LH wrote:

I grew up and lived most of my life in a very small town in Ohio. The house I grew up in is where I had the scariest event of my life. I am not one to believe in paranormal things nor do I totally discount them. I simply do not know. I remember hearing footsteps coming up the stairs many nights in the house. These I discounted as noises made by an old house. However, one night when I was probably a pre-teen I was in bed for the night and after hearing the footsteps (my room was at the top of the stairs), suddenly I heard small items such as makeup and bottles of perfume, on my dresser start to fall over one by one. Then I heard looseleaf papers I had on a stool begin to scatter on the floor. I froze and immediately tried to think of an explanation. We had no animals, the windows were closed, their was not air circulating. I could not explain it. Just as I lay there long enough to convince myself I imagined it, it sounded like something began tapping on the metal bed frame I was laying on. It was on the opposite side of where I was laying. Again I froze. I don’t know how long I laid there before I fell asleep. I just remember waking up in the morning and seeing that in fact all of the small items on my dresser had been knocked over and the looseleaf papers were scattered all over the floor. I tried to tell my parents and they just laughed at me and made a joke of it. This is something that has bothered me all of my life because I have not been able to explain it. 

I am now almost 40 years old. There were other odd things that happened in the house on a regular basis, such as pictures falling off the walls and odd noises. It is amazing what you can get used to as normal. I just would like to have some kind of explanation for these things.

Such experiences when one is a child are far more widespread than you might imagine. Many adults can recall similar experiences to your from an early age, either pre-teen or when transitioning into an adult.

There exists a thin line between what we hear and what our minds conjour and embellish, particularly over time. This in no way suggests you did not experience what you describe, however. But it is our interpretation of the events that colours the details from the original source.

Footsteps on the stairs, for example, can merely be the wood or stairs construction easing after a day’s use. Other sounds, being so specific, are less straightforward to explain, however, each might have a strong origin in the corporeal world.

I have frequently investigated knocking and tapping, and few have remained puzzling in their origin. All buildings make noise, particularly those with wood construction, and it is often the situation and our minds that extend an every day noise into a realms of mystery and paranormal.

I am quite convinced you experienced some form of phenomenon, but there is nothing to suggest it was any form of external entity injecting itself into your environment. I believe these are a combination of amplified sensory experiences combined with fear distorted perceptions. Though this may give you the impression they remain unexplained, the frequency of similar events goes some way to assure you that little out what I consider to be ordinary actually occurred.

M. Keynes

GW wrote:
I used to live in a house with two other room mates and weird things kept happening. Location of the house is 119 Ward Street in Seattle. The three of us got along so well that we thought it would be fun to share a house.

David had a cat that got so spooked on entering the house that she jumped out the third story window. My dog wouldn’t enter past the doorway so I took him to my parents house for care. We consistantly heard the sound of boot steps on the stairwell, so often, that we would count them. It was always seven. Lincoln was heading down the stairwell one night and swears that someone grabbed his ankle and tripped him. I asked where and he pointed, we counted the steps from the bottom and it was the seventh step.

David’s aunt and uncle came for a visit in August and wanted the window open to let some air in. It took two of us to open the window and when we stepped away the window slammed shut all on its own and we couldn’t re-open it.

Davids aunt claimed that someone was trying to pull her covers off all night and she thought it was one of us.

In the basement there were two wooden platforms that rose above the floor about 2 1/2 to three inches that didn’t make sense for their purpose but were about the perfect size of coffin lids. All three of us began to argue and not get along then I had the worst dream of my life.

Asleep in bed, dark hooded figures rose all around me bed, one had my left arm pinned out to the side and one had my right arm pinned out to the side. The plaster walls turned to stone and two flaming torches appeared on the wall.

One figure had me by the neck with one hand and in his other hand was a jeweled handled dagger with a crescent shaped curved blade. That figure said in a deep gravelly voice “who is your master now.” I squeaked out in a forced whisper “Jesus is my master” Then said it a second time and all the dark hooded figures sunk back into the floor the flaming torches faded away, the walls turned back to plaster.

I jumped out of bed and turned on the light and where my body had been laying was the image of a body sized cross. I moved out!!!

It seems from your account that your response to the hooded figure in your dream was a most appropriate one. Though I have little doubt your dream was merely a psychological response to your increasingly troublesome environment, such things can be almost as disturbing as a genuine, physical event.

One frequently finds the utterance of religious words and names to be useful, practical tools to banish the negativity of an event or experience. The banishment occurs naturally and generally immediately. 

I have undertaken a number of investigation where other parties amongst my associates have used religious passages to aid banishing the terror that might grasp them within the heat of the investigation. 

Did you at any time attempt to investigate the history of this particular property? 
It might be intriguing to discover whether there have been any other reports of activity there, or whether the ground beneath the property itself had a history.

One finds historical events, particularly those of a macabre nature, leave some form of lasting footprint, or echo that can affect more sensitive individuals in a manner which we have yet to understand.    

M.Keynes

D wrote:

I had an experience some years ago that I still find very interesting. On a whim I decided to visit Lilydale, New York, one of the worlds centers for the spiritualist religion. On arriving I found an old museum on the grounds with material that went back to the 1800’s. When I entered, the curator and a women were busily taking notes and examining a display case. They said that just a moment ago an old book had jumped up and down (in a closed case) and they always took notes of such things. On examination I was surprised to find the book was a scrap book. It belonged to the Grandfather of an old friend of mine, who were magicians, escape artists, spiritualists and contemporaries of Harry Houdini. Maybe they were still around and knew I was a friend of the family? Not very horrific but Lilydale is more Ray Bradbury than E.A. Poe.

I find it frustrating that curators of antiquities, particularly those allegedly associated with a paranormal past, become obsessed with the notion that these inanimate objects are in some way infused with energies to the extent they might react with their surroundings. Not once have I witnessed such an occurrence myself, despite many hours of study under the assurances of regular activity.

Once such case involved a child’s toy that was said to have continued connections with the child since his untimely death of tuberculosis some years previously. The child’s parents preserved his bedroom as it was at the moment of his death and would report all manner of playful activities taking place within, accompanied by audible giggling. The events continued following the ultimate release of the toy to Mr. Misteriouso’s Museum of Magical Particulars – by whom I was requested to attend and report.

Over a period of two weeks I boarded with this fellow and not once was there anything of note that was above normal, rational explanation. This despite the curator’s insistence – supported by his “Diary of Strange Doings” – that the toy would find itself in a different location each morning.It did not move an inch on two weeks.

Proof! That is what we need, proof! And yet so much relies upon the word of those with much to gain from the reporting of such paranormal events. Houdini, now that you mention the sensationalist blaggard, is one and the same. Perhaps one day I shall recount my personal experience of the man and what I discovered regarding his methods of investgation!

M.Keynes

I feel your reading of the mundane particulars of each day might send you to an early slumber, so I shall contain myself to notes relevant only to the subject of this – I believe it is termed – “website”.

Two days ago, not three hours following my regular weekly visit to the cemetery – a ritual I insist on maintaining above all even after all these years since Melissa’s passing and the sometimes intrusive advice of those pertaining to have my interests at heart – I received an unexpected note.

It reeked of cheap perfume and was delivered by hand by an unwashed person – by the imprints upon it of smudged fingerprints and what appeared to be coal dust, which, I must add, whomever it was had managed to leave such stains upon the outside of my door. The note requested my presence at a gathering of reputed spiritual practitioners undergoing examination by a pseudo-scientific group referring to themselves as the Order for the Preservation of Scientific Proof. I was astonished! This was a request for me to protect a spiritualist from the men of science! The writer of the note wished for me to adjudicate to see the science was valid and void of debunking trickery.

Alas, it is true! Where the charlatan will take broad measures to mask her deceptive acts in the promotion of her so-called gifts, so the men of pseudo-science may just as frequently employ the antithesis of scientific experimentation by deliberating the outcome and using the experiment to prove the deliberation regardless of the process’ scientific merit.

The proceedings shall be outlined in a future entry in this journal. Let this note be a reminder that deception and charlatanism may be found in the most unlikely of places, particularly where self gain is sought and the spoils of notoriety are so eagerly devoured. Trust no one.

M. Keynes

GK Writes:

My story is about an experience that my Mom and Aunt had.They were temporarily living with my Grandmother, taking care of her while she succumbed to cancer.

My Mom and Aunt were sleeping on the couch next to my Grandmother’s hospital bed in the front room when my Aunt woke up and saw my Grandmother standing next to her just looking at her, then she just disappeared.

My Mom said when my Aunt woke her up she was pale and shaking and and she said that their Mom was dead. They checked on her and yes she had passed away. My Aunt preceded to tell my mom how she knew, and about a year later my Mom told me the story.

When sickness is about us our minds can feed upon the heightened emotional energy and create a number of apparitions and visions that cannot be effectively determined as being corporeal or otherwise.

This does not suggest that the experience of your Aunt was anything other than true. When shifting between sleep and awake, in either direction, the mind can pass through a state of extreme heightened awareness in which the dream state and the waking state are intermixed, their boundaries merged into a complex state of blended perception.

Your Aunt likely perceived unconsciously that your Grandmother had passed away, perhaps due to a lack of movement, or more likely her breathing as those near death can often breath in a specific broken rhythm for a number of hours prior to passing away entirely. The subconscious knowledge of the death manifested itself as an image of the Grandmother.

Alternatively, there is the possibility that your Aunt had the momentary sensitivity to perceive the actual passing of the Grandmother’s spirit as she made her way from her corporeal form.

Whatever is the truth in this, it is a most fascinating event and I have recorded a number of similar reports during my years of investigation.

M. Keynes

MF wrote:

I used to clean a dance studio in my home town, the building was a church before that. One night while vacuuming I heard a blood curdling scream and after investigating the building no one was to be found. The next occurrence a week or two later was the sound of a loud exhale emitting from a darkened stairwell, to which I spoke out loud, if that’s all you’ve got leave me alone! From that point on mischievous things started to happen, like 100 ft. of stretched out extension cord would be coiled up when I would leave one area and return to back to it. The sound of foot steps on hard wood dance floors walking from where I was standing to another part of the room. Doors slamming in downstairs studio areas. All of the foot steps and cord coiling didn’t bother me, in fact sometimes I would laugh out loud and exclaim that’s a good one! But the doors slamming was a bit startling to the nerves. I no longer clean that building, not because of the goings on, just circumstances took me elsewhere. Well there’s my story and I hope you enjoy it.

It is not uncommon for large, empty buildings to appear to make all manner of sounds to which our minds try to attribute logical causes. I have even experienced this very circumstance myself during an extended investogation of a newly discovered crypt below a North London church.

Newly discovered church records suggested the crypt contained a number of burials related to the British Royal Family over the previous two centuries – less desirable characters whose involvement in both royal matters and criminal activities was kept a closely guarded secret, so rumour and myth leads us to believe.

Noises within the crypt were recorded similarly to your experiences. Doors, footsteps, whispers, though none were ever found to hav a physical cause.

My suspiciouns that it was the human mind which turned the general ambience of the environment into what we suposed might be caused by object, led to several session within the crypts where different individuals were to report on the nature of any events they encountered – particulary sounds. It was no surprise to me that the nature of particular sounds were recorded differently between the ndividuals.

However, it remains that a number of clearly audible sounds were indicated identialy, and yet we were at no time able to absolutely pinpoint either the source,nor the cause of those sounds. To this day, thy remain a mystery.

M. Keynes

FROM: M

About a year ago, we moved into a house that use to belong to my grandma’s cousin.  Some weird things have happened to me, and I want to know if it is just in my head, if I’m causing it, or if someone is trying to reach me.

My first experience happened when I was outside behind the carport. To my right is the woods and to my left is the road. I was calling my friend when I heard my name being whispered. It was really quick and sounded like it was right beside me, to my right. A second later, my friend picked up. I asked if she whispered my name, but she said she didn’t. Another time I was walking out of my bedroom when my name was whispered again, this time to my left. The two sounded just alike.

I was lying on my bed one night when I heard something bang on my door. After the bang, I heard this static sound. Mom said that no one was around at that time.

We received a lot of candles for christmas, so we placed them in front of the TV to the right until we could find some place else to put them. The next morning, they were sitting in front of the center of the TV in perfect order. None of them were even knocked over.

Another time, Mom’s beer bottle had slid.

The story that gets me the most is when my little sister and I were waiting for Mom to get home. We both heard the kitchen open, but when I went to see who was there, the door was closed. We would have heard it shut, but we didn’t. Mom wasn’t even home.

Dear M,

As with so many cases of noise, bumps, bangs, whispers, etc. – and when a wild and troublesome imagination can be ruled out – the cause can invariably be assigned to a poltergeist.

As I have mentioned in a recent account of poltergeist activity, I do not attribute poltergeist activity to some form of entity attempting to breaking through from another existence into our own. It is a manifestation of some individuals’ internal energies being “leaked” into his or her environment.

My first question to you is whether such occurrances have been witnessed within the household by others than yourself, while you were not in the vicinity?
I would wager they have not.

This means not that you are to blame for what is happening, but events are surrounding you. I have seen this kind of activity around girls during puberty and post puberty – and sometimes older in cases where there are relationship problems, anxiety, or extreme cases of sexual frustration.

The whispered names are not common poltergeist events, but such are surprisingly common amongst much of the population. I believe that each of us has a latent, unused, natural telepathic ability. Over our evolution, this has diminished into a subconscious action that, once in a while, manages to break through into our conscious minds. I remember when my wife and I would appear to communicate simple messages without speaking and when we were on opposite ends of the house. I have come across many such instances in subjects I have investigated and unless one is hearing a specific message, one should have no cause for concern.

In the majority of cases, the activity will dissipate naturaly. To encourage a reduction in the events, give conscious consideration as to what is out of place within your life and what is troubling you. Once an understanding of these problems is achieved, and steps taken to overcome them, such activity invariably ceases.

M. Keynes

P.S. I understand from my contact in your time, that “TV” is a “television” whereby images may be sent from one location to appear on a device at another. With such devices transporting images and sound through thin air, I am yet more convinced that latent telepathy within each of us is a distinct possibility.

Within the last year I have experienced many strange things through out my house.

It all started when I took a photo of the christmas tree When I got the film developed there was a white cloud wrapping around my tree forming into a white ball, on the right side of the photo is a sidefiew of a mans face. I have looked at that photo for hours at a time and it very much resembles my dad that had passed away back in 86, you can see his forehead eye nose and chin.

Thats when it all started, little things like lights going on and off sometimes by itself, one night I was almost asleep and I sat straight up in bed when I heard loud footsteps coming from the kitchen, it sounded as if someone was dragging my kitchen chairs across the floor or kids running back and forth, but my kids were sound to sleep That happened a few times and one night I came home from a friends house and I went to go lay down in bed, as soon as I got under my covers something made a crashing noise into my bedroom door, and the door hit the wall, there was nobody home but me, then one evening I was doing my makeup to go out for the evening and through my laundry shoot I kept hearing a cat meowing, we have no cat, yet another time I heard a small child laughing from my closet when I opened it there was nothing there. My cellphone will come unplugged by itself, I had a photo of me and my boyfriend in a frame I walked into my bedroom oneday and it was on the floor when I went to put it on the dresser the picture was upside down in the frame, that really freaked me out Ive been wondering what is causing all this to happen?

At night I have a hard time falling asleep wondering whats going to happen next. my son is 6 years old he told me one morning why did you keep opening and closing the kitchen cabinets last night? I couldnt tell him it wasn’t me cause I dont want him to know. My daughter has also had things happen to her but we try to not let him know whats going on. What can I do to stop all this? Do we have some type of spirits through out our house or a ghost?
Please respond back.

You most certainly are experiencing a number of phenomena! But the cause is, I suspect, not created by some ghost or external entity. Much of what you describe can attributed to a poltergeist.

First described in 1838, poltergeists – from the German word for “noisy spirit” – can create all manner of noises, and often appear to move objects around, open and close doors, switch lights on and off, etc. In nearly all cases they are harmless, sometimes regarded as simply mischievous “spirits”.

Poltergeist activity has been frequently attributed as emanating from or centred about the women of a household, particularly adolescent girls who have not reached sexual maturity, or slightly older omen who have a great deal of emotional strain and stress within their lives. The activity seems to be an outward projection of inner energies, is uncontrolled, and leads to yet further stress on the individual so unintentionally creating them.

Often such phenomena simply disappear, but can be encouraged to do so through an active adjustment of any and all elements of life that are creating emotional strain and tension.

The answer is most certainly inward. I sincerely hope you rare able to discover a resolution to these troubling experiences.

M.Keynes

Hello my name is ******* and I am looking for some help. I often hear my three and half year old son talking to him self. One day I asked him who he was talking to. He told me ‘That man and lady, mommy’. I than asked him were are they and he pointed over my shoulder. I however didn’t see anyone. This was not the last ’sighting’ of the man and woman, but just one of many. I just wanted you to understand what I am saying. I need some help figuring things out with this, I am very freaked out about this. If you have any information about ANYTHING that might help I would greatly apprecate it.

Children are oft aware of elements we adults are not. It is something we lose as we grow into adulthood, and inherent intuition about the world around us that reveals what might be hidden from the five senses.

Whether this particular “man and lady” be actual entities of some nature, or merely representations of the child’s growing consciousness, cannot be told. If the child appears not to be in distress with their presence, there is little need to be concerned. However, do pay close attention to your reactions in the presence of the child as he will be encouraged to react in a similar manner to yourself.

You should ask yourself whether anyone close to the family has been recently deceased, or whether the child no longer sees someone who was once close to him, for whom the instinctive longing may manifest itself in this manner.

1. Integrity.

Above all, truth must be permitted to prevail and at no time should the investigator offer the opportunity for his personal emotional motivations to taint the evidence being examined. There is no room for belief, merely sound logical conclusions from clear, empirical evidence.

2. Tuned senses

Each of the five senses – for there are but five – must be finely tuned for they will certainly be required at every junction. No manner of instrument can replace the human senses. Let the instruments verify and record while one’s senses communicate the true nature of one’s environment.

3. A gentleman

It is a known fact the very nature of the female constitution is incompatible with the exploration of the unknown. Squeals of fright, excitement and the constant danger of feinting all give rise to greater concern for the woman than for the nature of the investigation. This is a most unfortunate circumstance as it is frequently the case that a woman herself is the very focus of said investigation.

4. Knowledge of science

One may not simply take to the high street to purchase all that is required within the ghost hunter’s arsenal of measuring, test, and defensive tools. One must design such implements and have the necessary means to have them expertly manufactured to an exacting standard. Measurements are meaningless without implicit trust in the accuracy of the tool being used. I mention defensive implements for it is my experience that the charlatan can become physically violent at the ultimate realisation she is about to be exposed.

5. An understanding of deception

One must understand the nature of one’s opponent and the ghost hunter’s most commonly encountered opponent is the deceiver. I have experienced all manner of events – some of which, I will admit, defy explanation within the bounds of scientific understanding at this time – most of which have been revealed to be deliberate deceptions on the part of some person or persons. it is only through becoming learned in the vocabulary of the deceiver that one can reveal the deception.

With such qualities – and yet more – the ghost hunter may find himself revealing the truth of the matters to which he is called to investigate. Without them, he is nothing more than the charlatans he pretends to expose.