Thanks to Michelle from Northern Vermont for this story!
Many old houses in New England are home to the dead, as well as the living. In some cases, the ownership can be traced back to one or two families that have lived in the same neighborhood for generations. This leads to the current owners accepting the spirits of the previous residents as being connected to the house.
Michelle’s father-in-law’s home is over one hundred years old. It’s a two-story house with a full attic and basement. The house has furniture, antiques, phonographs, paintings, and firearms from as far back as the mid-1800s. The large home was built by Michelle’s father-in-law’s uncle, Nathan. Uncle Nathan is known for ‘haunting’ the house.
In 1993, Michelle and her husband, Shawn, went to visit his father for Christmas. Michelle’s father-in-law worked as a volunteer firefighter, so there was always the chance that he would be called away in an emergency. In the middle of the night, Michelle awoke to the sound of piano music coming from downstairs. She woke up her husband. Shawn said that he could hear the piano music too. Then the music stopped.
They heard footsteps walking across the floor and the carpet, and over to Shawn’s father’s desk. Shawn sat on the edge of the bed, holding his gun, and wondering if he should go see what was going on. At this point, they were worried that someone had broken into the house. The footsteps continued up the stairs and then halted on the landing next to the grandfather clock. Just as suddenly as it had all begun, the strange noises ceased.
The next morning, Shawn asked his father if he had received a fire call late that night. His father said that he had not. Michelle and Shawn told him everything that had happened. That’s when they found out that there hadn’t been a piano in the house for many years. According to Shawn’s father, Uncle Nathan enjoyed playing the piano when he was alive.
Media Announcement:
I recently did an interview with Tim Weisberg of Spooky Southcoast: Paranormal Radio Podcast. We talked about my interest in hauntings, why I write ghost stories, and discussed theories on the paranormal. Be sure to catch the show on SpookySouthcoast.com: Episode 524 – The Ghost Post – Tara Theresa Hill.
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Send me an email to theghostpostreporter@gmail.com to set up an interview. I’m always in the mood for a good ghost story!
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Thanks to Laura from Upstate New York for sharing this story with me!
When Laura was ten years old, her parents moved into a three-family house in Upstate New York. It had originally been a large Victorian house, but the owner had broken it up into separate apartments, so that she could rent them out. The top floor was empty at the time that Laura’s family moved in. It was a studio apartment meant for either a single person or a couple with no kids, so Laura’s parents chose the larger, two-bedroom on the first floor. The landlord lived in the basement.
The living room was located toward the front of the house and the kitchen had a backdoor that the family could use to go down into the garden. While the house looked pretty, with its tall, elegant windows and high ceilings, the floors were uneven and the narrow hallways shot off at weird angles. The strangest part of the house was the hallway closet. Laura discovered it on moving day. While her parents were busy carrying boxes into the house, Laura ran about exploring everything. Inside of the closet was an old wooden staircase that ended one flight up at a blackened wall. Despite the light from the hanging bulb, the stairwell remained cast in shadow.
“What’s behind this wall?” Laura asked her mother.
“Back when the house was unified, those stairs led up to the third floor. They built a wall across it when it was renovated. I don’t want you climbing up there. The stairs are original to the house and they look rickety. You could fall through and hurt yourself.”
By early fall, the airy house turned bitter cold. No matter how much heat the landlord sent up, it was never enough. They didn’t want to complain, so they insulated the windows, used space heaters, and kept the curtains closed all day. Even with all the lights on, the house was much darker than it had been in the summer.
Laura liked to sit at the kitchen table to do her homework. One afternoon while her mother was napping, she was reading a book when she became aware of someone watching her. She looked up expecting to see her mother, but didn’t see anyone. She went back to her book, only to see a shadow go by out of the corner of her eye. This happened a few times until Laura decided to go check the hallway.
“Hello? Mom?” she called out.
Laura stood in the darkened hallway waiting for an answer. She was thinking of going to check on her mother when she heard light footsteps scamper across the floor. They were moving away from her, but she hadn’t seen anybody standing there. Suddenly freezing, Laura rubbed her arms. She went back into the kitchen, pulled on a sweater, and dragged a space heater up to her chair, so that she could finish her homework. After that incident, she always did her work in the chair nearest to the wall facing away from the hallway.
Another time, Laura woke up in the middle of the night to see a ball of light moving about her room. It appeared to be about the size of a soft ball, was solid-looking, and had a golden color. Laura sat up in bed wondering if she should call for her parents. She didn’t feel threatened by whatever this thing was, although she knew this wasn’t normal. The ball of light lasted for about a minute before fading away.
Since moving into the house, Laura had often had trouble sleeping. Sometimes she even had strange dreams. One night, Laura dreamt that a little, blonde-haired girl wearing a blue dress with long, puffy sleeves came into her room. She began playing with Laura’s toy tea set.
Laura watched her for a few seconds before clearing her throat. “Hello. Who are you?” she asked.
The little girl put down the teapot she was holding, turned to Laura, and dipped into a little curtsy. “My name is Emily. I’m looking for my mother. Have you seen her?”
“I’m sorry,” said Laura. “No. I don’t think she’s here.”
The little girl giggled. “Of course, she is! She never leaves the house except to go into the garden. Perhaps, she is there now.”
The little girl ran out of the room so fast that Laura didn’t even have a chance to respond. Laura opened her eyes to find herself sitting up in bed. She could hear little footsteps moving along the hallway and a faint voice calling, “Mama! Where are you?” After a few seconds, the sound faded away and the house was silent once more. Hoping she had imagined everything, Laura turned over and went back to sleep. By morning, she had written it off as a dream.
When she got home after school, Laura was surprised to find her bedroom door closed. She was pretty sure that she had left it open that morning. Opening it, she quickly walked across the room toward her tea set. A gift from her grandmother, it was porcelain with a pattern of pink roses sprayed across it. Laura hadn’t played with in it years, but since it was pretty, she liked to keep it set up on her old doll table. She always left the teapot in the center of a circle of four teacups and saucers. The tea set was still there, but all the cups had been turned upside down.
From then on, Laura often came in to find her toys moved around. This didn’t bother her. Even if she was a ghost, Emily was younger than Laura. If Emily wanted to play with Laura’s toys when she was at school, she didn’t mind.
After a year, Laura’s family decided not to stay there. On top of the poor heating, they had started having trouble with the plumbing. Laura’s father had found a new job and her mother had gotten a raise, so they were able to purchase a nice house in the area. The moving van was waiting with the furniture and they had already packed their suitcases into the car. The three of them were doing a last sweep to make sure that they hadn’t missed anything, when suddenly they heard footsteps moving across overhead.
“Did you hear that?” asked Laura’s mother.
Laura’s father looked at the ceiling. “Yeah, it almost sounded like someone walking around up there, but that’s silly. The top floor is empty. I’ll let the landlord know. Maybe some raccoons got in there or something.”
“I don’t think so,” said Laura.
She had tried to tell her parents that the house was haunted before, but they always rationalized everything away. Laura couldn’t help but gaze up at the third-floor windows as her family descended the stairs for the last time. For just a moment, she thought she saw Emily and a woman in an old-fashioned dress staring back at her. Laura raised her hand in parting. The little girl and her mother waved back, then they disappeared.
Do You Have a Ghost Story?
Send me an email to theghostpostreporter@gmail.com to set up an interview. I’m always in the mood for a good ghost story!
Want even more Ghost Stories?
I have launched a new ghost story magazine via Patreon called The Spirit Hour. I’ll be uploading a new ghost story or the next part of a continuing story every week. For only one dollar a month, you get complete access to all the stories that I post on Patreon.
Also, check out The Ghost Post’s YouTube channel for audio recordings of The Ghost Post. It’s perfect for camping out, sleepovers, or anytime you just want to hear a ghost story on the go.
Are you one of the following: A paranormal writer, artist, or investigator?
Or
Do you have a paranormal-themed business or Facebook group?
Then check out my new paranormal advertising group, The Paranormal Hotspot: The Market for All Things Paranormal. There is no set promotion day, so you can promote your business, art, or group every day for free. You can also post links to sites where you sell your products or services. Our mission is to help paranormal businesses, artists, writers, and investigators connect with fans and consumers!
Get Your Ghost On!
Check out our CafePress store featuring The Ghost Post’s official mascot, Spook. We’ve got awesome coffee mugs, t-shirts, and more!
Don lived in the same house in Williamsburg, Brooklyn from 1980 until this past June. The house is estimated to have been built no later than 1812. It has three floors, a sub-basement, and is connected to a separate brick building. Don’s landlord lived in the brick building.
Once when the landlord was away visiting family, Don heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Thinking it was someone attempting to break in, he armed himself with a bat and went to investigate. Creeping along, he finally reached the stairs only to find that no one was there. After a few more repeats of this event, Don started saying hi to the invisible spirit whenever he heard the footsteps.
Don’s girlfriend, Alyssa, had a different encounter with the ghost. Alyssa is the thirteenth generation of psychics in her family. One day, she told Don that the ghost in the house had come to her and complained about what was going on in the sub-basement. Don wasn’t aware of anything happening, but he decided to mention the incident to his landlord. The landlord was astounded. As it turned out, he had been setting off bug bombs in the basement and the ghost had not approved of it.
Three years after he had been buried, Alyssa’s uncle’s body had to be exhumed. Noting that he looked better than he had when he was alive, Alyssa asked Don for a reading to see how her uncle was doing on the Other Side. Everything went fine during the reading.
Later that night, Don was awakened by the presence of someone lying beside him. Don jumped out of bed to find the spot next to him empty, except that the blankets seemed slightly raised. Don and Alyssa mentioned the incident to Alyssa’s aunt who was then ninety-eight years old.
She laughed at them. “Don’t you know better? Doing readings about the dead draws them to you.”
If you have a real ghost story that you would like to share with The Ghost Post, send an email with your contact information to Tara Theresa Hill at theghostpostreporter@gmail.com to set up an interview.
Thanks to my mother, Lady Rhea of Magickal Realms from Bronx, NY for this story.
Lady Rhea is a third degree, Wiccan high priestess. For over forty years, she has held circles, crafted candle magick, and has performed various types of psychic readings. She has done Ouija board readings and done other types of oracle-based rituals. However, in this case, she did not try to make contact. Her New Age store was located in the Bronx’s City Island at the time of this ghostly encounter.
It was February 2013. Lady Rhea was alone in the basement glittering candles. It was 8:30pm and the store was closed. Rhea was the only one in the store at this time. She paused in her work as she heard loud, heavy footsteps walking across the floor upstairs. They went down the aisle, turned the corner to the basement stairs, came down three steps and stopped. From the angle of her work table, Rhea could not see who was standing on the staircase. Picking up her Exacto knife and a pan of glitter, she crept up to surprise the intruder.
Only, she didn’t see anyone there. Cautiously, she went up the steps to investigate the store. The front door was still secure. She turned on all the lights, checked the two bathrooms, and any other possible hiding places, but again she found the place empty. Rhea called one of her friends to come pick her up and take her home early. After this unnerving incident, she refused to stay in the store by herself at night again.
Later in 2014, a photographer was interested in filming the store for a potential show. He took two pictures of the basement area to show where Lady Rhea created her candles and manufactured other products. After the photoshoot was done, Rhea received a call from him saying that she might be interested in seeing what his camera had captured in the basement. Rhea’s heart thudded when she viewed the photos. One picture was a normal shot, but the very next shows the shadowy outline of a tall man.
Another time, someone who was doing psychic readings at the store took a picture of the entrance to the basement along with other pictures of the store. The picture of the basement showed the area shrouded in fathomless, dark, grey smoke. This was when the lights had been turned on and there was no one smoking nearby. They had not left any incense burning either. Between these and other problems, the store was relocated to Westchester Square in the summer of 2014.
The Ghost Post 