, hate the renovation. They didn't bother the previous owners because they were happy just to look out of that fabulous bay window, that you destroyed. The tv thing is common, the evidence is piling up. They're pissed and you're right to bring in a pro to give you peace of mind if nothing else.

For R133, "There are more things in heaven and earth than are dream't of in your philosophy"- Hamlet after he saw the ghost.

LOL - R155 - but where the bay was now leads to a lovely screened in porch. At least the ghosts can join us in comfort during blackly season. That’s worth something isn’t it?

All the eggs I was going to use for breakfast were rotten as soon as I cracked them this morning. Bad omen or just bad eggs? I slept uneasily and was sure I heard a couple noises that were bangs overnight but my friend didn’t say anything this morning and I’m not planting any seeds. I know logically that every house makes noise and it’s got really cold really quickly, so I am assuming the place is reacting to that. And if you want to know how your mind can play tricks on you, that isn’t faint music, it’s the sound of the fridge. Thank God. My husband already rang this morning to tease me for forgetting my sage and sea salt. (It’s amazing how brave some people get when they’re not here.)

Blackfly

But what did the paranormal lady say after you met with her this afternoon?

So the paranormal lady (as she is now known… she is technically a ‘sensitive’ - she says) came over and said, basically, we’ve got a problem, (if she is to be believed.) I don’t know if I should be surprised. I expected a paranormal lady to say there was something going on. What else would she say?

To her credit, she asked a lot of serious questions before giving her opinion and they seemed focused on excluding or explaining things on a logical basis - about the age of the house, about noises it made, how it was heated, how old were the doors and windows, what changes had we made, what we knew about previous residents. She walked all over the house inside and out, upstairs, downstairs, basement, ice cellar. Opened every door. Eventually she says: I feel a presence in the house but I usually feel a presence everywhere because there is a presence pretty much everywhere. She said she couldn’t say if it was more than one (which I asked based on a post upthread) or if was a good presence or bad presence (I think she used the word malevolent.) She said not to worry - much of what she said people have said upthread - it was probably more nuisance than anything else and that the things I described were comparatively minor though she acknowledged if you don’t want to live with it anything unusual is disturbing.

She asked if I wanted it investigated and/or removed and I said I would and probably but I had to talk with my husband. She said she was available to refer me to skilled people from the northeast if/when I wanted. She didn’t offer to do anything, to burn any sage or anything…. I don’t know what I expected. She said they had a database of places where this kind fo stuff occurred and our place wasn’t in it but they were always interested. It was very frustrating because she really wasn't very forthcoming about what she sensed. She gave a lot of I don't know.. it doesn't work that way etc. I can't tell if she was bullshitting or hedging or she's just slightly sensitive. The last thing she said was if I believed or if I was even wavering but inclined to believe I should avoid trying to do anything myself - it was best handled by people who knew what they were doing and how to do it.

The good news is "it" didn't make a peep while she was here so maybe it knows the gig is up and intends to behave. It’s funny every time I thought this is nothing, there’s an explanation, this is stupid etc. there’s a but. Now all I’m thinking is buts in reverse: but there’s no such thing, there’s no good scientific proof, old houses make noise, old houses have leaks. I hate this house. I hate dusk and night now. I hate having to act like I'm not worried. I don't know how people live like this.

R155 for the win... of course ghosts wouldn't be keen on open floorplans, fewer places to hide. Perhaps the bay was the portal, and they're trapped in there now, and restless.

it’s just waiting for the fuzz to leave before it punishes you for snitching, OP.

R160, I don’t know. It seems to me, if you’re an earthbound ghost, that is scary enough without being tied to a rundown, deserted house with holes in the roof and the rain coming in, and rats and raccoons taking over the place. Can you imagine yourself, as you are, being forced somehow to live in a house falling down around your ears, and unable to leave, even if it falls in a heap? That sounds terrifying.

Wouldn’t it be nicer to be haunting a clean well kept house? OP says the house has been added into and remodeled numerous times over the years. So the ghost may themselves have owned the house and remodeled it themselves, or be aware previous owners had remodeled it before their time. OP is just one more.

I would ask the psychic what they think about addressing the ghost and saying you’re proud of the lovely house and want to maintain it and take good care of it, that’s why you put so much money and effort into it, because you love it just as they do.

Remind them if they make people uncomfortable to live there, the house will soon fall to pieces and then they will have to be surrounded by the empty shell of what was once a proud house. But I’d ask the psychic first what she thinks.

R155 here. What? Black flys and rotten eggs? OP, Have you taken us all "Once around the Garden" and then some? I believe you are clever enough to do so. If your next post is anything that resembles " I went inside to get the dust bin to sweep up the mirror that fell off the wall and a bird flew right in to the window". I'll award you 10/10, or you should move and increase your homeowners policy to include accidents. You sound very sincere but I haven't had a rotten egg in 40 years. If true,

I get where the "sensitive" woman was coming from. I'm sure she works in the field but haunted houses aren't her thing. Saying "I don't know" is honest and at least she's not asking you to bury 1k in the back yard under a statue of St. Gregory.

Regarding the renovations and the porch: You should talk to them out loud and tell them they're welcome on the new porch. Maybe it would help to put up pictures of the original interiors.

[quote] she asked a lot of serious questions before giving her opinion

Why would she ask a lot of questions? If she's a "sensitive" she should have sensed what was going on

R162 I was mainly being cheeky. If we do believe in ghosts, I hazard to surmise they don't like change much at all, probably why some prefer to remain as disembodied spirits, attached to a place. Their refusal to move on suggests they're stuck in the past, hence an affinity for the way things were. I should think they're terribly nostalgic, and would naturally prefer things as they were.

I couple this idea with more Eastern philosophies regarding energy flow, Chi, etc. In my troubled mind, it stands to reason moving walls, removing many, and changing the "flow" of a floorplan might in turn change the way the Chi flows and feels. This of course is very "woo", so I'm confident I'm providing countless chuckles for many, but it makes sense to me. As spiritual entities, I don't think they suffer from leaky roofs, rats or mice, bad aesthetics, or other physical plane aspects, as they're just pure energy at this point. Glass, mirror, and other reflective surfaces play a huge role in Feng Shui. Windows seem to be symbolic of things spiritual in many traditions too.

I wonder what it would be like to be able to just go into the spirit world.

LOL - black flies are not a manifestation of evil. just an eternal misery from late spring to early summer. They're common in the country everywhere above the Mason Dixon line and below if for all I know. That's why we built a screen porch - so we could sit outside without being eaten alive. As to the eggs... tail end of a dozen and past the best by date. Anyway it's quiet here tonight so the most frightening thing is my imagination. It's cold here! The sky is clear but the air is so cold there is steam coming off the hot tub. Have a good night.

It sounds like the woman who came in was measured and deliberate in her approach. I think she sounds legit.

[quote]LOL - black flies are not a manifestation of evil. just an eternal misery from late spring to early summer

A black fly in your Chardonnay. Isn’t it ironic?

R160, I have heard ghosts don’t like change. The real question is then, are they even aware of change? Are they noticing you’re knocking down walls, or are they just trapped in a bubble of their own time, and they’re just reacting to a change of energy flow due to missing walls or whatever?

I wish people looked at this stuff scientifically instead of making fun of it. People have been seeing ghosts for hundreds of years. What could we find out if we just thought of it as a scientific mystery, instead of “woo-woo”?

Glad you had her over, OP.

[quote]What else would she say?

If there's no problem she should say there's no problem or tell you not to worry. LOL

[quote]To her credit, she asked a lot of serious questions before giving her opinion and they seemed focused on excluding or explaining things on a logical basis - about the age of the house, about noises it made, how it was heated, how old were the doors and windows, what changes had we made, what we knew about previous residents.

This tells me that she's legit. An investigator doesn't necessarily want to find ghosts. They want to go through every possible scenario of what could be causing the things you've seen first. (A whole team would do the same to determine where they'd setup if there was a problem because of equipment and manpower.)

[quote](I think she used the word malevolent.)

I hope she didn't, that's not good. However, she didn't tell you to run for the hills or leave so that says something right there. They say true psychics look like a lights in the dark and that ghosts are like moths -- attracted to them -- but nothing obviously jumped out at her.

[quote]It was very frustrating because she really wasn't very forthcoming about what she sensed. She gave a lot of I don't know.. it doesn't work that way etc. I can't tell if she was bullshitting or hedging or she's just slightly sensitive.

This I have mixed feelings about. On one hand she was being honest on the other hand that's not really helpful at all.

[quote]The last thing she said was if I believed or if I was even wavering but inclined to believe I should avoid trying to do anything myself - it was best handled by people who knew what they were doing and how to do it.

Yup, I mentioned this upthread. If you don't know what you're doing then don't do anything. You really could make it worse. (Belief is also a part of it but that gets into religious stuff and psychic energy and that's just not my thing.)

[quote]I hate this house. I hate dusk and night now. I hate having to act like I'm not worried. I don't know how people live like this.

You put a lot of work and money into that house, so it's terrible to hear that you hate it. IT IS YOUR HOME NOW. Honestly, if it would give you peace of mind to have the house cleansed so you can enjoy it again then I don't see the harm in doing that. (Even if you don't necessarily believe in it.)

Okay, so Celebrity Ghost Stories is one of my favorite shows of all time.

One that I am reminded of is this actress who had an old lady ghost living in her house because she said that after a little while, it just became normal. It frightened her at first, but then it was something she never really became bothered by.

Dianne Farr on Celebrity Ghost Stoires (about 50:00 minutes)

This is how you live peaceably with a ghost in your house for many years with no stress.

Op, hope you’re sleeping well tonight. Thank you for keeping us updated on your visit from the sensitive. I wish you and your Spirit cohabitants all the best.

This is the passage to hell. Cover it!

Watch your back, OP. Snitches get stitches.

I say put HGTV on the tv 24/7 so those fucking ghosts finally understand and get addicted to home renovations.

OP, my whole family “sees,” I see as well...although I am much less than sensitive than most of my relatives. It sounds like this lady was on my level, less sensitive, because if one of my relatives walked into your house and something was there, there would be no questions at all about what the deal was. They’d be able to tell you straight off the gender, appearance, everything. If you don’t want to deal with this anymore, my advice echoes what others have said on this thread: consult a Catholic priest. It’s what my family has done whenever one of us has lived somewhere with a soul that cannot move on.

Terrible, terrible night last night. I was so glad to see your post, Val, because you seem to know what you're talking about. Could it have heard us earlier in the day and got upset? Could it have heard us talking to the paranormal lady about the idea of getting rid of it? Could we have pissed it off, even if it’s just a run of the mill benign thing? I wish it wasn't good advice for us not to talk to it until we understand it better because right now I want to tell it to settle the fuck down and ideally get the fuck out. It started when we came back in after around eleven. We had a fire and the TV was on and then the bangs started again. There must have been half a dozen, loud enough we looked at each other and up… like somebody dropped something on the floor above us. I don’t mean it sounded like a sustained sequence because it wasn’t but every time you relaxed there was another one. It was like if we spoke, there’d be a bang.

So I thought for the most part it's always been quiet overnight... it carries on for the most part in the dark hours but when we're awake. So we went up to bed and the place just got sad. I can’t describe it better, except to say everything felt sad, at least to me. It was like how you can feel humidity. It’s never felt like that, or anything intense. Stuff started immediately and went on most of the night. Mostly noise. First there was what sounded like a door slam downstairs. It sounded like a thin interior door, to one of the closets or the bathroom or the cellar. It wasn't an exterior door. They're locked anyway. No surprise we didn’t go down. But it was an undeniable slam and we both called out are you there? I literally said to my friend turn a light on in your room and then we opened our bedroom doors in synch to meet in the hall. I kept expecting to see those kids from the Shining. I was so frightened. I couldn’t tell what was my imagination and what, if anything, wasn’t. I mean at this point your mind is going nuts.

So neither of us slept. More bangs. The most distinct thing we thought we heard was footsteps on the back stairs. We’re both sure of it because we both looked at each other at the same time. Your heart is pounding, you’re scared shitless, the other one is whispering when you’re trying to listen but we both agree we heard footsteps on the stairs. It didn’t come down the hall or anything but there was a loud bang again right after that. I feel so guilty. I never would have invited my friend up if I thought it would be like this but I didn't want to be here alone. We laughed about it on the way up and nothing out of order happened until last night. The poor guy looks like hell (no pun intended.) We came downstairs at dawn once the light came up because we didn’t sleep. All the fucking doors to bedrooms upstairs - all of them - were closed when they shouldn’t have been and all the digital downstairs lights were flashing like there’d been a power bump. Which maybe there was. I don’t know. But it doesn’t explain the noise.

My friend is sleeping on the sofa right now and I’ve been on the phone with my husband. He doesn’t know what to think. We’re gonna go get breakfast and then spend the day in town and around until he gets here - if we have to go to the Target over at Keene we’re going (and it’s next to the liquor store so maybe we can’t come back.) I already told him we aren’t staying at the house tonight and he’s all lets just take it step by step, whatever that means. If there hadn’t been somebody with me all night I would think I am nuts. But now today I feel sad - the whole place feels - wrong now. I’ve got all the lights on, I’m playing music, I’ve got fucking cinnamon simmering on the stove to give it a nice scent, it’s not a grim day outside for November but it just feels weighted down and ugly. I was talking to my husband on my cell from the porch and I thought I saw a person across the field by the tree line who then wasn’t there all of a sudden but I know that’s just crazy talk and my mind is playing tricks on me. I feel like something is permanently watching over my shoulder but I know that’s just imagination. I’m reluctant to even go upstairs and make the bed or shower without someone to come with me. But whatever is going on it is going on full time either in real time or in my mind. I just feel like I’m in somebody else’s space rather than them in mine. And I swear I don’t believe any of this rubbish in theory. I always thought you just died and faded to permanent nothingness black. I never entertained any seriousness about anything in this space. I’m sorry for babbling here but I am trying not to over talk all this with either my husband, who’s not really keen to entertain the whole idea because he thinks it is all more bullshit than I do, and my friend, who is just enjoying such a marvellous weekend break after coming to the haunted house. If he never speaks to me again, I can’t blame him.

Does anybody know what we're supposed to do to do this sage and salt thing? Because every Google I do is winding me up more.

And does anybody think the Catholic Church is gonna help a couple of gays get rid of their ghost, because I'm skeptical but I'll try anything. I just don't want an implied or explicit indication I'm being hunted because I like the homosex and made a mockery of marriage. Fucking fuckity fuck. This is unreal. Val, again if you’re out there, I would appreciate your thoughts. Sorry this was a two parter.

It could be that someone wants you out the house, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a ghost. If you hear what sounds like a pot slamming to the floor upstairs, then you have to see something on that floor. Mean people suck and what makes them suck even more? Technology. Don't rule it out. Personally, whether ghost or human being the cause, I'd be cussing them a blue streak daily, going on about my business, and NEVER fearing any bull shit!

Hi OP, Last week I told you to calm down, you're not it danger. I still feel the same, though you're right to be concerned. You cant do salt and sage wrong. The ritual is more about the what than how. Just going with what we already know, It's easy to imagine the ghosts being the sons who never came home from the Civil war. I think you should try to feel what it must have been like to be a teenager leaving home, never to return. Maybe, thank them for their service and for helping to end slavery, and tell them how honored you are to live in THEIR house. Apologize, explain that even if you leave, the changes will remain so they need to get used to them. While smudging, tell them that they are welcome to visit at any time, but that they should leave because their parents are waiting for them. Just say what ever you feel. You are obviously kind and smart. You can do this OP. Also, call the old lady back and be straight with her. Maybe she would say something on the phone in private, that she wouldn't say in front of her husband. If the previous owners were Catholic, a priest would come to the house. Spread salt around the perimeter of your house while surrounding it with white light, or say a prayer. Don't use kosher salt, and no iodine! Kidding. I have no idea. Good luck, follow your instincts. Sending you light.

OP Yes, I believe a priest will help you. I would make a donation to the nearest Catholic church, and plead with them to bless your home. Obviously I wasn't the only poster upthread who recommended it. Don't waste time with the oh so very vague lady.

the Catholic church likely won’t help you unless you’re at least Anglo-Catholic, OP.

Be great if your ghost was a super hot incubus, huh OP?

If you could have any deceased fine-ass celebrity haunting your home and trying to seduce you right now, who would it be OP?

[QUOTE]the Catholic church likely won’t help you unless you’re at least Anglo-Catholic, OP

The catholic church helps anyone in need. I've seen it in Spain where nuns run soup kitchens that feed the poor who are mostly muslims immigrants from Morocco.

Hi... that's a great idea. I will call the old lady and just lay it on the line. I'm also calling the paranormal lady but I haven't connected with her. We're in town now and it feels like a different world. We're actually laughing about it now.

[quote] You cant do salt and sage wrong. The ritual is more about the what than how.

R182, You can do it wrong if you don't believe in it. It's why investigative teams usually have connections with other people who can do the job because by nature of what investigators do they approach it from a scientific perspective and not a spiritual one. Like the woman who OP called to the house, she could put him in "connection" with people who could do the job but she didn't herself. Some of those people might be Priests, some will be spiritualists, etc. They just have to believe in it. If OP doesn't believe in it then it may be best to call someone who does.

The whole idea is to start in one room of he the house and cleanse the energy from that room, then you move to the next and the next. You're basically saying that the ghost is not welcome in this room and the room is cleansed of its energy. Then you trap the ghost in one room (after you've done the rest of the home) and send it away. Some people even open the door to send it out. Again, however, if you don't know what you're doing and you're not confident in what you're doing then do nothing. Ask someone else.

(What you're saying is right R182, it's just the OP seems a bit upset now and OP needs to be confident or rather to "believe.") Think of it the same was as picking on someone who is bullying you. If they think you're weak they'll respond that way. If you seem confident then your bully might back off.

[quote]Could it have heard us earlier in the day and got upset?

OP, It might help to think of it as a person or people without a body who you can't see whose house (since it thinks it is their house) you are in. That might answer your questions. It's also a great way to humanize it so you won't be so freaked out. What if I walked into your home right now, said it was my home now, and told you that I wanted you out? That's what's happening.

Also originally I did mention you could talk to it, don't do that if it's doing violent stuff. But again, it's like you're talking to a person. You could say, I hope you don't mind me living here now. I'm trying to make the place more beautiful. I hope you like it. You can stay in this part of the house, I hope you don't mind sharing it with me, etc. However, right now you're not in the right emotional state for that because you seem upset. (Rightfully so though!) I'd just leave it alone at this point in so far as talking to it.

[quote]So we went up to bed and the place just got sad. I can’t describe it better, except to say everything felt sad, at least to me.

Some would say that's because you made the spirit feel that way.

[quote]I was talking to my husband on my cell from the porch and I thought I saw a person across the field by the tree line who then wasn’t there all of a sudden but I know that’s just crazy talk and my mind is playing tricks on me.

I know I'm just some rando over the internet. I wish I could tell you who I was but you'll just have to trust me when I say, the more upset you get, the harder it is going to be for you to deal with this properly. It's like if you're upset about something and someone taps you on your shoulder, you might jump. You seem a bit rattled and it's just going to cause you to perceive things as being worse than they are. Nothing is appearing to you. No one is grabbing you. You're just hearing noises and feeling things and you just have to see it as a bother and not a danger.

And finally - the last of this post

[quote]And does anybody think the Catholic Church is gonna help a couple of gays get rid of their ghost, because I'm skeptical but I'll try anything. I just don't want an implied or explicit indication I'm being hunted because I like the homosex and made a mockery of marriage.

Like R186 said their job is to help. There may be a few a-holes out there but there are also some priests that don't necessarily believe in all of the "tenants" of Catholicism and may have no problem with you at all. However, again, their job is to help you. Call the woman and get a contact or two or ask a priest for help. Many of them will bless any home even if there is no activity in it. Some will do a whole cleanse.

The one thing I don't want you to do is to scare yourself anymore than you are. Also if your friend heard these noises and bumps and saw weird things happening, then you know it's just not you so be confident because you have another witness that is not you. In any case, relax. It's not trying to hurt you. It just wants your attention.

If you had a fire you'd call for the fire department. If you had a break in you'd call the police. Call someone for this too and keep us posted.

I'm back to the soldiers. Think about how much more we know about death, just from seeing it 100 times in movies. Even if we don't believe anything, we'd still know enough to go the white light , if it were there. These young men, knew nothing about nothing. It's so easy to imagine them dead and not even know it, so to speak. Think Gettysburg, 7,000 young men killed before they knew anything, and all they wanted to do was go home. So, they're dead, they go home and no one can see them. They don't know what else to do but hang around forever, which was fine until some "fancy men" came up from the city with their "Open Concept".

Val- Do you think OP should seek out a medium? It might be easier to find someone in the city.

R191, it works a couple of different ways. There's usually a "loosely" organized group or two in an area that handles these things. They send one person out to check on the property, then that person (if they think it's necessary) refers them to an investigative group or someone who can cleanse the property. As the woman said they have a database, their property isn't in it, she can refer him to someone else because she has determined that it is worth it to refer him to someone else.

The thing about going this route is that they all know one another, they've essentially vetted each other, they keep tabs on what's going on. Sometimes they'll link you to other people they've dealt with so you can see what they've done. The bonus is some of them have connections to priests/ministers/etc who will, on THEIR word, come out and handle things because they know it's not a joke. It's like needing a referral from your PCP to see a doctor for your foot or something.

Also investigators don't usually charge to investigate. (They may charge for gas if you're remote which is fair I think.) Also again, while psychics and investigators may work together investigators are more like scientists -- some may actually be scientists.

Or OP could go directly to a medium as you mentioned but then OP would have to determine if the medium is legit but if they are it will get the job done faster.

I'd still just deal with the woman he dealt with originally, get a referral to someone else from them, do some research on the person or people they're sending you to and then call them out.

Yes, OP, consider bringing in a paranormal group to first debunk, then perhaps identify. Some paranormal teams include a sensitive person who helps with the latter.

Meanwhile, do try talking to the entities. Wish them peace and tell them you need peace in your home.

You should try being polite but firm. They don't belong there anymore, they need to move on.

I'm with R186... I've known some Lutherans and Anglicans receive house blessings from Priests. This obviously isn't the same thing as trying to be married in their church, as non-Catholics.

A paranormal team may be able to recommend a sympathetic clergyperson.

r186 sorry, i should’ve been more specific. i don’t see the catholic church performing a ritual of the church for someone who doesn’t demonstrably follow the beliefs backing the ritual.

Jet must be hard to get a priest or preacher to bless your house.

R197, not R186, but they do. One definitely needs to grease the wheels though, if you know what I mean.

The majority of Catholic priests are gay. They are not going to say anything about "homosex."

Even Joan Rivers had to call in someone to quiet the ghost in her house.

of course they wouldn’t say anything about homosex. i’d still expect them to tell you to start attending their church if you want them to serve as on-call ghostbusters.

Spoke to the previous owner and she was kind but she plainly thought I was nuts when I mentioned ghosts. (I heard the husband in the background holler: lots of people died in houses a thousand miles in every direction - so you know where they were coming from.) She said it’s an old house and it was always noisy and maybe being from the city I just wasn’t used to the noise of an old house. She was trying to be helpful. It was vaguely amusing keeping my husband away from my phone because he’s now officially loaded for bear on this and in full litigator mode - I want it proven and if so I want it out. He will agree he’s seen “a bit of shit I can’t explain.” I think he’s as freaked out as I am but needing his big swinging litigator dick he won’t admit it.

The paranormal lady said she would come back tomorrow and try to bring a couple other people with her to assess. I told her about last night but she said you couldn’t underestimate the weather’s impact, which doesn’t make a lot of sense when she said she feels a presence. But it is radically colder here and the house has been pretty noisy since we got back but not in a freak me out kind of way. My poor friend made me promise he could sleep in our room tonight so we pulled a mattress into our room. Judge Jerky comes to the bottom of the stairs while we’re up there, jumps up and down and starts making ghosty noises. He thinks he's quite funny. Good thing we’ve got a roommate because he just cost himself any tonight if we had the room to ourselves. But at least we’re laughing. (And, yes, I get it is ridiculous that three grown men have to share a room because two thirds of them are afraid of the dark!) It seems normal again but we did have a couple of drinks in town waiting for my husband to get here.

That was me, obviously. A couple of drinks....

[quote] three grown men have to share a room because two thirds of them are afraid of the dark

we request a full, hungover blow-by-blow tomorrow, OP.

Get a priest in, OP. I doubt very, very much he would refuse. My partner's aunt was a nun, and at her convent they were having a problem with the apparition of an elderly sister who had died a short time before. She was seen many times by various sisters walking through the corridors and entering rooms at the convent. After the priest had done his thing, she never seen again.

I'm one of the other people advising to bring in a Catholic priest. I'm Catholic, myself, but quite gay, and my boyfriend isn't Catholic at all. But I would ask for help from a priest before anyone else. I think my boyfriend would, too. Catholic priests are taught about "pastoral care", which extends to everyone. I'm actually one of those very rare people who has a "calling" to become a priest. My adult life has been a disaster, because I've fought the calling (I've spent time in jail).. My boyfriend knows, and sort of understands. Anyway, Catholic priests aren't going to dismiss you, as long as you're honest. You have a real problem on your hands, and it's not going to go away on its own.

Another freak show over night. We were outside in the hot tub when the lights went off. Entire house, full darkness. We couldn’t solve it. So to bed by flash/candlelight. And when we get upstairs, the bedroom doors were all closed again. It’s more exasperating than frightening once it isn’t a new trick. Still you wonder if anybody’s behind those doors. We all lay there, listening, and really there was nothing to hear. Nothing. So I guess I drifted off and then at some point, it was still dark outside, all the lights come on again and the music downstairs starts really loud and naturally everybody’s awake with a start. But in fairness the lights and music were on when the electricity went out so it wasn’t like they were running around throwing each switch. My husband gets up, charges to the bannister and shouts: What the fuck is going on down there? It would have been funnier if we weren’t freaked out. It made no difference. They didn’t turn the music down or anything. So down he goes and he is just swearing a blue streak about his fucking house and trying to sleep and so on and so forth and comes back up, slams the door and gets into bed and shouts: good fucking night! And what to we get in return? Another door slam back it sounded like. Himself yelled ‘fuck you’ and went under the covers. I am fairly sure this is not following some of the good advice I was given but he is a lawyer… But then it was quiet until we got up. Nothing. Obviously it could have been a power bump. It isn’t entirely reliable out here. I called our neighbor down the road who watches the house and his electric has been fine. Paranormal people coming at one and then we’re out of here to go home. I know this is all minor. In theory you could live with. it, but I find hard to relax now. I am aware it is there and will make itself known and I am really uncomfortable with it. And my mind races with the prospect it will escalate because why now? What do they want? Can't stand it.

Breathe OP. You're doing great! This is seriously fucked up, unknown territory and you're handling it like a champ. This is temporary, it's not going to escalate and you're bringing in experts. You asked for Val's help and you received it. Re-read all the comments. There's a lot of wisdom in there. Thank you for allowing us all to learn from this, if you're telling the truth. If you're making it up, it's a legendary troll thread.

Crazy , that the lawyer was making fun of it at bedtime and then screaming at it in the middle of the night. He's going to have a rough week, trying to make sense of this. At least , you seem to have a real feeling for making the right choices. Good job OP.

You're kind for sharing this with us.

is there an attic, OP? have you checked the attic?

you should do so... alone.

R185 You rang?

In theory you could live with it if you're willing to sacrificial sleep, safety, and comfort. No. You can live with a ghost but you can't live with an unhappy ghost. Keeping your sense of humor has helped you through the anger/denial/bargaining stages. Now it's time for acceptance. Girl, you got a ghost.

Op there is a show on CBS called Evil that deals exactly with what you are experiencing. I think you would enjoy it. I'm feeling perhaps the ghost was gay and never got to be his true self in this world. What you think is scary could be him actually trying to connect with you. I would attempt having full on homosex the next time the ghost gets going. It could be quite erotic! For what it is worth there is a fine emotional line between being scared and being excited. Try changing your mindset and the fear will become powerful fuel. I was raised Catholic but have become much more spiritual in my older years. I have allowed myself to be more open in receiving signs from the other side. As a result, they have been coming on a regular basis, especially my dreams. Really focus before you fall asleep on asking to connect with the spirit. At the very least you may learn who the spirit is. Best case scenario you lucid dream and can talk to the spirit directly. It takes practice and consistency on your end but it will happen. Good Luck!

Why the fuck can't people just buy a house and live in it? It was fine for hundreds of people for hundreds of years. Everyone had their own room. Then, some queen who comes here for the weekends, has to start tearing walls apart in quest of perfection, which he will never find. Goddamn, open concept. Next thing you know he'll be putting a dishwasher in the 'On-suite' for the sex toys.

Hey, OP's Ghost at R213, you can't just show up to bitch about OP and his hubby and forget to mention if they are hot or not. Show some respect to our datalounge realm, jeez!

OT, but I hate open concept. I want my own space... I don’t want to be in a space where everyone can see me.

[quote] On-suite

eaux, dière!

[quote]Then, some queen who comes here for the weekends, has to start tearing walls apart in quest of perfection, which he will never find.

Indeed. I sent my ghost there for a reason. Perfectionists should really know better than to take me on.

So the paranormal people were here. We are leaving soon and not intending to come back for the foreseeable future. They are going to write us a plan/proposal. The paranormal lady brought a medium - or somebody claiming to be a medium - who said she thinks there are at least four of them and they aren’t hardcore “malevolent” but they’re really pissed off. She claimed she could - I can’t remember her phrase - but she knew they were there and they knew she was there but neither was really talking to the other. We are leaving soon and not coming back while we try to decide what to do. I mean, at least four… that’s insanity. I’m not sure I believe her.

That was me, OP... I'm a bit distracted. Husband just loading the car and doing a once around before we go

Anything about who they are?

Or why they are pissed off? The remodel, that it was sold outside the family, just that you’re there, etc?

The part about another door being slammed in return to your husband’s would be about enough for me. Safe travels home.

Sometimes they try and push you down the stairs, or trip you up. So hold on to he banister. A

think your ghost has a sense of humor and is teasing you guys. You should still ask them to leave.

I think you should not worry about this portal idea. It seems like a fad. Ghost are dead people, why make it complicated?

The thing is, if there are ghost, why don't our dead presidents kill Trump?

Excellent OP and good job Val, for keeping focus.. Fun and games are over. Let the pros have a go at it.

(I'm going on pure intuition but I was the first to say that there was more than one ghost. Also, dead civil war soldiers.)

You and your husband should do everything possible this week to heal yourselves. Have a sauna, bathe in Epson salts. Get in touch with what ever your spiritual belief is and call in your own ghosts. I'm sure you have family and friends who have passed. Call them up and tell them you need their help. Tell them that you need their help to convince 4 people to leave Vermont and go....someplace else.

Please ask the medium to ask who they are. It seems sort of strange that FOUR ghosts were upset about your renovations and suddenly showed up. Please see if she can ask what time they are from?

R206, what did you go to jail for? And did you begin at seminary, and then drop out?

I grew up in a late 1700's farmhouse in New Jersey. The sounds that came out of that house at all hours were nuts. The basement was especially creepy as it was like a root cellar and only was about 5' 5" high. But there was a hole that was about two feet wide in one wall in the cellar that went deeper under the house.

We lived there for 35 years. You just get used to the weirdness. My parents would just shrug it off, although in high school some nights by myself there were spent in the main room with the television on. Just learn to live with them, it, whatever it is.

OP is Ms Rafferty.

I am surprised how many people here have had, or claimed to have had, supernatural experiences. I haven't had one. Maybe I'm just too dead inside.

When you start a thread like, "I have a ghost," the DLers will self-select so that most people on the thread either believe in ghosts in theory of have had some experience.

Maybe you live in a place home that is fairly new? I have never lived in a building from the 1700s or 1800s.

R226, I don't want to derail the thread, but I was charged with 'defrauding delivery' and several other charges. I will admit to being drunk, but I've never stolen anything in my life. My sister took photos, and once they were shown to the police, they dropped the charges about assaulting a police officer. But I was beaten pretty badly with a billy-club. The seminary was Mt St Mary's (Cincinnati) where Tom Cruise (Mapother) also served, and I was told I was no longer welcome after spending a month in jail. My boyfriend visited me every day he could, in jail, but we never had sex again. That was a long time ago, and I rarely think about it. Life goes on.

I'm surprised no one has already suggested this OP - why don't you try talking to the ghost(s) with a Ouija Board?

Find out what they want, why they are there, and what you can do to help them move on. Of course, if you ask them what they want and they spell out "Y-O-U-R S-O-U-L" you probably have a straight up demon manifestation and should get the fuck out of there indefinitely.

You should have documented and analysed all the evidence much better by the way - multiple occurrences and no video or audio evidence? Come on - do better! You could have scraped up the ectoplasm by the fireplace and got it analysed too.

OP..... do Not use a Ouija board, it will be just inviting more trouble.

R231, thank you for sharing your story. I'm always interested when a DLer drops an interesting hint about his or her past. Also, I'm so sorry that happened to you.

When I lived in Rome about ten years ago, my girlfriend had gay friends who were priests--but I only knew them in passing.

A question for Val...

Hi Val... we got a plan/proposal for an investigation. Aspects of it impress me but others don't. I hope you will give a POV.

Three things stood out that I don't like, one I'm not keen on... I'm not keen on going back. They would like another briefing with their entire team, now the sensitive and medium are saying there's something to investigate. To their credit, and unusually I gather, one of their guys is a structural engineer who dabbles in this as a hobby so he is on the team. But I really don't want to go back in so I don't know. And my husband can be a charging bull so not sure how much use he'd be. At least they propose during the day.

The two things I don't like are they require that someone from the home be present throughout the investigation (the overnight). Other sites of other groups that I have checked do not seem require this. These people seem to be an outlier in that respect. Maybe it is a liability thing. I have no desire to be there. I will not. I am not sure my husband will or will make the time or will behave if he does. From other things I Googled his one sided shouting match was not a helpful course of action.

The second is I don't have a good feeling about the medium. I don't know how she thinks she knows what she says in the report. Some of it sounds like total bullshit. How do we verify it? (That's a rhetorical question.) So I don't know what we can do about that.

The third is they don't want to have a blessing or cleaning done until after their report is complete. They want it done in the context of whatever they find (conceding they might not find anything.) I'd like to get it done ASAP.

Overall these people seem credible, despite my gut misgivings about the medium (part of me just thinks I resent her for telling me there's four ghosts in my stupid house.) Most of the websites I looked at looked amateur and not credible. So I don't know where we would turn if we don't go with this bunch. Unless we just round up a priest ourselves.)

Val, is it usual for someone associated with the property to have to be present throughout the investigation? Thanks for your consideration and insight.

Not Val. But, it sounds like they are being cautious and professional. They must think there is something worth investigating. They wouldn't want to waste time for nothing either. Would you be willing to go to the driveway and not go in the house. Could you pass the task off to the Realtor in exchange for the new listing? Call one of your handymen and tell them you'll pay their rate to babysit the ghostbusters.

^Tell them you'll be there, then have car or cat trouble. "She's on the roof, and we can't get her down"

R235. Girl, man up and go in with them and try to get this sorted!

Hey OP!

While I totally accept that there are some things I don't know, I think I mentioned that I have some trouble wrapping my head around mediums. We're in the same boat there. I've only ever met two that I thought were brilliant and definitely were working some strange mojo I couldn't explain. I'm all about energy and being able to get things on film/video or rather actual physical proof. I do think that people in the clergy and psychics do have a way of getting rid of some of these things that sort of relates to very "strongly" telling them to leave.

[quote]They would like another briefing with their entire team, now the sensitive and medium are saying there's something to investigate.

I know you don't want to go back but if, at the end of this, all of this works out and everything is fine and dandy [italic]you're going to have to go back and be there by yourself.[/italic] If you approach it from the stance that whatever is going on there hasn't hurt you yet and you won't be alone the entire time, it may make things better -- at least for the meeting. Maybe you can go at the beginning, you leave and go see your neighbor or do something else nearby and then come back at the end to lock up. Or maybe you could be outside while they walk around on their own just for the meeting.

[quote]The two things I don't like are they require that someone from the home be present throughout the investigation (the overnight).

Let me make this clear: I don't want you to put yourself in a situation that you're not comfortable with. All of this is so that your home is your home again and you are comfortable in it and can enjoy it.

Part of it is probably what you're saying, liability. At the end of the day they're strangers. Some of it may be that they may want to make you feel comfortable having them there so this is for your benefit in their minds. The last of it could be that since these things are happening around you they want you there.

You might be able to get them to go there by themselves then you show up at the end to see them out and lock the home up. Just make it clear you don't want to go back inside and see what they say.

[quote]The second is I don't have a good feeling about the medium.

I'm there with you! The goal is just to get something on film so that you have proof to pass on to someone who can actually deal with this. It's a whole system. "Father Nichols" might cleanse the house if you ask him directly or it might be better to show him recordings of doors opening and closing to get him to do it.

But here's the other aspect of it: The mediums "feel things" but none of that matters if they don't get it down on film. In a way it's a safe guard against their uncertainty. The video won't lie and does not rely on feelings. Also, you being there (possibly) is proof against them faking anything or setting anything up. You'll see it. You can also show your husband so that way he'll finally 100% believe it.

[quote]The third is they don't want to have a blessing or cleaning done until after their report is complete.

This is normal for an investigative team. They want to know what they are dealing with. It's like calling in an exterminator but not knowing what you're getting rid of. They need to see it first. It may also determine exactly who they call.

As a side note: Please make sure they don't do any kind of provoking what-so-ever. As in, make sure they're not idiots who will yell at whatever is going on in there. Most legit teams don't.

[quote]Unless we just round up a priest ourselves.

The best "psychic" instinct is your gut. It's totally possible that you don't want proof that there are possibly four beings in your home you can't see watching you and causing a disturbance. You can always just go to a priest directly. Personally I'd want proof, not just for me but for anyone who doubted me or I sent in.

And I'm always around this board. I try and stay out of anything too chaotic. I just really want you to be happy with your home. I'm glad you're taking steps towards that.

I hate to tell you this but most places are haunted. You may not know it but they are. I live in a town that was incorporated around 1867. We still have a lot of older Victorian homes and a lot of homes built in the 20's. Every single Victorian home that I have gone into, one of the first questions I ask is, Is it haunted? Some people hesitate but not once have they said No.

People live, people die. Some move on, some don't. Sometimes you can feel/experience them, sometimes you can't. Do something, but don't run from it.

Val, you're really kind. I appreciate the context.

[quote]Please make sure they don't do any kind of provoking what-so-ever. As in, make sure they're not idiots who will yell at whatever is going on in there. Most legit teams don't.

Funnily enough their proposal specifically says they will not do that. What concerns me is my husband's actions Saturday night during lights off. I read on another site you are not supposed to bait them or yell at them which is just what he did and that the likely response will be they see it as a challenge and they know they can win - even not troublesome ones (as opposed to malevolent or full blown demons. Demons are very very rare. I know this because I read it about them on the internet in this context and I really don't think that is anything like what has gone on in this case. But I read it on the internet... that's why I am asking Val to do quality control on some of this junk! BTW.. even DL fave goop.com has articles on mediums and the like it turns out. Time on Goop is, in fact, much scarier than a slamming door in the middle of the night.)

I don't feel like I can disrupt their team and ask to exclude or replace the medium. I quite liked the sensitive. She seemed normal, thoughtful, low key. The medium really laid it on in the report. The language wasn't theatrical but the content was. She confirmed her position she believes the presence is four and possibly more ghosts - they are not reconciled to their deaths, they may not even know they're dead. But they aren't spirits from another dimension, at least in the sense they know they're back visiting in the land of the living but they, themselves, are not living. She sensed they are very upset and she claims she sensed dislike of everything and everyone associated with things as they are at present and a frustration in their group that was manifesting in the things we described and would escalate. I don't even know how she'd know that if they aren't talking to her and she's not talking to them. I could come up with all kinds of rubbish if I was just staring into space, "feeling".

They propose to come in, over night, and set up cameras and other monitors etc. EVF? EVP? Something to record the night and then they work with that. I need to talk to my husband tonight to decide how we'll handle the briefing request and I think we need to agree on a position in terms of us or him or me being on hand for the actual investigation. I really can't see doing it. The thing that discourages me most is in my reading on the interwebs I found that sometimes, no matter what you do, they won't leave. They just refuse to leave. Or they get blessed out and it's nice... until it isn't... and they come back. Personally I think one of the things we have to discuss is sale. If I had my way, we'd demolish it and rebuild new. The other thing I struggle with is I'm atheist. Full stop. So why am I thinking about bringing in religious types to sort out our house and if they do, what am I supposed to think about that then? I can accept the potential of energy and dimensions when it comes to the complexity and power of humans. And something is going on in my my house. But it's kind of hypocritical to call in the Christian soldiers, have it work, and still disbelieve. Anybody know somebody with a bulldozer in Vermont?

Love you OP, but you can't bulldoze your way through it. Sell it and never go back,except to move, is a fine option. But your best bet is to see it through. You can always sell later. You're freaked out, which is natural as you've unexpectedly found yourself in bizarro world. I' m sure this is NOT how you saw your November turning out.

You've demonstrated good instincts and judgment, under the circumstances. Don't worry about your husband's outburst. He was just having a moment. I think the ghosts are PISSED, not evil and there is a sensible (HA!) way through this.

You're on the right track. PS = A country priest might LIVE for the day he gets a call about a ghost. You never know.

lol are you afraid of losing your atheism?

knocking down the house probably wouldn't do anything. Knocking it down doesn't eliminate spirit.

invite Zak Bagans, OP. just think of the overnight banging!

OP - I’m the one who mentioned the door slamming in response to your husband’s action, and your comment re: Goop cracks me up!

While this is absolutely NOT my area of expertise, I can see why the “professionals” want you there. Especially as they won’t intentionally provoke them (and they shouldn’t): but you do (provoke them). You/husband need to be there.

Next, and again this isn’t my space, but I work in medicine and the correct diagnosis needs to be made in order to recommend the proper treatment. Some cancers respond better to chemo, others to radiation, etc....and even then, squamous carcinoma of the lung responds better to radiation than squamous of the head/neck.

It doesn’t appear life is in jeopardy, so my vote is don’t change anything you are doing and go in for the tests personally. Best wishes, no matter what you decide!

Was a woman murdered in this house with a hand-saw?

Boo

You don't have a ghost, just something undiaghosted.

OP,

Update? How are you doing? Anything else happened?

Hi... We did not go up this weekend but our neighbour turned the TV off twice this week. After time # 2 I just told him to pull the plug. The doors were closed again too. Fuckers.

So we have decided to move ahead with the ghostbusters but the dates are up in the air. We are meeting with the whole team a week from today (DURING the DAY. I'm done with it at night and we're not staying overnight.) We will visit the house and then go some place to talk where the ghosts can't hear us. I don't know if that's ridiculous or just a way to get us to pay for dinner but whatever... in for a penny, in for a pound.

Thanksgiving buggers up doing the investigation the following week so that is up in the air. We had plans to entertain a house party over Thanksgiving and now I don't know what to do. My position on being there at all is clear, though I am less uneasy about being there with a houseful. But do you tell them? And if you tell them, is that the power of suggestion? But we booked this months ago and I feel bad bailing at this point. Himself takes the position of FUCK THE FUCKING GHOSTS WE'RE GOING. In this as in most things he is entertaining but not the most help... I still want to sell the cursed thing. Thanks for asking.

You HAVE to hold the dinner. If they act up it will be great entertainment for your guests!! They have never done anything to hurt you so they aren't going to do anything now.

I wouldn't tell them until you serve dessert in case any of them are freaked out and want to leave. Otherwise it gives you something great to discuss and some of them may be very interested and want to participate in the whole thing.

What a memorable dinner this will be and they will remember it for the rest of their lives and will talk about it at every Thanksgiving dinner they attend hereafter.

This reminds me of a story from my youth, okay more like 10 years ago.

My friend had recently moved in with his boyfriend and invited a couple of us over for an "orphan Christmas" since none of us were traveling home to visit our families that year. Once we got there the boyfriend tells us that their new home is haunted. My friend, (we'll call her Lisa) and I were like, "Okay. Sure." We didn't think it was a big deal yet. However, it started snowing so we realized that we were spending the night. Plus we figured we'd be drinking later in the evening anyway so it made sense.

The boyfriend took us on a tour of the home and showed us what he called "The Red Room" because everything in it was red including some old lace covered lamps and even the sofa which looked like something out of an 18th century whore house. He said that sometimes they sit in it and read and they can hear her footsteps walking through the hallway. He also said it was her favorite room, he thinks. He added that it doesn't seem like she tolerates any "mess" like parties or loud music. The "red" room is in between their bedroom and the guest room.

Downstairs, the boyfriend tells us that he found a portrait of the woman in the home (her family had built it and she had lived there long after everyone else has died). The portrait was kind of creepy. It was one of those "eyes that are following you" kind of things. What unnerved me is that the woman wasn't smiling. She looked angry. (Of course this means nothing. That's just in my head.) Lisa is very upset by all of this.

After a while of talking, taking funny photos (Pretending to be Brad, Angelina and then Baby Zahara) and sitting by the fireplace, the boyfriend pulls out party hats. We put them on, moved to a different room and started talking while standing up.

Lisa is in a doorway. The boyfriend is next to me outside of the doorway and I'm next to him. My friend is standing across from Lisa in the same doorway. Lisa, is quite drunk at this point (I don't really drink) and she starts making fun of the "ghost." She said something like, "Okay so you invited us all the way out here. It's cool but you waited to tell us that you had a ghost until we got here. Like we're spending the night here and that's something you should have told us first! What if the ghost doesn't like us and attacks us!"

Let me try and describe this: all three of us for some reason were looking at her party hat. It was a cone, there was a band stuck to the bottom of it to hold it on. There was no reason for us to be looking directly at the top of her head when she was talking BUT while she was talking the party hat lifted in a straight line above her head, about 6 inches, slowly moved backwards as if it was being pulled then "pop" smacked up against the back of her head. All of us started howling and she looked appropriately freaked out.

Later we got ready for bed, the boys tucked Lisa and I in, in separate beds. Lisa was still freaked out so she takes the sheets off and starts covering the mirrors in the room. I have no clue why she was doing that. She gets back in bed and I'm, of course, making jokes. Then we start hearing old timey music from the 20s playing from the red room. It was 3 AM (of course) at that point. She gets up, opens the door, the music stops. The room is dark.

She jumps in bed with me and digs her claws in me until dawn.

Thanks Val. OP- You've described some very dramatic, disturbing events that have left you shaken. Now, you're thinking about inviting guests without telling them? You're talking to DL but not close friends, house guests? That seems strange to me.

I'd be pissed if my host sprung this on me at the last minute. If you had a cat, you'd mention it to make sure no one was allergic. Years ago, I attended a party after the recent death of a family member (at Thanksgiving!). At the party, someone wanted to do a séance. I was caught off guard and had a meltdown but at least I could leave. If I'd been stuck in Vermont, I don't know what I'd have done.

Val's ghost had a playful history. You've been describing the beginning of a Steven King Novel. It's not fair to make your friends part of the drama without fair warning. Cancel now. You're going to need the time and energy to solve the problem in front of you. If true.

R253... that is a fair point. If we go ahead, I will let people know.

OP, if I may share an observation that just popped into my famous brain of two and a half brain cells on a good day... no, seriously... I'm getting a sense you're so fucking over everything to do with this. It's more than a drain on your energy and time. It seems like you're entering a new phase of depression about the whole thing. If my observation is incorrect, that's understandable.

But if you are starting to feel depressed, like "Yesterday, when I was young..." I'd like to say you've shown extraordinary instinct and perspicacity. You seem to have managed to distil good advice from dross [i.e. my telling you to yell]. The point I'm trying to make is that by this point you should feel numb and angry and confused.

I think this is going to be the lowest point in this whole tale for you. And if you know that there will be a solution and that things will work out, identifying this as temporary might help you from settling onto a defeatist outlook, and onto one that sees this as a process [my inner lesbian just composed this post.]

D'ailleurs, hang in there.

R255: it is interesting, I am tired of it and frustrated by it because I can't see it to control it but I wouldn't say depressed. I am impatient by nature. However, in the proposal, the medium said it would not be surprising if as the spirits were stirred up we started feeling uncharacteristic or unusually intense negative emotions. We are not arguing or conflicting but we are both quite agitated about having a problem to solve that we're embarrassed to discuss with most people because they understandably think we're nuts. To that end, I emailed our guests just now, subject line: you're going to think this is nuts ....

OP I've worked in a building that was haunted, I understand what you are feeling. I think that you have engaged a team to find out more about the ghost and you should see it through, I think you will be able to resolve this and the paranormal team may be able to get the ghosts to move on.

I'm curious to know how your guest respond.

I hate to tell you this, OP, but you will look back at this incident as one of the most interesting of your life.

Be curious about it, see it through to the end. You are not in any danger.

What has happened OP? Don’t leave us hanging! I can’t be the only one with this thread still on their watched list.

since my dog died, ive heard her barking from within the walls, and sometimes I see her brieifly in the house, is she with me?

[quote] is she with me?

Clearly she is.

The only ghosts I've SEEN have been animals. Once my dog and once a friend's cat.

Poor OP is busy fielding calls and emails from all his guests, everyone telling him THEIR ghost stories and giving THEIR well-meaning advice. Meanwhile, he's got a crew of ghostbusters coming tomorrow and he's going to meet them out front because he is afraid to go in.

Then, who the fuck knows what the "experts" are going to advise. He's got a house full of people coming on Wednesday and there's at least 4, angry, disembodied, possibly homophobic spirits in the upstairs bedrooms. And the menu, don't even get me started.

Don't forget to order the pies, OP! Hang in there. We're rooting for you.

I want to thank the people who've shown an interest and given me something thoughtful but I have no interest in being mocked so thanks and take care.

OP, I'm sorry for some of the trollish comments. I've only hoped you will find a way to find peace in the home. My own family never found peace in my grandmother's home, and didn't seem to have any regrets turning it over to someone else. And I say that as someone who still lives in my childhood home. I hear enough strange noises and stuff, but I know I have an old house. I don't think it can be easy to encounter other spirits in one's home. I guess I should be grateful to only have to deal with raccoons (and rats, shudder).

Sorry... rough day here. Separate issue.

I never felt like anybody was mocking hard core until R264 and even then my reaction was probably more due to the roughness of the day than the skill of the trolling.

No worries.

I think I'm unanimous in saying the vast majority of responses are those of concern, I know mine have been. Hang in there, OP. Hopefully the pros will be able to offer some order and solution to this problem. Take care.

I totally mocked you, OP, but only about your hanging out naked by the pool angering the ghosts.

I grew up in a fairly active house - though the truly wild stories happened before I was born - so it’s kind of fun to rib you.

OP= 262 here. I feel horrible too. You're doing great and I know you must be under a lot of stress. I was mocking the situation, not you. I was imagining what you must be going through without considering your feelings. Please forgive me, I'm sorry to have added to your bad mood, I should have been more considerate.

I know, many of us will be sending good thoughts to you tomorrow in VT.

Does anyone else get the feeling OP's been dumped by the no nonsense boyfriend? Or if he hasn't been yet, that it's imminent?

OP,

Please don't abandon this thread: several of us are living for the suspense of what is happening up there in Vermont.

R270,

I'd say it's more than several. 270 posts (some of us multiple times but still) there are barely any people coming in here and saying terrible things meant to insult OP or believers is pretty solid.

I mean for Datalounge, this almost never happens because OP made something special.

R36 - I have that book by Pat Montandon. It's not the scariest book I've ever read but it certainly was disturbing and she sounded very sincere.

There are photos of a hooded entity rifling through her dresser drawer that were published in a different, unrelated book of ghost accounts. It looked like a thin, wiry androgynous and young person (for lack of a better word because there was something very off about it). I actually read about her in this book before I bought her own book on Amazon. She sounded like a lovely person.

Anxiously waiting for an update from OP. Guess I'll start reading that Montandon book in the meantime to get my ghost story fix.

I'm waiting for an update too!

OP had a roughness of day. Leave him alone!!

Hey.... First, I appreciate the apologies but it isn’t necessary. I’ve been on DL for a lot of years and should have a thicker skin. If my ghosts call me cunt or invoke grease fire, I should be more than ready. Friday was a bad day personally on another front and I reacted, as I am prone to do.

So we drove up today and met with the ghostbusters at the house and then left and went to town to talk. There will be five of them - the medium and the sensitive and three others with an interest in the super natural but no “gifts.” One is a genealogy.com addict so she can chase history. The structural engineer we met before and he is really keen to understand the bones of the house and asked for the plans and drawings from the reno. We liked him. He talks sense. As ever, the doors were all closed upstairs. It's like a thing between us. At least for me.

So while we were sitting downstairs talking about what's been going on a door slammed upstairs, which was fun. Didn’t seem to phase them but I hated it. And we all think we heard laughter from upstairs. I get chills even typing it. That has never happened. It wasn’t like you or me laughing… but that is what it sounded like. We all looked at each other at the same time. It was the creepiest thing I ever heard. Nothing like that has ever happened before. My husband stood up to go upstairs and both the medium and the sensitive shook their heads No and one of them said lets go outside. Out there the medium said it was ‘them’ and the sensitive agreed. Then we drove to town to talk.

If there’s anything they don't think they will get an image but they do think if lucky maybe a door moving or something. Apparently ghosts don’t photograph well, but when you're that old... They always hope to get an audio recording. After they do their thing they report back and they can help facilitate getting the house back to normal, by bringing in a priest or somebody. I'll take one from every church that's willing to fill the ranks from Windham County. They say that can be done quickly. They’re going to do a history of the house before hand to see if anything really notable happened and they may try to talk to neighbours etc. once their investigation is over, and especially if it yields any information. We’ve agreed on mid December.

this was so long I had to cut it in two.. sorry.

So the ghost stuff, which is most unsettling to me and which I don’t quite know whether to believe or not. The medium contributed most of this. I can't stand her. She said she is certain there is more than one but backed away from the idea of four and that while we were there she sensed or saw one move away to the back stairs. She assumes this links to the doors and the laughter. We stressed we’d never heard anything before except the bangs and slams and she said her sense of them is they are angry and upset. She said she can’t tell anything about them… she said they were right there in the room with us but like a presence that is blended and they wouldn't engage with her beyond one acknowledging the other. She said it is analogous to looking a table of people across a restaurant except they're a ghost blob (my words.) She said again they know we are there and they observe… it isn’t like some kind of haunting where a ghost is trapped in time or something, which they said happens. She said she interpreted that they aren’t malevolent. She said she did not want to push them to engage today because she felt it would rile them up. The medium and I got into it kind of when asked would we be willing to live with them if we could come to terms? I want my house with invited guests only and she just gives me a look and says ‘but remember it wasn’t always your house.’ I don’t know why I don’t like the medium, but I do like the sensitive. She confirmed these are pissed off ghosts but not out to kill you ghosts. So pleased. I just have this feeling that the medium isn’t on our side. I can’t explain it. I just don’t think she likes us. Then again, she takes herself very seriously. You know one of those people who never seems to have fun? That’s her. It may just be that. She asked about the French doors and I told her what we found out about them and she said that’s where she felt them most intensely. It’s funny because my favourite chair is right next to it and I always used to read in it and never got a sense of anything. I felt watched more frequently when we were on the sofa together or when I had my back turned in the kitchen. We have now agreed not to attend - the medium thinks the things might be easier to work with if we’re not there. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out this started manifesting once we were living in the place again after the renovation. Maybe they blame us. Neither one of us can recall any foolishness before we moved fucking walls. Still, it's like, fuck you, ghosts... we're nice enough.

When we came back the doors were all closed again upstairs. Twice I'm sure I heard creaking floorboards but we were both on the main floor. At least I think I did. I can’t even believe this when I think about it logically and yet here we are and it is real. It’s insane. We're at an inn tonight and then back to the NYC tomorrow first thing. It's so stupid when we're supposed to be coming back midweek but I don't want to stay there alone and himself has work.

so you are having Thanksgiving there? did you tell your guests? if so, how did they respond?

OP thanks for the update hope you are able to resolve this to you satisfaction.

OP, you've had some good advice. As I posted elsewhere, by coincidence I've had many acquaintances & friends who are morticians or funeral directors. All but one assured me they experienced something supernatural. I didn't believe in it either until they confirmed it. I may have seen a ghost once.

First, please remain calm. As long as you haven't done anything wrong, you'll be fine, but you need to take positive action.

Go to your local main library and research the history of your house & property thoroughly. Was a crime committed there or did anyone die in your home? If so, you may have something supernatural happening, which is beyond your control. Also check if there's a local historical society. That may have necessary info.

Ask if a Catholic Priest will perform a routine house cleansing/blessing including his vestments, a Bible, a crucifix and holy water. If a local priest won't do it, a priest who specializes in that will do it if you locate him, honestly & earnestly explain your problem and offer a token donation and offer to pay his travel expenses which won't be much. The "house cleansing/blessing" should take care of all problems.

Regardless of your religious beliefs, get some sage and holy water. Burn the sage and sprinkle holy water everywhere. Instructions via the internet will teach you to obtain and burn sage properly.

If you haven't ever seen the 2008 A&E program "Paranormal State" I recommend you check it out because it'll introduce you to the topic and Ryan Buell, it's co-creator and presenter, was a cutie. He's Catholic and I respect everyone's right to religion, although I'm Agnostic. Hope this helps, good luck and please keep up advised!

OP thank you for this fascinating thread. I'm a believer and have also had an encounter with a ghost. I used to have a lover who was an unlicensed architect and lived near Woodstock NY. My hazy memory tells me that this must have been in the late 70's He owned a property which he was told was haunted when he purchased the land. The general area was known to be a hotbed of paranormal activity, including one whole town. There was definitely a weird vibe in places there. He was never bothered, but acknowledged the the ghost's presence. He built two houses on the property and a building composed of one large room for himself. When I was there on the weekends I remember hearing a car door slam, among other sounds. I was told the resident spirit would move the pillows of a woman who lived in the one of the houses with her niece, who she did not treat well. The ghost was apparently female and particularly hostile to women who treated other women badly. A straight married Mexican hairdresser/race car driver and his mother lived in the other house and, after their paranormal activity, the mother eventually tried exorcising the ghost with Christmas lights, which made things worse for her and may have contributed to the death of her Afghan Hound, who subsequently drowned in a shallow pond on the property. One night in the middle of the night when I was there the son called his mother on a joint phone line, saying he had been in an accident. At that moment I heard laughing in the dark corner of the large room. I became terrified , I had never quite recovered from seeing “The Exorcist” and had inadvertently dated a self-professed demonologist. Then one night I smelled perfume, the rustling of an old dress and something move through me, taking my fear away and leaving me with a sense of peace. From that point on I was comfortable there.

R280, thank you for your advice. I think there are sage burnings in the future but we are staying out of it and leaving resolution to the paranormal investigators we found. There is little doubt people have died in the house because it is a couple hundred years old. We don't have any indication anyone died unusually.

R278, yes, Thanksgiving is still on. Everybody is still coming. Nobody is disturbed. Most of them think it's funny.

[quote] Nobody is disturbed. Most of them think it's funny.

Everything is happening according to plan!

R282, I forgot about that, sounds great, and you're welcome! Best wishes, peace and happy holidays.

[quote]As I posted elsewhere, by coincidence I've had many acquaintances & friends who are morticians or funeral directors. All but one assured me they experienced something supernatural. I didn't believe in it either until they confirmed it. I may have seen a ghost once.

R280, now I am curious about your stories. The place on the main floor of our house where there are French doors now but used to be home to coffins and Christmas trees seems to be part of the action.

I forgot to ask if you have tried praying for the spirits. They can hear you if you do. I do it whenever I go to the cemetery. I can feel them watching me but I can also feel them protecting me. Prayer is never a bad thing.........

your guests think it's funny but wonder if they will feel the same if the spirits are active while they are there. One thing to watch for, I knew someone that was staying in a haunted home and got stuck in the bathroom for over an hour because she couldn't get the door open. once someone came looking for her the doorknob turned easily. If anyone disappears, go and look for them.

R286, praying for spirits is probably a waste a time. I detest "Christians" and any other religious people who say they'll pray for me. Please use your time to improve yourself, and I'll use my time wisely. I'm a mature, responsible adult. I don't drink, don't smoke, don't use drugs, and have never an STD, Amen and I'm Agnostic.

R285, it's impossible to tell what I know in this forum, as there's simply not space. The true tale from one mortician really is creepy, but in the end it's positive. If you've had caskets in your house, you probably have supernatural activity, so you need that sage-burning, holy water, and a priest's blessing, as well as the supernatural investigators.

Pardon my joke, but I deal with stress with humor. R285, I remembered you probably need Scooby-Doo and those kids in the van along with Phyllis Diller and Harlem Globetrotters. LOL

r287 you think it may be a waste of time, I do not. are you the OP? if so it was a suggestion, if you are not the OP please just ignore me.

R287, could you please tell us your mortician story? If it's long, just give us the highlights.

To OP, thank you for posting your story. Please, please post any videos of doors shutting and that sort of thing.

Thank you

I'm just shaking my head at the posters here who believe aromas indicate hauntings. Materials like plasters, drywall, wood and fabrics are porous. They absorb strong odors. If someone smoked, cooked pungent, greasy food or wore strong scents, those smells were absorbed. As temperatures change and materials expand and contract, those gases get released. On extremely hot days, we get a whiff of cigarette smoke, even though no one has smoked in this house for decades. On humid days, it's the smell of the fireplace. We're not haunted. Good lord, people. Science.

R290, IIRC, the retired military man wanted to be buried in a business suit with his military metals. His body was already prepared and dressed, in the casket, without the medals because they couldn't be located. Funerals usually have a signature book where guests sign.

So the medals were located. After hours, the mortician goes to put them on, but the body is missing from the casket. He's standing there signing his name in the funeral registry. He didn't tell anyone because he didn't want to be accused of being psycho, so he went back later to put the medals on the cadaver and the man's signature is in the book.

I see vodka

R293, you can see whatever you like, but I've never had vodka in my life. I've never repeated that because my friends trust me. He's still registered and working, so I won't release his name. If he lied, then he lied. Every man in the industry I've known except 1 has confirmed supernatural.

-292

OP take lots of pictures when your friends are with you at Thanksgiving the ghosts may decide to make their presents known by appearing in the photos in some form, a fog in the corner of the photo, or a dot of light in the background or some other form of manifestation. If you capture them on photos you will have more evidence to present to your paranormal team.

It will make this a very memorable Thanksgiving.

R295, good idea. I'd like an opportunity to use my digital camera. A sweetheart of a gay dude is offering to go to Thanksgiving dinner with single guys who have GOP relatives posing as his BF to make them uncomfortable! How cool is that?!

[quote] As temperatures change and materials expand and contract, those gases get released. On extremely hot days, we get a whiff of cigarette smoke, even though no one has smoked in this house for decades. On humid days, it's the smell of the fireplace. We're not haunted. Good lord, people. Science.

Some of us have air conditioning--so no drastic changes in temperature inside the house.

We have air conditioning, too, R297. Even incremental changes in temperature and humidity can cause surfaces to release gases. You are not haunted. You just had odiferous people who lived in your residence in the past. This is not rocket science.

[quote] He's standing there signing his name in the funeral registry.

You're telling us a guy alone in a funeral parlor saw a cadaver standing up signing his name, and your friend didn't go running and screaming into the street? What was his reaction to this? How could he go back into the building?

Second question: have any of your mortician friends caught anything on their security cameras?

I would have peed and cried.

I am not haunted--I just find this explanation rather spurious. (And I have stain and odor blocking primer under my coats of paint.)

I find it highly suspicious that paint contracting and expanding (most of us do not have exposed drywall in our houses, our wood floors have a varnish, and our wood furniture moved in with us) would give off a residual odor strong enough for a human to pick it up. A dog or a cat smelling a few particles of an old steak frying (assuming no one re-paints their house), fine. But a human...give me a break. We have awful senses of smell.

R299, adults typically don't react like that, with all due respect. If I revealed what I've seen and survived, maybe it would curl your hair and toes. I've attached a piece of archival footage from 59 years ago today showing the first live murder on TV. I've witnessed a live autopsy, so no big deal to me.

-292

[quote] adults typically don't react like that, with all due respect.

With all due respect, you're on a thread wherein the OP won't stay in his own home alone. This is the way adults react to the supernatural. Perhaps your friends who are morticians, and who have a very different (I'll even say more mature) relationship to death and the beyond, have inured you to thinking differently.

When I was in college, I interned at a historic hotel. There was one room that none of the cleaning ladies would clean--except one hardy soul, and they had to pay her more than for a normal room. Most people avoid and/or run away from this stuff.

R302, accepted. And I made an error. Oswald's murder by Ruby was 56 years ago today.

If something authentic occurs, I want to witness it and commit it to memory. Of course I'll accept hazard pay if that's appropriate.

-301

I mentioned somewhere upthread that all of my cousins reported encounters at our grandmother's house. Someone else mentioned how a person who "has seen a ghost" appears, and my cousins and I are in our 50s,and they still turn white when the subject comes up, and only mention it to corroborate each other. I've never been able to persuade any of them to tell me what they saw, but it's clear they were terrified. I honestly don't know how I would react in the same situation, and I don't want to find out.

R304, I mentioned I may have, so I won't hide it, and I emphasize the word may and that was only once. Other than that, no. I've never heard any unexplained sounds or voices or any of that silliness. When anyone says God or Jesus has talked to them, I immediately think they're drunk, stoned, or need a psychiatrist or neurologist.

R304, do you think they saw/experienced someone they knew (like a relative who had passed) or a stranger?

r286 that’s exactly what happened in the ½ bath off the bedroom that would become mine for 20 years - a relative got trapped inside, banging and yelling to be let out. there was no lock on the door.

whatever he saw in there, he wouldn’t discuss nor would he set foot back in the house. my dad had to take his bags out to him.

i have plenty of my own stories from that house, but i mostly think if OP would’ve kept his trunks on at the pool the spirits would find themselves at peace.

R306, I honestly don't know, but I know that my Dad reported that his father had chased a human apparition, and yelled at it to get out of his house. My cousins would never discuss what they saw, but strangely, after my uncle died, and they were cleaning out his house, they all reported hearing lots of knocks, and they were very matter of fact about it (not scared) and they all agreed that it was their Mom indicating her displeasure that the two sisters were fighting with each other so badly. And my youngest cousin's son and his girlfriend were helping pack things up, and they heard the same noises. They discussed it at Thanksgiving not long after my Uncle died.

Odor blocking paints work to a point. Odors are much stronger than we think. If you have decades worth of frying going on in a kitchen, unless you tear out the entire thing down to the studs, some of that's going to stick around. I honestly can't believe people think they're haunted because they can smell old aromas that are clinging to the house.

R309, LOL, that is so freaking funny! I was so glad we the hoods downstairs moved out. They were always frying something and smoking weed. The odors were so strong it was affecting me and I was accused of imagining things. If they opened their front door, the entire floor's residents would get knocked down. A former friend of mine was old and didn't need eyeglasses. He was crass and said he could see a rat fart in the next county. Unfortunately, I can smell it. And people think they're haunted because of that?

[quote]If you haven't ever seen the 2008 A&E program "Paranormal State" I recommend you check it out because it'll introduce you to the topic and Ryan Buell, it's co-creator and presenter, was a cutie. He's Catholic and I respect everyone's right to religion, although I'm Agnostic. Hope this helps, good luck and please keep up advised!

R280, you've hit one of my triggers. If anyone wants to learn about the subject I'd suggest they'd watch the original Ghost Hunters tv series rather than that trash.

Paranormal State was a lot of BS but when the club formed at Penn State it was legit. A&E caught wind of it, wanted to do a TV show and a few years after the original team graduated they did. Then it became a sensationalist piece which was just a mess. The only "legit" person in the group was Elfie. She always knew her shit in real life long before the show. Buell did not found that club by himself although he likes to pretend he did. He was interested in fame. The other members just wanted to investigate and learn. (Yes, I knew them long ago in another life.)

But anyways if anyone is going to watch a show they should watch Ghost Hunters the only show where sometimes they found something, sometimes they didn't. It pioneered the genre on TV. Since it was the first they didn't originally stoop to weird tactics to fake things with a crazy psychic appearing who, IMHO was far from psychic. They actually did things the right way. (The later episodes they started adding comedy between the team members which bugged me but they still didn't fake anything at all.)

R311, thanks for that info. Sorry I hit a trigger. At least that program opened my mind. I wasn't open to that ideation before it premiered. Lorraine Warren appeared genuine, but I never cared for Chip Coffey. Yes, Ryan appeared interested in fame; he admitted it. He appeared interested in his work, though. I related to his Catholicism since I was and he's attractive, which is always a plus. Elfie seemed genuine, but that concerned me. Never watched Ghost Hunters. As I said, "that stuff" concerns me.

Ryan Buell has a bit of baggage. From Wikipedia:

"Buell was subsequently arrested on April 21, 2017 on charges of simple assault and harassment of his boyfriend. In July 2017, after his releases from jail and rehabilitation, Buell published a personal blog post in which he admitted he was a recovering drug addict and had recently been discharged from rehabilitation. His civil and criminal cases remain unresolved."

R313, wow, thanks. As my parents said, everyone's on drugs!

[quote]And similarly, can you explain how that light got on overnight? Can they do that? Switch a light on? Because it would seem to me to take a lot of energy for a ghost to turn a switch on.

My one brush with the paranormal involved a light turning on in an empty closet as I walked by in the hallway outside. Two nights in a row. Plus maybe turning a clock radio on in my room, but I can’t absolutely rule out the housekeeping staff for that one.

[quote] You HAVE to hold the dinner. If they act up it will be great entertainment for your guests!! They have never done anything to hurt you so they aren’t going to do anything now.

I’ve seen how this dinner party turns out...

Any fans of Travel Channel's "The Dead Files"??

We're getting a new medium! The one I didn't like went to hospital Saturday night and her appendix was exorcised. I'm sorry for her but maybe we'll find someone who wants to bust the ghost(s) not suck up to them.

OP, go upstairs and talk to your ghosts. Speaking kindly, explain to them that you and partner respect that the home was once their dwelling in the past, perhaps a place of loving memory or not - whatever. Tell them that time marches on, and all things pass away to make room for the new. It's the cycle of life. You both appreciate the fact that this home once belonged to them, but now it belongs to you offering a new beginning to create lasting loving memories of your own. You have that right. Boldly tell them that it's time they move on - so go now. Their souls/spirits should no longer be self-deprived of Divine promise. Go and seek that which is rightfully yours (theirs). Speak lovingly.

Hey, it's worth a shot!

Caspar the racist ghost, the raciest ghost you know

Those blacks all might

Look at him with fright

Whites all love him so

He always says "Get lost"

And he loves the Holocaust

With out saying it goes

How much he really hates those homos

White folk don't understand, why blacks hate him the most

He'll burn a cross

Toast the Holocaust

Caspar the racist ghost

R319, FF.

R318, I appreciate the advice but at this point we are going to leave it to the "experts", insofar as we have this team coming in (though in some ways I don't know why because I think it's generally accepted there is something go on.) I don't want to engage with them because the feedback we have is they're angry about something. I don't know if that's true but I am not going to tempt fate and do something to bugger it up or antagonize them. My concern is having Googled that sometimes they come back anyway. My husband and I have agreed we will let them do their investigation, perhaps it will yield some insight, probably not, but then we will invite Jesus over before the holidays and have a religious type bless it or what have you. A priest, a rabbi and a deacon walked into a haunted farmhouse in Vermont.... Also I gotta find somebody to burn the sage. Fortunately there are tons of unreconstructed hippies in Vt.

I had a car stolen once. Huge hassle of paperwork and costs and I was the "vicitim." Ghosts are twice as much work! LOL

Not even close to clever, let alone amusing, R319. FF.

Completely understand, OP. Just thought it was worth a try. I actually saw a ghost walk through a door-way in my house a few months back, completely unexpectedly. I've always been able to "feel" spirits - an extremely overpowering euphoric energy all over my body when I do. As for the ghost I saw, I told her "So long as you're coming from the Divine white light and mean only good, then you're welcome to stay. However, if you're coming from a dark space, intending harm then you gotta get the fuck outa here!" Haha. I've had no problems and haven't seen her since. Best wishes.

^^^ R318

[quote]I don't want to engage with them because the feedback we have is they're angry about something.

Usually when a haunted place is renovated activity picks up the ghosts may not be happy with the changes you made to the house since it is no longer the way it was when they were alive.

Her appendix was excised.

R326 I scrolled up a lot. Did someone say a female had her appendix exorcised??

R327, yes! A funny Freudian slip if ever there was...

[quote]Any fans of Travel Channel's "The Dead Files"??

There should be a separate thread for this show 12 seasons and counting. I did a search and there was one thread from 2013 that was closed after seven responses.

Hey OP, hope you're still alive. I wanted to post this last week but was blocked because i'm not a premium member....

TLDR up front: Have your house checked for a gas leak. It could save your life.

Longer version: A popular podcast, Carrie Poppy might have done a Ted talk on this: She hosts a podcast that explores fringe science/medicine, religion, and claims of the supernatural. They test weird medical devices/ join religious groups (they did an 8 parter on Scientology) and explore claims of the supernatural, people who claim they are psychic, etc. Claims of the supernatural never hold up, even a little bit. But one night she came home and had a weird ominous feeling that her house was haunted. She was certain something was going on, This might have gone on for a day or two, someone told her to check for a gas leak and the gas company came out ASAP, the gas was leaking full blast and the technician told her if she had gone to sleep she probably would have died. I think the gas functioned as a neurotoxin that was making her hallucinate....So thinking a ghost is around is a good sign you need to get your gas line checked. ALSO, there are some "haunted spaces" that are the result of specific sound frequencies that come from the architecture of the space....the frequency upsets the body/brain and creates an ominous feeling (something found in places with lots of stones, like church and castle tunnels)

R328, I'm not laughing at the author, I'm having my laugh of the day! I'm visualizing priests in robes with rosaries, bibles and holy water around a girl in bed with her abdomen exposed shouting, "Out, damned evil appendix in the name of Jesus Christ and all that's Holy!" LOL

OP, maybe it's the upcoming holiday, but there seems to be quite an upsurge in total weirdness on this thread. Enjoy your Thanksgiving, and update us when you have a chance. This will all work itself out, regardless of the twists and turns.

I don’t believe in ghosts but if the same events were to happen to me, my Hummels and pets would be packed and gone a long time ago.

Hey... OP... we don't have gas out here. We run on propane. Exorcised was on purpose, given all the bullshit we're contending with. Cheers.

Most people can smell a gas leak in their homes.

R313, to "remain on topic" about Paranormal State and Ryan Buell, my life's lessons taught that nearly everyone has at least some baggage. I'm a bit proud to have recognized and corrected mine, even that caused solely by others. Thanks for the info. and happy holidays.

So...OP, did your Thanksgiving guests experience anything?

Hi, R337... breakfast over, four of the eight now departed. Yes, stuff happened. Nothing too frightening but unnerving and in one instance much bolder than even before - swinging from a chandelier, so to speak. I gotta get this shit out of my house. I'm sick of it. (The ghosts, not the guests.) To be honest, the four who've left departed a little less cool about the haunted house than when they arrived. The remaining, to their credit, are prepared to live with it until they go.

Why don't you call The Ghost Hunters or The Ghost Brothers or Zak Bagans Ghost Adventures, The Dead Files, Deep South Paranormal, Paranormal Lockdown or....GHOST BUSTERS!

Who ya gonna call?

[quote]When we came back the doors were all closed again upstairs.

Buy doorstops. Give the ghosts a challenge.

Actually, that is a great idea! I will ask our team if that will piss them off because I don't want to antagonize them if it is true they are already cranky.

We are packing up a day ahead of schedule (yeah! Out of Hell's Gate Farm a day early!!!!) We had more activity overnight. I think everybody is done looking at each other like WTF?

Should have said out because of the weather. Here has a shot at 24" of snow if the forecast is right. Not chancing being stranded in this place. Everyone travel safely, wherever you are/go.

Safe travels, OP.

Tell us more about the swinging chandelier OP!!

R345... it literally swung back and forth. Not like rocking or Phantom of the Opera, but moving. We got here Wednesday and shopped etc. and prepared the house, but we did not stay the night. While we prepared I felt like I was being watched but I am highly mindful of the power of suggestion at this point. My husband had bedroom duty and he was certain he heard one of the bedroom doors squeak when it swung a bit. He tries to act like he's annoyed but I know he's tired of it. It doesn't make him as uneasy as it does me. He would have spent the night but I wouldn't. I admit my imagination has run away with me and with the slight escalations over the last couple weeks I am imagining crazy things so I won't stay there until it is sorted.

Our guests arrived throughout Thursday for dinner Thursday night and then to stay, some until Friday, some until Sunday (but we're all leaving tonight for fear of the storm. My husband has court on Tuesday and meetings Monday he cannot miss and the last thing I want to do is stay here if it's going to turn into the Overlook.) The beautiful thing was the afternoon and evening was almost interrupted. Everybody had a great time and it was laid back and terrific. The only thing that "they' did during the prep was to keep blowing out the candles on the dining room table. I was lighting them and three times I came back to the table and they were out. Now it could have been a breeze but that's a pretty good breeze not to notice in the house. Finally I just snapped and said enough, I'm trying to get this damn dinner on the table. And the candles stayed lit. So maybe I just need to be a bitch to them. Dinner was fine we had so much fun and everything felt great all evening. Where it went off the rails was late that evening because I came in from the hot tub and there were four of them at the dining room table - with a Ouija board. I didn't know they had it, the guy who brought it thought it would be fun under the circumstances... I was gently trying to persuade them to put it away - I was freaking out inside based on my house and what I know about the reputation of those things but you don't want your friends to think you're entirely insane - so I'm asking them to put it aside when one of the guys says "look" and points up. And the chandelier above the dining room table is visibly swaying. It was slight but unmistakeable. Another one reached up still it and the moment he touched it all the lights went out, like the last time. Whole house, pitch black. They came back on very quickly but they kept cutting out all night while we were up. The guy who brought the thing found it upside down on the floor when he came down in the morning. In the night we all heard some slams and bangs. It seemed like they were waiting for everybody to relax and then slammed or banged. As I said we had some departures Friday and now we're all going. The days were normal. The house felt normal. Then there'd be some shenanigans at night. This morning one the guys asked me if I had heard laughing in the night. He said he heard something like it once.

Anyway, we're out. I'm not coming back until this is settled. I don't like this laughter silliness and I don't like that it's getting slightly more active. We don't yet have a date for the investigation but it will be next month. I am pushing for sooner rather than later so I can ideally have my home back for Christmas and put this behind us.

I should say too they were teasing me about the candles so I think it was as likely it was my idiot friends winding me up. Joke was on them once things started going bump in the night. I think we did piss it off because at one point there was a slam and my husband yelled at the ghost we were trying to sleep. Followed by another bang. Retaliatory? There was a lot of ghost talk all weekend, obviously under the circumstances, and I can't say it was respectful but most of us struggle to believe this is real. Maybe we pissed them off more. I don't know what they perceive. The investigators said they watch us and observe us, but I don't know what they understand so if we were making fun of it I don't know if that would piss them off or not. And I don't care, when I don't have to deal with them.

Thanks for the update OP. Since you mentioned you have propane, Double check the CO2 detectors. Watch out for drunk drivers.

whether you look foolish or not you need to tell your friends to never bring a Ouija board to your house again and especially since you don't want to bring them back if they are able to get rid of them

R272 can you tell me the title of the book with the pictures? I read Montandon's book (The Intruders) based on the discussions here and it didn't have any.

Been there, R11. When you experience it, it's sort of a transformative event. You can't tell anyone, or if you do, few believe you and many won't respect you or consider you an intelligent person after that.

But when you've had it happen to you, you just have to look at the world a little differently. Like there are things we don't understand and can't explain scientifically. It is amusing to me now to see people insist we are delusional or lying and that no such things exist.

They believe we -- people who know some kind of energy beings exist that we can't always see -- are superstitious and ignorant. In fact they are the ignorant ones. They are a little like doctors back in the day who didn't believe washing their hands between surgeries would affect their patients' outcomes. There's an explanation for it, but we haven't yet developed the tools to determine what is happening.

Please take a video when things like the chandelier happen, and post for us to see.

Thanks

Bump!

In OP's night.

R353 I bet that's not funny to OP.

It's fine by me. It's not wide of the mark. Anyway we are home now ahead of the storm. Got an email this morning the investigators will go in on the 14th and based on that it should be blessed and clean by the 20th.

That was me.

A disembodied voice softly apologizes in OP's ear.

Omg.

DAT'S DA SUCK JOB!!

R350, I'm not r272, but I also read Pat's book years ago, but years after I first saw the photo, which was in a book of ghost photography published by Hans Holzer. I no longer have the Holzer book but IIRC it was first published in the 60's. It's probably not hard to find.

Must be so cool to have a ghost. I wish I had a ghost.

R361, have you heard of people being scratched, pushed down stairs, sexually assaulted and raped by ghosts?

R360 Thanks, that's helpful. You've provided some breadcrumbs for me to follow.

R362 Yes, I have. Some very scary stories there. People have really been hurt and traumatized during their paranormal experiences.

I was thinking along the lines of a cool ghost. One that could move an Ouija board planchette, one that could give me helpful information or maybe an incubus in the form of John F. Kennedy, Jr. A spirit along those lines.

R364, OP and everyone else, for the love of everything, please never touch or bring into your home a Ouija board! That is literally inviting bad things and evil spirits inside!

R365 Are you sure?

Because the whole Ouija board/demon things seems to have originated with the 1973 film 'The Exorcist'.

Maybe the Ouija has simply gotten a bad rap?

Adults can do what they like, but I'm not touching or getting near one of those things. I know what Lorraine Warren said.

R365

R365 / R367 The Paranormal Scholar has debunked Ed and Lorraine Warren and the b.s. story behind the possessed Raggedy Ann doll.

Just a helpful FYI.

R368 thanks, I never heard or watched anything about a possessed Raggedy Ann doll. Lorraine Warren was a visiting guest on A&E's "Paranormal State"

What about homemade ouija boards R365, you know the kind you make as a foolish teen on a piece of cardboard? Are they just as dangerous as the real thing?

R370 never heard of that and you're asking the wrong person.

R370 Supposedly people get the same spooky, scary results out of homemade Ouija boards as they do out of the store-bought ones.

Sorry R371, I thought you were the poster saying never to allow a ouija board in your home. As a teenager, we used to make our own boards on cardboard or offcut wood and use a glass or empty jar as a planchette. I was wondering if even they can act as portals.

Thanks R372. I guess if the intent to invite a spirit is there, it doesn't really matter what kind of board you use.

R370 / R374

It probably has nothing to do with the Ouija board. If spirits exist and they are present they probably just use the boards as a means to communicate.

I haven't read the entire thread so maybe someone else has mentioned it- is someone living there? I have told this story on here before, I had a stalker who would break into my house when I was gone and do... stuff. like it was his own home. I thought it was my cats moving stuff around and making the house smell weird. I also later learned he was sometimes in the boiler room of the basement if i came home unexpectedly. so, maybe you have a stalker!

Last I heard R376 is that OP's chandelier is moving by itself.

thanks r377, reading backwards through the thread I just got to there. I always feel obligated to mention it as a possibility because it's kind of on the same level of crazy as ghosts. who thinks that stuff until it happens to them?

That's scary that your stalker was able to get in your house and gaslight you R378. Hope you are safe now.

We had a Ouija board when I was a kid. Never again. I was just a little kid, and my brother and cousins were, too. No one gave any thought to faking results to scare the rest of us. And I'm old, and this was before 'The Exorcist' was released. I'm nearly 60 now, and I would never allow one in my house, and would leave if I were asked to 'have fun' with one. The responses we received were very cryptic, but implied a lot of awful things. I think it was the fact that they were so cryptic that was the most frightening.

Would you use Tarot cards R380?

yes, thank you. it was 20 years ago and I can laugh about it now (like, sick joke laugh, not cute amusing). OP! I am in Vermont, I have never heard of a ghost here going full amytiville or poltergeist so, hang in there!

R381, I did when I was younger, but I don't own any anymore, and would prefer not to. I know how to do the various spreads, although I'm very much out of practice. But there's something really uncomfortable watching a planchette moving around a board, seemingly on its own. The other thing, right now, is that I don't feel the need to know what the future brings. I just try to do my best, and hope I won't have a miserable future. I guess, when you're younger, you might want reassurance about your life life or professional life. I already know I have a heart defect, and may need surgery in the near future. I just deal with my doctors at this point.

Love life, not life life.

R380 / R383 Wow! That had to be veeerrryyy freaky. People think they would want an experience like that but to actually have one...

Thank you for sharing

[Quote] OP's chandelier is moving by itself.

I used Ouiga boards as a teenager with friends and had spooky, unreal answers in which they said things they couldn't have known except by supernatural means.

As an adult I had a friend who got me to do a Ouiga board with him and it was sort of lovely. We got messages from my deceased boyfriend and also from an entity that said "the earth is revered throughout the universe, like an emerald in a dark sea." We thought that was so poetic and such a lovely description.

I would never do it again, though. I've heard too many people who had evil things talk to them through it.

"the earth is revered throughout the universe, like an emerald in a dark sea."

Cool R387.

It is probably good that you stopped using it, I've heard that malevolent spirits can disguise themselves as positive spirits.

Like I said up above in R95:

[quote]... when people use a Ouija board. It's like leaving your front door unlocked: you never know what will walk in.

Yes, you could have a good spirit full of peace and love that wishes to talk to you.

You could also have a bad one and the bad ones also LIE. You think you're talking to your first love who died tragically and the board is giving you all kinds of information that you already know so you know it's the person then suddenly it says it's in the room and it's going to kill you? Yeah, bad spirits LIE.

You could also contact something that was never human and you NEVER want to do that.

The only people who should use Ouija boards are people who know EXACTLY what they're doing which isn't anyone here and also those people who know what they're doing also know that it's better to do other things rather than use the Ouija board.

(Did you know the worst thing you can do is use one and NOT force it to say Goodbye before you end the session? Do you know how many idiots don't bother to do that? Ugh.)

They're never worth the risk.

If anyone tried to use the Ouija board at my home I'd kick them out. If I caught anyone using it I would tell them to tell it "Goodbye" and if I'm at your home and someone is using the Ouija board I am leaving.

Oh, pshaw! Ouija boards are perfectly safe, and I know exactly what I'm doing.

R389 When I was a teen my sister and I used one and it kept spelling out profanities. I told my sister she was moving it, she said I was moving it, etc. And the board claimed to be a spirit of someone who died in a fire.

Which is weird because years earlier my parents had an incident when they were up watching television one night while us kids were all in bed. A picture kept falling off the wall and my father thought we were up and jumping around. He went upstairs to check and we were all asleep but there was an electrical fire in my brothers' room.

After that I noticed a very odd, very strange series of very bad luck following me. I threw the board away and never touched one again.

R391, I hope you and your family are alright. I warned earlier not to fuck around with a Ouija board. I don't want of those things or anyone who has fooled with one around me.

Though I believe in the very real possibility of disembodied spirits, I strongly doubt they need a Parker Bros. game to make contact. If they want, they'll make contact on their own, I should believe.

R393 Or they utilize the board or whatever other spirit contact tool you happen to be using. I guess earthbound spirits are never a positive thing so the Ouija is probably not creating or attracting evil spirits, the energy is probably using the board or whatever spirit contact tool you are using in order to come through.

R392, yes. As with the theory that spirits use the electricity in our houses to manifest, one wonders how they made their appearance before the ouija board was introduced in 1890. (Come to think of it, that's about the same time electricity began to become common in American houses. Synergy!)

Still, I wouldn't fool around with one or let one be used in my home. It's pointless: Either spirits don't exist (or don't depend on Hasbro), in which case, what's the point? Or they do, and you're messing around with something unknown and potentially dangerous. I lean toward the former, but I'm open to believing the latter on a dark night when I've just watched a good horror movie.

Not sure if I've told these stories here before, but here goes.

First time we "made contact" with a spirit, mucking around with a homemade board and a glass tumbler as a group of 13 year olds, one of the girls asked who she would marry. The board spelt out Taylor Hanson. Obviously that never came to pass. One guy asked what he would be when he was an adult. The board spelt out rich. He's not. I asked what I would be when I 'grew up' - those cunts I was with spelt out UGLY. Well, I'm no Brad Pitt but no one has ever compared me to the Elephant Man.

Second time we dabbled in the "occult", same group of peers but at a different house. Homemade board, again. This house had a beautiful boxer dog. We ask if there is anybody there. The dog, which had been sleeping peacefully beside us all night, lifts her head and howls. We ask again, the power goes out, the dog races into the kitchen and makes some god awful groaning noises. We race after her, the power comes back on and the poor dog has done the biggest steaming pile of dogshit I've ever seen in my life on the kitchen floor. We didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but I fell out with that group soon after and haven't held a seance since.

Incidentally, those cunts who foretold my looks all went on to become sluts, high school dropouts and losers who never left our hometown.

think of a ouija board as a door. You put the door in and it isn't locked so anyone can come in. If you didn't have the door there you wouldn't have to worry about someone walking in that you didn't want there.

I used one once in my 20's. It worked for what we wanted it to but still scared the crap out of us. I knew to instinctively never use it again and I didn't.

We have a local antique store and the owner loves ouija boards and always has several in the store. A psychic came in once and said that one of his boards had something evil attached to it. He just laughed. He's young and for some reason tries not to allow these things bother him and thinks he knows everything. His sister told me he bought a set of armor that was used to protect a person from the black plague. He put it in his bedroom. At first he would wake up and see someone standing by the door of his bedroom. Then one night he woke up and found someone looking into his face from 1 foot away. (this has nothing to do with the ouija board)

there are some things you just don't mess with.

[quote]As with the theory that spirits use the electricity in our houses to manifest, one wonders how they made their appearance before the ouija board was introduced in 1890.

Changing magnetic fields can produce electricity and telluric currents underground also generate electricity although it's not usually a lot ... but electricity was "in" homes before appliances were. We're sitting on planet with a ball of metal at the care that cause,s through a series of reactions, a magnetic field to form around the planet. Some would say natural fluctuations in that are why certain areas (like the Bermuda Triangle) are "weird."

Finally, there's the idea, that people had an understanding that ghosts were more likely to appear during thunderstorms which predates electricity being in the home otherwise known as the reason why many ghost stories start out with, "It was a dark and STORMY night ..." Atmospheric electricity predates that as well.

Also inhuman spirits don't seem to rely on electrical energy to appear.

At least that's my guess.

R397 That's interesting. Maybe the set of armor was inspecting him for signs of the plague.

[R396]I had a similar, though less dramatic, experience with a ouija board as a kid. I was spending the night at a friend's, and we got the board out to play with. I can only attest that I wasn't *consciously* moving the planchette. It did move, answering a number of questions. When I asked if my dad would walk again (he'd recently been partially paralyzed), it said "yes" fairly quickly—later proving correct. At that point my friend's tomcat stood on his hind legs to look at the board over the edge of the table and started yowling at it. The game promptly went back in its box and onto a closest shelf, and we didn't mess with it anymore.

Every Sunday as a kid my aunt would use the Ouija board in our den. She'd sit there alone for hours and hours and play with it. She'd ask it questions about family and even what "lottery numbers" to play. When she wasn't using the board it would be kept in the closet in our living room on the top shelf. Then at some point over the course of the month she stopped using it with no real explanation. She put it in the closet and didn't touch it.

In my room, which I shared with my sister because my parents had just divorced and we "left" the house I grew up in, at night I started hearing noises. What I recall hearing were a cacophony of voices that didn't quite make any sense. Some male, some female. I couldn't make out what any of them were saying. At first they sounded like they were on the other side of the room, then they sounded like they were surrounding me. I asked my sister about it and she heard it too. One night it got to her and she picked up her things and moved into my grandmother's room. I was the youngest and I didn't think anyone would believe me.

Around that time I started having sleep paralysis. My body couldn't move and I'd be awake. I'd see and hear things. Shadow people surrounding my bed, usually. I told my doctor but I was scared because I didn't want anyone to think I was crazy. She told me that happens and it's just our brain's way of trying to make sense of outside stimuli in the shadows. I believed it until one night I went to bed and I heard the voices again. I wasn't having sleep paralysis. I could move. So I covered my head up with my comforter and put my pillow over it and then finally I heard as clear as day, "We know you still hear us."

A few days later I was sitting up in bed with my light on at my desk, I looked up when I heard a noise to a corner and saw a shadow person there with red eyes looking at me. I covered my head, uncovered it to peak and it was gone. I slept with my mom for a month. Everything was fine until she sent me back to my bed. That's when it happened, I heard the voices again, said the rosary and fell asleep. I woke up the next day covered in blood.

I ran to a hall mirror, saw it, freaked out and ran to my mom. She called an ambulance and drove me to the hospital. I spent 3 months there. I had pneumonia and strep throat at the same time. I almost died. This all happened over the course of 48 hours. My aunt worked at the hospital where I was and I finally told her and her friend DeeDee (RIP) what had been happening. My aunt's face went bone white. DeeDee looked at her with an, "I told you so!" look. Later the night, Dee came to my room on her shift and told me my aunt made contact with something evil through the Ouija board so she stopped using it and she'd handle things.

Long story short I went home, had a birthday party (the biggest one a kid could ever have because it was also a WELCOME HOME party) and things were fine for a while.

My mom told me I should have told her what was happening. She was angry at my aunt. She told me she threw the Ouija board out and I wouldn't have to worry about anything else. However, a few months later my mom went into the closet to get our Halloween outfits out and the Ouija board was there. She said to my sister and I, "I thought I got rid of this!" So she takes it into the kitchen and throws it out.

A few months later my mom goes to get our winter coats out and it's back again. Without a word she pulls it out, takes it outside and throws it into the garbage OUTSIDE of the house.

And ONE more time my sister went into the closet, found it and told my mother. My mother then goes to her room and gets dressed, takes my sister and the Ouija board out to the car and they drive off with it. That was the last time I saw that damned thing.

Years later my sister said they threw it in a corn field a few miles away from the house.

Weird, I know but it happened. It also started my fascination with ghosts and the occult.

I have had experiences with those who have passed, my father did and his mother did as well. I also studied Tarot for many years and read for people. I can tell you that I will not touch any of that stuff ever again. Some extremely bad shit can happen and has. No ghosts, no cards, no Ouija, no nothing. I stopped it all 2 years ago and am very glad I did. It is all fun and games until it isn't. Get a priest who really knows what he is doing. Good Luck and prayers for you. And I do not care who makes funny of me. This shit is no playground.

Interesting ghost story ("The Ghost of Rue Jacob") by Joan Juliet Buck:

My husband used our Ouija board once, years and years ago. He refused but to talk about what happened, and the Ouija board disappeared

However. when a friend of mine and I played with one as kids, it spelled out ‘cunt‘.

Well, we had no idea what a ‘cunt’ was and asked for a definition. The Ouija board responded with “a multi flavored ice cream”.

R350 - the book is Beyond the spectrum: A survey of supernormal photography by Cyril Permutt.

That looks interesting R406.

Bump. OP, any developments?

Yeah, OP. Bump!

My only experience with a Ouija board was with my cousins. We were stoned and the responses were nso onsensical that we started accusing each other of deliberately moving it. I don't think we ever did it again because nobody could trust each other.

Thank you R406

Any further news or developments, OP? The big investigation/exorcism is still this coming weekend, yes?

Good question R412. I just hope that the situation has not escalated to a Amityville Horror level.

It only works if you have proton packs.

OP's details are so similar to mine that I searched to try and find my old series of posts on a previous thread about haunted houses just to make sure he hadn't recycled my story. I can't find the thread or my word doc that I used to journal first. Anyway, I I maxed out about three concurrent posts maybe 5-7 years ago, from our home built in 1923. We had just moved in after they remodeled the basement and a few things upstairs. On the first night in the house we heard music in our bedroom; very high pitched tones. A later EVP picked up a child's voice singing in our bedroom. We had the same noises that OP mentions, like someone dropping a stack of magazines in the hallway, footsteps and voices and music. Our guests in the upstairs guest room would tell us that it sounded like someone was running their fingers up the blinds during the middle of the night. One guest told us that they would swear someone was "watching" them from the furnace return at the baseboards.

We also had movement--kitchen utensils and doors. EVERYONE including the Paranormal Society doing the investigating said it would take a LOT of energy to move those things, but it one time our bedroom door was closing itself and I yelled out "STOP IT STOP MOVING THE DOOR" and it slowly returned to itself to its open position.

Our three dogs would run to the back door and jump up and act like someone had just come in the door, then follow "it" into the house.

The Paranormal society picked up so many EVPs during their first night that they came back for a second round. During the recording of our first debrief they even picked up another EVP that happened in the room. One of the volunteers was delivering the data, and said something like "We know there is a lot more here to capture" and the EVP voice said "Find it." I sometimes still use that for my ringtone.

We recorded our own EVP tape once but got so scared that we didn't do any more. We began to see a figure in a white Tshirt moving very quickly through our basement, but by then we had learned to manage the situation. So OP, if you're still here:

You are not crazy. Familiarize yourself with some of the cleansing prayers online and sage the fuck out of your house including corners, cabinets, drawers and closets. We invited all spirits of friends, relatives and those who wish us well to be at home and at peace; any spirits of ill intent or that would wish harm or fear on us had to leave. Start at the front door, make your way in a circle around the home, open some windows and the doors and after you've completed the ceremony burn some incense to complete. Let everything air out. You should notice an immediate "lightness."

We also had one of the mediums from the Paranormal society bless our house at another time. She helped explain that ghosts were no different than any other guest--they have to abide by your rules or get out. You will have to say it out loud and with intention.

I mentioned in my post years ago that our staircase to the basement was constantly being "crowded" with a heavy presence--we did not like to have to break through that just to go to bed or do laundry. So one time I stood there on the stairs and told "it" that it was not allowed to do that any more. NO SCARING us. Stay out of the way and let us pass, don't touch or frighten anyone. It changed immediately. Perhaps it is psychological, but if so it worked. We learned to greet the entities when we arrived home and said goodbye and please watch over the house and pets while we were gone.

Our "haunting" did not go away, but we managed to be very happy and feel at home and at ease. When we sold that property in 2013 one of the last things I did was tell "them" what was going on and to be at peace. And I also told them where I was moving in case they wanted to come along. As far as I know, they did not. I have not had any experience like this haunting since. Well, other than my mom who sent me a very clear acknowledgment the week after she passed.

R415, great post.

The EVP as your ringtone is funny.

[quote]We learned to greet the entities when we arrived home and said goodbye

Sounds like a lot of effort for uninvited guests. Fuckers should be paying rent.

I'd be fine with having ghosts if they helped me keep the place clean

R415, is this you at R181, R182 and R184?

Looks like it. Nice catch, Val.

Val Yes! How in the world did you find that. Thanks for the link. Now I'll read to see some of the details of my memories.

OK GreenJeans / GreenGenes / R415 here. A follow up to my above post and the ones linked by Val. We lived almost two and a half more years in that house after I posted in 2011. The music never went away in our bedroom, so our solution was always the white noise. We continued to see the figure in a white Tshirt downstairs, but believe it or not we reached the point where we were not frightened any more as we realized that nothing could hurt us.

We found that the more we acknowledged "them" the less activity that we had.

One night I was upstairs meditating after my partner had gone to bed. Sitting in the living room I could look through a doorway to my left, which went through the dining room and into a hallway to the upstairs guest room and bath. Something caught my eye--a pinpoint of light in the hallway. I swear to God I watched that pinpoint of light move from the hallway into the dining room and--the word that comes to mind is "caress"--the light caressed a tall corn plant sitting there in the corner. I watched that light move across leaves, sometimes outlining a whole leaf--and then when it had spent maybe a minute doing that it shot across the table and I assume out the dining room windows that faced North.

My partner and I ended our relationship in early 2013 but still shared that house through August. I moved out of the master bedroom in the basement to the guest room upstairs and every so often would wake up to the woman's voice speaking softly as if she were carrying on a conversation. I'd just say "Tess, is that you?"and it always stopped.

When preparing that house to sell I had one problem after another. At one point we had to tear out sheetrock in the basement bathroom to repair the drainpipe that came down the wall from the first-floor kitchen. When I saw the green restoration paint on the stone foundation underneath the sheetrock I knew in my heart that that is where the man had shot himself. I believe, but do not know for certain, that the figure we kept seeing downstairs was him.

I can relate to the OP's post here of fear and confusion. Once we acknowledged what was happening then things got worse for a while. That is why we called the Paranormal society; by the time they did their first investigation we were too scared to stick around for it. Even reading the details on Val's linked thread, they sound so fantastical no wonder it took us a long time to tell anyone else what was happening. I'm anxious to hear what OP's results are. If they love the house then they need to stay and soldier through. It will get better. Thanks for reading.

I remembered you and your story GreenGenes/GreenJeans! Glad to see you again!

I just used Google to search datalounge + 1923 and ghosts. I always default to Google these days + a unique detail.

Thank you for following up!!!

R415 Thanks for posting your experience.

Yeah, the whole spirit energy thing is interesting. A while back another DL-er posted about a visitation dream they had. They weren't necessarily saying this was a ghostly experience, just a really vivid dream.

They asked the departed person why they didn't visit sooner and their deceased friend replied, "It is as difficult for me to reach you as it is for you to reach me."

I thought that was interesting. I wonder if you had a strong energy or life force while you were alive that you will have a strong energy after you pass and maybe not all departed souls can make themselves known or move things.

That detail about the green paint in the foundation is really chilling.

Thanks for telling us about it--and in such detail. Very interesting read.

r422 Sorry if this is a dumb question, but how did green paint make you realize that was the location where guy died?

R387: well now you know those ghosts are full of shit if our planet is the "emerald" of the universe lol

OP: you are a compelling writer and I hope you get through all of this safely.

R426 Decades ago they would use a light green paint to cover blood/tissue stains. Maybe it had to do with pigment, or putting a happier color on tragedy...not sure why. Maybe primer became better and more available? I just did a search for the history and can't find anything specific--just modern forensics of finding blood spots under paint layers. Maybe someone in law enforcement or the medical field can weigh in.

R426 I just found the answer in the color wheel--green cancels red.

R429: leave it to a ghost to remind us of a make-up tip: green hues to hide signs of inflammation. He must have been fab.

Boogie, boogie, boogie!

Does anyone experience strange behavior from (I'm gonna sound nuts) crows and ravens? One or two will drop down in front of me when I'm walking or sometimes three or more will appear in front of my car when I turn a corner while driving (requiring me to sometimes slow down or stop altogether), I get the weird sensation that my deceased father is trying to warn me or greet me. We had a decent relationship and I miss the crabby old fucker.

R424 that was me who posted about the visitation dream. It is still so clear and memorable

That's the most interesting question to me--why don't all departed souls visit or reach out to someone?

For me, the ghost thing seems too common of an experience not to be partially true; but at the same time, why only those individuals?

R433 I hope I retold or summed up your experience accurately enough.

What your late friend said in your dream, "It is as difficult for me to reach you as it is for you to reach me", explains a lot. Thank you for posting about your visitation dream.

R432

"She added: 'The blackbird slamming into the window seems to definitely have been a messenger, as they often are the messengers of souls crossing over, so that particular one seems to have the most significance of all of them, since it was at the time of (or shortly after) your mom’s passing'."

R436 Thanks. Interesting about birds as messengers. Looks like I have some reading to do.

I follow the blog of a lady in Ohio, who thinks her late father communicates to her with bird feathers, specifically, turkey vultures, since she and her father shared an interest in them. She writes about being out on a walk, and finding a turkey vulture feather dropped from above, and feels her Dad's presence.

R434, Good question, and one I've pondered as well. I've mentioned many encounters in my family, but they all took place in my grandmother's house. It was the house that was the common element. I recently asked my brother about this, and he reminded me that my Dad was born a twin, but his twin died. He said he was buried in the yard, but I know better: I know he was buried in St Mary's Cemetery. But my great-grandfather, on the other hand, was a violent alcoholic: I have no idea how he died. But he he had a miserable life, so maybe that can account for that.

R437 Do research about birds in general. When it comes to crows and ravens all you find are the old myths and no new revelations.

R438 So your was what is known as a "twin-less twin".

Like Elvis.

There's nothing scientific on being a twin-less twin but people have reported that when their twin dies, even of their twin died in childbirth, that they feel a part of them is missing. A feeling that can't quite put into words.

R440, I always heard that they were going to be called Roger and Ronald. My Dad;s name was Roger, and I took that as my confirmation name, so I'm Mark James Roger ............ We usually chose our sponsor's names, but I didn't want 'Raymond', since he was probably a sadist. My Dad was the one who mentioned his Dad chased a ghost up the stairs, but he never mentioned any sort of activity after that, and that happened before I was born. Anyway, I personally believe that my grandmother's house is haunted, since so many of my family members reported it. And the likely suspect (I think) is my great-grandfather. My poor tiny little German grandmother would tell us how she was pulled out of school and told to put on 'her big girl britches' and sent into service. She was working as a servant when she was 14. My great-grandfather built that house, and I've thought about buying it, just to tear it down. I don't have kids, and neither do my brother and sister, so there's nothing to celebrate or remember.

[quote]That's the most interesting question to me--why don't all departed souls visit or reach out to someone? For me, the ghost thing seems too common of an experience not to be partially true; but at the same time, why only those individuals?

The theory is that some places / some environments are just physically better at allowing them to manifest. Such as: places near or above conductive water, places where the ground is rich with certain minerals like quartz and lime, places where the weather is generally terrible etc. all seem to be linked with paranormal activity. People believe that the way someone dies also play into whether or not there will be an imprint allowing them to appear. (In the same vein, there are people who will walk into an environment where a lot of people have died and just "feel it" even of those people don't necessarily believe in ghosts.)

I think there's also the idea that the will of a spirit plays a part in this. It's like people who have a parent who die, sense the parent maybe after their death and then never again. People move on. People have nothing else to say. If you believe in an "after life" in the classic sense then maybe what's next is better than what's here so why stick around? Or it just may be they have nothing to say.

Finally there are so many people, I believe, that have had paranormal experiences but because THEY don't believe in it they wouldn't "notice" it or "acknowledge" that they've occurred.

I don't know if you would call this a ghost, but it's a video of a wild cardinal that won't leave these women alone, and allows them to pet it and hold it.

More details at the video, but apparently two sisters asked their mother to give them a sign after death and to somehow have a cardinal involved.

The cardinal showed up and spent 10 minutes or so being as close to them as possible and not leaving, even when they tried to toss it into the air.

Val, you made some interesting comments at 442. (I was the person you quoted.) I'm going to mull this over and post again.

You've made some great contributions to this thread, and I thank you.

So, OP, I am hooked on your story.

What's next?

When does the group show up to handle things for you?

We are all desperate for an update, OP.

Folks, the OP said he wasn't going back until the place was de-spooked (after 12/20)...

R346

[quote]Anyway, we're out. I'm not coming back until this is settled. I don't like this laughter silliness and I don't like that it's getting slightly more active. We don't yet have a date for the investigation but it will be next month. I am pushing for sooner rather than later so I can ideally have my home back for Christmas and put this behind us.

R355

[quote]Anyway we are home now ahead of the storm. Got an email this morning the investigators will go in on the 14th and based on that it should be blessed and clean by the 20th.

Val while we’re waiting for OP I re-read your upthread contributions; your approach and thoroughness mirrors my experience with the local investigators. I am especially appreciative of your comments about environment.

Interestingly, the 1923 home (“1923”) is on a street cut deeply into a hill. 150 feet up the hill behind it is an old mineral spring that had been the center of a park in the 1800s. It also fed a bottling plant built at the turn of the century which is now the house next door to 1923. The water table rises especially during the spring thaw and basements flood easily if they aren’t finished properly. The area is known for its high mineral content, red rocks, natural springs, and—new to me at the time—horizontal lightning.

Up the hill from behind the old bottling plant is another house that was originally a barn for the plant’s delivery horses. Between the two structures is the neighbor’s lovely backyard garden, which we could see from our bank of kitchen windows. One day my partner was washing dishes and asked “WHAT is XXX wearing? What is she doing? What is…uh…uhhh…”

Then he turned to me and said “Uh, never mind. She just, uh, just disappeared. Into the bushes.” He said the movement of the red/brown dress caught his eye and that she walked a couple of steps, turned (he saw the full-length skirt) and then stepped forward again and was gone.

R448 = GreenJeans

R422 I never knew that about the quartz. I'm the one who posted about frequent visitation dreams and I live on a piece of property with milky quartz the size of toddlers.

R447 Yeah, but the de-spooking was supposed to happen this weekend. Even if OP isn't on site for the process, one can only assume that the ghostbusters would provide progress reports.

Hi folks.... sorry, I have been travelling and just ignoring my ghost house. Looks like we're in for a haunted Christmas. They cancelled the vigil or what have you... the new medium got a cold. So we have shuttered the place and will ignore it until they're done their work. The medium and the sensitive may go in without gear for a few hours sometime between now and the next vigil, which they propose to do Jan. 2 as they are all off. We have no desire to endure the place over Christmas or ask anybody else to put up with it. We haven't been back since Thanksgiving. The guy who checks the house said he has seen various lights on at different times but we've told him to just leave it be. If the pipes wouldn't freeze I'd turn the main off. Have a nice holiday. If they go in for their mini vigil I will let you know.

Thanks for checking in with us, OP.

And thanks to Greenjeans for his story. I enjoyed reading about the bottling plant. Perhaps a thought: maybe you should print this out, and send it to the historic society or the paranormal society where you lived. (Or maybe there is a repository for these things at a university or something.)

Thank you for the update, OP. Sorry to hear about the delay. I hope you have a safe and happy holiday and that the new year brings a successful resolution.

[quote]150 feet up the hill behind it is an old mineral spring that had been the center of a park in the 1800s. It also fed a bottling plant built at the turn of the century which is now the house next door to 1923. The water table rises especially during the spring thaw and basements flood easily if they aren’t finished properly. The area is known for its high mineral content, red rocks, natural springs, and—new to me at the time—horizontal lightning.

R448, Hey there and thank you so much! That's amazing to hear! The saddest part is that it's not cheap to chest for these things. I feel like if more teams had the resources to do that they'd find a correlation between mineral content and or water conductivity with paranormal occurrences.

I was reading about and then I watched an episode of "Ghost Hunters" at the Original Springs Hotel in Illinois which was placed on top of a natural water stream. It had one of those health and fitness spas built on top of it a few decades ago since the water was thought to be curative. Of course there had also been a series of reported hauntings and actual murders/suicides there.

The team that went there was able to access the water used for the old baths through a well right in the middle of the property hidden underneath a slab. The place was literally right on top of the stream. They had a scientist come in and they discovered that the conductivity of the water was three times the amount of what you'd get out of the tap. They also discovered extremely high amounts of EMF from the wiring of the place which can cause hallucinations.

That's one of the reasons why I always appreciated that show. Besides being the first (so they never felt like they had to fake things), like any good team, they will debunk the hell out of all claims. These newer shows -- I just don't buy them. There's always a ghost. There's a psychic running around "sensing" things that don't entirely make sense. Sometimes I don't think there's anything there at all and on Ghost Hunters they're never afraid to say that there isn't.

However, in this case, while they debunked most of it they were open to saying that the water conductivity + the EMF issues (which need to be fixed) can lead to their being more paranormal activity even if they didn't see any of it. In some cases where they've gotten high EMFs they'll usually have someone come in and fix it so the activity stops completely because either they're causing ghosts to appear or they're causing people living there to hallucinate because our bodies can't make sense of it so it causes our minds to play tricks on us.

Anyways in theory, I agree that it's all super interesting!

R418 Your post made me laugh... It would be nice if they cooked for us once in awhile too!

OP- This has been on of my all time favorite threads. You came here in a panic with a fascinatingly weird problem and you gave more than 12,000 people something to think about. You're an excellent writer and communicator. Thank you for your sharing your candid thoughts and very human responses during each step. Well Done. Best wishes for a resolved 2020.

OP, this is for you.

Another site member here, OP. I've wondered where you've been and actually think about your story and situation from time to time, absolutely baffled by being unable to contribute anything constructive. The internet and social media act strangely, people we've never met and never will have personal contact with, take up our time and we worry for them.

But I do find myself concerned for your home and also that you and your husband stay together through this, whatever happens. Good luck. And hopefully 2020 will find this resolved in the best possible way.

Ghost House (A Horror Movie in Real Life)

Hi all. My husband and I (every time I say that I feel like the Queen not a queen) have been here and there together over December. My work gives me considerable flexibility so sometimes I go off on my own while himself is at war in court. So I have been avoiding the house and spent a good chunk of December in London. He came over and we spent Christmas with friends in the country and now we are back. Once they got the new medium lined up he wanted to go in right away because he thought the Ouija board story was the worst news he'd heard in a long time. So they did a brief visit and emailed to say they did get various senses of things/presence in the house BUT they don't think it's anything malevolent as a result of the Ouija board. So that's a relief. They are actually there tonight and staying over (the medium and the sensitive woman) and will let us know what there is to know. The plan is to go in en masse Jan. 2 as scheduled. We're not going.

Can I just say the expressions of kindness are unexpected but appreciated. It is a nice thing to see when we see it anymore - people bothering about one another. Since I left that house for the last time I've come to realize in a way they are haunting me too. My pleasure at the place, my relaxation there, my feelings for it have changed significantly. It's in my head. And going there and experiencing it time and time again it was haunting me... in my head almost constantly. We are leaning very heavily toward selling it, just because it's tainted now. (I am uncertain if I would ever really relax alone in it again.) But that said being away from it also made me somewhat more sanguine about it. I am optimistic this can be solved once it gets blessed and saged and whatever else they've got in their Hogwarts tool kit. Anyway, it is crawling forward and, out of the pressure cooker, I feel in the right direction. The long term question becomes what do we do with what's left over, assuming we can make the fuckers go away and stay away.

I think you should ignore it or talk to it and ask it to leave. I believe in ghost but seems you are damned if you do and damned if you don't, so best to ignore.

I know it has no impact on my life, but I would hate to see you walk away after all the effort.

Lots of people have lived in that house over the years and you seem to be dealing with the rotten apples right now.

If the team is successful, I'd like to think you and your partner can enjoy the house as you always planned.

This has come to teach you a lesson OP. LEARN IT.

I agree with R463 and R464.

Also, I would like to request that you please post pictures or video caught by the investigation team that goes to your house on the 2nd.

Thank you

OP, that's good news about there being nothing malevolent in what the team sensed. Think of it as a temporary 'infestation.' If your team is successful, your lovely country home that you worked so hard to refurbish will soon be free of what are essentially annoying pests. The pests aren't at peace either, and need help moving on. You're going for a win-win solution. Stay hopeful and give your team a chance to make their best effort. Wishing you and your husband a happy new year.

It's OP. So, tonight is the night. It's just gone seven o'clock here so I imagine they've started. They went in this afternoon to set up during daylight. I wanted to touch base because many have been interested and because they have now told us we will get a phone call tomorrow and a written report in a few days and that will will take a week or two depending on schedules to produce any recordings etc. (Assuming of course the entire house doesn't collapse in on itself and disappears into a fiery lake of hell or something. Which would really be a problem on resale.)

The medium and the sensitive had an odd night the night they stayed over. They said the house was "resistant." "The atmosphere was tense, like when someone is ignoring you after an argument." They said they tried everything to engage and couldn't get anywhere. So they went to bed without any real insights except certainty we've got ghosts. In the night they had three door slams - and this was a first - one opening of a door to the bedroom the medium was sleeping in (occupying... they didn't sleep under the circumstances, obviously.) Medium got up, starting talking, and then they heard a distinct laugh from downstairs (which we had been hearing toward the last time or two we stayed.)

So they went down and tried to engage again. Nothing spoke to them or anything but the medium came away with three senses, which he said "messages": were somewhere between a feeling and an actual, I don't know, as if you were being spoken to. However a medium gets directions or a text from a ghost. I don't know.

1) there are three of them but they are now sort of a pack. There's either a ring leader or a dominant ghost who is quite sour and scoldy (medium's impression.)

2) they are associated with the house - they know it - they didn't drop by because of the Ouija board. But that always seemed unlikely because this has been going on since before that. But at least it is still looking like we don't have any extra problems as a result.

3) very unhappy with the house at present - he couldn't understand the nature of the unhappiness but had a sense they were saying "it's plain." Nobody knows what that means.

He said they didn't try to talk to them about moving on or be too familiar but said they'd be back, with some friends, soon, and hoped to visit more with them.

The other thing he and the sensitive did was sit apart from each other at opposite ends of the dining room table any time they were either trying to connect with or communicate with our guests. The process was to write things down before they verbalized them back or said anything specific out loud, to avoid influencing the other. They both came away with several words that were identical, that they had both sensed - water, private and shame. They didn't have any insight and it makes no sense to me or my husband. There is nothing in the history of the place they have researched that makes any sense of it. Water's obvious perhaps... there's water to the house, there has been more than one well and there's a creek and ponds on the acreage and in the woods. Private could mean anything. Shame is a total mystery. The history of the house doesn't indicate anything shameful or embarrassing or such. Unless shame means as in it's a shame... which the only thing we can guess is it's a shame the house has changed post our renovation. Which seems obvious in retrospect and they didn't "say" anything that suggests the changes to the house are on their minds... it's just this all started in earnest after we started living in the renovated house so I am supposing that. We are as mystified as before. In fairness the medium and the sensitive said it may be too soon to understand the nature of what they passed on to us and that often a good percentage of what people like them recover or learn never really makes a lot of sense. Val, if you're here, curious to know your thoughts as you read this, as ever.

Very interesting! Thank you for sharing this with us--it's a vicarious adventure for the rest of us, as well! I would love to hear what Val thinks.

I think Water/Private/Shame might be the hot tub?

Thank you sharing the info, OP. I really hope that the team can get these spirits to move on and that you once again enjoy the house. It would be such a shame to sell it after putting so much love and effort into it.

Hello OP!

I'm still around. I'm glad things are progressing! I hope you had a great holiday break!

My thinking is that what you should really want from all of this initially is concrete evidence (like recordings or video) that there are ghosts. I'm not all about that "psychic life."

A good one can be helpful (I suppose -- I've only ever known two good ones and they would have never been on an investigation this early) but at the end of the day it's all about something tangible. Personally, I don't think a psychic is necessary until after an investigation takes place so they don't influence the investigators but some teams do have sensitives with them initially.

I'd think of the psychic's feelings about things as being the CliffsNotes of what the other investigators will hopefully find out and capture on something you can show people and see for yourself.

Or rather, to put it plainly, I'd ignore them and wait for the recordings and video evidence to be presented.

As for what the psychics could have meant with water, shame and private I'm not a psychic. I do have a weird gift for sometimes figuring out something just by using what I know about any situation. I'm more of a Sherlock or Sherlene Holmes. This is COMPLETELY not my area. Rather than say it, I'll throw out what we know to see if anyone else is picking up what I'm putting down:

- We know the haunting started when you moved in

- We know a family has lived there for generations and had no issues

- We know you made changes to the place but so did the other family, right? Over the years and NOTHING. Could you have really made changes in a way that would really offend them? Why would someone get annoyed if a house was plain? We would if a house was hideous after being remodeled.

- We know they're not violent but they do want to annoy you.

- They seem to be most active when it involves you or your husband. (Granted they do things when you're not there but that genie is out of the bottle.)

Let's say the psychics were onto something. Ask, yourself what is it that would make them think water, private and shame? Maybe even take water out of it. Think about them as messages to YOU because there's something about you that winds them up. For further context, they're messages to you said by someone associated with the house from a few generations ago.

I think I know where you are going with your thoughts Val and that was my immediate sense too, when I read the psychic's report. But it is up to the OP to come to the same conclusion.

Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!

Early feedback and very disappointing: they got nothing. They say the place felt like it was on lockdown: tense, resistant. There wasn't a door slam or anything and they were there all night. The medium claims, says, he could sense them but they were determined not to engage. The only "message" he says he got was a sporadic: Go. They assume that meant leave, which they did not. And they say they've got readings of a consistent temperature drop all night.

So Sunday we've got a sage burning and the Episcopalian is going to bless. The priest they will try to sort next week. I don't know what to make of it. I am so disappointed. The paranoid part of me thinks these asshole ghosts are girding for battle. I want no part of it. Husband says, weather permitting, we have to go back next weekend to take the place for a spin post Jesus taking the wheel. I have no idea.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you, OP. I hope the sage and the blessings do the trick and the spooks all move on.

We got a little more by email this morning because they wrote to confirmed the priest coming on Tuesday. The medium and the sensitive did a lot of talking at them... suggesting it was time to go away. They wanted to plant the seed with them that the times were changing, from Sunday. The sensitive will go back in late in the week to see if she senses anything. The medium comes from near Boston so that's not feasible.

I read and read about these things and I was really expecting it would be a big night... they'd go nuts. I thought sure they'd encounter real activity when we've experienced so much. That the feeling was one of resistance concerns me. I am tired of this and don't want it to go on forever. My other concern about the resistance sensation is that I had read you can learn to live with them if you ask them to behave less unsettlingly... i.e. you can stay, but shut the fuck up. I might have been able to get there. I still don't much like the confirmed feeling of being watched. So hopefully the sage and rent a revs do the trick.

Val, I cannot make head's nor tails of your comment, or the subsequent one, meaning anything other than the ghosts don't like the gays. Since it's our house and it's remote we do swim and sun naked by the pool and same with the hot tub. And yes, we have sex in our house. Not always only in the bedroom. So yes, we renovated big time and sometimes walk around starkers. That's unlikely to change so if the ghosts don't like and don't fuck off, we're fucked and not in the way they don't like. Is that what you meant?

I shattered my fibula during a fall, saw the name of the thread, and have spent a good deal of time reading the whole thing. Hope the OP keeps updating, because this is one of the most interesting threads on this board.

The thing about ghosts that creeps me out the most would be them watching me in any personal situation - on the toilet, taking a shower, having sex, etc.

You can't tell me they just avert their eyes until it is over.

Plus, why are ghosts so coy and bashful? Why can't there be any extroverted, chatty ghosts? Wouldn't some ghost be smart enough to catch on to what works in their world and what doesn't so they can be a bit more forward or direct?

Ghosts (and I do believe in them) just seem to be inept and inconsistent.

Ghosts are not human. They do not have bodies. They are masses of energy. They can make themselves look like a person because that is what we understand but they aren't. They have no interest in your body or sex. An orb is a spirit. It is just a ball of light.

R479 - ok, but why are they so evasive? Is there not one extroverted ghost who uses up all the energy to talk a lot?

I mean - through simple trial and error - they've got to know what works, if they are actually intelligent beings. If they're energy, then they're SMART energy.

But apparently they freak out over sage and some priest's blessed water?

Ghosts can't talk. They can only make sounds like hiss and laugh and make noise with objects.

R476 Not Val, but I thought you said the ghosts didn't pitch a fit until after the remodel. Did you and your husband occupy the house for a period of time before that? In other words, if they had issues with gays wouldn't they have protested sooner?

R481 - there's been a lot of verbal activity from ghosts recorded on tape.

I don't know - it would just seem that if they are intent on communicating with us, some enterprising ghost would come up with a way to crack the system.

Throwing shit around is just infantile. I know I'm sounding disingenuous, but I do wonder about this stuff. We seem to accept ghosts' limited capabilities or pretend to know what they can and can't do. I don't think we do know exactly.

R482... we occupied the house sporadically prior to the remodel, yes, in its original state, bar a few coats of paint, for about two years. It wasn't a lot because at that point the glory of the place was outdoors, not in. I didn't mind it and spend more time than my husband up there. I grew up on a farm. I was used to old houses. He is a city boy and likes things done properly. That's why we decided to change it. The pool and the hot tub went in as part of the overhaul in the spring and early summer of 2019 and after we got it back as ours that's when the nudity increased, except for my sun tanning when I was up prior. Maybe I read Val wrong. I hope I did because we're not giving up sex or putting our pants back on for a couple of ghosts. The activity became noticeable from about July of last year onward, after the reno was done and we were living life there and entertaining more. We had a lot of guests as many weekends as we could host. That was the point of the place. It was always a creaky old house given it's age. If they were making noise about us prior to the reno it was infrequent and we didn't notice or chalk it up to anything. For the most part the frightening stuff like broken glasses or slamming doors or whispering and laughter was less frequent but really unnerving. Well, except the doors. From about September onward they were always fucking with the doors upstairs. The doors were the worst thing because they were real slams from upstairs. It couldn't be anything but a door slamming. And of course you'd go up and there it would be, closed when before it hadn't been. Why couldn't be be haunted by Walt Whitman and life would be easier?

Smudge that place, OP.

LOL at R484 and Walt Whitman - could you imagine if there were gay ex-interior designer ghosts that would smash any bad decorating objets?

They'd tape the ghost saying - "Bitch I'm doing you a FAVOR! "

[quote]Val, I cannot make head's nor tails of your comment, or the subsequent one, meaning anything other than the ghosts don't like the gays.

That is what I was thinking of. I didn't know about the water connection though in that sense. I was just trying to make sense of the medium/sensitive's comments if they are to be believed.

It would also explain why they're not so interested in communicating with the investigative team since you and your husband are the focus of their unrest. You'd think if there were people that were open to talking to them and listening they'd communicate clearly but they only want to break your glasses.

I hope and pray the priest does something to help you and that they move on. As I said before: it's your home now and I wouldn't leave it since you've put so much work into it!

[quote]Plus, why are ghosts so coy and bashful? Why can't there be any extroverted, chatty ghosts?

Most ghosts are just people without bodies. Most living people wouldn't want to watch you use the bathroom or have sex.

There are extroverted, chatty ghosts but the spirits that get stuck here are either here because they have an unresolved purpose, they died a violent death, they aren't ready to move on or they didn't know enough to move on (like child spirits.)

So you're more likely to encounter an intelligent spirit that had problems when they were alive than you are one who was generally a nice, happy, person.

One last thing:

[quote]But apparently they freak out over sage and some priest's blessed water?

This is going to get into weird psychic mumbo jumbo but it's not necessarily about the "symbols" it's about the "belief" behind them.

It's like that old story that you can use a cross to stop a vampire from attacking you but you have to BELIEVE in the cross to do it.

The idea is that the mere belief that a priest has as a spiritual warrior is enough for the priest to use their energy to not only summon supernatural aid (thought forms/beings) to help them get a ghost out of your home but to use their own energy to help it "move on" by opening a way for the spirit to travel beyond this plane of existence.

My personal belief is that thoughts have power and that we're all essentially energy in a human shell and sometimes we can use that energy to make things happen.

Some spirits get attached to material objects and have a hard time letting go of them which is one reason they may stick around. They are obviously holding onto the "their" home and don't want to let go of it. I don't think they want to leave. They may not even want you to leave but only to know they aren't happy with you. Sometimes the only solution is to co-exist.

You also have to remember that we know a few things but also know very little about the other side since there is no one to tell us. I do know they can be far more powerful than we realize by helping us on this side. There have been instances of saving people. Sometimes they warn us. Sometimes they can prevent something from happening to us. But we have no idea how much they can actually do. I know they can't interfere with our decisions but they can help.

Try speaking to them. Just say that you welcome their presence, but you have to make a few updates for current day use, and that they are welcome to stay if they are there in peace.

[quote]Why couldn't be be haunted by Walt Whitman and life would be easier?

R484 Can you get help from other ghosts? Maybe if you let out a barbaric yawp...

Yesterday, I heard this radio interview with the caretaker of a Philadelphia historic site called Glen Fern. I was making dinner and nearly dropped a dish when they casually mentioned...

[quote]Johnson hired a medium to exorcise the seven ghosts he said were trapped in the basement, soldiers from the Revolutionary War.

OP, you could contact him if your team isn't successful. I'm betting he won't think you're a nut.

Hi, it’s OP. Good news, I think. So the sensitive rang and she went back in today, after the Catholic priest did his thing Tuesday. In any event, she said the place felt entirely different… like nothing other than a quiet, empty house. She said she’d never felt it like that on any prior visit… but she credits the Episcopalian guy who was in on Sunday.

She said she’d never seen anybody like him. On the drive up, before they entered he asked her just to give him a distinct nod if she felt there was anybody/thing there, which she did. And he just goes wild with feeling - introduced himself, said he was there to help, to pray, empathized, talked about the next life… she said at one point he was so into talking with them and urging them on to the next life that there were tears in his eyes. He walked through every room in the house talking to them and encouraging them to go and making the case for the life of the house in new hands and how we were OK to be those hands… she said it was incredibly moving (and she wants to make him their new go to ghostbuster.)

So it seems done. She said she spent an hour in the house, even called out… nothing. House is empty. She purposely went upstairs and opened all the doors to the bedrooms, since they loved closing them when we weren’t around. She even put a doorstop in front of one so if somebody wants that door closed, they’re going to have to work for it. We’re going up this weekend and we’re gonna be naked and hot tub and fuck downstairs and in our room… I figure we better put this to the supreme test! I am actually excited. I thank all of you who posted through this. You were kind. Thank you.

So, are you still an athiest?

LOL. I have a lot to think about. At least I'm grateful the ghosts aren't.

I mean it when I say I have a lot to think about. So many questions. Such a bizarre experience. And yes it confuses me, what happened, what resolved it and how that conflict with my views of religion. It's a lot to square. But short term it seems we have our home back.

OP I'm happy for you , glad you had a successful resolution hope you have fun in your house now.

R495 OP please let us know how you get on this weekend? Wishing you the best!

Happy fucking!

Yay! I'm very happy for you, OP. Please check in with us after this weekend and let us know how it goes.

Mazel Mazel OP. I'm glad to hear you finally called in a Catholic Priest. I'm sure between him and the Episcopal, your arse is covered!

I've heard great things about Episcopal cleansings. Maybe because they take it seriously.

How was your weekend, OP?

Hey, it's OP. A normal weekend with lots of... potential provocations for anti-sex spirits. And nothing. It seems to be done.

And like the sensitive says, it feels like a different house again. It just feels normal. I can't quite describe it except the house feels like the house, not an occupied place. Maybe it is all power of suggestion. I don't know. I know something happened, several times. I know we did things to stop it and I know it did. But other than that, I can't explain any of this. Don't even want to try. I have decided just to accept that what happened, happened and not worry about who or how or why because there's the obvious answer, the face of things, and then all the mystic questions that are raised by looking at things on the face of it.

But anyway, it's done now, it seems. A great weekend. Thanks to all who asked. Separately, I am quitting DL for good so won't be updating going forward. No big drama. Just I find except for here on this thread, this site drags you down. I feel like we've got a new lease on life on our end, so I'm going with the momentum. Thank you all again for all your kindness. I wish you all great good luck and happiness in everything that comes your way.

And...SCENE.

Glad to hear that everything worked out, OP!

Best of luck and I hope you enjoy your home!

This was the best thread in ages. I hope OP comes back to update.

r503, OP, just curious. How much did this whole excommunication thing cost? ( it seems to have been pretty labor intensive: a bunch of people were involved and some spent the night...etc)

R507... not much. The vigil/investigation stuff was free. This is their hobby. That's why so much happens nights and weekends and why scheduling was so tricky. This was first proposed back in November or early December, as I recall. We tried to give them something and no one wanted it. Didn't even want us to donate to charity on their behalf. We subsequently gave both the clergy $500 each to their respective churches. This was not asked for, but we felt it was right.

As an aside, the guy who checks checked for us last night. All quiet. The only lights on were the timer lights. All doors wide open. Hurrah!

I just wanted to add that the humanity and compassion demonstrated by the holy man is not exclusive to nor even a necessary component of organised religion.

R508 Congratulations, OP! I wish you and your hubby many years of happiness in that house.