Spirits Following Her

Part I of this story is written as told to me by my Stepmother, as it is something that happened to her before she met my Father. It does tie in with the rest of the story.

Part I: The Past Experiences

My Stepmother (whom I will call Anne) spent 30 some-odd years in a home located in the small college town of Brockport, NY. She lived here with her (ex) husband, their son "Adam" and daughter "Breanna". The experiences, according to Anne, started when Breanna was just two years old. Breanna would continually wake up in the middle of the night, crying like Anne had never heard her before. When Anne would go into her room, Breanna would tell her that there was a man in her room, and that he scared her.

Of course, the first couple of times this happened, Anne woke up her husband, and he searched the house, finding no intruder and all of the doors locked. Breanna continued to wake up crying, screaming about a man in her room, and Anne started to get worried. As she tells me, the last time Breanna slept in her room was when Anne went to check on her when she was crying, and saw Breanna's blanket floating above her bed, as if someone were waving it about. Frightened, Anne scooped up her daughter and brought her into her bedroom to sleep there.

My stepmother has also told me of finding pictures crooked on the wall, and an armchair that rocks would be found moving in the living room, but there was no one else in the house, and the cat and dog would not be in the room with the moving chair. She also told me of a time her son Adam was in his basement room with his friends, and came running upstairs in a fright one evening. They claimed that a wetsuite Anne's ex-husband had hanging on a hanger in the basement started swinging violently back and forth, and neither Adam nor his friends had touched it or had been in that area of the basement.

I was only witness to one thing in this house, and that was the chair. We had all sat down to eat dinner one evening, when out of nowhere, Anne's Rottweiler started to bark uncontrollably, more so than usual. My father got up first and went into the living room, and stopped in the threshold of the doorway leading into the living room. The chair was moving again, rocking hard, as if someone had just gotten up out of it. Except that we were all sitting in the kitchen having dinner, and we could see the dog where we were sitting. Anne searched for the cat, and found her in the computer room. We knew it impossible for the cat to make the heavy rocker, rock so violently.

Part II: New Home, New Experiences

My Dad and Anne eventually bought a home in nearby Holley, NY and left the haunted house behind - or so we thought. I moved in with them in the new home while I was in college. Things were good in the new house for a long time. After a few months living there, I started to get ominously weird feelings in the basement. It's about 90% finished down there, and we had to go through the finished side to get to the laundry. I would always feel as if something was lurking down there, watching me as I went up and down the stairs, especially at night.

While I was living there, my Stepmom complained of random noises at night, but the really frightening stuff didn't start happening until after I moved out. My father reported to me more noises. They would hear what sounded like people walking around in the kitchen at night, and cupboards opening and closing. One afternoon, as they were watching a movie, there was a very loud bang on the roof. My Dad often describes it as a "sonic boom" type noise. He of course ran outside to check the roof, and found no fallen branches or debris. He asked his neighbors if they had heard it, and all of them said they had not heard a thing. This noise was never explained.

The noises and disruptions continued and became more intense. My Dad would feel himself being slapped in bed, the bedside lamps would turn on and off, and the noise in the kitchen continued.

When my Stepmom was diagnosed with cancer, she made it her mission to find out what was going on. She first hired a medium to come into the house. This woman came in with divining rods, and walked through the house. All I know of this visit is that the medium reported that there were several spirits passing through, but there was one in particular that was stubborn about leaving.

One morning, my Stepmom decided to try and get some audio from the kitchen, so she and my Dad turned on an audio recorder and set it on the counter. Keep in mind that the only people at this point that had keys to the house were my Dad and Stepmother, and that no one else was in the house after she left for her doctor's appointment. Please keep an open mind about what I am about to tell you. I did listen to this recording, and everything you are about to read did indeed happen.

So my Stepmom turned on the recorder, stated the date and time into the mic, and that they were leaving the house. On the recording (digital), you can hear them leaving, and the kitchen door shut and lock. About ten minutes into the recording, footsteps can be heard on the kitchen floor, but no outside door could be heard opening. The footsteps continue for a few minutes, and then cupboard doors can be heard opening and closing. I have also heard dishes rattling around in the cupboard, as if someone was just puttering in the kitchen. All of a sudden, the chime clock on the wall starts to chime. As it chimes, the footsteps come closer to the recording device, and all of a sudden a forceful impact with the clock is heard, ceasing its chime. This happens again 15 minutes later, and again whatever is in the kitchen seems to "punch" the clock, apparently not fond of the noise. The impact of the clock was confirmed when my Father and Stepmother returned home, and found the clock hanging crooked on the wall.

Right before my Stepmom passed away from the cancer, I visited with her quite a bit, and experienced some noise. One afternoon, my good friend Janet and I visited her and brought her some soup. We were all watching a Stephen King movie together, one of Anne's favorite things. I had left the front door unlocked, as we'd come in that way. We were all into the movie, when all of a sudden, we heard a doorknob rattling. We all thought that maybe it was my Dad coming home from work, and he'd decided to come in by way of the front door, but no one came through the door. I checked the front door, and no one was outside. My Dad's car was not in the driveway, either.

There was still a little bit of activity after Anne passed away, but nothing so intense. My Dad claims to have captured orbs on video, but I believe these are just dust. I have also experienced more noise at night, when I spent the night at his house a few times. I was lying in bed, playing around on my cell phone, when I heard some banging in the kitchen. I got up on impulse to check it out, thinking my Dad had gotten up to get some water or something. There was no one in the kitchen. I shook it off as the ice maker dropping ice, and went back to bed. When I asked my Dad about it in the morning, he said he'd turned the ice maker off the night before, as the bin was full. It was summer and the heat was off, and not warm enough out for the A/C, so I ruled out the furnace kicking on. I also ruled out the fridge running in any way, because it was just too loud to be just a running appliance.

I've tried to get my Dad to let me bring in a real paranormal team, but he doesn't want to stir the pot, if the same mischievous spirit is still in his house. He doesn't really mind it anymore, and doesn't want to make it mad.

Is it possible that whatever was causing all the trouble in the house was following my Stepmom, and kind of gave up after she died? Could it still be the same mischievous spirit that has always hung out in the kitchen? Let me know your thoughts.