TRUE GHOST STORIES


TINY FOOTSTEPS
We sold our house in Grand Rapids and needed to move into a place in Holland. This is where my wife wanted to live because it was close to the water. We hadn't found a house yet and a friend of ours rented his old aunts' house in downtown Holland. This house is one of the few survivors of the Holland fire in the late 1800's that destroyed much of this side of the state. Anyway, we had to clean it up because the previous owners had left the place a mess. It took about a week of elbow grease and spit, but we were able with soap and paint to make it livable for a while. About three to four weeks after we moved into the place, a strange occurrence took place. My wife and I were just getting settled into bed when we heard tiny footsteps coming from the upstairs. Both of us heard this and wondered which of our children was up and wandering around. She asked me to go check and make sure they were doing ok. Normally I wouldn't worry too much, but the steps coming down from the upstairs were very steep and with one misstep, a child could end up at the bottom very hurt. I went upstairs and walked quietly through both bedrooms. All three children were very sound asleep and tucked solidly into bed. I came back to the head of the stairs and noticed that the attic door was ajar slightly. I closed the door and at the same time had a passing feeling that whoever had been walking had come from that attic. We always kept that door close after that and never had another episode of floor noise. A few days after that incident, I searched the attic (there were two separate ones) and found many old toys and toy pieces going back to the turn of the century. In the higher attic, I found late 1800 medicine bottles tossed around the chimney. But what was most noticeable was the evidence of a chimney fire from many years before.We have always wondered if there had been a fire and a child had died of smoke or heat. To this day, we both believe a small child haunts that old house.

By Gerald Rinks

 

THE MYSTERIOUS VISITOR
When I was 10 years old, my mom, me, and my 2 brothers moved into the Village apartments in Wixom, Michigan. The apartments are all very old and they are in bad condition. Well, after 6 months or so, my brother Kevin and I were sleeping in my mom's bedroom while she stayed at her boyfriend's in a different apartment. My older brother Verne was sleeping in the room kiddy corner to my mom's. My mom had a strict policy of shutting the door and locking it in case someone ever broke into the apartment. Which was ok by me and Kevin. Well anyway, me and my brother were both sleeping on my mom's bed. (Kevin was 8 at the time) I don't know why, but I woke up very hot and sweaty. My pillow was soaked and my hair was very wet. For some reason I knew not to move or make a sound. I pretended to be asleep, for why I don't know. Something in my head told me to turn around and look at the door. When I did, my eyes fell on the figure of a man. A very large man. At least 6'8. He was very skinny though. He wore a black outfit with a bag over his head. It was a paper bag, like the kind you get at a grocery store. He just stood there, watching. Except there were no eye holes in the bag, it was just though he could see straight through the bag. I laid there, silent and still, for fear that if I moved, he would hurt my brother. After what seemed like hours, the man turned, and walked out of the bedroom. About five minutes, I quickly rolled out of bed and approached the door cautiously. I looked about the apartment and could find nobody. I opened my brothers door and found that the door was unlocked. I peeked inside and found my brother (Verne, 16) laying in his bed asleep. I checked the door locks, and the window locks and found them untouched. Where had he
gone??? 10 or 15 minutes later, I returned to bed and woke up the next morning. What was he doing there. I found out later that a robbery had taken place in our section of our building. From what I understand, upon questioning, the robber was asked why he chose the apartment he did. The robber stated that he had picked my mom's apartment originally, but upon arrival that night, he saw a man, a large man, peering out the window at him, with a bag upon his head.

By Anonymous

 

THE HOUSE IN CANTON
I believe that the house that I lived in when I lived in Canton was haunted. While I lived in that house, things just didn't feel comfortable to me. I basically slept with the lights on until I was 14 (that is when we moved) and I constantly felt like something or someone was watching me. I remember that things used to get misplaced all of the time. One minute it would be there, gone the next. We also had a workshop in our basement.  Right near the workshop was a little desk that my father had built for me. Every time I went in the basement, it felt like there was a man that took his hands and was peering around the corner of the workshop to see what I was doing.  I could never step into that basement! I made someone go with me, or I would literally run down and back up again!
Another spooky thing that happened was that we had this old picture in my sister's room.   Every time you would go into the room, it felt as if the person in the picture was watching you. We moved the picture to another room and my sister looked at it and made the sign of the cross to it.  She laughed and turned around and it fell off the wall. Stranger yet is when she picked it up, she had splinters in the sign of a cross on the palm of her hand.  My father ordered us immediately to throw out the picture! Also, in the neighborhood, there were a lot of strange things that had happened. The house next door is just one example.Nobody lived in the house long. Everyone who had lived there stayed for about 6 months to a year-tops!The first owner's brother had been killed in a motorcycle accident. One day the door bell rang and when the lady of the home answered, her brother in law was standing there.The next tenants stayed a year. One day the wife was cleaning and when she turned around, there was a dress floating in mid-air. They also reported a lot of noises and strange occurrences. this is the reason they moved. Also in the neighborhood, there were a lot of strange accidents. One child suddenly turned blue while in a wading pool, one child died from a simple tonsillectomy, one was killed when the back door of a station wagon crushed him, just a lot of freaky stuff! My sister, who still resides in Canton once went and looked up records of the area where we lived (palmer and Sheldon Rd. area) and found out it had been farm land. There were also people buried on that land and graves were dug up when houses were built. Just wanted to let you know about my ghostly encounters in Southern Michigan!

By Anonymous

 

THE RETIREMENT HOME
I work for a retirement home. Unfortunately, a number of our residents die in the home of natural causes. About one year ago a group of employees were having lunch in the side dining room. Near them was a wall with shelves. On these shelves are "knick knacks" such as cross-stitch, small statues, etc. One of the items is a brass grapefruit which opens in half like a large egg. It is quite heavy and sits far into the shelf.There are no windows or doors ever open that could cause a breeze. As they were having their lunch, the top to the heavy grapefruit shot off its base and, as if flung by an unseen hand, flew about 15 feet away from the wall where it landed with a crash. The employees were shocked at the display. No one was standing near the object; no wind moved it.
Who was it who wanted so very much to know they were still with us?

By Anonymous

 

MISCELLANEOUS STORIES

I went to Western New York State for my mission for my church.  There were a number of weird events that happened there, most of which changed my view of things not seen. The first of which was when we accidentally discovered a cave. It wasn't deep, barely enough to encase the three of us, but the feeling in it was eerie enough.  I felt cold, then warm.  Well, we got out and reported it.  Nothing more was said. The second happened a few days later.  The three of us were sleeping when one of us woke up, I don't remember which.  Above us, all our papers and materials were flying around the room in a roughly circular pattern. We sat there, scared witless for a few minutes before the papers suddenly fell. Needless to say, none of us got any sleep the remainder of that night.
The next thing that happened was the most frightening of all on my mission. We were eating with some friends in a trailer when, suddenly, the trailer began to rock. We heard many voices outside, all of them talking and  laughing as hands were pounded on the windows and doors and sides. The cupboards opened up, and plates flew out, shattering when they hit the ground.  After about five minutes, maybe it was less, but it seemed like more, the rocking stopped and everything went quiet.  We, being the brave but foolish souls we were, went outside.  We could literally feel where they had been and where they were as we walked through the woods, always within   direct eyesight of each other.  Those friends said that it had happened only twice before, but never with such intensity.  They moved shortly afterwards. Of course, there were other stories, like the house with the ghosts all around. The three of us were invited there for a Halloween party, so we were expecting some sort of joke.  However, when one of my companions asked  both of us to come outside, we weren't sure why.  He opened up the cellar door, and we heard a sound unlike any I've ever heard before or since.  We shut the door and went inside.  But that wasn't the end.  We had a  water fight, and I went upstairs to change my clothes.  I wasn't up there for more than a few minutes when I heard my name said.  I had just gotten finished changing, so I went out and found that there was nobody there.  I went through the upstairs, finding nobody there.  The end of the night was the odd one, because all of us were downstairs, in one room, when we began to hear thumps coming from upstairs.  None of us were willing to look. Not all of these weird experiences happened in New York, either.  Some happened here, in Boise.  One of them was in the Idanha hotel, on the third floor.  A lot of people said that the third floor of the Idanha was haunted,  but I'd never gone up there.  I discovered, during my time in New York, that I was a latent sensitive.  I'd learned that, if I spend enough time within the presence of a ghost, I can hear what they say.  Anyway, as me and my  nephew were up there, both of us felt a little weirded out by an uneasy feeling, like we weren't supposed to be there.  We both decided to leave, but, as we left, I felt a cold spot behind me.  I turned, but there was nothing there.  Still, the cold spot seemed to be waiting for us to leave.  I told my nephew that we were definitely not to look back as we headed out. Another happened in my sister's home.  The ghost there, Mrs. Buffington, had already gained quite a reputation.  They didn't fear her. Still, it was odd going into a small room, a sort of kitchen/storage area with a rocking chair, and seeing that chair rock.  There was only one way in or out, and I know nobody passed me going out.  The chair, however, did have a cold spot around it.
The most recent one, though, happened yesterday.  I do consider myself an amateur ghost hunter, so, when I heard that there was a haunted building on campus here at Boise State University, I decided to find it.  I followed  what my sensitivity told me, and found myself in the upper story of the very building that was haunted.  The professor I found told me the sad story of a girl who hanged herself because she was spurned by her lover.  The building was a former dorm, so that made sense.  I asked her if she'd ever found anything out of place in her office, since that was, supposedly, one of the two places she did herself in, but she reported nothing out of the ordinary, only shadows moving around.  I thanked her, then walked down the hallway.  The first classroom had nothing in it but a video monitor, however, as I went into the second classroom, it was as if I felt I had found something.  I wrote a single word in the chalk dust on the board, "Hello," and stepped back.  As I did so, I felt a cold spot pass by me. That was no illusion, no effect of the air conditioning coming on, it was a definite presence.  I felt a desire to help her, however I was not willing to share my apartment with a ghost.  I told her I would be back, and that I'd try and help her, but that she had to stay there.  As I was walking out, though, I went forward, passing her again, to erase the board.  There, though, underneath my greeting, were two more words.  Nobody had entered the room of this world, but the words were there, and they were not in my writing, neither were they there before.  The words were "Thank you." I will be going back.  

By The Thurbinator


STRANGE NOISES

A while ago I was staying with my good friend. Weird things have always occurred at her house. Once I got a frantic call from her telling me she was home alone and that her alarm for her house had gone off. I told her to stay calm and go check it out.The motion detectors read that there was a disturbance in the basement. She was scared to death. I told her to get out of the house and call her mother. Then one day I was at her house after school and she had to vacuum the house. She asked me if I would come with her upstairs because she didn't like to be alone upstairs. I went and helped her. She always closed the doors, but that bothered me so she kept them open for me. When we were done we went upstairs and watched T.V. We heard a creak. I whipped my head around on a reflex. " That always happens." she assured me. Then we heard the distinct sound of a door opening upstairs. We didn't even have to talk. We knew we had to get out of the house once outside we called her mom but we couldn't reach her. We called my mom who said she would check everything when she picked up my brother from school. The search turned up no apparent reason for the noise. We know what we heard.

By Anonymous


THE GHOST CAT

I've acquired a ghost cat that has followed me wherever I live since about 1992. I first noticed this friendly phantom when I was living with my sister in Tucson, AZ.  I have 2 living cats, so when I felt a cat jump onto the bed with me one night, I didn't think anything of it, until I reached down to pet her and there was nothing there. My youngest cat, Peeper, (age 13 now), usually sleeps with me, so when I couldn't find her with my hand, I turned on the bedside lamp to see where she was.  She wasn't in the room. I assumed I must have imagined it. When it happened again about a week later, I got out of bed to find both cats. Both of them were sound asleep in another room. I remember thinking to myself, joking, that it must have been a ghost. The next time it happened I just whispered, "It's ok, Kitty, you can stay with me," and I went back to sleep. The kitty 'came to bed' with me about once a week or so that first year, until I moved out. Now the ghost kitty makes her presence known about once a month or so, and has moved with me about 5 times since that first encounter. On very rare occasions I can see her from the corner of my eye, as a shadow against the wall, low to the ground. I guess I assume it's female because my (other) cats are both female. She doesn't bother me, I think we give each other comfort.

By Nighthawk


FRED

During my freshman year up at Central, my roommates and decided to play with a ouija board right around Halloween. Nothing happened. We were just screwing around with one of my roommates, making it move and scaring her. A few days later I received a call from my mom telling me that the house was robbed. It broke my heart that someone came in and stole things that could never be replaced, like heirlooms from my mothers side of the family. I went home the following weekend, and that's when it began. My mom used to tell me stories of the weird things that would happen to her when she was young. When she was twelve, she lived in a haunted house in Detroit with her sister and father. When she was fourteen, her girlfriend and her played with my grandmothers ouija board before they went on a date. It foretold that they would be in a car accident. They were. Not much of one, but it happened. I could go on about her stories, but that's another story! Anyway, my parents built two bedrooms in the basement of our old house in Madison Heights. I slept in one room and my brother in the other. One morning I woke up and seen a tall figure of a man wearing a large hat. I had a small window in my room, so some light was peering in, just enough to see a silhouette of a tall skinny man wearing a big round hat. Now, I was wide awake, rolled over and yelled at the figure, thinking it was my brother hovering over me. (My brother, though younger than me, was very tall and skinny for his age) When I didn't get a response I rolled over again towards the figure, looked at it and then turned on my light on next to the bed. The figure disappeared. It scared the heck out of me. I pulled the covers over my head and waited until I heard movement upstairs. That's just one incidents..with me. Others followed. Alarm clocks going off while on the off position. My jewelry box door opening and closing by itself. The family dog occasionally freaking out at night by barking at something in the hallway and then hiding under my parents bed. We even started finding things that we thought were stolen. They would just appear in the middle of doorways or right on the middle of my parents dresser. Something happened to all of us. Six to be exact. Mom, dad, my sister, myself and my two younger brothers. Nothing bad could be sensed, so we figured it was a restless spirit that enjoyed a good laugh or so. So...we called him Fred. Anytime something strange happened...it was Fred. My parents moved 10 years later after all the kids moved away, but I think Fred followed them. They don't seem to mind. I think they like the company.

By L.D.

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