Manderson House

As I've explained in my other stories I'm extremely skeptical when it comes to the "paranormal". I usually brush things off as being weirdly coincidental but there's a part of me that is curious.

The home that I live in with my husband and two children has been a part of my husband's family since his father purchased it in the early 70's (as his bachelor pad). They call it Manderson. It was built in 1928. It's an old cottage lake house, a little worn and beaten up, but we liked both the home and the neighborhood so much that we ended up purchasing it from his parents not too long ago and just recently finished adding an addition on to it for more space.

When my husband and I first met eight years ago the house was only used as a hang out. No one lived there. He and his friends would use it for the lake access and to throw parties but that's about it. He brought me to the house for the first time a few weeks after we started dating and we met with a group of his friends. A couple of them told me that they experienced weird things there.

One night they were playing cards at a table that they had set up in the living room and they all heard someone sneeze in the kitchen... But no one was in the kitchen. They were all in the living room. And his dad had claimed that furniture would move and lights would come on when he lived there. He claimed it was the ghost of Mr. McCloud. I just thought it was funny and brushed it off. That's until the weird stuff started happening to me.

Weirdness #1

Shortly after we first moved in (I believe in 2007) my daughter received a Rescue Pets Swim to me Puppy as a gift from my husband's parents. It's a battery operated dog that swims in the bathtub. I had seen commercials for it on TV. It was the "hottest gift" of the year. She was super excited about it. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a piece of crap. It literally worked once or twice and then never turned on again. We dried it out, replaced the batteries, and still... Nothing. I later went to read the online reviews and they all said the same thing; either it worked once or twice and completely died or it continued to run and the only way to get it to stop would be to take out the batteries. Naturally, my daughter lost interest but for some reason I couldn't get myself to throw the stupid thing away. So there it sat on the tile bench on the back of the bathtub for the next year or so.

Fast forward to late 2008/early 2009. It's about 5:00 a.m. I'm in the middle of washing my hair when out of the blue I hear a very loud robotic walking sound coming from behind me on the tile bench. I turn around and, sure enough, the stupid toy is walking across the tile. I thought to myself "that's a little strange". The thing hasn't worked in over a year and now, all of a sudden, it's decided to take itself for a walk. I picked it up and tried to turn it off using the on/off button with no success. I finally got out of the shower and went to grab a screwdriver from the kitchen. As soon as I put the screwdriver up to the first screw it shut off by itself. I tried turning it on again using the button; nothing happened.

So I walk myself and the toy back to the bathroom so that I could finish washing up. I had put the toy back on the tile bench. All was quiet for a few minutes when the toy started up again. Once again I'm attempting to turn it off using the on/off button with no luck. I finish my shower and go for the screwdriver once more. And again, as soon as I place the screwdriver up to the first screw to remove the batteries the toy shuts off. I try to turn it back on using the button and nothing happens. After that I threw the thing down the basement stairs and had my husband dispose of it later.

Weirdness #2

Another early morning getting ready for work in the bathroom. I'm putting on my makeup and someone knocks three times on the door. Figuring it was my husband or daughter needing to use the facilities I put down my mascara and open the door... And no one is there. I walk over to the bedrooms to check on everyone and they're both sound asleep.

Weirdness #3

ANOTHER early morning. I'm packing lunches for everyone in the kitchen. It's probably 6 a.m. No one is up yet. I'm watching a movie or something on my little tablet but have it down very low as to not wake anyone. It's then when I hear a sneeze come from behind me. I whipped around so fast... It scared the crap out of me. The bedrooms are on the opposite side of the house so, unless one of the cats learned how to sneeze like a man, I had no idea what to make of it.

Weirdness #4

I actually wasn't home for this one. My sister was babysitting while my husband and I went to a charity dinner and auction. I get a phone call in the middle of dinner from our next door neighbor saying that she was headed to our house because the girls were freaking out. According to them, they were watching videos on YouTube at the computer when the dimmer light in the kitchen turned on. They didn't want to be there alone so they walked next door to the neighbors. I had a good laugh.

I know I've witnessed more "weirdness" around the house but because it doesn't happen that often I tend to forget about things. Maybe I'll look into the history of the house since it is so old. If there are such things as "ghosts" at least this one is nice and tends to mind his own business:)