Have you ever been home alone and heard strange sounds in the house? Share your childhood or adult memories of hearing strange sounds or other "interesting phenomena."
Last night Dad and I stayed up late watching the Olympics. That’s tough on an early morning seminary teacher so moments after getting in bed, he was asleep. It’s a talent, I guess. But I . . . well I listened to the sounds of silence; at least that’s what I usually do.
This time there was an unusual noise. It was a dull thud or a creak. Oh, that was strange, I thought. Now, relax and go to sleep. But just as I might about doze off, it happened again.
The sound seemed to be coming from the area just outside our bedroom window, or from the attic above Becca’s bedroom. I have a pretty good imagination, but couldn’t pin this sound down. I ruled out all the images inspired by science fiction movies and concentrated on the practical.
After thirty minutes and no logical solution, I reluctantly left my warm nest, slowly opened the bedroom window blind, and saw . . . absolutely nothing but the cold, icy night.
Maybe the swamp cooler motor was accidentally turned on and it’s frozen and breaking, I thought. It is a really, really cold night. After a quick inspection of the hallway controls, I ruled that out.
Frustrated, I jumped back into bed and buried myself under the comforter. Get warm, get warm, get warm, I ordered, and forced my breathing to slow. This will work, I’m drifting off, I assured myself, then thud–creak! It happened again.
Ignore the sound? But what if something bad was happening? Should I wake Harold? Of course, I reasoned, as soon as I do, it will stop, Harold will get even less sleep, and I’ll feel stupid. Hmm, what to do?
Time it, I concluded. If it’s mechanical, there will be a pattern. It happened three more times over the next three minutes, just like clockwork. That was enough proof.
“Harold, wake up. In forty seconds you are going to hear a strange sound.” He did wake up, heard the sound (though not precisely on schedule) and was on the job.
“On the job” meant covering his pajamas with his heaviest winter coat, pulling on boots, and heading out into the night. And that’s why you have a good man about the house.
I counted the thud–creaks in his absence just in case he didn’t hear anything out there . . . and to decide when to rescue him. Soon my counting was interrupted by banging on the outside wall of the house, then the sound of Harold kicking something by our bedroom window. I waited. Silence.
The front door opened and Harold was back. I think he was gone eight thud–creaks, give or take.
Science is supposed to have answers for everything. Well, in this case, it did: water freezing and expanding in the gutter downspout outside our window. An ice dam at the base was blocking the drainage and the downspout was groaning under the pressure as more water froze inside. Mystery solved. I didn’t listen for the sound after that. We cuddled up, buried under the down comforter, and went to sleep.
So, my weirdest nighttime experiences were all when Mom and Dad were in Houston for her surgery and I was home alone for a couple weeks or so. One night while sleeping peacefully, I woke up to the sound of creaky footsteps in the hall. I listened for a while and after I determined that the steps weren't really getting any closer or farther away, I got out of bed menacingly opened the door, and found nothing. I am pretty sure I just went back to bed after that and I wasn't too traumatized. The next morning however, was a little different. It was Sunday and I was getting ready for church when I realized a weird sound was coming from Mom and Dad's room. I opened the door and a wall of hot air slammed into me. The lights were all on and the hairdryer was blowing. It was kinda freaky especially since I had not been in their room for a couple of days at least. So, there it is, I am interested to hear what others have to share...
I am terrified of the night, and being alone at night, which means I am terrified most nights. I check every room for hidden murderers every night. I am positive that someone will be hiding waiting to steal Elodie and me. You may ask yourself what I think I might be able to do against a murderer and truth be told I have pondered this question many nights and have not figured out any good answers, yet. On to really scary night stories...maybe this is where my crazy fear of the night comes from... one night when I was 15 years old I was sleeping in the nursery at my parents house because my brother and his wife were staying in my room. It was the night before Randall's graduation so lots of people were in town. So it was around 2 in the morning and I felt a spider on my leg. I wacked at it and it went away. Then I felt another spider on my back. I wacked again but this time I heard a thud. That got my heart racing and all I could think about was a 20/20 episode I had watched the night before about what to do if you are being raped. I wanted to be sure there was someone in my room so I pretended like I was asleep and turned onto my side. Again I felt something on my leg and this time I knew it was not a spider, it was a hand. I was terrified so I said a prayer and suddenly felt peace. It was like an angle was wrapping itself around me protecting me. The person kept touching me (only on the leg and back) and I rolled over every time to make him stop. I felt like I should stay quite and still so I did. I kept hearing creaking and movement beside my bed. I suddenly saw flashes of light. This person was flashing a flashlight at me. I guess he was doing this so he could see me and not wake me up. I moved violently because I was not expecting the light and the person threw himself onto the ground to hide. At that moment I felt that calming angle tell me “move now, get out!” I was in a day bed against the wall so I yelled out is someone there as I jumped up across the bed over the side railing and to the door. I turned on the light and turned to look at my intruder but he hid his head. It was a teenager around my age with dark curly hair wearing dark cloths and he kept saying “what am I doing here, what am I doing here.” I ran into my parents’ room and said “Mom there is a boy in my room.” To my annoyance her response was “of course there is a boy in your room, your brother is in there.” I yelled “NO, THERE IS A BOY IN MY ROOM!” At that moment the boy ran down the stares and my Dad woke up more quickly than I have ever seen and raced after him. The boy escaped out the window he used to get in. My mom ran after him to. My dad even took off out the front door to chase him down but I’m guessing he jumped fences the other way. Everyone in the house was awake 3 of my 4 brothers were there and went driving around the neighborhood trying to find this kid. The copes came and we had to give a report and they took fingerprints. The boy’s fingerprints were found on every door up stairs and on the entrance/exit window he used. After that my over protective big brother Randall would not let me sleep alone. He slept on my floor for a week. I finally convinced him I was ok and he could sleep in his own room. After that my parents got motion detectors for the house and my neighbor gave me one of those annoying rape alarms. So that is my scary night story.
Yikes guys. I know at some point in my past I have starred into the darkness trying to make out what I thought I heard move but I can't remember any specifics right now. I do remember for the next week or so after seeing a scary movie I would sprint across the basement from the stairs to my bedroom whenever it was dark. I can also remember being very young and scared down in the basement at night. I would have to make the long trek up to mom and dad's room for safety and that was terrifying.
I'm going to have nightmares tonight, thanks to this topic. Especially from Ashee's story! But it's an interesting one.
Here's my scary noise at night story...
A few summers ago, I went home to visit my family. On this particular day, my sister left a note for her husband telling him she wanted a divorce. She came to stay with my parents. Because we knew her husband had a bad temper, we were all very nervous about how he would take the news.
My sister and I stayed up late that night talking about how her life was going to change. We contemplated the worst that could happen. We joked about how her husband could possibly go insane and come and kill us all. We knew that wouldn't really happen, but we were scared anyway.
As we were sharing our scary thoughts around midnight, all of a sudden I heard someone pounding on my bedroom window. My immediate reaction was to call 911 because my brother-in-law was here to kill us. I grabbed my phone and started dialing. Then I heard a woman's voice say, "Emily?"
SHHHWOOO! I opened the blinds and saw my sister-in-law standing outside on the grass. She was trying to get in, but we had changed the code on the door. I could have killed her for scaring me that bad! It took me a long time to fall asleep that night.
5 comments:
Last night Dad and I stayed up late watching the Olympics. That’s tough on an early morning seminary teacher so moments after getting in bed, he was asleep. It’s a talent, I guess. But I . . . well I listened to the sounds of silence; at least that’s what I usually do.
This time there was an unusual noise. It was a dull thud or a creak. Oh, that was strange, I thought. Now, relax and go to sleep. But just as I might about doze off, it happened again.
The sound seemed to be coming from the area just outside our bedroom window, or from the attic above Becca’s bedroom. I have a pretty good imagination, but couldn’t pin this sound down. I ruled out all the images inspired by science fiction movies and concentrated on the practical.
After thirty minutes and no logical solution, I reluctantly left my warm nest, slowly opened the bedroom window blind, and saw . . . absolutely nothing but the cold, icy night.
Maybe the swamp cooler motor was accidentally turned on and it’s frozen and breaking, I thought. It is a really, really cold night. After a quick inspection of the hallway controls, I ruled that out.
Frustrated, I jumped back into bed and buried myself under the comforter. Get warm, get warm, get warm, I ordered, and forced my breathing to slow. This will work, I’m drifting off, I assured myself, then thud–creak! It happened again.
Ignore the sound? But what if something bad was happening? Should I wake Harold? Of course, I reasoned, as soon as I do, it will stop, Harold will get even less sleep, and I’ll feel stupid. Hmm, what to do?
Time it, I concluded. If it’s mechanical, there will be a pattern. It happened three more times over the next three minutes, just like clockwork. That was enough proof.
“Harold, wake up. In forty seconds you are going to hear a strange sound.” He did wake up, heard the sound (though not precisely on schedule) and was on the job.
“On the job” meant covering his pajamas with his heaviest winter coat, pulling on boots, and heading out into the night. And that’s why you have a good man about the house.
I counted the thud–creaks in his absence just in case he didn’t hear anything out there . . . and to decide when to rescue him. Soon my counting was interrupted by banging on the outside wall of the house, then the sound of Harold kicking something by our bedroom window. I waited. Silence.
The front door opened and Harold was back. I think he was gone eight thud–creaks, give or take.
Science is supposed to have answers for everything. Well, in this case, it did: water freezing and expanding in the gutter downspout outside our window. An ice dam at the base was blocking the drainage and the downspout was groaning under the pressure as more water froze inside. Mystery solved. I didn’t listen for the sound after that. We cuddled up, buried under the down comforter, and went to sleep.
So, my weirdest nighttime experiences were all when Mom and Dad were in Houston for her surgery and I was home alone for a couple weeks or so. One night while sleeping peacefully, I woke up to the sound of creaky footsteps in the hall. I listened for a while and after I determined that the steps weren't really getting any closer or farther away, I got out of bed menacingly opened the door, and found nothing. I am pretty sure I just went back to bed after that and I wasn't too traumatized. The next morning however, was a little different. It was Sunday and I was getting ready for church when I realized a weird sound was coming from Mom and Dad's room. I opened the door and a wall of hot air slammed into me. The lights were all on and the hairdryer was blowing. It was kinda freaky especially since I had not been in their room for a couple of days at least. So, there it is, I am interested to hear what others have to share...
I am terrified of the night, and being alone at night, which means I am terrified most nights. I check every room for hidden murderers every night. I am positive that someone will be hiding waiting to steal Elodie and me. You may ask yourself what I think I might be able to do against a murderer and truth be told I have pondered this question many nights and have not figured out any good answers, yet.
On to really scary night stories...maybe this is where my crazy fear of the night comes from... one night when I was 15 years old I was sleeping in the nursery at my parents house because my brother and his wife were staying in my room. It was the night before Randall's graduation so lots of people were in town. So it was around 2 in the morning and I felt a spider on my leg. I wacked at it and it went away. Then I felt another spider on my back. I wacked again but this time I heard a thud. That got my heart racing and all I could think about was a 20/20 episode I had watched the night before about what to do if you are being raped. I wanted to be sure there was someone in my room so I pretended like I was asleep and turned onto my side. Again I felt something on my leg and this time I knew it was not a spider, it was a hand. I was terrified so I said a prayer and suddenly felt peace. It was like an angle was wrapping itself around me protecting me. The person kept touching me (only on the leg and back) and I rolled over every time to make him stop. I felt like I should stay quite and still so I did. I kept hearing creaking and movement beside my bed. I suddenly saw flashes of light. This person was flashing a flashlight at me. I guess he was doing this so he could see me and not wake me up. I moved violently because I was not expecting the light and the person threw himself onto the ground to hide. At that moment I felt that calming angle tell me “move now, get out!” I was in a day bed against the wall so I yelled out is someone there as I jumped up across the bed over the side railing and to the door. I turned on the light and turned to look at my intruder but he hid his head. It was a teenager around my age with dark curly hair wearing dark cloths and he kept saying “what am I doing here, what am I doing here.” I ran into my parents’ room and said “Mom there is a boy in my room.” To my annoyance her response was “of course there is a boy in your room, your brother is in there.” I yelled “NO, THERE IS A BOY IN MY ROOM!” At that moment the boy ran down the stares and my Dad woke up more quickly than I have ever seen and raced after him. The boy escaped out the window he used to get in. My mom ran after him to. My dad even took off out the front door to chase him down but I’m guessing he jumped fences the other way. Everyone in the house was awake 3 of my 4 brothers were there and went driving around the neighborhood trying to find this kid. The copes came and we had to give a report and they took fingerprints. The boy’s fingerprints were found on every door up stairs and on the entrance/exit window he used. After that my over protective big brother Randall would not let me sleep alone. He slept on my floor for a week. I finally convinced him I was ok and he could sleep in his own room. After that my parents got motion detectors for the house and my neighbor gave me one of those annoying rape alarms. So that is my scary night story.
Yikes guys. I know at some point in my past I have starred into the darkness trying to make out what I thought I heard move but I can't remember any specifics right now. I do remember for the next week or so after seeing a scary movie I would sprint across the basement from the stairs to my bedroom whenever it was dark.
I can also remember being very young and scared down in the basement at night. I would have to make the long trek up to mom and dad's room for safety and that was terrifying.
I'm going to have nightmares tonight, thanks to this topic. Especially from Ashee's story! But it's an interesting one.
Here's my scary noise at night story...
A few summers ago, I went home to visit my family. On this particular day, my sister left a note for her husband telling him she wanted a divorce. She came to stay with my parents. Because we knew her husband had a bad temper, we were all very nervous about how he would take the news.
My sister and I stayed up late that night talking about how her life was going to change. We contemplated the worst that could happen. We joked about how her husband could possibly go insane and come and kill us all. We knew that wouldn't really happen, but we were scared anyway.
As we were sharing our scary thoughts around midnight, all of a sudden I heard someone pounding on my bedroom window. My immediate reaction was to call 911 because my brother-in-law was here to kill us. I grabbed my phone and started dialing. Then I heard a woman's voice say, "Emily?"
SHHHWOOO! I opened the blinds and saw my sister-in-law standing outside on the grass. She was trying to get in, but we had changed the code on the door. I could have killed her for scaring me that bad! It took me a long time to fall asleep that night.
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