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Antique Store

 

I have always been skeptical. I am someone who believes that YOU believe what happened to you but I need to experience things myself to truly be convinced.

Growing up in an old farmhouse (it is one of the oldest in my town) there were always the usual creaking sounds of the floors and stairs, doors closing on their own, lights flickering... These were always dismissed as the house just settling.

Now fast forward 10 years. I meet my now husband and he shares with me all of the strange, ghostly experiences he has had throughout his life. I always believed him but never fully without having my own experience. Sometimes his stories seemed so far-fetched that the only thing that made me believe was his belief.

About 2 months after we are married, we are living with his parents and I get a job working at an antique store in our town that is in a house that is at least 120 years old. It is a big, beautiful and grand house where I always imagined someone of importance or money lived there. It is the typical big house with a foyer, parlor, dining room, and kitchen downstairs and 5 huge bedrooms and one bath upstairs. There was a grand staircase in the foyer directly across from the front door (that had bells to notify of anyone entering or leaving the shop). Once upstairs, there was a small banister along the hallway which ran straight down the middle of the house with the narrow, back stairway leading down to the kitchen.

The back door to this house was not used as a customer entrance, only by me when coming and leaving work, therefore the door was always dead bolted. I worked by myself all day long, never seeing the owner as she had another small shop across town. Days were always long and I caught up on a lot of reading and quite a few naps to be awakened by the bells when a customer came in.

On this particular day it is around 2 or 3:00 and only a few people had come in. At one point there were about 4 people in all at once (a rush, so to speak). I helped them find their purchases and such and they left. So knowing that my chances of anyone else to talk to was slim to none, I called my husband at home since he didn't work that day. Just as we started to talk I heard the hall floor upstairs creaking and then I heard very clearly two women talking about the victrola that was along the small banister at the top of the stairs.

I told my husband I would have to call him back as I somehow missed some customers. I always liked to be in eyeshot of people as many liked to pock small items. I went up the front staircase to find nobody there. I looked in the 2 front bedrooms at the front of the house and they were empty. I continued down the hallway to the back of the house, looking in every room and each closet, calling out "Hello?!"

Okay, they must be downstairs already via the back stairwell so I start down it to the kitchen and about 3 stairs down, I feel a cool breeze. It was gentle but enough to give me goose bumps on my arm. I dismiss it as a draft even though where the air conditioners were positioned upstairs it couldn't have been from them.

I make the circle back to the parlor room off the side of the foyer where my desk was, checking along the way and there was nobody in the house. They couldn't have gone out the front door as I mentioned before, the bells would ring. I am scared out of my mind now, the hair on my neck standing up. I don't know if it was from fear or something paranormal but I ran to the telephone to call my husband.

I quickly told him my experience and told him to get up there and sit with me for the rest of the day "RIGHT NOW!" Luckily, he was only 6 blocks away and was there in no time. He snickered at me and told me "I told you that spirits and ghosts are real". I have been a believer ever since.

When I retold my story to my boss, the owner, she said that little things like that were always happening. She'd hear voices and have things moved. One time she said that the old fashioned cash register dinged open by itself. After the antique shop was closed, the house became a lawyer's office and it is now a residential home. I haven't spoken with anyone who has been in the house since but I often wonder if others have heard or experienced anything.

Since this experience, I have had a few more which I will share another time. I know this isn't probably a very exciting story but I feel it is my first TRUE paranormal experience and just wanted to share it. Thanks for reading!

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Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, Melianna75, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

winx717 (2 stories) (31 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-10-31)
Hello... Very interesting story. Would you mind telling me in which city in Illinois this took place? The house you describe seems very familiar in set-up to one I recently went through (now residential). I am just curious. Thanks for sharing your story.
Brownie09 (6 stories) (293 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-08-24)
Hi, that was an interesting story and a great one along with many of the other ones on here. I came across this site and glad I did, because there are nice people on here, and all the other websites I seen people were acting immature and making rude obscene comments. Thanks for posting have any more please add it.
😊
ChrisB (6 stories) (1515 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-06-23)
Hi and welcome Melianna. This story was a great story. Not all ghost stories have to be scary in order for it to be considered a ghost story. Sometimes small things mean you are acually telling a true story. And I believe this one to be a real story. I understand that you are new but in time you will be haveing a great time with us 😁!I hope you post the next ones soon. I to would like to hear from stories of your husband. I hope to hear from you soon and take care
missydee (guest)
 
16 years ago (2008-06-22)
Hi,
Thanks for sharing your story. I enjoyed reading it. Can't wait to read more!

😊 ❤ 😊
Tonith (1136 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-06-22)
Sounds like a residual haunting to me. It certainly can't hurt anyone but it can be frightening especially when you know you are alone. The house sounds a lot like mine without the ghosts lol. Our house is 122 years old and at one time had the 2 staircases as well. When we remodeled we enclosed the staircase that ran from the kitchen to the upstairs hallway. The steps are still there but can't be seen or accessed of course. If I ever hear anyone climbing them I will have heart failure. I have had a few things happen in this house but nothing that couldn't be rationally explained for the most part. I have never felt afraid here either and I spend a week of every month alone with the cats while hubby is working graveyard shift. I guess I should be grateful it's a quiet place but there are times when I feel a little cheated because I don't have a resident ghost. Lol I wonder if I don't have more encounters simply because I don't want them. I am a skeptic as far as hunting for a rational explanation before jumping to the conclusion that its paranormal. I do believe in the paranormal but have had very few experiences with it. Guess until one has a major event happen it's normal to be skeptical. Great story I enjoyed it.
rhodes68 (14 stories) (1596 posts)
+1
16 years ago (2008-06-21)
One more happy reader 😊.

Lovely to have you with us and hope to have you back with more.
FRAWIN (guest)
 
16 years ago (2008-06-20)
Hi Melianna75. I find experiences such as yours much more believable than the "exciting" or "horror movie" type. Thank you for sharing your story I truly enjoyed it.

FRAWIN 😊
bette31 (9 stories) (127 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-06-20)
Thank you for sharing your story. Any time someone has an unexplained experience, it is exciting. I am looking forward to reading the other experiences that you have had.

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