You awaken at night to hear footsteps walking up the stairs. Kitchen cupboards are left open, but you know they were closed when you were in there last. Lights turn on by itself. Your keys have disappeared, yet you know that you left them on the table. You smell the perfume or aftershave of someone, but no-one in your house uses that fragrance. What is going on?
All these may be indications that your house is haunted.
In most cases these strange happenings can be rationally explained. The footsteps may be nothing more than noisy water pipes, someone may have left the kitchen cupboard open, faulty electrics could cause lights to turn on by itself, you mislaid the keys when distracted and the smell may be coming in from a breeze wafting past a clump of flowers outside.
The first thing to do if you suspect a haunting is to check whether the cause is something explainable.
Check to see if the phenomenon occurs at the same time each day. This will usually narrow down your investigation. What were you, and other people in the house, doing prior to it occurring?
If you hear knocking or footsteps immediately after someone has taken a bath, it could just be the water pipes or water heater.
In the case of cupboards being left open, make sure that they are all closed. Double check each one, ensuring they are well closed. Then close the door to the room, making sure that everyone in the house knows not to go into it overnight. Are they open the next morning?
Some of the main causes of 'ghostly happenings' are merely pets or animals. People forget that cats and dogs could be responsible for a large majority of spooky events.
Cats like jumping and stretching on things. Often this may cause drawers or cupboards to open. They also knock things off tables or sideboards. Dogs are also known to open doors and knock things over. Dogs walking up stairs or along passages could also sound like footsteps - particularly with the bigger breeds.
Other animals like mice, rats, squirrels, possums or many other animals could also be the cause of unusual sounds or activity. Check to see whether any of these animals have set up home in your roof, walls or garden.
The second thing to do is now get a friend to check out the house for you. Often we live in a 'comfort zone'. so it is easy to overlook things. Explain what you are experiencing and then get a friend to see if they can find an explanation.
If an explanation is still not found, then you may indeed have a ghost in the house. If it is bugging you, you may now want to call a professional ghost hunter. A ghost hunter usually has access to specialist equipment which could still track down a natural, explainable cause.
Stronger signs of potential hauntings:
- Unexplained Shadows: You see shadows moving in the corner of your eye, but when you look, there is nothing there. Sometimes these shadows may appear human-shaped.
- Pet Behaviour: It seems that pets are able to 'see' ghosts a lot better than humans. Do your dogs bark at something you can't see? Do your cats stare at a blank wall? this could indicate a ghost.
- Being Watched: Are you alone at home, but yet feel like someone is watching you? It usually happens only in one part of the house and usually only at a particular time.
- Being Touched: This is often linked to the feeling of being watched. You can feel a very light touch on your arm or face. You feel like someone has their hand on your shoulder. Sometimes people report something tugging on their hair or clothes.
- Cold Spots: Nearly everyone has heard of this. As you walk across a room or down a passage, you pass through an area where the temperature is noticably colder or warmer. (Check that there is no aircon on or hot water pipes that go under the floor!)
- Voices: You sometimes hear muffled voices, a child crying quietly or hear whispers. People also report hearing their names being said.
Definite Signs of paranormal activity:
- Moving or levitating objects: furniture moving, crockery sliding across a table, pictures falling off the wall, books being thrown from a bookshelf.
- Physical assault: scratches that appear on your body with no explanation. Hard slaps or hair pulling, yet no-one is around.
- Apparitions: Seeing a ghostly entity appearing in a room, seeing a mist-like shape moving about, seeing small balls of light moving around the room.
If the ghost hunters have not found clear evidence of the phenomena being of natural origins, the could call in a medium to try and contact the entity. In extreme cases, an exorcist or priest may be called on to cleanse the house and banish the entity.
Don't let your imagination take over! Let common sense prevail!
For the latest news on all things paranormal, head on over to Strange News Daily. For stories and articles on ghosts, haunted houses and other strangeness, pop on over to the Strange News Daily Blog, a place that collects strange stories from the world of the mysterious, unexplained and unknown.
James is an author and explorer with a deep interest in all things paranormal. When not travelling the world in search of the strange, weird and bizarre, he writes about his experiences and the research he has done.
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