The Presence on the Stairs

My 30s Colonial in Michigan was warm, friendly, inviting. I still miss it. I have to say I wondered why the young couple who sold it to us lived there such a short time, and left behind expensive new decor. But I didn't ask. We hadn't been there long when we all (well, not my husband) broached the subject of the footsteps on the stairs. Apparently all of us had heard them and not said anything until one day, right in front of us all, our poodle growled and whimpered at the foot of the stairs and refused to go up them. The stairs ran from the front entry to the second-floor balcony, with four open, wider stairs visible from the living and dining rooms. But we never saw anything. The interesting thing about the footsteps was, they were accompanied by a swish as of clothing and a fricative sound as of a hand on the handrail. Even knowing as we did about the ghostly steps, we still sometimes mistook them for a live person coming down and would mouth a greeting, only to find there was no one. The house kept its warm ambiance nevertheless. Friends came and went, stayed overnight, shared our meals, but never felt anything amiss. My husband pooh-poohed our stories. Until one Sunday morning. He had gone downstairs early and settled down with the newspaper. When he heard me come downstairs not long afterwards, he looked forward to his morning cup of tea. But time passed, and the tea didn't arrive. He called to me. Then he called again. Worried at the answering silence, he got up and walked to the kitchen. And to the downstairs bath. And to the basement. No me. Puzzled as only a non-believer can be, he slowly ascended the stairs. And there everybody was, me included, fast asleep in bed. But he wasn't yet convinced. His worried frown told me he was searching for some rational explanation. And like many men, he didn't want to be proved wrong. It wasn't long after this that he believed. We were awakened from sleep by the odd little growls and yelps of our poodle. Then we heard them --- quite deliberate steps coming UP the stairs. This had to be an intruder. Intruders weren't unusual in our neighborhood. We lay and listened, to be sure. And yes, another stair creaked. Then another. My husband reached for the baseball bat he kept by the bed and crept to the door. Reaching for the switch, he flooded the landing and stairs with light. But there was no one. To be certain, he checked all the rooms (and doors) downstairs. The basement, too. There was no one. We had both heard those footsteps, no doubt of it. So we all learned to live with our 'presence on the stairs' till our financial situation improved and we moved to a bigger house. The day we moved, I stood and 'hugged' my house. I dearly loved it and hated to leave. We asked the new owners after a while whether they had found anything unusual about the house, but it was obvious they did not want to talk about it. Betty Swart The Shadowlike Figure: Waltham, Massachusetts When I was about 15 or so, (now I'm 31) my best friend lived in a house that's haunted. The previous owner's won't even talk about it. That there tells you something. Anyway to name a few occurrences, lights went off and on, dishes floated and smashed, figures appeared in mirrors, shadows, footsteps, doorslams, you name it. Once we came home and thought my friend's mother was home drying laundry. The dryer was on, but no one had been home all day. I guess I'll tell you about what scared the daylights out of me. We were working out in his basement one night. We had the radio on low in the other room. All of a sudden the volume turned down. We went into the other room and turned it up again. Sure enough, a few minutes later it was turned down again. We figured it was the radio. That's all fine well and good, but you have to turn a knob to operate the volume. Anyway, we continued working out. All of a sudden we heard footsteps run upstairs, slam the door, then run up the stairs above and slam a second door. We went upstairs to check it out, but found nothing. No one was home except for us. After the workout I walked home. I went through his backyard, through some bushes to the street. As I got about 300 ft. away, I looked back. His back light was going off and on by itself. Then it came on and a dark shadowlike figure stood there. It as I call it started walking towards me. I started to walk faster, but when I did It ran, I'm talking fast. I ran, slipped on the ice, got up then fled through a yard and it was right behind me. I leaped over a brook and ran home. When I got there no one was home. I immediately called my friend, thinking it was him and there'd be no answer. He answered. I asked how he got home so fast? He had no clue what I was talking about so I told him. The next night I was working out once again, this time at his neighbor's house who was also our friend. We heard a slam on the bulkhead, then the same dark figure appeared in the basement window. I now had to explain this to my other friend. When I left I was walking and had to look back. My buddy popped out from behind the house and just ran at me. I flew home but a different way. Again IT was right behind me. None the less, I made it home again. Whatever it was, it didn't like or want me there. I could always run fast but this thing was much faster. I know It could have caught me if It tried. The weird thing is that the day after the first night, I retraced my steps to see footprints in the snow. They departed from mine before the brook, then went off into a swamp towards my friend's houses again. All I know is that house was or is weird. My friend's parents split up so I haven't been back in years. His whole family, swears it's haunted. I have had many more experiences there, but this was the most frightening. Brian Fuzzy I HAVE HAD THIS ONE OCCURRENCE HAPPEN TO ME TWICE. I NEVER REALLY THOUGHT THAT IT WAS A GHOST EXPERIENCE, (AT LEAST I HOPED IT WASN'T) NOW I'M NOT SO SURE, MAYBE SOMEONE WILL KNOW AND E-MAIL ME BACK WITH SOME KIND OF INFO.... HERE IS MY STORY.... THE FIRST OCCURRENCE HAPPENED WHEN I WAS AROUND 12 YEARS OLD. MY AUNT HAD PICKED ME UP AT HOME EARLY ONE MORNING TO BABY-SIT MY YOUNGER COUSIN. WHEN WE ARRIVED AT HER HOUSE MY COUSIN WAS IN BED SLEEPING AND MY UNCLE WAS GETTING READY SO THEY COULD LEAVE WHEN WE ARRIVED. I WAS STILL TIRED SO I LAID DOWN ON THE DOG'S PILLOW BED IN THE LIVING ROOM (IT WAS SO COMFORTABLE) I ENDED UP FALLING ASLEEP. I REMEMBER OPENING MY EYES, I WAS LYING ON MY STOMACH HEAD TURNED SO I WAS STARING AT THE KITCHEN. EVERYTHING WAS OUT OF FOCUS IT LOOKED LIKE I WAS WATCHING A BLACK AND WHITE T.V. THAT DID NOT COME IN (FUZZY) I REMEMBER HEARING A CONVERSATION GOING ON IN THE KITCHEN, BUT I COULD NOT MAKE OUT WHAT WAS BEING SAID, IT WAS VERY MUMBLED. I ALSO REMEMBER SEEING FIGURES IN THE KITCHEN. I THOUGHT THAT MY AUNT AND UNCLE CAME HOME. THEN MY EYES FOCUSED ON TWO SMALL ANKLES STANDING IN FRONT OF ME. I THOUGHT THEY BELONGED TO MY COUSIN BECAUSE HE USE TO WAKE ME UP IN REALLY ANNOYING WAYS, SO I WANTED TO GET THE BETTER OF HIM FIRST SO I TRIED TO GRAB HIS ANKLES SO HE KNEW THAT I WAS AWAKE. TO MY SURPRISE I COULD NOT MOVE. I WAS PARALYZED...... NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRIED TO MOVE I COULDN'T. I REMEMBER FEELING A LITTLE SCARED AND TRAPPED......THEN ALL OF THE SUDDEN I BLANKED OUT AND WENT INTO A DREAM THAT WAS REALLY STRANGE. I COULD NOT EXPLAIN IT IF I TRIED. SOMETHING ABOUT ROLLER COASTERS ETC. (WEIRD) THEN I WOKE UP FULLY AND TO MY SURPRISE, MY COUSIN WAS STILL IN BED AND MY AUNT AND UNCLE WERE NOT HOME YET. I DID NOT SPEAK OF MY EXPERIENCE BECAUSE I FIGURED IT WAS JUST A DREAM, NOW I AM HAVING DIFFERENT THOUGHTS. THE SECOND TIME THIS HAPPENED TO ME I WAS IN MY GREAT UNCLES APARTMENT. MY DAD AND I WERE VISITING WITH HIM. I REMEMBER SITTING IN HIS LAZY BOY RECLINER. IT WAS THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY I WAS NOT FEELING TIRED. THEN ALL OF THE SUDDEN I FELT FUZZY AGAIN. I REMEMBER HEARING MUMBLING AND I ALSO REMEMBER SEEING TWO FUZZY FIGURES SITTING NEXT TO ME BUT, I COULDN'T MOVE I COULD NOT EVEN TURN MY HEAD TO SEE WHO WAS THERE OR ANYTHING. I JUST SAT THERE IT FELT AS THOUGH MY BODY DIDN'T WORK ANYMORE. WHAT IS STRANGE IN THIS OCCURRENCE IS THAT I DO NOT HAVE ANY KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING BEFORE MY BODY STOPPED WORKING FOR ME. I COULD HAVE BEEN SLEEPING BUT, I REALY DO NOT THINK SO! PLEASE IF ANYONE HAS ANY EXPLANATION PLEASE E-MAIL ME AT JILLCPD@AOL.COM Tim's Story My name is Tim and I was looking at your website and I had to tell you my story. As a kid growing up in northeast Ohio there wasn't alot to do. One of my favorite things to do was tell ghost stories with my buddies.My Dad used to laugh at us because he was the most skeptical person in the world. The night of my cousins funeral " He was hit by a train by the way" He appeared to my brother and told him he would see him again. According to my brother my Dad was the only other one in the room at the time. And my Dad said he saw something but he wasn't sure what it was. I was two at the time and I still remember my brother running out screaming his lungs out saying he saw Chuckie! Well sixteen years later I saw my Dad do an about face when it came to the supernatural. The house we grew up in always seemed like a great place to live. Although there was always that unexplained bump in the night that probably happens in every house. We had fallen on hard times," this was 1983 I was a senior in hi school" The bank forced us out of our house two days before Christmas that year. We spent the whole day moving nonstop. At 2:00am my Dad and I saw the storm door come flying shut and the interior door slam and then lock! Then we heard this horrible laughing. It was 10 degrees outside and no one would've been around. My older brother was still in the attic making sure nothing was left. My Dad turned to me and said did you hear that? He could tell by my facial expression that I had. We picked up the last item, an old philco refrigerator and got the hell out of there. We forgot all about my brother still upstairs and went back to pick him up. He was shaking like a leaf, not knowing what happened to us. He said he went downstairs to see us and called out and a voice said they've left, followed by the hideous laughing that we heard before. To this day my Dad never mentioned this to me ever again

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