My Brand New Haunted House

My father was in the Navy until I was 18 years old. Spooky things have happened in many of the places my family has lived, but our home in O'Fallon, Illinois was the worst. My parents planned on retiring from the military so they bought a brand new house. We lived here 2006-2010, my 8th grade to junior year of high school.

On move in day, my dad (an excitable yet skeptical man) came into the house all flustered, asking if anyone had come outside but no one had. He swears that while he was moving boxes in the trailer with his back to the unload ramp, he heard distinct footsteps walking up the ramp that made the whole trailer shake. He assumed it was one of us, and when he turned around to ask for help, it immediately stopped and no one was there.

Quite a few strange, menacing things happened in that house. I can't remember an exact order because so many things happened so I will list them as I remember them happening.

My parents bedroom was on the main floor, my older sister's, mine, and my younger brother's bedrooms were upstairs, and we had a finished basement with a few individual rooms. My parents bedroom light turned on while my dad was laying in bed and my mom was folding laundry in the room. We regularly heard footsteps.

Once, I came home while only my mom and brother were home. I went straight to my room to change. While I was on the stairs, I heard footsteps SPRINTING across the living room. My brain did not register what I heard at first and I continued to my room. My mom called me a minute later asking if I was home and why I was running. I said that I thought it was my brother who was running. They were both in the basement.

In the basement we had a bar that was it's own room with French doors. Everyone in my family has separately heard footsteps above them in that room, to the point where we thought someone came home.

Once, my dad and I were watching tv in the bar and the volume control came on and went all the way down, then back up but the remote was on the counter between us.

My brother, dad, and I were home alone and watching a movie together in the basement. We heard a loud metal pop from upstairs. Upon investigation, we realized that the French door to my parents bedroom that they kept latched shut (and would regularly use the other door) was wide open. It is a difficult latch to pull.

My sister would hear footsteps come down the hallway toward our rooms almost every night for a few months. At first she would close her laptop and pretend to be asleep thinking it was my mom coming to check on us, until one night she realized there were no footsteps leading away from our rooms.

I remember having a dream that I woke up in my bed. Everything was the same in my room, but there was a large, opaque black mass in my doorway that would shrink if I looked directly at it. It gave off a dreadful vibe. I woke up from that dream laying in the same position in my bed.

Soon after, my sister and I were in my room talking about a magazine photo of Ville Valo that was tacked near my bed. I jokingly said he was protecting me, and a small painting of Arch Angel Michael striking down a demon that I had on my dresser leaning against the wall slammed down by itself. We high tailed it out of my room.

My sister and I would switch rooms periodically. She swears that she saw a face in the doorway one night.

Once my sister left for college, I permanently moved into her room because it was larger. My brother, whose room was at the other end of the hall and connected to my old room via Jack and Jill bathroom, was around 11 years old. I remember that I was half asleep when around midnight he barreled into my room, a nerf gun in both hands. He swore that his bathroom door moved on its own and he begged to sleep with me. Once he was under my covers, it took a while for me to go back to sleep. Maybe half an hour went by, when I heard footsteps downstairs. Our floors were wood and we had a basement, so they were loud. It sounded like heavy boots stumbling around, like someone was drunk. The peculiar thing is that there was a wine rack by the staircase that always clinked when you walked by it. It did not make any noise. I woke up my brother and we sat, terrified and holding each other, as we listened to something stumbling around. We whispered about waking up my parents, when it started to go up the stairs. It was very slow, only four steps, before I grabbed my cell phone and called the house to wake up my parents. My dad flew out of bed and came into my room holding a baseball bat. There was nothing there, and no sign of a break in.

I believe that something tried to possess me. I had just gotten off the phone with a boyfriend one night, and I lie in bed for only a few minutes. I felt very cold, and I could feel my body tighten up. My eyes were half closed, and I could feel my face become hot and my limbs go numb. Suddenly, I heard what I can only describe as a wind tunnel. Rushing air that was deafening, but no wind. I was completely aware, but I could not control my body. My face contorted into what felt like an evil smile that felt unnatural. My hands, which were resting on my stomach, moved down to my pelvis. At this point, I was actively fighting it. I was screaming "F*CK YOU!" in my head, and that it was my body, while trying with everything in me to move. It stopped in an instant. I hysterically ran to my mom, who years later admitted that the exact same thing happened to her. I know this sounds like a bad creepypasta but I was terrified and my mom is a very superstitious person.

Plenty of other things have happened that I will probably remember later. I believe there were multiple entities in that house - some good, some bad. My family nearly fell apart in this house. My parents nearly divorced, I fell into a severe depression, and my siblings were struggling with their own battles that they do not like discussing. We moved to Virginia after this and other things happened but I suppose that is for another post.

A friend and I researched the history of the property my brand new subdivision was built on. It was previously a corn/soy farm. O'Fallon used to be a huge KKK town, and this farm had a barn where the town lynchings were held. There is also the Cahokia Mounds, the largest Native American village in the midwest, only a short drive away. I believe the land is imprinted as a neighbor once told us about their problem with lights coming on and doors opening. I do not know if their experience was as intense as ours.