Friday, February 09, 2007

Ghost Town

After reading a blog post by Anne - Run-DMZ, about "ghosts" in her house, it got me to thinking about my own experiences in a house we used to live in.

Between about 1986 and 1996, we lived in a very cute, 2 story, 2 bedroom, one bathroom house, little (about 800 sq ft) 1940-something house near the Little Italy section of San Diego. The house had been in my husband's family for years, and was left to my father-in-law after the relative who lived there died. I loved being in that house because it was so charming. It was also close to everything and close to most of the major roads. Location, location, location! My husband's siblings also had the opportunity to rent that house prior to us moving there. They told us stories of weird occurrences such as a glass breaking for no reason, lights going off and on for no reason, a feeling of a "presence." My first thought was "Yeah, right, uh-huh, they're mental."

A few months after we moved into the house, we experienced the lights going off or on for no reason. When the light would go off, I would get up and turn it back on and it would stay on. There were no electrical shorts in the wiring. On another occasion, I was in the kitchen and noticed that some cooking utensils on hooks were swaying back and forth. Since I live in California, my first thought was "earthquake." Nothing else rattled or moved, such as the hanging plant in the dining room or the hanging light in the kitchen -- Those are the things I would look at to see if we had some sort of earthquake... No earthquake happened and no one was physically in the house with me.

Through the years we lived in that house, I would occasionally feel a presence there. One night while I was dozing off to sleep, I distinctly heard a man's voice whisper in my ear my name. I got up but my husband was not home at the time, and no one was there in the house besides my (at the time) toddler boy and little girl asleep in the other bedroom. I think that particular "voice" incident was the only time I felt creeped out. Most of the time I never felt afraid, in fact I thought it was kind of neat to share a house with a "ghost." I never felt like the presence was evil. Maybe my ghost looked like the ghost Patrick Swayze played in the movie "Ghost?" Teehee...



Since leaving that house in 1996 we have not experienced a "presence" such as the one we felt at that little house. I don't know if the "ghost" is still there, but he might be... Several renters have been through the house since that time and only one other renter has said anything about weird/unexplained occurrences at that house.

Peace

6 comments:

Miss Rachel said...

Oooh.... scaaary! I once lived in an apartment in an 1800s house and both the landlord and my neighbor told me the previous tenant had seen an 1800s-looking woman there. I had lots of scary and crazy stuff in my life at that time (it was during my first marriage) so I remember thinking to myself, "All right, Ghost, it's fine if you live here, but I'd prefer not to see you" and I never did.

barbie2be said...

um... cheap trick or the specials?

i used to live in an old victorian in downtown san jose that was built in 1896. our ghost used to mess with my kitchen cupboard doors all the time. i would be the only one home and all the cupboards would be closed and then i would come out from my room to get tea or something and they would all be open.

Irene said...

Rachel,
Maybe the ghost moved out with the previous tennants! LOL... It does seem creepy but sort of interesting at the same time.

Barbie2be,
Keep guessing! ;) That's weird about the cupboards. Could you hear them opening?

Anne said...

Oh man, am I glad to hear someone else with similar experiences. And it is weird how I wasn't so creeped out until I heard the voices. Mine was male too! Geez, I wonder if our ghosts are related.

Irene said...

Anne,
We really should meet! There's sooooooooo much to talk about!

barbie2be said...

ok, i was going to say prodigy but i really don't get that you are a prodigy kind of girl so i am going to guess Cat Stevens?

i couldn't ever hear the cupboards opening but they would always just be open when i would go in the room. sometimes i would just talk. i'd say, "ok. i get it. i know you're here. can you please leave the doors alone now?" and they would stop.