Ghost Stories Jan 2000

My first memory of a rather unusual nature is when I was about two years old. My mother had me on a changing table. She was standing over me near my feet as she was dressing me. I saw a man walk through the door into my room. Not your typical guy...he was grey and shadowy... I tried to tell my mother, but my language skills being highly undeveloped at that point, she thought I was just fussing. I recall being so frustrated by not being able to communicate with her...I just wanted her to turn around and tell me who he was. But since I was not cooperating with her, she got a little angry, as mothers do. At that moment, he vanished.

I saw him rather frequently around the house...but was sure he lived in the basement. That could have just been childhood fear...I don't know. But to this day, I will NOT have open steps in my house.

For some reason, most of my "ghosty guys" like to hang out in hallways. I remember holding off on being fully potty trained because he was frequently near the bathroom door. I never sensed any real evil or danger in him.... Knowing what I do now, I believe he was there to help me.

I got in big trouble one day, a year or so later, because I wouldn't go upstairs to take a nap. No one realized I wouldn't go because I would have had to walk right past him. He was just standing there on the stairs. I can't really say what I thought he was...or who he was...I just knew it was very different. And that made me feel very different.

A couple years later we moved. New city, new house. New experiences. I knew there were two spirits in this house. An upstairs spirit, and a downstairs spirit. (Why couldn't we just have maids???) The upstairs guy seemed to prefer my mother and hung out near her room. I could see his silhouette, and his moving, but he left me alone. The downstairs guy, on the other hand, was a typical poltergeist. Noisy and rambunctious. He had a penchant for opening and closing doors right in front of me. No house is THAT drafty.

I came home alone after school one day and went into the kitchen for my usual snack. As soon as I got near the cupboards...the lower cabinet doors opened and out flew boxes of cereal and food onto the floor at my feet. The stuff in the back of the cupboard was now up front...as if it had been pushed from behind. I ran, and stayed out of the kitchen until my mother got home.

Some time after that incident...I recall waking up at night and hearing my mother talking to someone. I came downstairs to find her sitting alone. We had a long talk that night. It was then that I found out she knew about these guys. But could really only relate to her own.... She believes it was her father who came back to help her out. She was unaware of my experiences. Through descriptions and sightings we knew we were dealing with at least two entities. Having her recognition eased my fears. I began talking to them also. For me at least, they never actually spoke back, but I always sensed a peace come over them when I talked to them. I began to lose all fear. These things took place between the ages of eight and twelve.

When I was thirteen, my mother remarried and we moved again. It was quite awhile before they made themselves known after that. But they eventually did. My stepbrother admitted seeing them. We would sometimes follow them around the house...ducking into bedrooms and such. It became a game.

Two years later we moved, yet again. This time my parents bought a brand new custom built house. No history to it. But ghosty guys coming out of the woodwork it seemed. Over the several years we lived there, my brother and I lost a few friends.... They could sense something and refused to come over ever again.

On more than one occasion our friends saw shadowy figures...and for the first time, heard their footsteps.

I clearly remember two separate nights the entire family was woken up by the pounding footsteps coming up the stairs to where our bedrooms were. Even though my brother and I were both around fifteen years old, he was afraid to go into his room a few nights, because he saw one of the spirits go in first.

This is the first time I sensed true evil in them. Well, in one. He even looked different. We called him "Abe" because he resembled Abe Lincoln...very tall, very thin, and black. He even moved differently than the grey ghosty guys. Quicker. He tended to dart around corners. I always felt he was spying on us. I’m not sure, but I think it was this freak who tried to smother me one day. It was late morning...the room was bright. I was lying in bed stalling.... When I felt him near. I saw him...not very clearly...come through the closed door and approach my bedside. I felt him get on the bed. I could actually feel the mattress indent under his weight. I began to sit up, but was forcefully shoved back down and a weight like a pillow was put over my face. I couldn't see anything.... Just feel it. It was the concentrated scent of hyacinths. A moment or two later, I felt it lift off of me and watched him draw away. I lay gasping for air. I’m not sure how, but my mother knew something was wrong and came into my room to check on me. But I was so surprised I didn't tell her about that incident until months later.

So, now I’m about seventeen or eighteen.... Moving out on my own. I went back and forth to Florida quite a bit. Not much happened for a couple years, except for a sighting or two in my sister’s house. But she always them in her homes too.... So it wasn't a very big deal.

A year later, I got married and we moved in with some friends to save on rent. The ghosty guy in this house was just down right obnoxious and rude. He only bothered me in the shower. The guy who owned the house admitted one night that he had seen a ghost in the bathroom. When the whole story came out, he told me to knock it off or leave. Haha. As if I could help it.

We moved into our own home a couple years later. Again, my "friends" came with me. I know of three that lived there. One was shy and elusive, one just your typical ghost, and one downright dangerous. Again, attempts were made on my life. I was pushed on the stairs, I was pushed into the oven, I was constantly being tapped and hit, pushed and pulled. This is when I had had enough. I looked into exorcism and began doing rituals on my own. It’s not like you can ask your average neighbor to come over and help.

Eventually, I did manage to get rid of the bad one.

To this day, I still have my "friends" around. And one not-so-friendly one who keeps popping in from time to time. But at least he keeps his hands to himself. Every now and then, I perform a banishing just so the house doesn't get too crowded.

When I pass over to the other side, I am looking forward to seeing them in their own element. And I will finally get to ask them..."why?"

Corinne

November 12, 1999