Paranormal

[Savoring Samsara]

Sumeri, that's a great story. I'm really enjoying this thread.

Mostly on topic...anybody have any good websites to recommend for personal paranormal experience stories like the ones here? I am really addicted to reading stuff like this, but way too many of the sites I come across are either full of stories that have a high quality of writing but are way over the top and obviously fictional (like the NoSleep subreddit), or poorly written personal accounts that are way too full of boring, repetitive "I had a scary dream when I was a kid" / "I had this unexplainable experience that was actually clearly sleep paralysis" / "Me and my drunk teenage friends heard a weird noise in an abandoned building and then ran away" stories for my tastes.

[Lainey]

Yes yes yes! I'm also really addicted to reading stuff like this. I enjoy the About.com paranormal true stories section: http://paranormal.about.com/od/trueghos ... _13t_2.htm

And that "Creepiest things your kids have said" thread was awesomesauce. Here's a similar one: http://community.babycenter.com/post/a4 ... 51688&pd=1

[Savoring Samsara]

Yes yes yes! I'm also really addicted to reading stuff like this. I enjoy the About.com paranormal true stories section: http://paranormal.about.com/od/trueghos ... _13t_2.htm

And that "Creepiest things your kids have said" thread was awesomesauce. Here's a similar one: http://community.babycenter.com/post/a4 ... 51688&pd=1

Thanks for that link, Lainey! It is very much the sort of thing I'm looking for - though some of those stories are fundielicious. An angel prayed the blood of Jesus over me and it healed my sprained foot, OMG! :wtf:

[Lainey]

Yeah, I roll my eyes at those ones!

ETA: Here's some more:

http://pararational.com/

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/

http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread/t-81287.html

http://www.anomalist.com/

http://paranormal.newsonly.org/

http://www.paranormalnews.com/

http://beforeitsnews.com/paranormal/

I hesitate to post the last one, as I think the "Before It's News" people are cracked in the head, but what the hell. ;)

[happy atheist]

Here are some more stories:

http://jezebel.com/tell-us-your-spookie ... 1450881134

[Savoring Samsara]

Wow, those stories on Jezebel are spine-chilling. Thanks, everyone, for the links!

I suppose I should also pass on a few of my go-to sources for when I don't want to sleep without a light on ever again:

http://personalghoststories.wordpress.com - huge, fabulous, well-curated collection of paranormal tales from all around the Internet. I wish the blogger would update again!

http://www.nothotbutspicy.com/para - "The Basics," "Compilation," "Compilation 2012," and "Skinwalkers" are collections of legendary, high-quality stories from old ghost story threads in the Something Awful forums. The other stuff archived on the page is entertaining too, but very clearly someone's (pretty good) creative writing project.

[wtylcf]

I'm loving this thread. I read most of the Jezebel ghost stories thread this year, and several of the stories were obviously made up, even if they were well written stylistically; certain details just didn't make sense in the stories. I obviously cannot verify that any of you had these experiences you have written about, but on this thread you really make me believe these are things that really happened to you - which I almost think is the most critical part of a good ghost story. I used to be much more freaked out by paranormal stories, but this year in particular, I'm finding them much more thrillingly enjoyable.

Maybe it's the fact that this year, I'm living in a house that's only around 40 years old, instead of an 110 year old place? I have to say, though, that not once did I ever have anything truly freaky happen to me in that centenarian house, including the evening after I'd just spent reading the Jez spooky stories thread the previous year, in the dark. The bedroom door would open and shut by itself all the time, but if you had a good look at the crazy warped door frame, and considered the fact that we had the windows open all spring, summer and autumn, it was obvious that this could be explained by simple physics, not paranormal activity. Once, when we'd been having a conversation where we decided to end our lease by September 1st, the bedroom door slammed shut loudly, which we joked must mean that the house liked us and was upset we were leaving. But it had such good energy, if such an emotional observation can be made of a place; and we were so fond of it, that I never felt scared of being in such an old apartment.

[dawbs]

Here are some more stories:

http://jezebel.com/tell-us-your-spookie ... 1450881134

Jez, this time of year, makes me thing that either there are a lot of untapped awesome fiction writers in it's readership or that there's a lot of creepy/paranormal in the world.

Maybe both.

[Savoring Samsara]

I'm loving this thread. I read most of the Jezebel ghost stories thread this year, and several of the stories were obviously made up, even if they were well written stylistically; certain details just didn't make sense in the stories. I obviously cannot verify that any of you had these experiences you have written about, but on this thread you really make me believe these are things that really happened to you - which I almost think is the most critical part of a good ghost story. I used to be much more freaked out by paranormal stories, but this year in particular, I'm finding them much more thrillingly enjoyable.

Maybe it's the fact that this year, I'm living in a house that's only around 40 years old, instead of an 110 year old place? I have to say, though, that not once did I ever have anything truly freaky happen to me in that centenarian house, including the evening after I'd just spent reading the Jez spooky stories thread the previous year, in the dark. The bedroom door would open and shut by itself all the time, but if you had a good look at the crazy warped door frame, and considered the fact that we had the windows open all spring, summer and autumn, it was obvious that this could be explained by simple physics, not paranormal activity. Once, when we'd been having a conversation where we decided to end our lease by September 1st, the bedroom door slammed shut loudly, which we joked must mean that the house liked us and was upset we were leaving. But it had such good energy, if such an emotional observation can be made of a place; and we were so fond of it, that I never felt scared of being in such an old apartment.

For whatever it's worth, I solemnly swear on the religious or secular text of your choice that both of the stories I told really did happen to me. :D

I know what you mean about the energy of old houses. My first post-college apartment was in an old rooming house that had BAD energy. Although I never experienced anything paranormal there, I always felt very uneasy in the hallways and on the stairs, and I particularly disliked looking in the bathroom mirror because I always had the unshakable feeling that I was going to see someone or something behind me when I did. It also didn't help that the shared kitchen and shower were in a basement that multiple people, independent of each other, described as looking "exactly like Buffalo Bill's house in Silence of the Lambs." :lol: I wouldn't be surprised if something terrible had happened in that house in the distant past, but really, the bad vibes I felt could just as easily be explained by the fact that I was under a lot of stress that year and my landlady was truly mentally unstable in some really alarming ways and directed her behaviors at her tenants.

(Oh, semi-related, non-paranormal story about that house: The landlady, who lived on the house's lower level, had a sweet, enormously fat cat who almost no one but me paid any attention to. He loved to hang out with me in my room, but I never let him spend the night there because a) I didn't want to have to get up to let him out if he needed the litter box or something, and b) I didn't want my landlady to find out how much time I was spending with her cat and go berserk about it, which seemed like a real possibility. However, the cat wanted my attention 24/7 and would spend his nights sitting on a small table outside my door and violently jiggling the doorknob and rattling the door. Really fun to wake up to in a creepy building already. The funniest thing, in retrospect, was the time I forgot to lock my door one night and woke up at 2 a.m. to see it hanging open to the hallway and feel a heavy, breathing thing with claws landing on my chest. :o )

Anyway, I lived there for about a year before I moved down the street to a different, just as old house where I never remember feeling any sort of dread or terror at all. I think a lot of this had to do with the fact that it was a better living situation, with excellent landlords, shared with my now-husband and one of our best friends - but the building just felt better too. This was despite the fact that this house contained something objectively creepier than anything in the previous place: a small room in the basement, used for storage, with the words "LITTLE JAKE'S PLACE" inexplicably painted over the door. We always used to joke that it had clearly been built as the perfect spot to lock up your deformed, monstrous child to hide them away from the world. I still have no idea what that room was supposed to be for.

[ILoveJellybeans]

Here are some of my paranormal experiences :) I do investigations-doing another on Thursday, so theres quite a few I have to share. Ive also had some experiences in my house too.

On one location, which was outdoors, the five members of our paranormal team (at that time, we have since split into two groups) were walking along a path and we all saw this white ball of light cross the path in front of us. Im thinking maybe ball lightning, which is pretty interesting in itself, but it was still cool. It was also that one where a member of our team nearly fainted.

Then there was one where two of us were sharing a bedroom on our own in a haunted house, nobody else in the building, and we heard footsteps and the door opened on its own.

We also once left a voice recorder running, and when we listened back to it there was a male voice on there (we were all female) telling one of the team members to shut up.

Also at home I have heard a voice calling my name when I was downstairs on my own as I had woken up before everyone else, had a clock thrown off the wall, and found five photos of my brother as a baby lined up face down on my bedroom floor.

[Savoring Samsara]

ILoveJellybeans, you should do an "Ask a Paranormal Investigator Anything" Thread!

[ILoveJellybeans]

Done :) Enjoy and happy Halloween :)

[Savoring Samsara]

Thanks! Looks like it's going to be an awesome thread. :D

[Sumeri]

I'm loving this thread. I read most of the Jezebel ghost stories thread this year, and several of the stories were obviously made up, even if they were well written stylistically; certain details just didn't make sense in the stories. I obviously cannot verify that any of you had these experiences you have written about, but on this thread you really make me believe these are things that really happened to you - which I almost think is the most critical part of a good ghost story. I used to be much more freaked out by paranormal stories, but this year in particular, I'm finding them much more thrillingly enjoyable.

Maybe it's the fact that this year, I'm living in a house that's only around 40 years old, instead of an 110 year old place? I have to say, though, that not once did I ever have anything truly freaky happen to me in that centenarian house, including the evening after I'd just spent reading the Jez spooky stories thread the previous year, in the dark. The bedroom door would open and shut by itself all the time, but if you had a good look at the crazy warped door frame, and considered the fact that we had the windows open all spring, summer and autumn, it was obvious that this could be explained by simple physics, not paranormal activity. Once, when we'd been having a conversation where we decided to end our lease by September 1st, the bedroom door slammed shut loudly, which we joked must mean that the house liked us and was upset we were leaving. But it had such good energy, if such an emotional observation can be made of a place; and we were so fond of it, that I never felt scared of being in such an old apartment.

I know exactly what you mean. Our house now, that we moved to after creepy house, is over 100 years old and chock full of details that are very odd in a horror film kind of way: nooks and doors under staircases, wall sconces that cast weird shadows, creaky doors, etc. We even have an old crystal chandelier that makes a tinkly sound when the breeze blows right! :lol: But it has the best energy of any house I have ever lived in. We are only the third family to own it in over 100 years - both previous owners lived here 50+ years and died in the house, but it is just a happy, happy place. Nobody has ever "felt" anything off here (not even my scaredy cat dogs!)

[ILoveJellybeans]

I have a ghost soldier story too - or I think it COULD be a ghost soldier story, and I really like to hear of your opinions on this one:

The house my siblings and I grew up in was built by my parents in the early 80s. Average house on average patch of land in residential area just outside my hometown. So I have 6 siblings in total and while we are divided in character one more and one less as is is pretty normal for siblings, there are many big and tiny things that divided us in groups (like sisters vs. brothers, lil ones vs . big ones) and another thing was "seeing the man": "the man" was (yeah, is...) located in the corner you would see when you would take the stairs from our hallway down to the cellar. There the sucker was sitting and scaring the heck out of my older sister, one of my younger brothers and me. While none of the other 4 nor my parents could, uhm, "see" him. Just us three. And we all agreed it is the same image we "feeled": A young man in dark green coloured clothing. "He" never spoke to us, just sitting, staring and reached out.

And until this very day, us 3 absolutely HATE to enter our parents cellar. so we would not cross this one particular corner And as ist is a classical austrian styled house, the garage is like a level down and when you enter my parents house through the garage door, you have to cross through the cellar to get into the actual house. My sister even heavily objected to including a cellar into her new house because of this issue, although it meaned having less available space. My other siblings and my parents always brush it off as "silly story".

So why do I think it could be a ghost soldier? Apart from the obvious resons, my dad once admitted digging up " bones and scraps, probably from a soldier" while building the house ....

So what you all say? I´m agnostic with strong shifts to atheism, but raised traditional catholic. I have read a bit on mass psychotics and hysterias - is it likely I was experiencing this with my 2 siblings in a very small setting? My dad just told us causually about the above a couple of years ago when roadside workers found something from the WWII while reconstructing a road in our town, but never before.

Or maybe he did and we were just "projecting" as kids? So I really don´t know - I just know I´m pushing 30 and I´m still afraid of entering a cellar...

I have heard that children are more open to seeing the paranormal. I have heard loads of stories about children seeing ghosts, or having imaginary friends that are later discovered to match the description of someone who died there or a relative who died before the kids were born.

Theres also more logical explanations, such as one kid believing they saw something, and then the other children hearing about it and that making them more likely to imagine that they can see something, or seeing some form of optical illusion or shadow that they interpret as a man in green.