The Presence

From: Harold Taylor (thor@accessone.com)
Story type: Ghost
Location: Belford, New Jersey
Source: Form Submission

When I was in my early teens, I had an unnerving experience at my father's house. At the time he lived in an old two-story home which dated back to the late 1700's.

I always heard my sister complain about how scary the house was, but I had never seen anything to make me feel that way.

One Sunday afternoon, my father, stepmother, and sister all went out for a few hours. I chose to stay behind so I could finish working on a model car in the basement. I could usually be found in the basement, like my father I am usually happy fiddling around in the basement with tools and making things.

I had been down there just about an hour listening to an 8-track of the Doors, when the tape ended I shut it off and decided to work without music for a while. I didn't notice anything right away, I was at a point in my life when I was learning to stand up to the "monsters" that most kids deal with in their lives.

I decided that I would not get paranoid over my sense of being watched. Just as I had settled myself back into my project, I felt an overwhelming feeling that someone was leaning over my shoulder. I could feel the breath blowing past my ear, and I could smell a strong earthy scent like rich soil.

I had spooked myself many times before, but this was not the same thing. Something inside of me snapped and I bolted up and out of the basement, as I ran from the house I heard a voice whispering something I couldn't make out.

When I reached the street, I stopped and turned to look at the house. I had nowhere to go so I figured I'd hang out in the front yard until my dad got home, but whatever it was that chased me from the house stayed there in the doorway.

The front door still wide open, slowly closed until I heard the click of the doorknob. Stunned by what I had experienced, I ran down the street to a small park and cried.

When I saw my father's car come around the corner, I flagged him down and told him what happened. I refused to go inside the house until he looked for whoever it was. He found the front door was locked, both the knob and the deadbolt had been locked. I did not have a key, nor was there anyone in the house.

My sister told me just recently after talking about the subject of ghosts (we are big fans of Sightings) that she had seen shadowy figures move around the house at night, heard footsteps, and watched items in the house move by themselves.

I have been through two other similar experiences at different times in my life, but that one was by far the most frightening. I am now in the process of doing some amateur paranormal investigation, and will soon be starting a web page for the local haunted sites of Tacoma, Washington where I currently live with my wife and two daughters.