Haunted house

Where I grew up there was an old house, a very large two story mansion that had largely fallen into decay and was gated off. Rumour had it it was haunted. Many people were scared to go near the place and I saw children run past it if they had to walk that way home. It was not too far from my high school so I saw people's behaviour change when they approached. I never really went close but it wasn't out of fear, I already lived in a haunted house.

The house I grew up in was very old considering the location. It was built in 1926 and at the time would have been the only house for miles around. A very large house that dominated the land it rested on even though the block is large and the house set far back from the road. The main cemetery for the little town was a few hundred metres from the back door and had been there even longer than the house. Was it actually haunted? Yes.

When I was around five or six, I awoke in the middle of the night and needed go to the bathroom, which I hated. I always turned the lights on as the toilet closest to me was in the scary end of the house, the original part. It had been added to over the years but this section had a vibe. One night, I got up and walked through the darkness to the light switch. There was a long hallway with high ceilings and an L-section that led to the original back door. The door was rarely used and always locked with an old, metal security chain.

I reached for the light switch and as I did, the hair on the back of my neck stood up and I heard the rattle of the chain links. I flicked the light on and looked and there was a skeleton's hand reaching through the door and fumbling with the lock. I froze, but I could not look away for what felt like many seconds. Finally I moved a half step forward and as if it heard me, it paused its action and then disappeared.

I decided I no longer needed to go to the bathroom after all and I literally ran back to my room. I left the light on.

A few years later, I was recounting the story to my mother and she looked closely at me and then told me another. She awoke one night to shouting from my oldest brother who was a bit over two years of age. She went out of the room to see him staring and screaming at the same backdoor 'You can't come in! You can't come in!' When she rushed to his side and looked to where he was screaming, there was nothing there. She then went on to tell me some other strange things that took place in that area of the house.

Everyone in my family felt some kind of fear in that area of the house, something that wasn't right. Even now as I tell this story, my skin shivers and I can feel the creep of the hairs raise across my back and neck. My rational self does not believe in ghosts but, that experience in the darkness as a child, tells me otherwise.

Have you ever seen a ghost?

Taraz
[ an original ]

The photos are from an old house nearby that I took the other night in the fog. They are slowly renovating it for use as they rebuild they develop the whole area. Many people do not go this way late at night, for me though, it is nothing compared to where I grew up.