DIARY OF A HAUNTED HOUSE

THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS

2010-05-22T18:29:00.000-07:00

The ancient Egyptian society was considered to be one that was greatly advanced and ahead of it's time. The construction of the pyramids at Giza are still a source of wonder for many, today, as also are the Temple of Ramses and the the Great Sphinx. However, the ancient Egyptians are marvelled at for more than their art, agriculture and architecture. This civilization, ultimately, perfected the art of embalming, or mummification.
I have reason to believe that the ancient Egyptians may have possessed a better understanding of the paranormal than, perhaps, they've ever been credited with. For example, was the close proximity of the Valley of the Kings to the Nile River deliberately chosen because water is known to attract spirit activity?
Additionally, tombs contained "reanimation statues" in case the mummy were, in some way, damaged. They believed that the body, soul, and life force would reunited on the other side for their judgement. The belief that the spirit could enter or attach to inanimate objects or likenesses of the body in life is a popular theory in the paranormal, today.
With these things in mind, it could easily be ascertained that the ancient Egyptian people did, in fact, have a fair understanding of the paranormal long before it was ever established as a field.

RACHEL'S PROJECT

2009-09-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

My youngest daughter, Rachel, began work on her big project to graduate from high school over the summer. Her senior project topic is paranormal research. I think that her experiences in this house, and otherwise, inspired this. The project required at least 30 hours logged in work, a report, at least three contacts, an onsite visit with one of the contacts and a final presentation. All that remains are some corrections in the report and, of course, to do the presentation. She's worked hard and I am so proud of her accomplishments; we have both learned from the experience. The biggest thing for me was Rachel's onsite visit, on which I was lucky enough to be able to tag along. Her visit happened to be with a local writer, who is best known for his collection of local ghost stories. His name has locally been connected to the paranormal, for years, and he is a big idol of mine. Rachel's onsite visit turned into two onsite visits and I actually got to meet my idol not once, but twice!
This was an amazing experience for me and I owe it all to Rachel and her project.

Another great aspect about the whole project is the fact that an interest in the paranormal is something that Rachel and I share; it's given us something to focus on together and to talk about. As she grows older, I fear that she and I will drift apart. I think that our ghosts might keep us together, somehow.

PS: I occasionally recieve e-mails, asking if we still live in the same house and do we still experience activity? The answer to both of these questions is yes.

What's Been Going On

2009-05-05T22:24:00.000-07:00

This is a much belated entry...again. Activity in the house has remained pretty much the same. The woman rocking the child; the little girl and the cat seem to remain constants. A little boy seems to be in the picture, now. This is not exactly new. Adrienne had mentioned him when she was younger and no one else was able to confirm his existance. Now, my mother and Rachel have seen him, also. Some activity seems to have left the house. The woman that Rachel referred to as "Sara Grayford" and the woman from 9/11 seem to have disappeared, as the one we referred to as "the doctor" and what we believed to be his assistant. At the same time, there do seem to be some new developments. In our front room, there has always been some strange things with the wall on the west side of that room. My mother has seen face come out of this was and she, often complains that this wall is as cold as ice. Recently, she's seen a man in the room. He actually seemed to take notice of her and made the statement, "I live in the wall." I realize that this sounds peculiar, but my mother swears she was not dreaming this and I know she wouldn't make this up. Oddly, this past weekend, Rachel has seen him, too, though he said nothing to her. He is described as wearing a green shirt, tan pants and suspenders and he has dark hair. That's all for now.

BELATED UPDATE

2007-08-13T20:01:00.000-07:00

This most recent occurrence took place a couple of weeks ago, but I thought it was worth mentioning. Rachel mentioned to me that one night she saw the headless body of a Victorian woman and heard a woman's laugh. Whether or not this was Evelyn, she could not say. However, this has been the most recent activity in the house.
Things have been, otherwise, quiet. One point of not, which is probably worth mentioning, is that our paranormal activity has slowed since about February. My older daughter, Adrienne, turned 18 this past Valentine's Day. I have begun to wonder whether the brunt of our paranormal activity was actually poltergeist activity. My friend, Dina, had suggested this to me a while back, but the appearances of ghosts made me lean toward simple haunting. We've had ghost activity; there is no doubt about this. It's just that some of the objects moving by themselves and some of the voices might have been poltergeist activity.
One thing, I am going to be on vacation at home, next week. During this time, I plan to experiment around the attic doorway, as well as the two closets built over the window. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, happens. I will be sure to post my results, either way.

LATEST UPDATE

2007-07-16T20:40:00.000-07:00

As I have mentioned, in my previous entry, nothing new has happened in the past few months. The last activity had been told to me by my daughter, Rachel. She had been trying to do some evp's in the back bedroom (my room) and felt someone grab her arm. She, also, mentions seeing the noose hanging from the ceiling fan, in the livingroom, not the old lady-just the noose. Finally, she mentioned seeing "Sara Grayford, once more. This is the last activity that anyone has observed in the house, with the exeption that last week I did see what appeared to be a ball of light pass through the kitchen. However, it moved so quickly that I am not one hundred percent certain. House is seemingly dormant for the past few months.
I have decided, though, that I may not keep this blog exclusively for just the house. There are two items, unrelated to the house, which I might post here. I would love to get some sort of feedback on these other phenomena.

I HAVE SEEN HER!

2007-06-20T23:11:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to keep this blog updated, I do feel that I should mention that a few months ago I did see the little girl spirit. I saw her twice; both times I saw her, she was in our dining room. On both occasions, she was standing by my bird (Augie's)
cage. Both times, I was her standing there, turned to look at her and she just vanished. Rather, she faded or dematerialized. This would be the only new item to report, at this time. Recently, things have been very quiet at the house-as though things had gone dormant.

THIS BLOG IS NOT FOR SALE!

2007-06-20T13:37:00.000-07:00

I appologize for any confusion. I recieved an offer, via email, to sell this blog. While this is very flattering, I must decline and make the public statement that no, I am not interested in selling this space. Though I do not update this blog as often as some bloggers do, I do update as often as I have new paranormal activity to report. This is a true account of paranormal activity in my life and unless I have something new to report, I do not update. Thank you.

OUTSIDE HAUNTING?

2006-11-13T19:38:00.000-08:00

Over this past summer, I'd finally found the gravesite of an old high school boyfriend, who'd committed suicide in our junior year. I'd never attended the funeral for personal reasons, so I was overjoyed to finally find his grave. Now, since this, I get the strange feeling that he is with me. I doesn't bother me at all and Rachel has confirmed my suspicions to me, last weekend. I have a picture of him on a cabinet, where I'd also had a poem I was working on about him. Strangely, the next morning the picture was lying down and my notebook was opened to the poem. This was not how I'd left it the night before, plus the picture had fingerprints all over the glass. Rachel and my mother handled both the picture and the notebook. Both say that he doesn't understand why I have the picture of him up. They, also, told me he had read the poem and that Evelyn was the one who turned the notebook to the poem. They said that she did this to let me know that he was there. I realize that this sounds strange, but my things got moved around, somehow, and nobody else had moved them.

How Freely Do Ghosts Really Move About?

2006-10-31T19:38:00.000-08:00

This is very strange. There is a house, a few blocks up and across the street from our house. It, too, is said to have been built by the Haine family and to be haunted. Well, this house is up for sale-- yet again. Our activity has slowed up some. However, my mother has claimed that she has seen the old woman, that used to hang by her neck from our ceiling fan, in the window of that house. Can ghosts and spirits move from house to house at will? They seem to come and go as they please. I do remember one recent Sunday morning where my mother and I were fall cleaning, upstairs, and we didn't seem to be disturbing anyone. Later, after my mother had come downstairs and I remained upstairs to finish up, she called up to me and said that she had just seen the mother, father, little girl and the cat come through the front door. The door didn't open-they came through it. It was as though they'd been out for a Sunday afternoon outing. Is this possible?

On a more recent note, about a week ago our dining room door opened up for no apparent reason. I wonder if a new spirit might have joined our family.
Just today, my mother was looking into the glass of our china cabinet. She saw the reflection of a man's face looking back at her. She screamed and it faded away. She isn't certain who's face she saw, except that she thinks it might have been the father ghost.

Still Strange....

2006-08-22T20:29:00.000-07:00

It's been several months, since my last post, however strange things have still been going on. We've been doing some fall cleaning, already, which seems to encourage activity as much as contruction work might. Most activity seems to be the same. There is one thing new. At least I think it's new or perhaps none of us have ever noticed it before. There is a little storage door above the closet door in our one front sitting room (we call it the blue room). This door is no more than 24"x24" in size. There seems to be a small door leading from my dad's closet in my parents bedroom to this little storage area. This door has been opening and closing alot on it's own, lately. Sometimes, it opens very wide and closes, again. I'd be very interested to know what's going on with that.
Also, back in June, my younger daughter had film to use up in a disposeable camera I had gotten her for a class trip. She decided to take a few pictures around the house. When her photos came back from developing, we found that two shots had what appeared to be orbs. The one is somewhat questionable as to whether it is an orb seen there or just a reflection. The second photo, though, there is no doubt for us that there are two orbs, side by side, in the photograph. These have been our new developments. I will update again, as soon as I am able.

A MUCH BELATED UPDATE

2005-10-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

It has been about two months or so, since my last entry and there are a few items that should be documented, at this time. First item of note, would have taken place nearly two months ago. It was on a Saturday and when I came home from work, that night, my mother told me that she and Rachel had been sitting out at the dining room table. They both looked around them and realized that they were surrounded; it would appear that all of our spirits were standing around the table, watching them.
They did nothing-just watched them for a while and then left, returning to the upstairs.
Next, my mother's one guinea pig, Sunshine, passed away a couple of weeks ago. She, the girls and I were all in the dining room, afterward, and my mother noticed that the man, the one we call "Richard" was sitting across the table from her and disappeared. I am not sure, but in our house the loss of even a pet is a loss of a family member; do our spirits feel compassion for us at these times? Rachel had lost a hamster, Gigi, a few months ago and right about the time he would have passed, my mother said that she had seen the woman, Rachel refers to as Sara Grayford, and the cat standing at Gigi's cage looking in. I wonder if they could see and communicate with this little spirit when it left it's little body? Surely, if the spirit of a cat can inhabit our home, then a little hamster should have a spirit, too, shouldn't it?
As September 11 approached, my mother made note that a couple of our spirits seemed restless. Particularly, our blonde haired lady. My mother mentions seeing her crying on the very eve of 9/11. Some of the others, Rachel claims died in 9/11, as well, like "Sara Grayford".
Finally, I think it would be worth mentioning, as well, that Rachel had an accident just about three weeks ago. She was in the living room, alone, where she fell and cut her toe, very badly. Only she didn't just fall, she says that someone pushed her and none of us can explain how she cut her toe; there is nothing around that she could have cut it on. I believe that it is possible that she may have been pushed. She'd been complaining of getting her hair pulled a few times prior to this incident. Whether it was meant to actually harm her or merely to get her attention, I am not certain.
As far as Rachel's abilities go, I've recently been informed that Rachel's geography teacher feels that Rachel is afraid of him, because she seems to act as though she were at times. However, I went to high school in this building and I believe that I recall this room having been used by a math teacher, at that time. He was a large, bald-headed man-very intimidating. He'd retired several years ago and passed away only about a year or two ago. I am wondering if Rachel sees him, sometimes still in his old classroom. I am going to show her a picture of him in my yearbook, without telling her why, to test my theory; I'll let everyone know the outcome of this.
Otherwise, the house is pretty much the same. The lady of the house still rocks and hums in her chair and the occasional little prank still occur.

BORED?

2005-07-07T20:15:00.000-07:00

With some of the things that Rachel's been telling me, I can't help but wonder if they are bored in their existance or do they simply play around with those who can see them? I can imagine that if I had all of eternity ahead of me and only a few of the living could see me, I would probably do the same from time to time.
As for our deformed man, both my mother and Rachel seem to think that he may have been a doctor and the other man with him may have been an assistant of some sort. Both mother and Rachel complain of being stuck in the arm, from time to time, with needles. Now, my mother's health has been declining for years, since before we'd moved in to this house. Rachel had a stomach virus that she had been unable to recover from for months, a few years ago; she's never been quite the same, since this. I've noticed that both seem to be more active after these needle occurrances. I begun to think that perhaps his intent is actually good. Though his appearance is described as scary, I think that he might be acting with good intentions, strange as this may sound.

MORE PRANKS?

2005-06-01T17:25:00.000-07:00

Over the Memorial Day weekend, the husband to the "lady of the house" seems to have been on the move. On Saturday morning, I had to clean iced tea pitchers setting on the kitchen counter waiting to be filled. Halfway across the room, I had a brand new plant, which I had just purchased during the week and repotted; I had placed it in the kitchen, because there is more sunlight in this room. I had taken the breakfast dishes out to put in the sink and I bump one of these plastic pitchers. Instead of falling directly to the floor, it moved across the room and hit this plant and knocked it to the floor. This would have been a three or four foot movement. I had attempted to catch the pitcher but with no success. Immediately after, Rachel says that she saw the man in the dining room. Also, she mentioned that she tried to enter my mother's room earlier that morning and it seemed as though someone was holding the door shut and she thought that she could see feet under the door; she was the only one of us upstairs, at this time. It would seem that our "man of the house" likes to make sure that we remember that he's still here and his little pranks keep us reminded of this.

CAN THIS BE POSSIBLE?

2005-05-19T00:17:00.000-07:00

I had always thought that ghosts inhabiting a house would have been those who have inhabited it in life. Yet two weeks ago Rachel, my thirteen year old, gave me some possible names for some of our ghosts. She said that she believes that the Lady of the House is named Evelyn and her husband is either Richard or Jonathan. The daughter would be Kayla and the cat, Blackie. She also gave the name of Sara Grayford for the dark haired lady. I have searched online to this name and I can not find one woman, living or dead, by this name. She mentions the name Dwight, as well. The blonde haired woman, she also gave me a first name and was fairly certain that she had died on 9/11. My mother also confirms that most of this is relatively accurate, to the best of her knowledge. I checked the first name of the blonde haired lady on a 9/11 victims website. There was only one woman, with this first name, on the rolls of the dead from 9/11; she died in one of the towers. I found a picture of her, as well, on the web. My mother and Rachel are both certain that this is our blonde haired lady. How can this woman haunt our home, when she didn't live here? If anyone has any thoughts on this, I would greatly appreciate it.
Also, I had an experience, myself, last week. I had gotten home from Rachel's spring concert. I hadn't had supper, so I got myself a bottle of soda and a quick supper and sat down to eat. While I was eating I saw my soda bottle move, just as I reached for it; my mother saw this too. Someone apparently felt mischievous, that night.

*Note: The name of the 9/11 victim will not be disclosed here out of respect for the victim, herself, and her family, who I am certain still grieve for their loss. It would be hurtful, should a family member find her name here as a spirit haunting my home.

CRAZY?

2005-05-02T18:38:00.000-07:00

My daughter, Rachel, confided to a teacher today some of the things that she's seen in the house. This teacher told her that she should seek counseling. What her teacher does not seem to realize is that we have all had experiences in this house. I can not condemn her for not believing, though; I was once skeptical, myself. But living in a house such as this, I can not deny the existance of paranormal phenomena. I, also, believe that my mother and Rachel are perhaps the most receptive to this activity. I, myself, have had some precognitive tendencies, though I would not consider myself a psychic. My mother and Rachel seem to be highly sensitive. I have seen Rachel sit up in her sleep and babble in a language that I cannot understand. She also sat up one night (also, while sleeping) and spoke of a man who went to change his clothes and died. She did not remember this in the morning. I am leaning toward the opinion that she might have the potential to be a medium.
One worry that I have been having, lately, is whether or not fairly docile spirits can turn malevolent. I have seen a post on an email paranormal group, that I am in, where this seems to have happened to someone. Can this really happen or can a violent spirit just move in amongst the others? Or in cases of uncharactoristic violence, can certain boundaries that the spirits have set have been crossed by the living? Does that make sense at all?
I can hear the rocking chair squeaking, again, as I write. My computer is in the living room at the bottom of the stairs and I can hear it, clearly, along with some faint singing in a woman's voice. I can not make out what the song is- only that it is singing. This of course, as many of you know, is a regular occurance, however.

MISCHIEF

2005-04-26T18:09:00.000-07:00

First, I would like to thank SwampFox for the comments on last entry. I am planning try either a psychic or paranormal expert, soon. Moving is a difficult concept for us, as it would mean totally uprooting, selling this house and buying a new home. The expense would be difficult for our family. They have done very little harm to any of us, so far. Thank you for the concern. I am curious as to whether it's possible that it could eventually worsen...hopefully not.

Our spirit, or entities, do seem to enjoy making mischief. Friday, two weeks ago, my mother mentioned that our dog, Miss Daisy, began to bark at something unseen in the living room. She said that it had grown very cold in the house, despite the rather warm weather we had, then, been experiencing. Also, my mother loves to burn candles any time of the day. During this time, after it had grown cold, someone blew her candle out. She relit the candle twice and both times, they'd been blown out again! After the second relight, she gave up and left the candle out. She also mentions that the back mudroom door kept opening and closing, by itself. Otherwise, much of the activity is pretty much the same. The Lady of the House is pretty well heard nightly and the dragging and footsteps, upstairs, is heard daily. There has been a lot of music playing, upstairs, as well when none of us are up there. There has been a lot of spring cleaning going on, with our community yardsale coming in the next week and a half. My girls and I have been cleaning on the attic and moving things up and downstairs. I wonder if this has stirred the activity. My oldest, Adrienne, told me that she was in my room, just a day or two ago to get something and she saw a woman, the dark-haired woman lying in my bed.

One more item, that has been told to me that I hadn't heard before, is that my mother and my younger daughter, Rachel, have just recently told me that the deformed man in the living room wall sticks pins in them. Is this phenomena familiar to anyone?

Getting back to concerns of hauntings becoming more agressive. My mother has also voiced a fear, that this spirits could and might enter our bodies and take over them. She is even concerned over them walking through us, when they are moving about, that this could happen. How possible is this? I don't know that it's ever happened, so I don't think that it's really a concern, is it? We are not paranormal experts, so really, we don't know what is possible and what is not. So, it may sound crazy but it is merely a question.

ANOTHER THING TO PONDER...

2005-03-18T17:56:00.000-08:00

As I write tonight, I can hear the Lady of the House humming and rocking in her chair-rocking chair noises in a room, where there's no rocking chair. Also, the dragging noises that can be heard upstairs, in the daytime-- nothing is ever moved or appears to be changed in any way, upstairs. Why is this? Are these simply ghostly noises or is there more to it. Is the afterlife, merely life continued on another plane of existance, a different reality or dimension? Is the siting of ghosts, merely, a point where the two planes of existance meet, like an accident or a time or energy fluctuation? Or are they simply spirits of the once living, who still linger on this earth? I find these questions most scintillating. I hope I someday learn the answer.

WHO ARE THEY?

2005-03-15T19:24:00.000-08:00

I can't help but wonder, to myself: "Who are (or were) these people and why do they haunt?" The curiousity grows for me with each occurrance that takes place in the house. Many ask if we are not afraid to live in the house. My answer is: Usually, no. There are times, though, when I do feel as though danger is near or we are not wanted in the upstairs of the house, at times. Mostly,however, they seem fairly docile. What remains is the mystery of who all of these people are. I may never solve this mystery, but I continue to try.
One new item of note: two days ago, the dog was playing in the dining room, under the table. My mother and older daughter report having heard cat "hissing", while the dog was down there. Also, afterward, the dog avoided being under the table for a couple of hours and just seemed to be watching something. It was not until evening, that the dog would play under the table, again.

WHAT IS THIS?

2005-03-08T16:26:00.000-08:00

Has anyone seen anything like this or similar before? My mother saw this floating through our home on this past Saturday morning,early. It didn't frighten her, just startled her a bit.
It seemed aware of her. She followed it as it floated through the house looking at all of us, as we slept. She mentions having seen something similar about a year ago, but it had only appeared to be the head. She drew a picture to show me what it looked like. Unfortunately, I cannot figure out how to get the picture to appear here, as I am not a great computer wiz. It is light in color. She said that it didn't seem to have a mouth, hands or feet and it was about 5' tall, as she said that it was about my height. It had a pair of wings, that looked similar to bird wings, but they weren't used to fly, as this entity seem to just float. My mother says that she didn't feel she was in danger with it, but I don't know if that means anything. My first thought that this might be an angel of some sort. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? If so, please post them in the comments for this entry. I would appreciate any help I could get because I'd really like to know what this was.
Also, the usual noises of the lady of the house continue. I did finally ask my daughter whether she's ever made contact with our ghosts, which she denies. However, I think that perhaps, she would probably be afraid to admit this, if she had; I suppose I would be too. The other day, she was home sick and my mother and I had to run an errand so she stayed home. When we returned, we found her hiding in the bathroom because she had heard footsteps and my dad's chair in the front room, rocking.
I would like to, again, emphasize that this blog is not a work of fiction; these are all true accounts of things that have happened in our home. If anyone can identify any particular phenomena mentioned here, you input and comments are certainly welcome.

Psychics in My Family?

2005-03-03T19:29:00.000-08:00

Thus far, these have been the primary entities and happening that have taken place in my home and previous entries should have anyone reading this caught up to speed as to what goes on in the house. This blog was begun in the hope of reaching someone who might have a broader knowledge of the paranormal and might be able to explain, or define, some of the goings on in the house. I had always been a skeptic, in the past, so these occurrances are new to me. I am uncertain as to why I am so curious about these spirits, but I am. Maybe it's more a curiousity about death and what comes after. Perhaps, more accurately, it's a spiritual interest because the existance of these spirits seems to undermine the belief in heaven and hell that I was taught as a child and held on to as an adult- - then again, perhaps it somehow confirms the existance of heaven and hell. At any rate, I am uncertain as to the reason for my fascination with these spirits, but I am intrigued by them.

One person had suggested to me that the spirits of the house are more noticeable to us, because there is some psychic ablility in my family. My mother and younger daughter both seem to be strong in this. I, myself, have had some displays of precognitive ability, though limited. The strongest seems to be my younger daughter, Rachel. There are times, when she appears to be awake, but is really sleepwalking. Sometimes, she falls asleep while on the living room couch and she'll abruptly sit up and ramble on about things that do not make sense. Just two nights ago, this happened where she went on about a man going to get dressed and he died. She had no memory of this in the morning. She is even prone, at times, to speak other languages in her sleep. I believe that Rachel has had contact and might be a potential medium, though I'm no expert.

The most recent events, that have taken place, were within the past week. My mother mentioned, yesterday, feeling someone rubbing her leg from under the dining room table; she also mentions seeing the blonde haired lady in the living room, briefly, night before last. As for me, earlier last week in the kitchen I distinctly felt someone flick my hair. This is the most recent update and this blog will continue to be updated when new or notworthy phenomena occur.

THE CAT

2005-02-10T19:20:00.000-08:00

As I have mentioned the cat is very prominent in the house. It is seen, both, alone and with other entities in the house, particularly the Lady of the House and the little girl. Our animals (1 dog, 3 guinea pigs, 1 hamster and three cockatiels) seem to be aware of the presence of our spirits, particularly that of the cat. The cat seems to enjoy tormenting them, as a live cat would. She has been seen jumping right through the bird cages on several occasions, which terrifies the birds into sitting still like statues for long periods of time, afterwards.
The cat is all black; it's tail stands straight upright, with a crink at the tip. My mother has seen this cat on numerous occasion and on a few, it as smiled at her. The smile is similar to that of the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland.
One more item of note, with regards to the cat, is that cat scratches have appeared on both my mother's and my persons. It only happens occasionally and usually appear on our arms. However, I have had them appear on my face and my chest, as well. The chest scratches are particularly strange to me, because it was in the wintertime and I was wearing a turtleneck under my pajamas, so the cat had to get me through my clothing. We know that these are cat scratches, as they become red and puffed like cat scratches get. We are, both, also allergic to cat scratches; my mother has even been know to pass out from a cat scratch. These scratches seem to take place at night when we are sleeping. I've woken up and found these scratches that weren't there the night before. Just in the past week my younger daughter, Rachel, had one appear on her arm, as well.

NOTE: This past week, there has been a great deal of activity among our ghosts. Everyday this week, my mother has left the house early for her afternoon ritual of picking me up from work and Rachel from school, because of all the goings on in the daytime. Today, she experience the usually laughing, dragging and the rocking and humming of the Lady of the House. In addition, the dining room door, from the outside, kept opening and closing. The house was very cold, too, despite the fact that the thermostat was set at about 80 degrees.

EVP RECORDINGS

2005-02-08T20:41:00.000-08:00

I have tried to record sounds in the house, when we leave for fairly lengthy trips. I'll place a ninety minute casette in the recorder and run it while we are gone. There has been some success with this. There have been sounds of something banging around, footsteps which sound to be on the attic stairs. There have been sounds of voices, though what they say is not overly audible-just that there are voices-some seem to be talking to each other and other times there seems to be singing. The most peculiar tape, that I've done is one where the tape is turned off before the recording is complete. When we played it back, it could be heard that the recorder had been turned off but there was still about 15-20 minutes of tape remaining! It would appear that someone does not like to be taped. This particular recording was done near the attic door, by the wall in front of the window. In the past four months, since this tape was done, there has been no more recording done.

Current Update: Once again, today, my mother and the dog had to leave the house early to begin her rounds of picking me up from work and my daughter from school. Apparently there was some pranking going on. Someone was harassing the dog. She was in her cage and kept squealing from whatever was being done to her. Then my mother had a package of frozen chicken on the dining room table to thaw for supper. Someone kept throwing this on the floor and she could hear someone laughing. The past couple of nights I could hear the Lady of the House, in her chair, rocking and humming. She seems to be humming a specific tune, which I can not identify. I try to remember it, to hopefully identify it the next morning, but I can't. Perhaps the tune, might actually place her in a specific time period, though I think late 1800's-early 1900's is fairly correct.

HISTORY OF THE HOUSE?

2005-02-03T18:38:00.000-08:00

My family and I have only been able to find a limited amount of information about the history of the house. The previous owners, who we'd purchased the house from, were named Weller. My father had mentioned seeing the name Hain of the deed to the house. Further research, by my daughter, at the public library found that the name of the previous owner was a Richard Hain. This seem to be signifigant, because my older daughter remembers hearing the name Richard, used among the ghosts. This may or may not be accurate, because their voices are not always easy to understand, completely. Richard's father, Ulysses Hain, ran a hosiery in another part of town. This hosiery eventually moved to a building that is just two houses behind our house. I began further research online and found an 1880 census, which shows Richard and his two sons, Frank and Charles; the boys would have been three and ten years of age, respectively. I found that Richard's wife's name was Annie Hain, but I could find no mention of a daughter in any of the census' that I had searched. My daughter had mentioned hearing the woman say one night, "I love you so much, Kaylie (or Kayla). We're uncertain of the name, however. I've even tried searching for a Katie Hain, with no success. There have been no clues as to the identity of the camaflouge man on the attic. I have only used the free services of ancestry.com, however, as premium service is more that I can afford. I do intend to continue my search, locally, and suggestions as to where to go from here would be greatly appreciated. This research may uncover the true identity of the Lady of the House and some of the first ghosts to appear in the house. I don't think this will help with some of the later ghosts to appear, as I don't believe they ever lived here; I just think they've settled in here for whatever reason.

*Note: There was a great deal of activity in the upstairs of the house, this afternoon, such as dragging, talking and laughing. It had my mother so upset, that she left home early, to pick me up, and had to wait a half an hour for me to finish at my job.

THE HOUSE

2005-02-01T19:43:00.000-08:00

One item should be known about the layout of the house. Upstairs, there is a window, front and center, that we have no access to from the inside. At some point in time, someone built two closets over this window, for the two front bedrooms. Oterwise, this window would have been located right at the end of the hallway. My question is: Who just builds closets right over a window?

One day, while my mother and I were cleaning her room I did some tapping around the wall in her closet to see if there was any hollowness. There seemed to be some. There is a door next to this closet, that leads out to the hallway, in my mother's room. It was closed on this day and after I had been tapping around at the closet walls, the door to the hallway began to shake as though someone were trying to get in. There was no one upstairs, but my mother and I. It would seem that these two closets might be key to one or more of our ghosts.

OTHER PRINCIPAL ENTITIES

2005-01-31T17:32:00.000-08:00

There others who haunt our home. There is the blonde haired man, dressed in camaflouge, who is mainly seen near the attic door, upstairs. This seems to be his primary abode, though my mother has seen him downstairs. She only saw him from the back and he was in the living room, going toward the stairs to go up. He is the one who most logically is responsible for the attic door's openings and closings, which can be heard often. There seems to be no malice in him, toward us, but the girls have seen his face and he seems unhappy.

The cat is another curious spirit in our home; it seems the strangest, at times. This cat is probably seen and heard more than any other spirit in this house, to my estimation at this point. I don't know whether it's male or female, but for purposes of simplification for here on, I shall refer to the cat as "she".
She is primarily black. The tail is almost always seen up in the air, behind her, slightly crinked at the top. Our own animals seem to sense it's presence. I have three cockatiels. One day, she was seen by my mother and girls,jumping from the window sill right through my female, Augie's, cage. Augie huddled on her upper perch and would scarcely move for an hour or so, afterward. The other two birds are in the living room. One day my mother saw the cat pass through the dining room to the living room. A moment or so, later, we both heard her "meow" and the birds went crazy, flapping around and screaming in their cages. My mother's guinea pigs and my daughter's hamsters, at times, all seem to sense the presence of her, too, as they react to her presence, as well. The addition of a dog, Miss Daisy, to our family does not seem to go well with her or our other spirits, either. There are times when Miss Daisy appears to be pushed and held in the one corner of her cage, where she sleeps at night and appears almost fearful of something. Whether it's the cat or another spirit, I can not say for certain, except that it appears to be a spirit doing this. My mother has mentioned seeing this cat all any where in the house at any given time. She and my daughters seem to fear her; the girls have mentioned thinking the cat is bad, for reasons they do not say. My mother has told me of occasions where the cat has looked right at her and grinned like the cheshire cat in ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Whether just a mischievious kitty or an evil entity, we can not decide.

There are other ghosts in our house, as well; how many, exactly, is uncertain. Some seem to have only come into our house later, after we've lived here for years. Is this possible? Or have they, merely, just revealed themselves? They seem to have only appeared since a big windy rainstorm, this past summer. My younger daugther, Rachel, seems to have noticed them, first. A group had been in the living room together, that she saw. There was an old woman, hanging from the ceiling fan, staring down at her. A blonde woman running around, saying something about "98 days". A dark haired man with a mustache and a dark haired woman (not the lady of the house). My mother had seen this dark haired woman and said that she feared her, because of the expression on her face; she has also seen the old lady, hanging from the fan. Rachel has the opposite opinion of the dark haired woman and says that she thinks she's nice. (I, have had the question in my mind of Rachel's psychic ability, though she admits that there are times when she's not sure if certain things really happen or if she's dreamt it. There has also been a deformed man seen in the house; Rachel says that he, sometimes, appears with another man and they poke her when she's trying to sleep just to annoy her and this is such an instance.) My mother has, at times, seen a face come through the front sitting room wall at her. She believes this could be the deformed man. If she lies on the couch, with her hand against this wall, there are times when she can feel flesh brush against her hand. It is my mother who believes that the total of spirits in the house is 12 people and the cat, by floating balls of light she's seen at one time.
Balls of light have been seen in the house have been photographed twice. I would like to post these photos, as soon as I figure out how to do this. This is the cast of spirits, that we have. Now that they are all known, it will make all following entries easier to follow.

THE LADY OF THE HOUSE

2005-01-27T19:40:00.000-08:00

I had mentioned that the little girl, cat, dark haired man and Victorian era woman, all, appear to belong together. Aside from the cat, the woman's presence appears to be the most prominent in the house. I've actually dubbed her "the lady of the house". Though other female entities seem to have surfaced in the house, as well, the lady of the house seems to have actually lived here in life. (I get into these other entities at another time.) The Lady of the House appears anywhere in the house. My youngest daughter, Rachel, has seen her in my parents room, sitting on the bed, reading a book. My older daughter, Adrienne, has mentioned seeing her many times, as well. She has mentioned a particular instance when she was younger; she was crying and the Lady of the House approached her and asked her if she was alright. My mother has seen her several times in different areas of the house, sometimes even appearing to come in from the outdoors, through the dining room wall or the back door. A rocking chair can be heard most nights and the Lady of the House is heard humming. The sounds come from my parent's room, yet there is not rocking chair in that room. Though I've not seen a complete vision of her, myself, she is described by my mother and girls as being lovely. She wears a white dress with puffed sleeves and her dark hair is up in a lovely bun, which sounds to be of the Victorian era. She is sometimes seen with the little girl or the cat, sometimes with both. She's also been seen wearing a bonnet. There is often a smell of lilac in the house, which we believe, is associated with her.
The man, we believe to be her husband, seems to be the prankster. He is described as having dark hair and wears black pants and white shirt. He gets blamed at any rate. Adrienne has mentioned an instance where she was on the upstairs sunporch one day. She looked in the door to the next room and he was standing there. He then slammed the door shut and held it shut for a few minutes, before letting her back out. He is also credited with pulling my mother's stockings from her feet during the night. This has happened to her on several occasions, where she would feel tugging at her socks. She would look, seeing her socks dangling in mid-air, then fall to the floor. Both of my daughter have reported being shaken awake at night. Sometimes, when they fall asleep watching tv in the living room. Both will be awakened by having their drinks dumped on them. One night, it was soda. Adrienne woke up and saw the can in mid air, above her. The next thing she knew, soda was all over her. Rachel had the same experience right after that. I was in the room, on the computer, and hadn't realize that anything had happened until they both had yelled that soda had been dumped on them.
The little girl, we believe to be her daughter, might not be more than five years of age. She has long blonde hair and wears a white dress, too. She seems to respond to us, as well. Shortly after moving in, my mother had seen her pass through the dining room into the living room. Not paying attention at first, my mother had thought it was Rachel and called out to her. The little girl turned around, smile and continue through the living room, upstairs and disappeared. The cat seems to belong with her. The little girl is almost always seen with the cat, though the cat has been seen with others. I will get into that in more detail about the cat and the others, later.
This is most of our original cast of spirits. However there are more, which I will try to describe, later. My mother says that she believes there are about twelve spirits of people in the house plus the cat. With this in mind, there will be plenty of material for future entries.

THE BEGINNING

2005-01-24T16:41:00.000-08:00

I think the best way to begin would be at the beginning, as much as I know at least. The events that have taken place and do take place in my home might make more sense, in this way. After everyone is up to date, I don't wish to be redundant and post just for the sake of posting; I will update, afterward, only if something new and noteworthy takes place. So, I have decided that these first entries will bring any readers up to date. I welcome comments and advice so, please, feel free to offer it. One of the primary purposes of this blog is to sort out certain happenings and that I might understand the spirits, who inhabit my home, better.

Well, my family had fallen in love with the gorgeous Victorian house on the corner and, when it came up for sale, we knew we had to have it. It took some doing; my family is not wealthy, by any means, but we finally began to move in on my birthday-October 6,1995. From the time we've begun moving in, we've noticed strange things going on in the house. First, we began by moving small pieces of furniture and boxes, leaving them in the living room till we returned with more. When we returned, things would be moved; some items would be found in any one of the downstairs closets. Even now, items will be found in a different place from where they'd been left. We'd been in the house on about six months, when my dad purchased an antique chest of drawers that he planned to resell. He put this on the sunporch and a day or so later, the glass knobs had all been removed. None of my family had removed these knobs, yet a week later they all, inexplicably, reappeared!

My mother and two daughters mentioned seeing a little girl and a cat, in the house. My father and I thought that they had imagine these things. Since, though I've not seen more than a glimpse of the cat, I have heard it meow on more than one occasion. The little girl and the cat seem to belong together, as also does the man and woman who all appear to be Victorian era, when the house had been built. Another, who's been seen in the house is a blonde haired man, dressed in camaflouge. He has been reported many times as having been seen near our attic door. As I had mentioned before, my dad and I were both skeptical. My skepticism ended when one night I heard the attic door being unbolted, then opened and closed. About a half an hour later, I heard it again. I know that none of my family had done this. My two girls and I were the only ones at home, at the time, and we were all in the living room. My oldest heard the door, too; my younger daughter had been asleep.

I will save the rest for future posts; as I mentioned, this is only the beginning.....