Ghost Stories, Anyone?

[Trouble]

Inspired by Wolfy's Creepy Coincidences thread and Brandon's post there.

So, I'm a natural skeptic. I don't disbelieve in ghosts, exactly. I do believe in them. To be more exact, I believe in the possibility of ghosts. I love hearing stories of other people's encounters----or possible encounters---and various backstories. So come, share some stories with each other.

I don't have any myself. Except for one, but I think it's more of a memory than an actual 'ghost story'. I had this pet bird for a very long time, a darling little cockatiel. For years, he lived in a hanging cage. When he had his nightfrights (any cockatiel owner would recognize this phenomenon; it's when a frightened cockatiel beats their wings against their cage. They typically happen at night for some reason), his cage would sway back and forth. Sometimes, when I wake up in the dark, I swear I hear his cage swaying still.

[Muninn]

Inspired by Wolfy's Creepy Coincidences thread and Brandon's post there.

So, I'm a natural skeptic. I don't disbelieve in ghosts, exactly. I do believe in them. To be more exact, I believe in the possibility of ghosts. I love hearing stories of other people's encounters----or possible encounters---and various backstories. So come, share some stories with each other.

I don't have any myself. Except for one, but I think it's more of a memory than an actual 'ghost story'. I had this pet bird for a very long time, a darling little cockatiel. For years, he lived in a hanging cage. When he had his nightfrights (any cockatiel owner would recognize this phenomenon; it's when a frightened cockatiel beats their wings against their cage. They typically happen at night for some reason), his cage would sway back and forth. Sometimes, when I wake up in the dark, I swear I hear his cage swaying still.

I love ghost stories!

This isn't much of one, either, but one night I was staying the night at a friends' place.  He and the other friends that stayed over were all guys so I had to sleep in the living room by myself while they all got to "sleep" in his room (and by "sleep" I mean stay up late and have fun! :( ).  Now, my friend always told us creepy stuff that would go on in his house so I was a bit uncomfortable being by myself.  Eventually I fell asleep but was awoken when I felt someone raking their nails down the length of my back - it wasn't hard and didn't hurt but it was enough to startle me awake.  I thought it was my friends playing a prank so I turned around to tell 'em to 'eff off but - -  there was only a wall there.  My back was to the back of the couch which was pressed up against a wall with no way someone could sneak behind. 
I was a little shaken but had no other incidents that night!

(and totally off topic but that's awesome that you used to be a cockatiel owner - I totally know about that nightfright thing, I often woke up in the middle of the night to calm him down.).

[Beguile's Mistress]

I used to spend a lot of time with my grandparents when I was growing up.  They had an Irish Setter named Limerick (Ricky for short).  I was about six years old when I noticed that every so often he'd come to the kitchen at five o'clock exactly and sit by the table, facing the door and waiting.  At 5:05 his ears would perk up, his tail would start wagging and he'd get agitated, then he'd get up and go to the door.  He looked like he was greeting someone with the way he lifted his nose, seeming to nudge and invisible hand.  Then he'd turn and walk sedately to a chair at the end of the table and lay down next to it.

I asked my Gram about it and she thought for a bit and said she wasn't sure why Ricky did that.  A few years later Gram and Grandy were talking about a helper they had hired when they first bought the peach orchard where they lived.  That evening Ricky did his thing where he seemed to be waiting for someone and greeting them at the door.  Gram noticed what Ricky was doing and got a scared look on her face for a few seconds then she laughed.

She told me that the helper they had been talking about used to come to dinner at the exact same time every night, the time that Ricky appeared to be greeting someone.  He had been killed when a car went out of control and hit him and two others on the street in town.  It was spooky to think that their helper was still coming to dinner now and then.  But there was something even more eerie about this occurance.

Ricky hadn't been born yet when the helper died.

[Muninn]

I used to spend a lot of time with my grandparents when I was growing up.  They had an Irish Setter named Limerick (Ricky for short).  I was about six years old when I noticed that every so often he'd come to the kitchen at five o'clock exactly and sit by the table, facing the door and waiting.  At 5:05 his ears would perk up, his tail would start wagging and he'd get agitated, then he'd get up and go to the door.  He looked like he was greeting someone with the way he lifted his nose, seeming to nudge and invisible hand.  Then he'd turn and walk sedately to a chair at the end of the table and lay down next to it.

I asked my Gram about it and she thought for a bit and said she wasn't sure why Ricky did that.  A few years later Gram and Grandy were talking about a helper they had hired when they first bought the peach orchard where they lived.  That evening Ricky did his thing where he seemed to be waiting for someone and greeting them at the door.  Gram noticed what Ricky was doing and got a scared look on her face for a few seconds then she laughed.

She told me that the helper they had been talking about used to come to dinner at the exact same time every night, the time that Ricky appeared to be greeting someone.  He had been killed when a car went out of control and hit him and two others on the street in town.  It was spooky to think that their helper was still coming to dinner now and then.  But there was something even more eerie about this occurance.

Ricky hadn't been born yet when the helper died.

Wow, this gave me the chills.  It's an awesome ghost story, Beguile. :)

Anyone ever have some sort of panic attack somewhere where it was completely ridiculous? Like, you're alone and you know you're alone somewhere but then you suddenly get those hairs on the back of your neck pricked and you just know something/someone is there and you just have to flee? I've had that in the garage of my parents' old house.  I hated going in there alone.

[Trouble]

@Muninn: Oh, creepy! Did you ever ask your friend about it?

@Beguile: Aww... that's cute. I've always heard that animals are more sensitive, but I've never seen proof of it in my own pets. Sometimes the dog randomly howls at things, but I think that's just him being stupid. Or hearing raccoons outside or something.

[Serephino]

I have several, but not the time or the space to tell them all, so I'll pick a few for now.

When I was little I used to wake to the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs.  It scared the crap out of me to say the least.  Now I live in a duplex, and at the time an elderly couple lived on the other side.  When I said something to my mom she used to say it was probably the neighbors getting up and going to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

I accepted that explanation for the time being.  But then over the next few years the man died, and the woman had a stroke and couldn't use the stairs anymore.  The footsteps never stopped.   


My dad died of cancer when I was 10.  He used to be the one that watched me during the day while my mom worked, but after he died a family friend started watching me.  It was probably about three weeks after he died that I was home alone waiting for the babysitter to come.  I walked out to the kitchen to get a drink, and as I passed the stairs I swear I saw my dad standing on them out of the corner of my eye.  I looked again and no one was there.  I got my drink and went back to the living room.  I had a taper candle lit sitting on the coffee table.  It moved about three inches.


Our computer used to be in my mom's bedroom.  One night I was home alone and playing some music.  I was playing the song Hell's Bells when the door that was wide open slammed shut.  I'm not talking about slowly closed like a breeze was pushing it.  I mean like an angry person slammed it as hard as they could.  It made a loud bang and I nearly jumped out of my skin. 


Last but not least, I came home from school one day and the furnace wasn't working.  It was winter and the house was freezing.  We had a kerosene heater, but of course my mom had messed with it and fucked it up.  I couldn't get it to light.  She worked as a book keeper for a restaurant and I called her to ask her when she was coming home because she could light it.  She said she wouldn't be able to for a while because she had been elected to stay while one of the stoves was being fixed. 

She did however come and pick me up so I could at least sit in the warm restaurant.  It was pretty late when the repair guy finally left.  She started shutting everything down and got ready to leave.  She told me we had to go out through the kitchens to the back door.  She also sent me ahead while she locked everything up because all the light switches were in the front. 

I was in the main kitchen when she shut the lights off.  To my right was a wall with ovens, and to my left were the prep tables.  It kind of went back like that the whole way back.  I kind of felt my way along the wall when suddenly I felt a tug on my arm.  Thinking it was my mom I stopped and reached behind me to find her.  There wasn't anyone there.  I called out for her and no one answered.  Then I yelled, and she was still in the front....

I pretty much just stood there with my back against the wall until she came out.  She had a lighter which she got out so we could see where we were going.  Someone had left a broom leaning up against the wall that I could've tripped over.     

[Beguile's Mistress]

@SparklingAngel ~ That last story reminds me of the Guardian Angel stories we used to keep track of in Sunday School when I was a kid. 

[Serephino]

Yeah, it's part of the reason I'm not afraid of spirits anymore.  Another similar event happened when I had made a batch of chili in the crockpot.  I kept it on low to keep it warm until I went to bed, but forgot to turn it off.  At about 1am I was roughly shaken awake by invisible hands.  It didn't stop until I said out loud 'All right, I'm up!" 

I had no idea why I had just been woken up, but I figured there was a reason.  As soon as I reached the top of the stairs I could smell the burnt chili.  It was black and smoking.  The house could've burned down or something.  My grandma thinks I have a guardian angel, and she might be right. 

[elliedark]

I have all sorts of interesting stories. I'm fairly certain there's something at my parent's house, nothing harmful, but definitely something. You know when something catches your attention but there's nothing there, or when you're sure you saw something out of the corner of your eye, or when you know there's someone behind you? I would generally ask it to leave me alone and it would, and I was always a night owl and it always seemed to be near me at night when I was on the computer. Here's the funny part. A week after I moved out, my brother was upstairs leaving the bathroom, and my picture flew off of a shelf and skidded to his feet.

Not to many things like that happen to me, I have heard many tales from family members and am a firm believer. It is a pseudo dream of mine to become a Ghost Hunter and I LOVE watching shows on ghosts (Ghost Hunters International being my favorite) because it's actually happening. Of course some shows exaggerate things and say it HAS to be paranormal without even going into explanation, but many shows do the opposite and say "Hey, we've tried and we can't debunk what happened. We've even shown you our process. There's a good chance this is paranormal."

By the way, here's my favorite moment form Ghost Hunters. It's AWESOME! When I first saw it, I was speechless and I still think it's one of their best finds ever. Check it out. =D YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

[Serephino]

*nods*  Oh yes, there have been many nights where I was playing a game on my computer and I'd feel or hear someone walk into the room.  I'd think it was my boyfriend and turn to say something to him, but no one would be there.  There was actually this one night I had my cat on my lap and she just started staring at the empty space right beside me.  Then suddenly my arm felt cold.  It was a warm night but it felt like an ice pack or something was on my arm it was that cold.  My cat will still stare intently at an empty space one in a while.

Something actually happened at my grandma's the other day.  I was there to take her into the nursing home to visit my grandma and we went out to her back yard to lock up the shed before we left.  They have one of those exhaust fans over their stove that wasn't on when we went outside.  It was on when we came in though. 

[Avi]

I only have one "real" ghost story, and it comes from when I was in the fifth grade.  My grandfather had just died after a long bout with tuberculosis, and we were at their house for his wake and funeral.  At this point in my life, I was at the tail end of having my braces and a retainer, so of course, I was very much focused on keeping track of the darn thing.  The night after his funeral, as I was getting ready for bed, I realized that I had misplaced my bedtime retainer, and I searched through the whole house, finding nothing.  I went to sleep, annoyed on top of dealing with the grief of losing Grandpa, and I remember thinking to myself that I bet Grandpa would have been able to find it, as he knew the house better than anyone.

The next morning, I went downstairs early, before anyone else had gotten up, and I found my retainer, sitting in its case and set dead-center in the middle of the kitchen table.  Of course, I was thrilled, and after people got up, I asked around for who had found it so I could thank them.  Everyone in the house swore up and down that they hadn't found it, let alone put it on the table.  I believe to this day that it was my Grandpa giving me one last bit of help before he went off to the afterlife, and whenever I go there, I still swear I can feel his presence in the house.  A couple of times, walking through the living room, I caught a glimpse of him sitting in his favorite recliner, but when I turned to look, no one was there. 

I've been fascinated with the paranormal ever since then, and I definitely think there's something to the idea of people leaving energy in places they loved after they've died.