This blog post is
about noises. If you’ve been following my blog about the haunted homestead, you
probably read the June/2023 post about the ridiculous gargantuan noise I heard in
the middle of the day on the staircase, which to this day cannot be explained.
Noises seem to be front and center lately (aside from the freaky lights incident written about here):
I haven’t visually witnessed
anything out of the ordinary these last few months, but there was plenty of
that over the years witnessed by myself and others (most of which is on the
blog).
I don’t know if
noises are just the preferred communication method from the dearly departed
these days, or if I am somewhat becoming more “in tune” with that sense. I
wouldn’t exactly say I am becoming ‘clairaudient” as I don’t really hear paranormal
sounds like truly clairaudient people do. I just hear stuff that is within
regular hearing ability. I am the only one in the house some days. At night, I
am the last one to bed. Therefore, that leaves me alone in a large rambling (and
haunted) house with lots of quiet time. The lack of visual manifestations could
be attributed to the fact that I have been known to tell them that I am here working and I don’t need to see spirits
drifting throughout the rooms of my house trying to freak me out. Believe it or
not, this has been effective before. They are cooperative, I will give them
that. I imagine them going, “Well, she
said she doesn’t want to SEE us but maybe we can make some noise so she doesn’t
forget we live here, too.”
When I say “noises”,
I don’t mean a wayward mouse in the attic who deservedly stepped into a trap. I
mean sometimes a voice….sometimes footsteps walking….and louder things that
make you really stop and think of what a perfectly normal explanation for the
source could be, especially when you are the only one in the house, the cat is
by your side, and you very clearly hear these things.
Just this morning, I
got up a half hour early because I could hear something downstairs and had to
double check it wasn’t a burglar. It wasn’t. Missing out on sleep is not
something I would do unless I had to,
so this confirms the seriousness of the situation.
Yes, there are sounds
and noises in everyone’s house --for which explanations can be found: you left
a radio on somewhere, your dog knocked over a shelf, your kids are jumping on
their bed, etc. This is not what I am talking about. I am talking about things
like unmistakable footsteps coming down the hallway behind you when there is
not another living soul in your house.(emphasis on “living”.)
I have been keeping a
list of the recent events. I have written about them here in order of “Hey,
that’s not THAT unusual” to “Are you serious??” and not by the date they
happened. And yeah, I am “dead” serious.
In June (2023), I was
in the living room and heard someone walk down every stair of the staircase
(just outside the living room). I was home alone.
About the footsteps I
mentioned in the upstairs hallway: It was August (2023), late afternoon. I was
home alone. The cat was off somewhere in the middle of a 22 hour nap. I exited
my bedroom (which used to be the most haunted room in the house) and walked
down the hallway to descend the stairs. When I reached the end of the hall, I could
very clearly hear footsteps coming behind me. Of course I turned to look, sort
of hoping I’d see (and sort of hoping I wouldn’t see) some long-departed
relative, but nope. No one in sight. You know when someone walks on a creaky
floor constructed in 1871. Trust me on this.
August was a paranormally- active month. On the 31st, I was home alone, working in my home office in the far end of the living room. The house was quiet. Winston was lounging on a chair. All doors were locked; pop-in visitors could not enter unbeknownst to me. Yet, I could hear noises in the dining room or kitchen, like something substantial being moved around. Winston became alert and stared in the direction of the noise. I took a gander for visual evidence, but nothing could be seen.
And then in the middle of September, I heard one of the most intriguing noises of all.
Once again, I was home
alone, working. The house was quiet. I started hearing hammering/banging
noises, possibly on the kitchen end of the house, not right near me or above
me. The sound was intermittent, off and on. This went on for about 2
hours.
I proceeded to check
around IN the house and outside for possible shed doors banging or the source
of the racket. Everything was locked up tight and there was nothing outside to
make that noise. It sounded very much like someone working on/hammering on the
end of the house. It could not have been any neighbors— they are too far away
to be heard with my windows shut. I was able to record this on my phone and
have played it for a couple of people who also agree it sounded like a
carpenter was pounding nails for awhile.
There are paranormal occurrences known as residual hauntings which are like a replaying of events from the past. I had written about it here:
It is not out of the
question that this is what that was.
Back to the action-packed
month of August, I was sitting at the dining room table writing a few thank you
cards. It was early evening, still daylight and clear out. Suddenly, I heard
the metal door knocker on the front door knock 3 times. It’s a very distinct
sound. I was sitting very close to the window that looks out at that door and
could see no one was there. I went out to check anyway just in case someone 2
feet tall was on my doorstep. They weren’t. I think I said something like, “Well, if you want to come in, come in. You
don’t have to knock.” I returned to what I was doing but nothing else
transpired. Just “someone” wanting their presence known again, I think.
Within a few days of
that incident, I was in the kitchen washing dishes around 6:00 in the evening.
Shaun was in the living room. I heard someone kind of far away yell, “Rebecca!”
It was unmistakable. I know my name when I hear it, duh. I walked into the
living room to ask Shaun what he wanted. He told me he had not called my name.
Nor did he hear it. There was no one else in the house. This would not be the
only time a disembodied spirit called my name.
A few weeks later, I
was reading in bed and had turned off my lamp to get some shut-eye. It was
probably between 12:00-12:30. The house was super quiet. I laid there
attempting to drift off when suddenly I heard my mom call my name: “Rebecca!”
It completely
startled me, as she died 2 months before. The familiarity of her voice
surprised and saddened me at the same time. I remember sitting right up and
thinking, “That’s my mom!” I had missed the sound of her voice so much and
while I was very happy to hear it again, it instantly reminded me that she was
gone. A part of me was super happy though, that she--my mom, the person who
gave me life, the person I’ve known the longest and miss the most, was capable
and able to speak to ME from the afterlife. I didn’t care that it was just one
word—my name—but it meant more to me than all the other paranormal experiences
put together in ways I cannot even convey.
I wasn’t thinking of
her as I laid there to go to sleep, so it was not wishful thinking. I was
definitely not asleep yet so it was not a dream or even one of those small
pre-dreams when you are just about asleep and beginning to enter a dream state.
I had been actually fully awake when I heard it. It could not have been more
clear and it was 100% definitely her voice. I did not get the sense that she
was in the room with me. I can only think she wanted to make contact in a gentle
way. That would be my mom in a nutshell.
She lived in this
house most of her life. She had more paranormal experiences than anyone else I
have ever known. I know sometimes those things scared her but for the most
part, she found them intriguing, as do I, and we had many, many discussions
surrounding what she, and others, have witnessed under this roof. She would
always tell me the latest of what she saw or heard, followed by, “You know, I
can’t really tell anyone but you about this or people will think I’m crazy. But
I know what I saw.” I always reminded her it is hard for people who do not
experience these things to fully grasp the unknown. But we knew.
She had some kind of
quality whereby paranormal activity was very easy for her to experience. I am
convinced some people just aren’t capable of it. Her first encounter with this
was when she was a very small child in the 1930’s and she never forgot that
throughout her life.
She was not the least
bit “crazy” and when she died, she was as sensible and sane as you are. She
just happened to live in a haunted house. And now, so do I.
Lastly, back to
August again, I was alone in the living room one night watching tv. I got up to
head to the kitchen when I heard a HUGE crash, that sounded like pots and pans being
dropped (definitely sounded like metal objects), in the direction of the
kitchen or pantry. As no one else was in the kitchen or pantry, one wonders
what exactly could have made a noise of this magnitude. No plausible reason was
ever found.
I don’t expect the
sounds and noises will ever permanently stop. Imagine having to live in your
house without making a single sound. Impossible. And probably someday, I will
turn around and out of nowhere a spirit will manifest itself (wouldn’t be the
first time) and maybe we will really look at each other and I will say, “Okay,
you’re my next blog post topic. Have a seat. I have questions.”
Stay tuned for that.
