This time of year, the words haunted house conjure up a vision of horror and evil. However, not all haunted houses are ominous and not all spirits are evil and scary. Jordan and I live with my father in the home in which I grew up. Our home has an extra resident who is neither related, nor alive.
From the time I was quite young, my bed would shake at night. This is not the feeling you get when you feel like you are falling out of bed and it was never violent. I would liken it to someone shaking you in order to awaken you. I never said anything until I was in my early 20s and I told my mother. She said she’d experienced the same thing, but never said anything either.
Our resident apparition is mischievous and playful. She will move things just to let you know she is there. Now I don’t mean I see things move. Things come up missing and when they reappear, they are in their rightful spot. Once, I had an item missing for weeks. Where did I find it? ON THE FLOOR IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LIVING ROOM!
We had a shih tzu, named Peanut, who would walk over to the steps and watch her come down the stairway (backing away as she reached the bottom step), cross the living room and sit in a chair by the front window. Mom and I would just look at one another.
One day our neighbor Orlo was over for a visit. Orlo and Elvira built their home as newlyweds and had lived in the neighborhood for nearly 40 years. They were both very much interested in Marion history and had great stories of years past. As we visited with Orlo, he was telling us about past residents of our home. He said, You know Emmy B. died sitting in a chair in front of that window… WOW! Mom and I just looked at one another with wide eyes. We now had a name for our mischievous friend.
Now before you discount my story and think that my mother and I were crazy, listen to this…
My friend and neighbor, Babe (of Babe's Cake fame), took her children to the pediatrician one day. The doctor saw her address and told her he used to live on our street. She said yes that her friends now lived in the same house. He said, You know that house is haunted. He said his housekeeper refused to go in the basement because of the ghost. Personally, I’ve never had any issues in our basement aside from the creepy crawlies who call it home, but it could be Emmy didn’t like the housekeeper.
I hadn’t heard from Emmy since my mother died and some suggested Mom may have helped her pass over. However, a couple months back-- in the middle of the night-- my bed shook. I rolled over and said, Emmy, I’m trying to sleep here!
How ‘bout you? Have you ever lived in a haunted house? Ever experienced unusual activity?
.jpg)
