In the early 1990's, my husband and I bought a small house in a quaint, historic neighborhood.  The house was built sometime in the 1960's and had known at least four or five different owners before we purchased it, but no one mentioned any paranormal experiences during the buying process.  Within three weeks of moving in, strange noises began surfacing.  Since my husband worked the night shift, he was rarely home at normal bedtime hours when the loud thumping and slamming sounds filled the house.  Every night when I turned the lights off and crawled into bed, the noises would start.  Sometimes it was so loud that it sounded like someone marching in the attic above my bed.  I even discussed this with my husband and told him that someone must be living up there.  Of course he dismissed it, but the phenomena continued.

Weeks turned into months and more bizarre things started happening.  Phantom phone calls occurred almost daily when the phone would ring, but each time I answered it, I was always met with a dead silence.  Lights began flickering on and off.  We began experiencing weird plumbing issues with the bathroom faucets spewing water in our faces at random times, but nothing was ever found to be a source of the problem.  Footsteps were heard outside the house, but no one was ever seen.  

One night I was home alone and talking on the phone to a friend when an eerie, white mist suddenly drifted through the living room door and into the middle of the room.  It was in the perfect shape of a human form and stood about 5'10" tall.  I was frozen with terror as I stared at it coming toward me.  I then threw the phone down and raced for the door.  When I finally re-entered the house, there was no sign of the spooky mist.  

A few weeks later, my husband was home and watching television in the den while I was sleeping in the bedroom.  Something awakened me from a strange dream where I felt as if I was floating.  When I finally opened my eyes, the bed was shaking and the room had a strange red glow.  My body was rigid as I lay in the bed, my eyes darting from side to side as I struggled to breathe.  I tried to scream but could not find my voice.  I turned my eyes toward the door and noticed that it was still halfway open.  I squeezed my eyes shut and then forced myself to jump forward, flinging the door wide open.  I breathed deep until the fear subsided, and I was able to return to bed.  To this day, I would swear that I was levitating before I woke up.

After having a Catholic priest bless the house, the paranormal activity seemed to quieten for awhile.  But it never went away.  The former owner of the home later disclosed that they had also experienced paranormal phenomena while living there.  This news was very disturbing to me because we bought the home without knowing that it was haunted.  When I questioned the former owner, they admitted that they often saw a ball of light dancing through the hall and into adjacent rooms.  Further research on the property revealed that the area had once been a Confederate campsite during the Civil War and a graveyard for horse thieves.  We finally sold the house and moved to another location, but this is a haunted memory that I will never forget!

Sleep With the Lights ON!

L. Sydney Fisher
On the web:  http://www.LSydneyFisher.com