What do you think guys? Am I being haunted

D B Sweeney · Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 10:54 am Post subject:

Hi Faulknerfan,

Welcome to the forum. Thanks for joining and posting.

There's lots of things you're reporting as activity and I'll certainly address each one in detail in turn in due course.

In the meantime - you're in a new house, a different house with different sounds, reflections and feelings. Lot's of houses make noises that we attribute to the supernatural - very often those noises, however realistic, scary or ghostly they may seem do end up having a very rational explanation.

I am going to ask you to provide further information and when I ask for this information please don't think it is because I doubt you in any way. I've investigated hauntings in the past and the best way to initially get a full picture is to ask, ask and ask. On forums we get a snapshot with the first post but that is never enough and unfortunately people post answers and opinions on that first post. I don't work like that because I want to get to the truth - to what is actually responsible for these experiences that you are...experiencing.

There are lots of things that seem to be going on Faulknerfan but my very basic thoughts are that these are explainable.

I'll post more in the next few days and give a full analysis on Monday.

DB

Faulknerfan · Joined: 27 Nov 2010 Posts: 3

Thank you D B Sweeny

D B Sweeney · Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2010 12:07 pm Post subject:

Hi Faulknerfan,

Sorry this is a bit late but snow n that...y'know Laughing

I'm going to go through your post bit by bit. I'll be blunt and honest. Please do not take whatever I say personally or as a criticism of yourself - it's not meant that way but it may read that way so I'll apologise in advance - sorry Smile

OK.Derby is no more haunted than MIddlesborough, Edinburgh or Blackpool. It might claim to be 'Most Haunted' but it isn't. Derby is no more haunted than my ironing board.

Because a house is old means nothing. New houses get ghosts as well. Barratt homes have reported hauntings just as much as castles, mansions and archetypal haunted houses do. Lots of old houses don't have ghosts or hauntings - until 'Most Haunted' comes along and creates them.

The first night we got here my mother-in-law
heard footsteps up the stairs, she thought someone broke in and prepared herself for intruders.
-Then a few nights later I awoke in the middle of the night hearing the exact same thing.
-She saw a figure at the top of the stairs, in the form of a human silhouette. She says it reminded her of a tall thin man.

New house - unfamiliar sounds - unfamiliar acoustics both inside and out. Both of you could be mistaken and have heard perfectly natural noises that you simply hadn't heard in that location before.

What were the exact circumstances of your M in Law seeing the silhouette - or shadow?. Again this may well be a case of a person not knowing how the light falls in a location they do not know - could be outside lights casting shadows or inside lights shining through doorways etc making shapes that look like a person.

We have been hearing knocking sounds on the walls of the living room and bedrooms

I'd really need more specifics on this - time of day/night/frequency - how loud - whether they're in one spot or across walls ceilings etc.

Knocking sounds are caused by lots of things - mice, birds, expansion and contraction of the structure - highly dependent on the materials used in the construction of the property - whether it's got direct sunlight on one or more sides, how damp it is, if there's dry rot, if trees are next to the property - whether wood/brick or stone are butting up to each other in the construction etc - lots of factors can cause noises - especially in a house that a new owner takes possession of.

I was at the bottom of the stairs and i saw someone storm into my room, I thought it was my fiance but he then suddenly came out of the bathroom so it couldnt have been him.

Could you give more info on this?. How well did you see this storming person?. Very quickly or slow enough to make out height/features etc?. What were you doing immediately before you saw this?.

We closed our bedroom door, went downstairs, to find it open when we returned, nobody will admit to opening it.

Doors open on their own - even when securely closed. This has much to do with the way the door sits in the door frame, the slight movement of the house - doors often do not sit tightly in their doorframes, the expansion and contraction of door frames and the memory of someone who thinks they shut a door properly when they actually didn't, than it has to do with someone thinking they're living in a haunted house. Houses shift and move - often imperceptibly - all the time. New houses, old houses, all houses move according to the weather - they contract and expand with the cold and the heat and the humidity depending on the materials used in their construction and so they make noises. Plumbing makes noises, central heating makes noises - bats, foxes, rats, mice, birds, weevils make noises - especially at night when you're most likely to hear them.

We hear knocking on the bathroom door when we are inside. Nobody else is upstairs.

Are there two of you in the bathroom when this happens?. Or are you away from the Bathroom and assume it's knocking on the Bathroom door?. Again, I'd need a bit more information on this - when does it happen - how often has it happened - who heard it - where were they in relation to the knocking? etc etc.

My mother-in-law has heard muffled sounds, and then she heard 'I'm home' in a ghastly voice when she was alone.

Again (sorry) not enough info. What kind of muffled sounds - rolling noises, knockings, bangs, thuds etc?. What were the circumstances of your M in Law hearing 'I'm Home'?. What time, where was she in the house, were you due home at the time or expected home, what was on in terms of TV and radio - are there houses nearby/directly next door etc?.

One night there was huge banging sounds, dogs that dont usually bark in our street went crazy and my in laws heard growling in the living room, they both heard it.

Could have been outside - neighbours, people creeping about in gardens that the dogs picked up on. Our dogs bark during the night at what we think is nothing and certainly don't hear - the dogs hear it - often it's a fox, pheasant or even a rabbit. Noises carry at night. What can seem like it's in your own house could actually be outside/next door or miles away due to the way sound carries according to different atmospherics. Growling could be dogs, foxes, rats or shifting timbers - could be many things.

Myself and a previous tenant have heard heavy breathing sounds behind us.

Did the previous tenant tell you this and then you heard it or did you hear it before being made aware that the previous tenant said heavy breathing was heard?.
Heavy breathing - where, what time. dark/day. How long, how close/behind you/nearby/in front of you/how many times - just once?.

Something pushed my mother-in-law.

More info needed - circumstances. Was she alone? Where in the house? What time of day? etc.

We constantly all feel cold air flowing on us, when there are no drafts or breezes.

It's a house you're not familer with - you possibly don't know how it heats/gets cold/where the drafts and cold spots are. This can easily be investigated with a digital thermometer and a simple home made Anemometer.

We hear loud banging sounds at night, it seems the knocking has turned into loud bangs that wake us up at night.
-One of our cupboard door suddenly popped open

See previous replies - bangs, knockings etc - could be internal house movements or external neighbours/noises carried in - houses can act like sounding boards. Doors pop open on their own all the time - lots of things cause this - mostly it's not ghosts.

Visitors to our house get scared because they claim to sometimes see things outside, shadows etc

Where outside? on walls across the road? are they aware that you think the house is haunted?. What's outside? other houses - trees etc?

The house is connected to a fish shop, and we have a shelf with huge metal pots, they all flew off the shelf and landed on the floor. Nobody was in the room

How do you know they 'flew' off the shelf if nobody was in the room to see them?. I'm thinking the metal pots were on the floor having previously been on a shelf. Pans and pots fall off shelves for many different reasons - they weren't placed on there properly, shelf had a film of water/grease on it - mice, house movements etc. Did anyone hear this racket? how were the pots on the floor - were any pictures taken - how many times has this happened?.

We found out that the previous inhabitants used a ouija board in the house.

IMO doesn't mean a thing. They could have used a Monopoly Board. Ouija Boards are all in the mind - if you believe in them you'll believe you're being haunted. Ouija Boards are silly dangerous toys nothing more.

These people all claim to have had paranormal activity in the house and that is what caused them to do the ouija.

These people probably watched too many scary movies, all series of Most Haunted and think Derek Acorah talked to the dead via Sam Google. Belief is a powerful thing - just look at religion - people blow themselves (and others) up because of it. If people believe in ghosts, ouija boards, paranormal activity etc then they will and do attribute noises, shadows etc to ghosts and spirits. Knowing the previous history of a house can influence how one or more people interpret the sounds and sights they experience within it.
People are bad observers - they're bad witnesses and they let their preconceptions influence their perceptions.

The road we live on is supposed to be haunted, a man was bludeoned to death a few metres away. The train station at the end of the road has had suicide victims, and there was a great fire in our village which caused many to perish and a lot of the houses burnt down.

Absolutely no connection to your house. None what so ever. You're adding two and two and making twelvety.

We are worried, and feel as if we are either going crazy or are not alone here.

No need to be worried or scared and I'm sure you're not going crazy unless you're on drugs which I'm sure you're not :).
You're certainly not alone - who is? I've got a neighbour who puts up shelves at three in the morning. . You're also probably not being haunted and have simply linked lots of things (all unconnected)to form what you think is paranormal activity.

I've investigated and answered lot's of cases like this and in not one have I found a genuine reason to believe it's the supernatural - what it is is perfectly natural because we're human, get scared, are afraid of the dark etc - all perfectly understandable human traits that are built into us as survival instincts from way way back in our prehistory.

If you want to answer the questions I've raised I'll respond but in the meantime please don't lose anymore sleep.

DB

bitterbuck1 · Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 2:31 pm Post subject:

Hmmmm
Wonder what became of Faulknerfan?

flossy · Posted: Tue Dec 28, 2010 3:26 pm Post subject:

one hit wounder by the looks of it Rolling Eyes

D B Sweeney · Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 3:23 am Post subject:

Took me ages to answer the post as well Crying or Very sad

DB

bitterbuck1 · Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2010 11:31 am Post subject:

Odd that he edited both of his posts.
Hmmm removing evidence?
I wonder........ Wink

D B Sweeney · Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 2:10 am Post subject:

From my experience on a few other forums it's quite common for researchers and students to occasionally post as part of a project or thesis. This might be such an example.

DB

bitterbuck1 · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2011 12:47 pm Post subject:

Yes, but why would he remove his posts?
I'm just curious. Wink

flossy · Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 3:35 am Post subject:

i emailed him to ask why? but i got no reply Rolling Eyes

D B Sweeney · Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 12:15 pm Post subject:

bitterbuck1 · Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 5:45 pm Post subject:

Good point DB.
Smile