My First Ghostly Experiences

Over the years I've had many ghostly experiences, but I would like to start with my earliest memories of the house that started them all. I lived in this particular house until the age of six, the house is located in Cincinnati, Ohio.
During this time my folks and I lived with an apparently male spirit that would visually and audibly manifest both day and night. During the day he appeared as a "smokey" apparition in an overcoat, he was fond of walking around on both floors of the house, slamming doors and drawers, as well as, tripping visitors returning from the bathroom located on the second floor. My Mom had to tell my grandmother that it was noisy squirrels so that she would continue to baby-sit me.

Nights were the most active, all my toys had to be shut away in my closet, otherwise they moved around on their own -- I never slept with any stuffed animals. The apparition became more sinister in aspect during the night and repeated the same activity every night that I can remember. Even if I was sound asleep I would immediately wake up as soon as I heard the first footstep from the second floor, it meant that his nightly journey was starting. He would start walking across the upstairs floor towards the steps that lead downstairs where we slept. His footsteps seemed to echo as he approached the steps. Not wanting to get caught by myself it became a race to see who would make it to my parents bedroom first.

He always took the same path to my parent's bedroom, through the kitchen, living room and then into their bedroom to stand over my mother. I usually arrived just seconds before him in time to see him enter and stand over the bed. He would start whispering my mother's name, he would do it over and over again. If I told my mom that he was there she would tell me to, "shut up and go to sleep." You could see him in the mirror, illuminated by an outside streetlight -- his reflection looked solid -- but he was just a dark, featureless and shadowy form.

My mom never answered him and I always wondered what he wanted. He never tried to hurt me or my immediate family, but the dog would never willingly enter the house. After we moved my mother stayed in touch with a neighbor who often said that nobody ever stayed in the house very long after that. I assume it was the man who died in the house before we moved there, he lived alone and was found dead in his bed -- his bedroom was the room my mom and dad slept in! I haven't been back that way in years but I still often wonder what he wanted my mom to do and if he still walks around the house.

By: wolfwitch@fuse.net