Reader Submission: A Haunted Home

“I live in a house that even my father, a staunch skeptic, believes might be haunted. For as long as I can remember, we’ve often heard an assortment of bizarre sounds. Some are easily explainable, most aren’t.

Sounds in the Night

My grandparents occupied the residence before us. My grandma, though bedridden, was mentally sound. On more than one occasion, she told my grandpa that she heard an infant crying in the basement, usually in the middle of the night. When he and my uncle would investigate, they found nothing.

As a child, I became accustomed to hearing footsteps in the kitchen, also late at night. My mother and brother have reported hearing the same, while my father has occasionally heard someone running through the house when nobody else is awake. I’ve heard muffled voices carrying on full conversations, even when I’m home alone with no electronics on. Unfortunately, I can never make out what’s being said.

The Burned Man

When my brother was sixteen, he woke up on night to see a badly burned man standing in front of his bed, staring at him. My brother, not one to scare easily, began screaming. When our parents came to check on him, he was practically hysterical, explaining that as soon as he opened his mouth, the burned man got down on all fours and climbed underneath his bed. My father searched the entire house but found no one.

After that, my brother slept in the living room for a few nights, and still won’t talk about the experience except to say that he knows it wasn’t a vivid dream. There is no history of a fire occurring on the property but at least one other person, a family friend, saw a burned man standing in our kitchen. The man simply vanished after a few seconds. Our friend told us this without knowing anything of my brother’s encounter.

Strange Events

There have been other strange experiences. Lights switching on or off by themselves, loud bangs with no apparent source, and appliances turning on when nobody has been near them. One evening, I was using the restroom, forgetting to lock the door. I watched as the knob turned, and the door opened slightly, before it closed again. The only other person home was my father, who denied leaving his bedroom at the time of the incident. Various family members and friends have seen a tall man wearing a black hoody in various parts of the house, always with the hood up. As far as I know, nobody has seen his face, as he’s always standing with his back to them.

It’s a known fact among my family that the house is creepy. So much so that some won’t even visit anymore. We’ve learned to live with it, and don’t believe the spirits are dangerous. Still, it can be jarring to see or hear something unusual.”

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