A ghost story?
17I have been slowly cleaning out my mother’s house this summer. It’s hard – too many memories keep bubbling up, but I’ve been making progress. Meanwhile, the house sits there, semi empty and alone. The neighbors have been watching it for me; I’m not worried about anyone breaking into it.
But I got a call from Mom’s across the street neighbor one night. She asked me if I knew that Mom’s light was on in her bedroom. Nooo. So, I got in the car and hurried over there (I live a mile away.) Yep, the light was on. Now what? Taking a deep breath, I went inside prepared for anything or nothing? It was nothing. The light was on and nothing had been disturbed. Maybe I had left it on? I don’t think so; I hadn’t been in her bedroom for a few days and the neighbor says she takes a look at the house every night when she gets home and this was the first time she’d seen it on.
So about a month later another neighbor, who lives across the street, called me one morning. She asked me if I left the light on in Mom’s office. Nooo. She said it was on when they left for dinner and a movie, but it was off when they got home. They thought maybe I had gone over there and turned it off.
Okay, about now, I’m starting to get a little freaked out. What is going on here? No one has the keys to Mom house except me. I’ve checked and re-checked and there is no other way to get in and out of Mom’s house. Nope, no way. This is just weird.
So, life goes on. A couple of weeks later, I kept hearing this strange buzzing noise in Mom’s house and couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. I checked everywhere and even went outside to see if I could hear it there. I didn’t. Finally, I went down to her basement. There are a couple of portable fans in one room of the basement and both of the were now on (this was before the sump pump disaster and the fans hadn’t been used in over a year). I quickly unplugged them and hustled upstairs. Now I am majorly freaked, but I haven’t any idea what to do about all of this.
Everything has been “normal” for about the last month until yesterday. When I arrived at her house, I heard music. I went down to my old bedroom, which 5 minutes after I moved out, Mom converted into a laundry and sewing room and there on the bookshelf, Mom’s radio was on. I tried to switch it off, but the only way I could get it to shut down was to unplug it.
I know this sounds made up, but I’d rather have you think this than to think that Barney has lost all of her marbles. (Actually, I know where my marbles are. They are in a jar on the mantle.) Sooo, does anyone have any idea as to,
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?
- 12 comments, 74 replies
- Comment
@Barney
Can’t explain this.
Are you, or is the house, possibly being stalked? Perhaps, by the Ghost of Purple Past or the Ghost of Purple Future?
/giphy purple ghost
@f00l Gee, I don’t know. I’m as normal as you are.
@Barney
If you’re as normal as I am, I foresee trouble.
/giphy trouble
Sounds to me like you have a) electrical problems, b) a ghost, c) both. Me, I’d love to hear from my lost loved ones. The most recent and devastating loss in particular. I’m leaving a candle in the window and setting a plate this Samhain in case he’s near enough to see it.
@moondrake At least you aren’t saying that I have lost my marbles.
@Barney
That would be hard for anybody to do at this point considering you stated you know where they are.
@PlacidPenguin Yeah but, maybe a couple slipped out of the jar when I wasn’t looking.
/giphy lost my marbles
@Barney You need to get a Foscam to keep an eye on the place!
@therealjrn Hmm, wonder where I can find one?
@Barney IDK…we’ll have to keep our eyes peeled…
@Barney
Would now be a bad time to say that I recently found a few marbles on the front passenger seat in my car?
@PlacidPenguin Yes, it would be.
@PlacidPenguin Do you like purple?
@Barney
I hear one of these gadgets “Knows All, Sees All”.
Does MorningSave sell them?
/giphy eye of Sauron
@Barney
Oops. Wrong Sauron. Apologies.
/giphy "eye of Sauron"
@f00l I like the first one better.
@Rakaim
Me also. There first one looks like someone I’d want to know.
That second Sauron kinda looks way into power and torment. Perhaps “Knows All, Sees All” is not so desirable.
/giphy panopticon
My first thought: temporary power fluctuations. When power flickers off for a fraction of a second, then on, it often comes back with a small power surge. Most are relatively harmless, but can trigger anything with a simple on/off switch to go on or off. These often go unnoticed in a house that is occupied, as everyone just thinks something got left on by accident.
Since that happens often at my house, I have anything valuable on surge suppressors. I still have a couple of small lamps that automagically go on after the electricity flickers. I used to have a cheap radio in the kitchen that would turn itself on, but after it happened a couple of times in the middle of the night, I unplugged it.
Probably best to unplug anything that doesn’t really need to be plugged in all of the time. Any hardwired lights, though, are a different problem. There are whole-house surge suppressors, but they tend to be expensive. The electric company may have some advice, but will probably just tell you the house needs rewiring.
So it’s that, or you made the house pixies mad.
@rockblossom
Speculating about The Ghost Of Lost Marbles is more fun.
Are you sure you wanna be all rational?
@f00l It’s Wednesday, which is my usual day to be rational. Tuesdays are usually given over to wild speculation, Fridays to work-avoidance, and Thursdays to sheer decadence. Other days are usually open. If this had been posted yesterday …
@rockblossom Thursdays sound like fun!
@rockblossom I think you are probably right in your assessment. We have had a lot of thunderstorms and sometimes when I go over to Mom’s I have to reset her clocks.
Please consider alerting the police. Humans are more likely than power surges. Also, use the tried-and-true baby powder trick. Before you leave, sprinkle a few shakes of it inside the doors and windows, all of them. Take the can with you. Ghosts don’t leave footprints, but kids who break into empty houses just for fun do. You can also use flea powder or borax.
@OldCatLady Why would fleas be breaking in?
@therealjrn How else can they flee the scene?
@OlsdCatLady I don’t think it’s kids. Nothing is damaged or missing and they like classical music.
@Barney
/giphy gangsta classical first violin
*to be clear my star is for the corn starch trick to see if someone is messing with you, I don’t advocate calling the police to report a “ghost radio”.
@thismyusername I was starring for the fleas. I hear they are in circuses and everything!
You know what else is in circuses don’t you???
@therealjrn
Bread? Bread in circuses?
/giphy bread circuses
@f00l
That giphy is irrelevant but it’s so fine I can’t change it out.
If you do have a feeling that it might be a ghost you could try to do a cleansing by burning a sage stick (super cheap).
Get the sage stick smoking and at the top or bottom corner of the house carry it thru every part telling the spirit that it is unwelcome and must leave! Be sure to hit the closets and blow/swirl smoke in as many nooks and crannies and you can reach. It has worked for me in the past
@fjp999 I’ve been thinking about this, but see my following thought.
While we are exploring different possibilities, perhaps we should consider this. Could it be my mother? Right now, physically, she exists at the nursing home. But mentally, although she has a few lucid moments, it is impossible to tell where she is.
Mom and Dad bought this house when they were first married. Although nothing fancy, it is the house that they wanted to live in and raise their family. It represents good times and bad times. It is us. Mom told me that she never wanted to move away
Can she now be on such a, I’ll call it a spiritual level, that she recognizes the fact that I am getting ready to sell her home? Could she be telling me that she doesn’t want me to or perhaps she is giving me permission to go ahead and do it?
Yeah, I know, maybe I really have lost my marbles.
@Barney
Ya know, it’s ok to think like that.
And to have your marbles in a jar on the mantle.
/giphy purple mantle
@Barney Have you done any house history research? Genealogists learn to look at previous owners of any property, not only for legal reasons. It’s fairly quick, and if you go to the courthouse, the clerks will be able to pull up the names and dates. I still think kids are most likely. Not all of them are destructive and crazy, some are just thrilled to do something without getting caught. Leave an opened bag of candy bars on the kitchen counter next time you leave, and count them when you come back.
@Barney My mom told me that when my dad died in the hospital, she was at the dentist. This was in NY. My grandmother (who lived in Poland) told her that soon after my dad died, things were getting a bit spiritual around the farm - doors opening by themselves. Grandma said it was my dad looking for my mother.
/image spooky
@OldCatLady Our house was brand new when we moved in. In fact, we were the only house on the block for a while – just a lonely little house surrounded by a wheat field.
Honestly, there is no way anyone can get into the house. There are three doors, two have those security bar thingies propped against them. The front door has two special deadbolts on them. And the windows have latches that only allow them to go up three or four inches, max.
However, send me a bag of candy bars (Kit Kats would be good) and I’ll let you know if they disappear.
@looseneck @f00l Even thinking about stuff like this just seems so strange to me. And @f00l, doesn’t every sane person keep their marbles on the mantle? Or is it the jar that bothers you?
@Barney
@rockblossom Perfect!
@Barney Unfortunately the bags I have are missing all the Kit Kats. Also the Reeses.
@Barney
I’m just envious. When I was young, had a glorious marble jar. Somewhere along the way it vanished. I’m glad you still have your jar.
/image “purple marble”
@Barney Ya can always leave a light or two on as well as the radio to keep whom-ever company!
You could go crazy opposite and shut down the electricity at the breaker boxes. I am guessing you are not using the fridge or have an alarm system set up… and this would mean when you visit during the nite having a strong flashlight to go down to the breaker boxes.
Now if the breaker boxes are down and the lights are on it would be time to call one of those tv shows!
@fjp999 I do have some lights on timers and Mom’s stereo in the living room is on a timer, too.
@rockblossom Yesterday had posted that same lost and found box of marbles along with a purple picture (I just put again) below. I guess i forgot to hit “say it”. oops.
Here’s my marbles:
@Barney Yay! You’re putting your new adding-pictures-to-the-interwebs skills nicely!
@looseneck
Thanks. This picture turned out blurry. I guess I’ll have to tell my neighbor that she needs to get a better quality cell phone for me to borrow. I know this can’t be my fault.
@Barney We have a goat for that Barney.
@Barney Just so you know for later, down the road. Sometimes marbles are valuable. You might (not kidding, serious) want to have them looked at and appraised by a professional. There’s a couple in that photograph that seem similar to ones I’ve seen behind glass in the local marble pusher’s case.
I also concur with the electrical surges, rather than a ghost or spirit, but it’s hard not to want our loved ones around, even after they’re gone. Many hugs, little one.
@Barney I know where you live. I don’t think technology has found you yet out there on the plains
No one is asking the important question… what make and model of radio was it?
@thismyusername I’m watching episodes of the new CW show “Frequency” on my TiVo right neow. lol
@thismyusername OK, I’m two episodes into “Frequency” and I don’t know if I’m going to hang with it…I’m usually up for quirky shows but this one is just too sloppy. The “acting” is decidedly wooden and the supposed “friendships” seem unlikely or forced. It’s all over the place and they have long interludes of soft rock while some sort of shit is going on that apparently I’m supposed to care about. It’s kind of like some of the medical dramas with all these cuts to soulful music with frowny faces and dialogue all mixed in leading up to some sort of climatic moment that I just don’t give a shit about…
Come to think of it, I had forgotten but I didn’t like the stupid movie either.
@therealjrn well it is good to get a review, I can honestly say I didn’t know it was serialized. The movie was ok if I remember correctly… but… most of the time a movie falls apart when converted to a tv show… as you have seen first hand.
I really want do want to know what model and make the radio is, so we can explain to @Barney what happened… to help us further determine if this is all due to the lost marble or not.
my guess with out the model of radio is:
Radio is left on and is on a outlet controlled by a switch somewhere, perhaps a switch that people stand around and ponder what it controls from time to time… or even one that turns on a light… say over the stairs to a basement etc etc.
@thismyusername maybe she will let us know. I hope so. I’ve heard some EVP recordings that are pretty freaky. The radio coming on by itself is a classic ghosty move.
@therealjrn whenever i hear ghosts and tales of lights and radios etc my first fear is wiring issues. I can assure you they are much more dangerous than ghosts.
@thismyusername I’ve got a mystery light switch too. If I ever have an electrician out I’ll try to remember to ask him about it. For all I know I could be the sole cause of climate change flipping it off and on.
@thismyusername @therealjrn It’s a little Panasonic radio that she bought about 25 years ago (I don’t know the model.) It’s located in my old bedroom on a shelf. There is no mystery wall switch, just a switch that operates the ceiling light. There are four outlets, one on each wall. That’s it, pretty basic, nothing fancy.
The lights that came on in Mom’s bedroom and her office are ceiling lights. The fans in the basement were plugged into a bedroom outlet – no mystery switch. The basement was built 15 years after our house. It’s on a separate breaker box.
@Barney Ah. Possible wiring issues, and it’s getting colder: rodents may be coming inside. Set out a bunch of mousetraps. I buy the one-use kind, where you throw trap, mouse and all into the trash. Other people say they can be emptied and used again, but not this gal.
@OldCatLady Yeah, I could understand the wiring possibility if these happenings had only been on the one breaker box. But on both?
As for mice, I have no Kit Kats to offer for bait.
@OldCatLady @Barney
I can attest that these traps are great if you don’t mind emptying them.
http://store.tomcatbrand.com/rats/tomcat-rat-snap-trap.html?cmp=kid/tomcat/Google_SEM/Nonbrand/G_Tomcat_Shopping_DO_DTC/_Tomcat_Shopping_DO_DTC&s_kwcid=AL!4676!3!144810445658!!!g!!
Slightly expensive if you throw them away after one use. I had a horse at a barn where all the neighboring property was being developed into housing… The amount of rats that showed up was ridiculous. This trap killed the ones living in behind the wall in my tack room very quickly except for one that was probably twice the size of all the other normal rats. It still broke it’s spine and I had to finish it off. They have smaller ones available for mice. The bigger rat size was pretty hard to open by hand to set it, so I actually stepped on it sometimes to lock it. I could easily open the jaw enough to empty it.
I don’t mind people that have pet rats… There’s just something about wild ones that make nests in walls and pee everywhere… Gross.
@Barney it doesn’t have a model on it? how weird… basically what I am trying to see is does it have a physical switch or a “soft” switch… if its physical someone is messing with you… get a izon aimed at it to catch them in the act.
also electrical failures are not on a timer… rodents don’t care what year the wires were pulled.
@thismyusername No one is messing with me. No one has access to the house. No way, no how.
@Barney My Mom has given keys out to neighbors over the years for reasons like out of town or whatever…could your Mom have done the same sometime?
@Barney then call an electrician post haste
@therealjrn No, I don’t think so. Since I only live a mile away, I would be the one she would give the extra keys to.
Ain’t nobody got time fo dat.
@miko1 Ghosts got time fo dat
@miko1
/giphy "ghost time"
Sounds like the perfect way to make some money this Halloween! An actual haunted house! @RiotDemon can help by dressing up and scaring people.
@ELUNO I’ll make sure to wear my wings with the 13’ wingspan.
@RiotDemon
How do you get thru doors with those wings?
@f00l they fold downward and then I can walk through sideways.
@RiotDemon Cosplay? I was in JoAnn’s for the first time in years, and they have an entire section for cosplay fabrics, patterns, accessories, magazines, books etc. When I think of all the times I cobbled together patterns and fabrics and misc to create whatever character my daughter wanted to be for Halloween or a con, I have to laugh.
/giphy costume
@OldCatLady
Here’s the outfit I want, but I don’t have the right face to wear it properly.
@OldCatLady never done cosplay. I dress up like the grim reaper for Halloween. Last year I made the wings, but I broke the cable before anyone I knew got a photo of them. Apparently there’s tons of photos that strangers took of me on instagram and snapchat. I never tried to search for them though.
I think empty houses just get lonely and start acting out.
@katylava But… But… I visit it all of the time. And it has my phone number – it can call me anytime.
@Barney I suspect you would lose the rest of your marbles if the house started calling you.
@heartny Interesting enough, we once had a very bad lightning storm about 3 am and a bolt hit very close to Mom’s house’s telephone line. Somehow, it caused her phone to redial the last number she had called, which was me. So in the middle of this really nasty storm, I get a call from her and she’s not answering me on the other end.
Terrified, I drove through streets with water over the curbs and which had cars that had died from water getting into their engines. But I made it to her house. I opened the door, turned on the living room light and yelled out to her. No answer. I walked down the hall and turned on the light. Both Mom and her dog were in bed sound asleep and couldn’t figure out why I was standing there in their bedroom, in the middle of the night, dripping wet.
I think I used up seven of my nine lives that night.
@Barney So there is a potential for the house to call you again on a dark and stormy night? If that happens, I’m sure you will use up the remaining 2 lives and balance of marbles. And perhaps some underwear
@heartny If it happens again, after checking the caller ID, I’ll probably roll over and go back to sleep
Who ya gonna call?
@daveinwarsh I ain’t afraid of no ghost.