35 People On Their Paranormal Experiences That They Have Zero Explanation For

If you read through these paranormal experiences from Reddit, you’ll be stuck wondering what’s really hiding beneath your bed at night. You never know what could creep up and grab you in the dark.

Twenty20, _saraheiseman_
Twenty20, _saraheiseman_

1. I ran into a younger version of myself in the woods

When I was younger I used to live near thick woods. I used to dress very, uhh, uniquely… Like I would wear Halloween costumes anytime and stuff like that, I had a weird fascination with masks. Anyway, one day while wearing a spiderman mask and playing in the woods I see a person wearing a leather jacket and oddly colored jeans. I tried to follow them, but lost them in the forest after about 30 minutes of trying and then went home.

Fast forward about 7 or 8 years. I don’t live at the house near the thick woods anymore, but my grandfather does and I visit him periodically. I decide to go walk around the forest for old times sake so I put on my black leather jacket and tie dye jeans and go walking around when I see this small person wearing a spiderman mask following me around. Since I know this forest like the back of my hand, I lose them quickly.

About an hour later I realize what happened and feel genuinely scared of what happened. Strange shit happens in northern B.C.

2. I followed a shadow figure through my best friend’s house

When I was about 17 I was at my friend’s apartment building, which his parents owned. We had an apartment to hangout in on the top floor and used to go to the roof to smoke. That night, we were about to go up, but I had to pee, so I told him I’d meet him up there. After I was done, I went up the stairs to the attic portion that was connected to the roof. There were no lights, so we always used our phones to guide us. It was an old building and the attic was creepy and cluttered all the time. As I made my way to the roof door, I saw a shadow pass by me. I followed the direction it went thinking it was my friend. I kept saying that I knew it was him and to stop playing around. It passed me a few more times, when I heard my friends voice from downstairs. He got a call from his girlfriend and was in another room talking to her the whole time. I have no idea what that shadow figure was and I still refuse to go back up to the roof at night after that.

3. An invisible presence yanked out my ponytail

My house has always had unexplained things happen in it. These all happened in the last couple of weeks-

I was sitting on the settee watching telly when my dog started wagging its tail looking behind me, then something touched my hair, I looked behind me expecting to see my dad messing around and saw a huge black mist like shape, I don’t remember getting past it but suddenly I’m next to my mum telling her what I’ve just seen and on the verge of a panic attack. Then my head is yanked backwards by my pony tail and my hair falls free around my shoulders, the bobble (hair tie) hasn’t turned back up yet. My mum and I got the fuck out of there until my dad came back later that day.

A few days ago something laughed a really sinister laugh in my ear and pushed me. My bf heard it too and thankfully stayed with me since my parents were out of town.

The other night something hit my ribs when I was in bed, It made a hollow thud, I thought it was my bf elbowing me and told him to be more careful as it hurt, he said it wasn’t him and that he heard it too, I have a dark bruise on my ribs from it.

The other night we heard a woman crying or laughing (couldn’t tell which, it was a very haunting sound) at the bottom of the stairs, my mum and I were sat in the front room only a couple of feet away from the noise,.

My dad had perfume sprayed at him and then the bottle fell off the shelf. We keep smelling really strong baby powder around the house even though no one in our house uses it.

Then the usual footsteps and cupboards being opened each night. My dogs, especially the old one seem to go really waggy and fuss something that isn’t even there quite a few times a day.

Its gotten really bad this past few weeks, Its the first time I’ve seen something and the first time I’ve felt it actually touch me. It should quieten down though soon, it usually only does it for a month or so and then sometimes nothing will happen for months or even a year.

4. Our mother’s mannequin walked around the house

Ok I straight up don’t believe in this stuff, but there was something that was incredibly creepy that is still in my head forever.

My sister, brother, and I were at my house watching tv and then we hear the front door swing open, with heavy footsteps trudging around the house. My sister rushes us into the bedroom closes the door, locks it, we get in the closet and she calls the our parents and the cops. We kept hearing the footsteps around the house, and th3n they started climbing the stairs towards our room. After about 10 minutes the cop’s show up. The front door was indeed open, but there was no one in the house. It was fucked up. Its also never happened again.

Another one is my mom has this creepy ass mannequin thing that is supposed to form a corset or something. I went to the basement and saw it where it usually is and turned around to get my golf clubs, and then I turn back towards the thing and it moved a full 5 feet closer to me.

5. Phantom animals destroyed a gate at work

I used to work nights as a security guard at this posh community in south Florida. Pretty cushy job. It basically consisted of riding around in an SUV all night and fighting sleep while listening to the radio. The property was huge and the rear of it was situated next to a water treatment facility and a massive swamp (we would have to call animal control to get gators out of people’s pools constantly).

One night I’m doing my rounds and a large section of the fence on the perimeter of the property separating it from the swamp and the water treatment plant was utterly crushed. It looked like a heard of elephants came through there. I radioed into dispatch and called the other guard on duty to come over and take a look at it.

When he got there, we both stayed in our trucks (I’m no fool… seen too many horror movies). We both agreed to go back to the dispatch office, write the incident up, and call the cops to make a proper report to the authorities. When the cops finally got there, we escorted him back to where the damage was… or should i say ‘used to be’. the place was pristine. No downed gate. No tracks. Nothing.

Fortunately, the cops were cool. They didn’t think that we intentionally wasted their time because my partner and I were so sincere about what we saw. I have no idea what to make of that incident, but there were a few others at that place before I finally got a better job. Glad I don’t work nights any more.

6. I saw a mysterious person that faded away after a few seconds

When I was young, I lived in a small house in the middle of nowhere (out in the country). I swear things would be moved across the room.

For example, I specifically remember laying my water bottle down on the kitchen table and running to the restroom in the middle of summer. When I got back, the bottle would be somewhere else, usually the table or sitting on the floor. Both my parents were outside.

Shelves would be open when we got home, curtains pulled down when they were up, light bulbs blew up often, and at night you would hear walking in the living room even though everyone was in bed.

Parents worked hard and bought a house a few years after but we still use the place for storage (and allow other family to store things there, it’s safe).

My father’s brother went there one day and ended up calling our new house. He explained something is not right in that house and we can’t get him to get his stuff from there anymore. He refuses to even go on the same road where the house is. My family thought it was silly but we kind of knew why.

About five years ago when I finally got my license I offered to put some boxes of things from my grandmother in the house. Drove up to the house remembering my child hood but got a rude wake up call..

When I entered all the shelves were opened like usual but there were scratches on the inside like something wanted out. I thought a possum or something found a way into the house. Went around the corner to what use to be my mother’s bedroom to drop the box and leave, then all of the sudden I heard a weird noise behind me.

I thought I pissed a rodent off and did not want to get bit, but when I turned around there was a black outline of a person, it seemed like it was staring right at me. I put the box at my feet while keeping my eyes on this “thing.”

It stayed there only 5 more seconds until it faded. I remember stepping over the box and running out of the house, locking it, jumping in the vehicle and taking off as fast as I could. Everything said to get the F out of there now. I saw it looking back at me in my mirror as I left.

This happened five years ago and I still have not been back.

7. I had a gut feeling that my mother died at the same time she crashed her car

A couple of years ago I was sitting in my bedroom reading a book when I heard a loud knock across the room. It was during the middle of the day so I wasn’t startled or anything. After glancing up towards where the noise came from I was overcome with the feeling that my mom had died. I thought it was odd that a thought like that would just randomly pop in my head so I took it as a sign. My mom was out running errands at the time so I ended up just waiting for her to get home. Three hours pass and my dad doesn’t come home from work when he normally does, and I start to become a little more worried. The entire day passes and it’s now 1 o clock in the morning when I hear my front door open. Turns out my mom got into a head on collision on a rural road and broke her neck and back. She ended up okay and is 100% now. Also, the same time I heard the noise in my room was the same time my mom says the accident occurred… So after hearing the noise and being overcome with that thought, I now believe there is some form of ‘paranormal’.

8. One of my teacher’s students could see dead people

As yesterday was Halloween, my teacher thought it only appropriate to tell us stories about his paranormal experiences. One of them that really stuck with me was a story he was telling about a farm his family has always lived on. Something about his grandpa, blah blah.

Now here’s the good part. He said that last year, after class was over and he had finished his tales, one of his students came up to him and asked how his grandfather died. He told her [let’s call her Becky] that it was kidney failure. Becky said that that’s what she had suspected. Then Becky starts asking about the grandfather’s appearance. “Did he wear overalls? Have really long gray hair and facial hair and wear glasses?” etc. At this point, teacher is a bit creeped out and asks why she wants to know.

Her response? “Because as you were telling the story about your grandpa, I saw him standing in the corner of the room. He wants you to call your grandma.”

9. My friend’s deceased grandmother trashed the room

I’m at my friend’s apartment one night playing GTA San Andreas, I see a hunched-back old lady through the bedroom door walking in the hallway as she goes to another room. I just think to myself “oh, its probably just his grandma” and go back to playing. Moments later, we hear a loud bang in that room. The “Grandma” walked into, the banging continues like everything is being thrown around. My friend’s face goes all pale and he starts freaking out, getting his baseball bat and standing guard and I remember telling him to calm down, because his grandma might’ve fallen over. He freaks out more and says that we were the only ones in the apartment, plus both his grandmas passed away before he was born. Then I start freaking out. After awhile, we go into that room to see that everything was tipped over and on the floor, the whole room looked like it was wrecked as if someone went in, broke shit, threw stuff and left. No one was in the room.

10. I saw a phantom child in the middle of the road

I was in second grade and we were driving to the store, I was in the passenger seat and I saw a little boy chasing something into the street out of the corner of my eye, so I yelled, “NO! Don’t hit him!” and my mom freaked out, swerved and slammed on the brakes. There was no one on the street anywhere.

I was a freshman in high school and had my room in the basement. One night I woke up for no reason. So I looked around, sort of groggy and I saw a strange shape under the stairs; it looked like a man crouched. As I stared at it, trying to figure out what it was, the shape stood up. I have never encountered terror so paralyzing. It was under the stairs and I felt trapped in the room with it. As I tried to figure out what to do next the streetlight outside (the only available light in the room) went out. When my eyes adjusted the shape was gone.

11. Satan tried to possess my body

I have always been pretty receptive and open to the paranormal. I had a crazy experience one night last year. As I was falling asleep, I felt a really strange force come through my chest right in between where my ribs meet. Almost like the feeling of my cat sitting on my chest, except he was at the foot of the bed. I felt it then wash over my whole body. I thought I was just starting to dream, but I wish I had fought it or snapped myself out of sleep to stop it. It was a dark, heavy feeling that gave a dull burn through my legs and arms. Like if molasses was heated to boiling and seeping through my muscles. This was at about 11pm.

Between then and when I next woke up, I had a series of awful nightmares, weird stream of consciousness images and strange pains over my body, especially in my abdomen. I dreamed that I was looking at myself in a mirror and I was old and decaying before my eyes. I had dreams with strange noises like fingernails on a chalk board and just unpleasant, creepy and otherworldly noises I couldn’t describe or recognize. I couldn’t tell you what other images I saw because I don’t even really remember them, I just remember feeling panic and terror throughout the night. In one of my dreams though, someone definitely said “She let it through” in a super smug voice. I remember this, because this is when I woke up. I looked out of the bedroom door and there was a figure (just a black silhouette, no detail) of a short man in a hat, like a bowler hat standing outside of the bedroom. I got scared and lay there for about 10-15 minutes trying to wake myself up, but I couldn’t snap myself out of this dream fully. I finally looked at the clock and it was 3:13 and my body got a rush of adrenaline because I HATE the witching hour but have a respectful fear of it.

I tried to guide myself through meditation but as hard as I focused, I could not get these terrifying images out of my head, and this dull pain out of my body. As soon as I thought I had gathered up the bad energy, I would lose my focus and it quickly sneaked through my body again. I turned on the bedside lamp to try and really wake myself up and tried to think of something pleasant, but if I dreamed of a field of flowers, it caught fire. If I dreamed of a barnyard of baby animals (my ultimate happy place), they became a tortured, disfigured bloodbath. I buried my head into my husband’s chest and meditated until I fell back asleep.

For the rest of the night, I had one long dream. I was in a dimly lit room, on a bed with someone beside me, but I don’t know who. They were older, male and large, but not fat. Like, solid though. I was waving a flag (it was a cream or ivory colour) in the air above my head. The person beside me instructed me how to wave it, because I was waving it too frantically at first. They showed me to wave it slowly. All of a sudden the flag would pull hard and I knew it was a demon who had latched on and was fighting me for it, even though I couldn’t see it at first. The person beside me was talking to the demon saying it was not welcome here and to go away and then things I couldn’t hear or understand, I’m not sure which. I heard the name ‘Gabriel’. I’m not religious and I don’t know anyone named Gabriel so I don’t understand what that implied. The person was talking about me because I heard him say my name and to “leave Mooresea alone now.” I know the aim was to tire out the demon (it was just a small little thing, only about a foot tall and very thin, it looked like a little gargoyle) so we could catch it and destroy it, but my grip on the flag always came loose before I could pull it in. The little creature would let go as soon as I would, as if it didn’t want to pull the flag if I wasn’t holding it and I would pick it up and wave it in the air until I felt it yank on the flag again. This went on for ages and I felt my body grow really tired, I felt myself sweating and my eyes grew heavy; I couldn’t keep them open anymore. I had a death grip on the flag but the rest of my body was so tired. All of a sudden, I felt my thumb prick on one of its teeth, it was sharp like the teeth puppies have. I let out a yelp which woke myself up, but I was worried because I hadn’t finished the fight with the demon and hadn’t caught it. I looked for the man in the hallway and he wasn’t there. I tried to think hard of the dream so I could go back into it and finish it but I was so exhausted I fell into a dreamless sleep until I woke up at 6:45 for work.

The next day I was really affected by it and it was really stormy and unseasonably awful outside. I felt a bit sick all day and as a last ditch effort I called my sister who is a double whammy Christian (born again) and she gave me some prayers for protection against spiritual warfare and said she would pray for me through the night. I recited the prayers before bed and I shit you not as soon as I finished them I had to run to the toilet to puke up the most disgusting, foul smelling bile I have ever experienced. I went to bed afterwards and had a (from what I recall) dreamless sleep and have never had an experience similar since. I strongly believe that I was fighting for my soul that night and dark forces were trying to possess me. I’ve only discussed it with my sister and my husband. My sister won’t talk about it anymore because she is genuinely afraid of it and my husband doesn’t believe that it was anything more than a nasty dream.

12. My bed wouldn’t stop shaking

When I was young we had been in a rental for about 3-4 months and always had odd problems that we joked were “ghosts”. One night I went to bed I was going to sleep and I swore my bed started shaking. I freaked the fuck out and screamed. My mom swore up and down it was the “twitch” right before you fell asleep but I swear that it was shaking. This went on for about an hour where as soon as she left the room my bed would shake, I would scream and cry and she would come in pissed. Finally she got so angry I dealt with it and eventually passed out sobbing like a baby. A little later my mom came in and put me in her bed where my sister already was. I didnt think much of it at the time.

Well when I got older about 13-14 they told me the rest of the story. Apparently about 15 -20 minutes after I fell asleep my sister thought she saw me leave my room with my flash light, she went and told my mom. My mom said she thought she saw me going through the living room walking into the kitchen.The kitchen light flipped on and When she walked in to yell at me no one was there. She ran back to check and I was out cold.

It was enough to freak my mom out so I believe it. We only stayed there for another month or two, but that house was always incredibly strange.

13. I saw an actual demon inside of an elevator

I used to live in China back before I moved to the U.S. I was 12 when this happened in China. My friend used to live in those apartments that look like high-rise but are a little bit smaller. Anyways, in order for us to go to his apartment, we had to either take the stairs and walk up 10 stories or take the elevator. One day, I had a sleep over at his place and we went to get the new Pokemon movie (the one with latias and latios) at like 6 in the evening. The store was like 2 blocks away. He always talked about how creepy the apartments he lived at are because very few people lived there. I swear, I’ve only seen like 3 other people in those apartments and I was there all the time. Anyways, on the way back, it started to rain pretty heavily. We ran to his apartment and took the elevator. The elevator creaked and moaned on the way up and suddenly stopped. The lights in the elevator went out and it was pitch black and silent. Only thing we could hear was the muffled sound of rain and thunder. We being kids, started to panic, scream and cry. We were there for about 2 minutes when we heard a loud thud on top the elevator. Then we heard light footsteps walking above the elevator. We got quiet and looked up at the vent facing upwards in the elevator. The vent had holes in it so you could see out of the top of the elevator towards the long tunnel up the building. Our eyes had gotten used to the dark so we could make out a few objects. The footsteps stopped and it was dead quiet again. My friend nudged me and pointed up towards the vent. What I saw was probably the scariest thing i’ve ever seen and I am 20. I have never been this scared in my life. I looked up and could make out a face looking down through the vents. It looked like an ape. Like a really human like ape with human facial features if that makes sense. It was staring straight down at us. I don’t know if it was our imagination distorting a face of a monkey or an actual demon looking thing but it literally made me freeze in fear. I’ll try to draw a picture and post it. But anyways, we started screaming. I will admit. I pissed myself. It still gives me chills thinking about it. It started banging on the elevator roof. It din’t scream or anything, just made noises by banging the roof. It then took off and we could hear the footsteps running to the side of the elevator roof. Then the power came back on and the elevator started moving again. We never took that elevator ever again. It seriously traumatized us.

14. An old lady haunted her apartment after she died

This is a friends story but it creeped the shit out of me. He used to work for a property management company. He would go to different apartments and talk to residence about problems or whatever. There was this really old lady that would talk to from time to time but she would never let anyone into her apartment. She would wedge her old lady cart (you know the one I’m talking about) in front of the door when she answered it.

So fast forward a few months and they haven’t heard from her and she hasn’t paid her rent. After calling and knocking for days they eventually break the lock and go in. This woman is massive hoarder. Piles upon piles of of junk and toys and newspapers. Apparently she had an obsession with Disney toys. They look around and they can’t find her. So as they’re about to leave he sees a giant pile of dolls in the corner. He looks closely.. there she is. Mixed in with the dolls. About 3 months expired.

Fast forward another few months. A guy who lived in one of their other buildings wants to move into her old unit. It was bigger and nicer. One day after living there for a few weeks he comes into the office pretty distraught. He says he wants to move because he keeps seeing things. He keeps seeing what he thinks is a woman pushing cart around his apartment. Also sometimes when he opens his door, it will slam back on him as if someone is pushing shut. Just like she used to do.

He had never met her or even knew what happened there before he moved in.

15. My brother spoke to an invisible stranger

I was in high school and my youngest brother was about 2 years old. One night everyone was sitting at the dinner table enjoying a nice meal when my little brother starts laughing and conversing with the empty chair across from him. This kid is laughing his ass off and having a great time. He kept referring to who ever it was he was talking to as “The Man”.

After a few minutes of this he wants to get up, I guess it’s time for the man to leave. I pick him up and carry him to the front door, he goes from laughing and happy to clinging to me for dear life and terrified as soon as we get to the door.

Overall super creepy experience, I was very happy to leave that house.

16. I was shoved from behind by a ghost

I was at the grocery store when I was little (like 9) and got shoved from behind really, really hard.

I was looking into one of the coolers that hold bacon and stuff when I got shoved and it was such a hard push that I fell into it, it knocked me off my feet. I turned around really fast to see who the hell did it but there was no one in the aisle, and there wasn’t anywhere to hide.

It happening at a grocery store makes it substantially less spooky but it was almost 20 years ago and I still haven’t forgotten it.

17. I heard my father speak to me when he wasn’t even home

When I was a teenager, we moved into an old Victorian era house in Missouri. It was gorgeous, and I was very excited to move in. The place was not outwardly creepy at all, just charming.

One night I was staying up late watching TV, wide awake since I was a night owl at the time, just kicking back. From where I was sitting in the living room, I had a clear view of our entryway, which led to a staircase to the second story. The entryway was lit.

Suddenly, I catch some movement out of the corner of my eye. I turn, and there in the entryway I see a blond woman in a powder blue Victorian style dress. She is walking, and doesn’t acknowledge my presence. She walked out of our kitchen, into the entryway, and then up the stairs. I had my eyes on her the whole time, and she looked completely real, if that makes any sense. She didn’t look like a ghost, but a live person.

I just stared for a moment, then turned back to the TV. I have no idea why, but I wasn’t at all scared. In fact, I felt eerily calm. Shortly afterwards I went upstairs to go to bed, and of course she was nowhere to be seen.

Another time, I woke up a little late in the morning and walked downstairs. My dad is an early riser, so he had already been up and made coffee. I could smell it in the air. I went past the kitchen without looking in and sat down in the living room. From the kitchen, I hear my dad call out: “Well, what are you doing?” in a playful voice.

“Nothing much, just waking up.” I replied. There is silence after this, but my dad isn’t the best conversationalist, so I think little of it. I got up to go see if he was cooking breakfast, and found the kitchen empty. At this point I think may have been my brother speaking to me, so I poke my head up the stairs and ask my brother if he had said anything to me. A reply in the negative came back down the stairs at me, he had been silently playing video games the whole time.

Then my dad walked in the front door with a dozen donuts, wishing me a good morning.

18. My house was robbed by a ghost

When I was a child about 5yrs old my house was robbed. Nothing of value was taken mostly just food from the kitchen cupboards. The police advised my parents to check the house for anything else that could have been taken. Now the bedroom that I and my brothers shared, (I’m a girl) had the door that led to the attic in it. On Sunday lunchtime, My Dad, my younger brother (YB), older brother (OB) and me were in the room when my Dad was to search the attic, (we were not allowed to go up there it was only used for storage). When my Dad opened the door I saw very clearly a young girl of about 16 -17 just standing there. She was wearing contemporary clothing for the time (mid seventies). She had on dark blue diamond patterned anorak and flared jeans. Her hair was dark blonde with a middle parting in two plaits. She was carrying a paper bag with two sherbert straws sticking out. I asked my dad who the girl was because at that time I thought she was a real person. He said there is no one there. This is when I started to get scared. I insisted there was someone there. He shut the door, opened it again and she was still there. This is when I ran out of the room. My OB said he saw nothing my Dad said he saw nothing. My YB said he saw her too. I thought he was trying to make me feel better so I didn’t believe him till he described her to me right down to the bag of sweets she was carrying. Incedently the person who broke into our house was a young girl of 16ish who hid in the attic until the house was empty to steal food. My mum told me she had been saving a bag of sweets for me and they had been taken.

19. I met my guardian angel, and he saved my life

Story time! We live in a rural area. My dad and I had gone on an errand about 40 miles from home. We were getting ready to head home when all of a sudden the room I was sitting in turned pitch black. The faintest light started to glow brighter and brighter. Pretty soon I realized I was in the “light at the end of the tunnel”.

Once I had reached the light I see that there is a very tall man in front of me. We start talking, but not using words- it was more like telepathy. He said, “Do not be afraid. Take my hand.” So I did. I asked if I was dead and he said no, that it wasn’t my time yet. He then proceeded to tell me that my father and I were about to be in a horrible car wreck. We MUST wear our seat belts or we will die, and it’s NOT OUR TIME. Then he says, “There’s nothing you can do to avoid it. It’s your fate. Just stay safe.” As soon as he says that, he and the entire tunnel are gone. I beg my dad to wear his seat belt because I just “had a bad feeling”. We NEVER wore our seat belts, but we did that night. I asked my dad to take an alternate route home in hopes that the angel was wrong and we could avoid a wreck.

It was 10:30 pm and we were on a dirt road. We came upon an intersection and we both glanced both directions, with no cars in sight. Before I knew what was happening our full size van was hit on the rear passenger side, causing it to flip 3 times in the air and 3 times on the ground. My dad and I did have minor injuries, but we were alive! The man who hit us was killed instantly. He was trying to hide from the cops out in the country so he thought driving without his headlights on was a brilliant idea.

20. I heard my dead mother’s voice over the telephone

I work as a Radio DJ, and while I was in school for it, my mom passed away. This was in the summer of 2008. The second year of schooling was pretty much all practical work, which included being on a campus radio station. So I’m doing my show, and the request line buzzes, so I answer the phone, and clear as day, I hear my mother’s voice. I recognize it immediately, and chalk it up to coincidence. The voice on the line never makes a request, and asks me how I am and how things are. Then says “I love you, and I’m so proud of you” (the last words my mother ever said to me) and the line went dead.

Fast Forward to early 2010 and I have my first job in the industry doing a Friday night show. A woman calls up and at first I don’t recognize the voice, after some chit chat, and then “I want you to remember, I love you, and I’m so proud of you” and then static on the request line.

January 2012, I’ve moved across the country. Ontario to British Columbia, and the request line lights up again. I assume it’s one of the locals, but the voice sounds familiar. Asks me how I’m liking BC, how I’m settling, if I’ve met anyone. And then “Be Safe, I love you, and I’m so proud of you”….and then complete silence.

I’m not a believer in anything paranormal, or the afterlife or any of it….but this spooked me for about a week each

21. My brother saw ghosts while working at a church

This is my brother’s story, not mine. He is the janitor at this church and he works late at night. Before he started working there, he not only did not believe in ghosts, but he literally thought that those who did believe were of inferior intelligence.

The first experience he had was when he was trying to study in this one room at the front of the church. He was trying to study but this noise started and it sounded like whispers in a language that he couldn’t understand. He thought his brain was just playing tricks on him, so he kept trying to study, but the noise got progressively louder and louder until he couldn’t take it anymore and ran out of the church.

The scariest experience he had was one night when he was vacuuming. he had a phone at the time that would super annoyingly inform him every five minutes for the hour before it died that it had low battery. So he was vacuuming like he always did, and then he received a call. it was from the church’s phone number, and before he could pick up or reject it, his phone just instantly died. he started sprinting to his car and he heard the noise of the door in front of him opening even though it just stayed shut. He told me he smoked 14 cigarettes in his car on his 10 minute drive back to his place that night.

Then, after having these experiences, he started asking other people who worked for the church if they had had any of these things happen, and all of them said yes. The scariest one was this lady who works in one of the offices in the church. One night, she was working late and the church was empty when this old woman she knew (I forget her name, so let’s call her Mable). She was all like, “Hey Mabel! you coming to the service tomorrow?” but Mable ignored her and continued towards the stairs and then started walking up them. She was very confused and felt that Mable was being rude or perhaps didn’t hear her, so she left her office to go upstairs and find Mable, but there was no one there. She then remembered that this particular old woman had had her funeral in the church recently after dying the week before. Crazy shit.

Then when it comes to me, I was once closing up after an event at the Rec Center I work at – I was locking the doors and just picking stuff up and doing general cleaning – when I heard two notes played on the piano in the big event room I was in. I asked who was fucking with me and looked around, and there was literally no one there. I just got the fuck out of there.

22. I captured a photo of a ghost on our camera

One night a few years back, my dad installed some lights leading up to our front door. They were really nice, and I wanted to take a picture of them lit up to send to my relatives upstate–so, I go outside, and I’m standing in the street with the camera. (This was with an old school Canon, no screen on the back.) I take the picture, and think nothing of it.

Get it developed a few weeks later, and in the picture, you can clearly see a pair of legs, a torso, and what looks like half a head. I was the only one outside, and it doesn’t look like any trick of the light could have done it. I then found out that about 10 years before we moved in, some guy had blown his head off in our house.

Scary shit.

23. I almost collapsed after people prayed over me

Mine will have a fair number of skeptics because it is a story from a Christian summer camp I am sure, but here goes. I told everyone that I felt walled off from God or whatever and then people started praying over me. Standard stuff. The dude who was praying over me right in front of me was holding constant eye contact with me the whole time, and I started feeling extremely scared. That is when stuff got interesting. I tried to scream for something to get out of me but couldn’t get the words out. Something was there. It went on for about half an hour I guess, didn’t really have track of time and then a couple people helped me walk out of the room. I almost collapsed and was physically drained for the rest of the night. Other people told me afterwards that when they put their hands on me they had to leave because touching me drained energy from them and they couldn’t keep touching me. The chair I was in was also too hot to touch afterwards. I asked multiple people about what happened and it seems their opinion was demonic oppression. Not possession but it was an attack. I fit the criteria, as I was psychologically weakened from some stuff that had happened to me that year. Sometimes when things are going bad I feel like it is still there, and it really scares me. Believe what you will, I know what happened to me.

24. We stayed the night at a famous haunted hotel

I hung out in the Crescent Hotel with my girlfriend at the time a few times in college. That basement… You feel it. Changes in air pressure and temperature as you walk down the hall… Things like that. Weird sensations, the pressure changes actually move and roll over you erratically.

25. My father swears he saw an apparition

I’ll tell my dad’s story again.

He was scouting for deer hunting areas in the Lake Rathbun area of southern Iowa. He had a farmer’s permission to hunt in this specific area, and he was the only one given permission. So it’s the middle of a nice, sunny day, and dad decides to take a break and have lunch. He sits down on a tree stump in the middle of a clearing and starts eating his cold KFC.

Not long after he sees a man walking past him, maybe 15-20 feet away. The man is wearing bib overalls and a big floppy felt hat. He has long hair and dad can’t see his face. Now, like I said, dad was the only one with permission to be in this area so he called out to the guy, “hey, do you have permission to be here?”

The man ignored him and kept walking. Dad was annoyed and said louder, “HEY! Do you have permission to be here?!

Still the man ignored him and kept walking.

Now really ticked, dad threw a chicken bone at the guy. He figured he missed because it just landed in the grass. So dad got up and went after him. The man rounded a big oak tree and by the time dad got there, the man was gone. Just, nowhere to be seen at all. Dad looked up, around the tree, in every direction. Just gone.

Dad thought “holy…shit”. And walked back to his lunch. On his way he noticed the “crunch, crunch” sound of his boots on the fall leaves and twigs and then he realized the man made no sound as he passed by.

Now, my father is not the type to believe in shit like this, and I’ve never heard him tell tales like this. But this story, he has maintained adamantly is true to his memory and he swears he did not make it up. My father does not drink or do drugs and has no medical conditions.

So that’s my dad’s story.

26. I saw two orange orbs in the sky

A couple years back. I had to play sober cab for one of my friends. We went to some of the Anoka Bars in MN, There’s a ramp and I parked all the way at the top for shits and giggles.

Well once he was done drinking, we walked back to my car and at the time I had 99′ Eclipse with the sun roof and I decided to open that up. Just as I opened sun roof up I looked up in the sky and saw what appeared to be, two orange glowing orbs in the sky. I started to freak out and asked my friend if he was seeing it too. He did, and just as I was about to take my phone out they where gone.

To this day I still question what I saw or if I am going crazy.

27. Strange lights floated through the air

Not me, my wife’s story.

She and her younger sister when they were children. Younger sister wakes her up because she has to go potty and is scared and needs older sister to come with. It was a regular routine.

She is sitting in the hallway waiting for younger sister to finish. Suddenly a small ball of light comes floating down the hallway toward her followed by another, and then another. She said there was like 5 total. the younger sister comes out of the bathroom as this is happening and also sees them. The lights slowly float past over their heads and go through the closed door at the end of the hall leaving what she described as like a “target” mark as they pass through, kind of like a ripple or something. I can’t remember what room was on the other side of the door, but she said they open the door and saw nothing else.

I can’t think of any explanation for what this was, especially considering there are two people who saw it. Unless of course they’re both full of shit and made it up, but knowing them both I don’t think that’s the case.

Freaky.

28. My floor started vibrating for no reason

I’ve had quite a few things happen in one house but no where else that I have lived. It was at the house I had grown up in. A few bits and bobs happened like me hearing something in the toilet and finding the toilet roll unravelling. I put that down to the cat/gravity anything that made more sense than ghosts. Another time I heard breathing in my bedroom…put this down to thin walls. I was dismissive of a few other things like that.

When I reached my late teens, I woke up one night by my floor vibrating. My room was above the kitchen and it felt, and sounded, like a break in- a break in where the robbers were taking axes to the ceiling and kitchen surfaces. It was incredibly loud and I was terrified. I ran down to the kitchen, my dad was already up and standing outside it. We both looked at each other and shitting ourselves, opened the door. No sound. The lights had fallen out of the ceiling and our cats were cowering in a corner together hair on end and shaking. There was no way it was an earthquake, it wasn’t pipes, it was not the cats. It was something thumping down on every surface if the kitchen.

29. I watched a picture frame hover in the air

I watched a framed picture that hung 10 feet away, hover over my sleeping friends head for 5 seconds before it came crashing down on his face.

I chased a dark figure that ran out of my bedroom and into my sons.

I had something grab my whole body and make me stop my car to avoid running over a passed out drunk in the middle of the road/trail.

30. We saw the lanterns of dead miners

I go to a place near my hometown called Dover Lights, where (it is said) that Spanish gold miners were killed by the Osage Indians. The legend says you can still see their lanterns at night out searching for their gold.

One stands on this overlook thing, looking out from one hill to the other hill with the river dividing the two, and see the lights of the miners.

Interestingly enough, every time I’ve gone, we’ve seen the famous lights. Most of the time they appear and disappear, but on occasion I’ve seen them move and even shoot straight up into the air about 30 feet. It’s a phenomenon that keeps me hoping that stuff like this is real. It’s also been featured on the show On the Fringe. Interesting site if you live in the Arkansas River Valley.

31. My ex had a terrible nightmare before her miscarriage

My ex had a fever of 105.3 and woke up during the night, she was looking out the window on the 2nd floor talking to someone. I woke up a few times but fell right back asleep. I woke up after she started screaming “PLEASE DON’T HURT HIM PLEASE!!!”

gave her a kiss on the neck and hugged her,and asked her to come back to bed with me. Looked out the window as 2 hands slid down the glass and pulled away. spent hours holding her as she cried and begged whatever was outside the window, (on the second floor) which I could not see. she had a miscarriage the next morning and had no idea what i was talking about. ended up breaking up with her after she had an extreme breakdown. apparently she was schizophrenic. Still doesn’t change what I saw and heard that night. Maybe i am crazy too.

Also babysat my nephew and walked past his room in time to hear him say i love you lyle into the corner of his bed. which was my great grandpa’s name who died 23 years before my nephew was born, and never talked about because he was an abusive drunk.

32. I saw a stranger in a suit walk through my house

When I was younger I was watching tv when in the corner of my eye I saw something move. I turn to look and I saw a man in a plaid suit walk by a doorway. I flipped the fuck out, ran to my mom and told her what I saw. She looked at me funny and said “Are you joking? Did you hear me talking to Grandma earlier?”. I told her I was serious and that I had not heard her conversation, and she told me the day before she was standing at her vanity and she asked my dad a question about something, as he was standing at his dresser behind her (or so she thought). When he didn’t respond, she turned around to see the back of a man in a plaid suit.

Years later the original owner’s children stopped at our garage sale. We learned their father had died in the house. My mom, half joking, asked if he owned a plaid suit. Without bating an eye, the son said “His favorite suit was plaid.” CHILLS WERE HAD.

33. We saw a skin walker in the park

Oh totally, man. Me and a couple of friends saw-what can most be described as-a skin-walker or shape-shifter. It was four of us, 11-year-olds each at the time. We were at a park and long story short, we were running after what we thought was a small child. So this dark, shadowy figure is keeping ahead of us while we chase after it and when it gets to a wall at the end of the park, it changes from black to white, gets on all fours, leaps up the tree like a cat and jumps over the wall.

Very spooky shit. Me and my friends still talk about it when we want to creep other people out.

34. My grandparents visited me in a dream

My grandparents use to go to Disney World every year usually around Christmas. I planned to go with them one year but in the fall my grandfather passed. I I told my grandma I would still go with her. When I was at Disney World sleeping one night I had a dream that I was with my grandpa, just hugging him, crying and telling him I missed him. he told me everything was ok. When I woke, I had been crying. Pretty cool.

35. We heard phantom noises in the park

I really don’t believe in many paranormal things, but one day i was walking through our local park with my best friend. We were talking about usual stuff and I hear a shaking sound behind us. I don’t really care and continue to ignore it. A few steps further the sound gets louder and I finally turn around to see whats going on. I don’t see anything and decide to proceed in my conversation. Suddenly I feel 2 slight taps on my left shoulder. I turn around with the most terrified look on my face. Nobody there. I look to the right to my friend and ask if he had seen anything. He answers in a cold and dark voice:”RUN!”. Until this day I don’t know what happened in the park. My friend says he didn’t see anybody, he only heard the same noises. Thought Catalog Logo Mark

Holly is the author of Severe(d): A Creepy Poetry Collection.

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