Oh, pesky, you are lucky! I'd love to have something like that happen. Were you scared afterwards, or how did you feel?

No skepticism here. I've seen -- and heard -- some wild stuff on my adventures in and out of old/other people's houses. Wonder if there are any missing persons fitting that description. Since this isn't a regularity for you, he's probably not *attached* to you but for some reason perhaps he's attached to that place i.e. dead in the creek or something.

I suspect he was either a homeless person who may have died there, or was the victim of a car crash. I'm leaning toward the car crash.

I wasn't scared, more like I was just SO SURE that what I saw was what I saw. There was no doubt. I've seen a ghost before, and have had other paranormal experiences. I have a cousin who is a medium, and many of my family members have experienced things.

I'm hoping to take DH there and we'll do some checking into that site. There is a paranormal society locally, so I'm going to check with them.

Strange feeling, isn't it, Pesky? Several years ago I was mowing the lawn when I heard my dad call my name. I looked toward the voice and there he was, just a few feet away, walking towards my front door, wearing one of his comfy old shirts, looking just as he always did. Except that he had died about 10 or 12 years earlier, before we had moved to this house. I felt happy to see and hear him again, even if only for a fleeting second.

I don't believe in ghosts, but I sure saw my dad that day, and heard his voice. It was nice. I hope you enjoyed your experience, even if he was a stranger.

Sherry

He could be a drifter, a real person who somehow hid from you or got away fast. I am not a big ghost believer although I do believe in the existence of God and the soul of man. I don't understand why any of the departed would want to hang around. I hope that whoever or whatever he was that no harm will come to you. I would keep a closer eye around the property and be careful.

I believe you because I saw a ghost outside my house once, saw it twice. I just woke up and need to leave for the day but I'll tell you about it later.

Reading your story gave me the creeps, just like the time I saw my ghost! lol

I've never seen one myself, but both of my sons reported -- independently -- that they saw a blonde woman in our sunroom around Christmas time several years ago. The boys were maybe around ages 5 and 8 at the time. One of them was not rattled, the other was a bit. She was standing by our Christmas tree, according to them. Again, they didn't corroborate the story between themselves (they barely spoke to each other back then) and they each had the same details about this woman w/ short blonde hair and a pink sweater. It made me feel creepy for quite a while, wondering if we'd see her around the house again, but she never came back!

These other stories are giving me goosebumps.

I have never seen a ghost, and hope I never do-creepy. But, I do think people have seen them.

My ex saw one during the brief time we were married long ago, and, and I believed him. He was driving down a country road and looked in his rearview mirror and saw a lady dressed in one of those old timey black dresses with a black hat, riding an old timey big bicycle. When he looked again, she was gone.

I forgot to add, that he was so sure he turned around to look for her, and couldn't find her.

Cool! I add my vote as someone who would LOVE to see a ghost! :)

Although it IS a good idea to be cautious around semi-isolated areas too! :)

Just fascinating!! Wonder who he could be (or perhaps the question should be re-phrased to say "was"???)

Keep your eyes and ears open for "interesting stories" from the whole area -- history can reveal so many interesting secrets!

Jan at Rosemary Cottage (who always checks the nearby cemetery when we drive by for figures or lights!)

I do believe you saw a ghost. I've seen several myself. Let us know if you see him again when you go back with your DH.

I have personally never seen a ghost, but I was babysitting a child who I believe might have. Back when I was a teenager, I was babysitting a toddler once. The family had a German Shepherd dog who suddenly began barking in the garage, where they kept his food bowl and crate. The outer garage door was kept locked, but the interior door from the mud room to the garage was open.

I glanced into the garage, saw nothing, and stepped inside (with the toddler in my arms) to tell the dog to be quiet. I thought maybe he had spotted a mouse somewhere, since I couldn't see anything amiss. However, the dog kept barking incessantly and was looking up about five or six feet in the air, at nothing. Suddenly, the baby I was holding began to laugh and wiggle his body this way and that, exactly as you might do when someone is tickling you. He was giggling and wiggling so much that I started heading back into the house to put him down.

The dog nearly tripped me in his hurry to get past me and get out of the garage. I decided to close the garage door to the mudroom, in case there was a mouse in there. Just as I was closing the door, the one year old raised his hand and waved and said "Bye Bye" while looking directly where we had just been standing. If there was some spirt there, the dog was frightened, but the baby was completely at ease. I never told the family, since I was only thirteen and thought they might never ask me to sit again if they thought I was emotionally unstable. Besides, I myself had seen nothing, and couldn't have described any ghost, if in fact the baby and the dog had encountered one. I did babysit there for about another year, and nothing else strange ever happened.

Telling stories...ok..

When I was a kid we lived in a custom ranch home. Two doors were side by side at the end of the hallway. One was the door to the babies room, the other to the basement. Momma was awakened in the middle of the night by her babies cries, opened the wrong door, tumbled down the stairs,breaking her neck. We could never keep that door closed. If we closed it, it would open of it's own accord before we reached the end of the hall. :0)

As a runner,years after my german shephard passed, I still think I hear her padding along behing me as I jog over this one long wood bridge. It's a 4 footed, uneven patter. The bridge probably echos. And I was told that house had a drafty basement. :0)

It's all explainable.....:0)

I, too saw my dad one day. It was probably 6-7 months after he died. I was in the kitchen sweeping the floor and saw him plain as day wading in a lake fishing with a giant grin on his face. It only lasted a few seconds. And he was wearing a hat that I had never seen before. I hadn't been thinking about him before that. It was a nice feeling to know that he was okay. Real or not, I am going with real.

I believe you. I never really believed in ghosts until we built this present home of ours. It was haunted before we even moved in, which is really odd, IMO.

Many, many times I'd be standing in our kitchen and feel hands massaging my neck or shoulders. Seriously, I could actually feel fingers! At first it scared the daylights out of me, but I never had a feeling of menace or evil, only of kindness . . . strange! About two years later, a mutual friend of us both, finally hooked me up with a very well-known (in another part of the country, not here in New Mexico) woman who actually worked with her local city police department, much like the gal who inspired the tv series "Medium".

Anyhoo, she told me that our ghost was the woman who'd been like a second mother to me my whole life, and who'd passed on unexpectedly the month before all this started. It all made sense to me then because before "Anne" had retired, she'd spent many years as a private duty RN to a number of very rich and well-known people, and she was known and loved by them for her wonderful bedside manner . . . and her great back massages.

"Anne" was with us daily, moving things right in front of our eyes occasionally (cups, water faucet handles, etc) but always announcing her presence with a neck or shoulder rub or a quick, very obvious bump to our hips. She especially loved to do that to DH, who she adored. Funny thing was, she "disappeared" the day her DH, who was like my second dad died, 7 years later. These days, Anne shows up only about once every few months for a quick visit.

And then . . . about 3 years ago we acquired another ghost! This one DD would actually see at night. A Native American man, with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, who'd be standing in the corner of her room and then walk across her bedroom, through the wall and outside, scaring the daylights out of her! He was a bit of an angry ghost and we finally had to contact our local paranormal group who worked with us to get him to move on. He showed up very well on their instrument in the corner of DD's room,BTW . . . and so did two other spirits hanging around in our kitchen, much to their surprise, but not ours. It was "Anne & Walter", we totally knew!! How funny!

I never saw the Native American man myself, only DD did, but I would occasionally feel his prence and twice when I was in her room, I walked through something very localized, very cold and it made me feel weird for a moment. Since this is a fairly new home we had built for us, and it has under the floor radiant heat, there are NO drafts in this place. This latest ghost was persuaded to eventually leave and now we thankfully just have Anne's occasional friendly visits.

Of course, to those who don't believe in ghosts, I'm now sounding like some total crackpot, but I swear that this is 100% true. And, I do believe other people's ghost stories if they're credible, and yours is. I think it would be very interesting to talk with your local paranormal group. Let me know if you ever do, as I'd love to hear what they find.
Lynn

. . . I was just sitting here rereading my post before I hit Post and the darn message posted all by itself! My hands weren't even close to my keyboard! Too funny, "Anne" must have wanted me to post and not delete it. Welcome back, Anne!
Lynn

Ooooh, spooky, Pesky! I got chills reading your post... really!

Others have chimed in to say they too have seen ghosts. Do you think these beings are benevolent spirits, or can some mean to do harm? Do they have the ability to do good and/or evil, or can they only roam about? Hmmm...

There was only one place/building I refused to enter. It was the barn on the property of a place called Prospect Place in Trimway, OH. I was there in 2006. Propect Place has become more well-known since I was there. A show called Ghost Adventures just did a show about Prospect Place -- it was on TV last week I think.

Propect Place is really old, has a robust and dramatic history. When we walked out to the barn, it was like things even sounded different not just felt different. Even the air seemed to have a different consistency. Totally had the feeling of having walked into a group of people who didn't understand personal space, you could feel them standing too close, and all eyes were on you just staring intently. DH and the boys went on into the barn. I felt like outside with the spirit-space-invaders was better than going in that barn and I didn't go in. From the loft, DH took a picture of me standing by the barn doors. The pic shows a cloud of mist right by my head and we also got several photos of orbs from inside the house.

Couple other places felt creepy and have made me feel very uneasy, like couldn't wait to get out of there, but nothing like that barn.

Wow, I'm getting chills and it isn't from the weather.

The only person who might come back to visit me is my mother, and she said long before she died that she would never do it.

Okay, these stories are so COOL!!! Keep them coming!

Here's mine. A very small backstory on our acre. There was a house that used to sit here (in the country) about a 100 plus years ago. The old man who sold us the acre (he would have been near 100 right now if he were alive), told us that when he and his wife were in his 20s, they'd all come here to the old house and have dances on weekends.

My boys heard me calling for the dog one night in the hallway, but I was in bed. So I know there's something here. :)

Anyway, about 7 years ago someone gave my husband a pair of night vision binoculars. I waited until it got dark and went to the side of the house to look at the creek to see if I could see an animal. About 20 feet in front of me, under the big tree where the old house used to be, was a man all in white, sitting in a chair, the image was like the Lincoln Memorial. I took the binoculars from my face, looked, didn't see anything. I looked through them again, and the man was still there. Sitting calmly in the chair.

I ran like hell into the house and have never gone back out to look again or take pictures of the area!

Very cool pesky. I, for one, am definitely a believer of the presence of ghosts.

Not everything is "explainable".

You have to be the type of person who is open to the possibility to ever experience what you have. Those who are skeptical will never entertain the possibility of the presence of ghosts, and will therefore, never experience anything paranormal. Sad.

Definitely explore the local paranormal society in your area, you never know what you might learn. The spirit you encountered may have "shown" himself to another person in your area.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Many times, people who experience what you have will not do so for fear of how their experience will be received when shared.

One last thought - for those whose religious beliefs prohibit the belief in the presence of ghosts - how is that different than believing in a God that no one has ever seen?

Definitely, food for thought.

My only experience has been dream-related. And that was enough reality for me. There was a tragedy that took place in our house when the original owners lived here. The wife committed suicide ... in the house. I knew nothing about it until I started having recurring dreams/nightmares. When I mentioned it to neighbors the story was revealed. I still don't know what it meant, but the dreams stopped after that. It happened at a time when we were considering moving ... something I didn't want to do. One of the neighbors told me the woman was reaching out telling me it was okay to stay. To this day I still don't understand.

I'm also enjoying these very much, and have one to add.

My wonderful father died on Valentine's Day in 2007, at home, with hospice care. We had the funeral a few days later, but couldn't bury him in the small country cemetery until late spring, as it was closed in the winter.

The day before his burial in May, I had an acquaintance over and I was digging perennials for her in my river garden, so called because it's at the end of my property over looking a river. I had mowed the lawn recently and was pleased that it looked so perfect and lush. The day of Dad's graveside service, a few hours after it, I was down at that garden with another friend. I was shocked to see what appeared to be an area of burnt grass at the entrance to the garden. I looked at it, and asked the friend what she thought it looked like, knowing full well myself what it was. She replied that it was the letter S, which was the first letter of Dad's last name. Two days later, there was no sign of it.

In Dad's final week of life, I took what became the last photo of him with my digital camera. His dog Charlie had jumped into the rented hospital bed to cuddle with Dad, and both of them were facing me in the doorway when I snapped the picture.

After Dad's funeral service, I went back alone to the room where his casket was, and spoke to him for the last time, telling him how much I'd miss him, and to come back to visit me.

A few days later, I was loading pictures from my digital camera to my PC. My habit is to delete them from the memory stick after loading them. I'd hit delete for each picture, and when I came to the one of Dad and Charlie, I clicked delete, and got the message that the 'file could not be deleted'. I have never had that happen before or since. I was able to delete every photo before that one, and all that followed, but NOT that last pic of Dad. I continued to take photos, load and then delete them from the memory stick, and each time I tried to delete that one, I couldn't. Finally, months later, as I was deleting photos, it finally went, just as the others had.

I feel strongly that Dad was visiting me those 2 times. He and I were very close all his life, and his presence after his death surprised, but didn't frighten me.

I believe you saw something. I believe there are angels and demons.

I had experiences about 7 or so years ago and they weren't good ones. I was afraid. I don't want to elaborate because it will branch off into religion and it could change the tone of the thread. I believe God helped me press through that trying time and I'm fine today. I only ever told my immediate family. My sister and I both still lived at home and we all have the same beliefs. DH and I weren't together then and I've never mentioned it to him.

I wonder why some people are more likely to see ghosts than others... I have never seen a ghost but I have experienced a few situations where people should have become ghosts.

I don't think the ghosts I've seen were bad...I think it's more of the energy that hasn't passed on that is sticking around for whatever reason. I don't necessarily think the spirit is tied to a specific place (as with Lynnes spirit) but maybe to an emotionally charge person or place to them.

At our previous house we had many experiences, my most intense experience was one where I'd seen a male figure in a white t-shirt walk past the kitchen window into the laundry room which was just off the kitchen. You would step down into the LR/storage room, then you could exit out to the back yard by another door.

I was washing dishes at the sink when I saw the figure and I thought it was one of our boys. After he didn't come into the house I went out to the LR to see where he was, and the room was empty. Then I went out the door to see where he'd gone...and I looked up at the window. I realized that the window was at least 2 feet higher than my head. There was no way I could have seen a male in a white t-shirt walk past the window...I'd have barely seen the top of a grown mans head, much less a young boy! Plus the boys were upstairs the whole time.

Another story...when my father was in the last moments of his life here, I was sitting next to him holding his hand. Suddenly I was aware that the room had gone completely black and there was no sound. I could see a bright light coming in an open door, and my father was standing in the doorway, looking toward the light. He was much younger in this vision, and he would not look at me. I was overcome by a feeling of pure warmth, and the feeling that whatever was in that light was safe, a place of no fear or worry. I can't explain it, but it was an overwhelmingly beautiful feeling.

My father walked through the door and immediately the room was back to how it was, people talking in the other room, the stereo on, the lights on. And my Dad had passed away. It was so spiritual and I have never had any doubt about the afterlife since then.

I should've phrased that different. Good and evil. Just wanted to say I don't doubt anyone's experience and good ones are always nice and comforting.

My father called me from the telephone booth across the street from the graveyard. OK, it was in a dream but I seriously didn't know there was really a pay phone there. After my very real dream, I drove past and was startled to see there was a pay phone in the very location my dad called me from in my dream.

It was just after I bought my first house. It was a farm and I knew he would have loved it. I think it was a dream, not an after life experience. The pay phone freaked me out a bit but I must have forgotten I knew about it.

My dad came to me in a dream. He told me my sister was going to have a baby boy, nine pounds and name it Andrew after his deceased brother. This was in Feb. so she wasn't even pregnant yet. I told all my sisters but her and my mom and friends about the dream. In June she announces she's pregnant. My mom insisted he didn't have a brother Andrew but I called my uncle (his brother) and they did have a brother who died in the coal mines at age nine. Soooooooo we all go out for new year's celebration and miss the call from my sister, from the recovery room, telling us that she had a 9 pound boy and was going to call him Andrew. Great isn't it? I've also seen on ghost in my lake house. Scared me half to death.

I have three experiences but I'll start with just one and add the others when I have more time.

When I was about 11 years old, my parents were out for dinner and I was home with my six-year-old sister. I was sitting in the den where our TV was. You could only get to the den from the upstairs hallway and through my parents' bedroom. As I was watching TV, I looked over and saw an old, gnarled hand reaching from the hallway into my parents' bedroom toward the lightswitch. It really freaked me out at the time and I didn't leave the den until my parents finally got home. I never told anyone because I didn't think anyone would believe me. I also sort of tried to talk myself out of it because it was very late and I told myself that I was probably just dozing off into a dream when I thought I saw the hand. But I still distinctly remember what the hand looked like, 40-some years later.

Well, when my sister and I were in our twenties, we were talking about something or other and she mentioned this hand she would see some nights reaching over her headboard. I told her about what I had seen and our memories of what the hand looked like were identical. It's funny, too, because my sister would often wake up in the morning and be underneath her bed. It happened so often it was almost a family joke. She says she doesn't remember how she got there but remembers clearly waking up and looking at the springs under her mattress.

Finally, my brother and his family are now living a few blocks from where we lived when I was growing up. He has a six-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter. They were sitting at the breakfast table one morning recently and my brother told his daughter that she looked tired. She said she hadn't slept very well. When he why, she said it was "because of the hand." When he asked her about the hand, his son described this old hand and said that it was pointing right at his sister.

We have certainly never talked to the kids about "the hand" and I actually hadn't thought about it in years. My brother is a very logical guy and, while skeptical that there was some specter (sp?) hand, it did shake him up a bit.

pugga -- SO CREEPY!!! Honestly your story gave my DH and I the chills!

Looks like the specter has literally followed your family -- and seems to be drawn to the girls ..... wonder if it is because many young kids seem to have great "energy"

Your brother should carefully record any sightings and stories. Perhaps set up a video cam in his daughter's room? Just a thought!

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

Jan - yes, it's pretty creepy. This area is close to a lake where Indians used to camp. There are also lots of Indian mounds in the area. There were many mounds destroyed before people figured out the significance of them. We were wondering if maybe these two houses were built on sacred or otherwise important Indian land.

Okay, here's my second story.

My parents had a home in Florida where they spent winters. My father died while they were there in 1999. My brother and sister flew down to Florida the day after Dad died to help Mom while I stayed in Wisconsin to make funeral arrangements.

My father was quite a shopper and accumulated a lot of different stuff. He'd purchased some sterling silver pieces while in Florida and Mom didn't know where he'd stored it. The first morning after my siblings arrived, my sister tidied up the condo, including making the beds, before they went out to deal with the funeral home, hospital, etc. When they returned, the three of them just sort of did some stuff on their own.

After a while, my sister went into Mom and Dad's room, came out into the living room and asked Mom where she had found the silver. Mom didn't know what she was talking about. My sister said that it was sitting on the bed and that it wasn't there when she made up the bed that morning. My mother said she certainly would have remembered finding the silver and had no idea where it came from.

Later, they were cleaning out some closets and Mom found a brass shoehorn. She asked my sister if her husband would like it and gave it to her for him. My brother later told us he didn't say anything at the time because it wasn't a big deal but that he thought to himself that he would have liked to have the shoehorn. The next morning they went out to get something to eat or something like that and when they returned, Mom went into her bedroom and found a brass shoehorn on her bed. She said something to my sister like "I thought you were going to take this back for Ron." My sister said she had the shoehorn in her suitcase. As I said in my earlier post, my brother is very logical and kept saying "No, no, no. There is certainly an explanation for this." But, of course, couldn't think of anything.

The next day after they returned from whatever they were doing, they found one of those things that are attached to a car hood to prop it up while you're looking under the hood. They had been calling me every day and told me what they'd found that day. I realized that this was meant for me. No-one knew except for me that that piece had fallen off my car.

Nothing more was found on Mom's bed and we figured Dad was just taking care of a few more things for his kids before he was ready to leave us; the silver for my sister, the shoehorn for my brother and the hood thingy for me.

Dad was always fascinated by the mind, hypnosis, spooky stuff and we always joked that if he could find a way, Dad would communicate with us "from beyond."

Pugga!

Excellent story -- and your family must have strong and poignant "vibes"!! How wonderful that your Dad made a point to communicate with each of you in such a unique way! :)

Many thanks for sharing with us!! DH and I are simply fascinated by all of the stories we've read here today!

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

Fascinating stories, all. Here are mine, even though I think I may have posted them on these boards some time ago.

When I was a kid, my parents, brother, sister, and I lived in an old farm house, and the story was told to us when we moved in (I was 7) that it was once used a stopping point on the underground railroad. I don't recall anything out of the ordinary happening in that house until I was about 14 and was in the house alone, as the rest of the family was away for the day (I always loved having the house to myself for a while). It was about 3 in the afternoon, I had the radio turned up, was dancing away, when I became aware of some noises in the attic. I turned the radio down. I could clearly hear sounds as if someone were walking back and forth across the attic floor. I kept really still and listened; when the steps started down the stairs....ran about a 1/4 mile in bare feet across a gravel road to fetch a neighbor to check out the house, attic and all. He found nothing, and I stayed outside untl family returned.

Another time in the same house, about a year later, I was in the living room alone (rest of family home but outside). The front door, which we never used (always used side/back doors as they were more convenient), and always kept locked, slowly began to open by itself, spooky squeaks from seldom-used hinges and all. I hid behind the sofa and peeked over top to see. After it had opened all the way, it closed all the way by itself. When I got my Dad and had him check it, it was locked.

When I was a young married woman, a teenager from our church was hospitalized with severe juvenile diabetes, and no one knew for sure if she would recover. Some folks from the church were visiting and we were talking about her condition. Suddenly I smelled the overwhelming smell of many flowers, as you might find in a funeral home. It was a cold month then, December or January, and there were no flowers in the house. She passed away the next day.

I have also seen and spoken with both my deceased parents in my dreams. They were always much younger in the dreams then they were when they passed.

If these 'ghosts' mean well or are really people who cared for you in life, then, why are you frightened? Why do they scare you? Why don't they tell you why they are bothering you? Why do they go about their business in such a creepy, invasive fashion? Were these people creepy and scary in life?

Red

The person I saw I never knew in my lifetime so it was pretty scary.

I may have already posted this on a different thread but wanted to share it anyway.

Relatives of my father (he always called the wife "Aunt Grace" although she wasn't actually an aunt. I can't recall her husband's name) built a beautiful old Victorian in the late 1800s. They absolutely loved their home. They never had children.

When my father was very young, Aunt Grace had to leave her home because she fell down the basement stairs and broke her hip. This was probably around 1930. My grandparents bought the house from Aunt Grace and raised their family there. My grandmother lived there until she died in 1974 and the house was sold. For a while, the house was used as a two-flat rental property.

Years later, my parents were contacted by the current owners. They were converting the house back to a single-family home and were trying to find pictures of what the interiors originally looked like so they could restore it properly. While they were talking, the couple mentioned that one thing they hadn't been able to solve was that the basement light would turn on by itself. The lightswitch was one of those old ones that you have to turn to activate the light so they knew they hadn't accidentally bumped it on. They'd had electricians come to check it out but none of them found anything wrong.

All my dad could figure out was that Aunt Grace was happy to have a family living in and caring for her beloved home and was trying to keep them safe by turning on the basement light so no-one would fall down the stairs.

Amazing stories! I do believe in ghosts although I have never seen one myself.

My husband and I rented an old house on the river on Lady's Island, SC, one year while we were waiting for our house to be built. The house was in a well established subdivision of homes built in the 80's, yet this house was over 100 years old, and stood out because of it's older, Victorian farmhouse style architecture. It had three levels, that included a walkout basement, which is very rare in a coastal area where the properties are so close to sea level. The story behind the house was that it had originally been owned by a woman, who after a huge dispute with her neighbors in downtown Beaufort, had the house moved by barge across the river to Lady's Island onto property she had inherited from her father. There was no bridge to the island in those days, and she used to row herself across the river into town for provisions each week.

The first paranormal experience happened to DH, who was out in the yard mowing one afternoon. Our kids were at school and I was at work, and the entire neighborhood was quiet when he suddenly heard this strange, lilting music coming from the house. He went inside, expecting to find a radio on, or that one of the kids had come home from school without his knowledge and turned on a tape player. As he climbed the stairs from the basement to the living floor, the music stopped and he never could find the source of where it came from. The house was empty, and the kids didn't get off the bus until hours later. He told all of us about it, but none of us had a clue as to what it could have been.

A month or so later, my daughter took her 8-track tape player to her girl friends house for a weekend sleepover. The girls turned on the tape player and heard this strange lilting music, something like they had never heard before, coming from the tape player. My daughter remembered what DH had told her about the music he heard, and called us immediately and played the tape over the phone for him to hear. It was the same music he'd heard that day previously in the yard, and was a tune none of us recognized. He told DD to bring the tape home with her the following day so we could all listen to it and try to figure out the mystery, and she agreed to do so. When she returned the next day and we sat down to listen to it, the tape was blank - and she swore that she hadn't erased it, she was as disappointed as we were that it was empty.

The next occurrence in that house was also with DH. We had a group of friends over to the house one night for a cook-out, and the upstairs bathroom was occupied when DH needed to use it. He went downstairs into the basement where there was a tiny half bath installed. As he stood in front of the toilet peeing, he felt a tap-tap on his shoulder, as though someone was trying to get his attention. He said, "just a sec and I'll be finished", and turned his head, expecting to see someone waiting to use the room, yet no one was there. He immediately turned around and walked through all the basement rooms, and there was no one around, anywhere.

We later heard from our neighbors that the house was haunted and previous renters had also witnessed strange occurrences while living there. One woman had been setting up the dining table for a birthday party for her daughter, when one of the balloons she'd blown up and attached a string to suddenly began moving about the room on it's own accord, as though it were held by someone walking around the room. It was an airless day and all the windows were closed, and she claims the string wasn't vertical, but angled as though someone was running with it. As she stood there, three other balloons were invisibly grabbed up and then they all went floating, as though they were being held by someone, up the stairs to the bedroom level. That family apparently had so many other bizarre happenings in that house that they got spooked and moved out. That's why it was available for us when we needed a quick short term rental.

We never felt threatened or in fear about our "ghost", just figured it was the old woman's energy still there for some reason, and we always wished we could have found out more, but we moved out soon afterward to get into our new home.

I've personally never had an "experience" either. But I do believe my son has - a few times.

My husband lost his best friend about seven years ago. He was a young (early twenties), healthy, happy guy whose death was really a freak occurrence. My husband and I often say how much our sons would have loved playing Eric, because he was such a goofball. So, they have heard his name mentioned. BUT several times, out of nowhere, my oldest son (who is four now, this probably started when he was about 2 and a half) has said, "Oh, there's Eric again." Once, it was so out of the blue I couldn't help myself and asked him, "Oh, really? What's he doing?" and without missing a beat he answered, "He's flying."

I swear, my kids HAVE played with Eric. And it makes me feel great to believe that.