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many years ago, a group of friends and I rented this house for the winter. Basically we were caretaking the home for the family that used it as a summer home.
the house was old, it was located in a very small town called Heath in western massachusetts, the house was also painted black.
It had 17 rooms in the main house, and 2 rooms over the garage. At one time a balcony walkway connected the main house to the 2 rooms over the garage.
on the far side of the land was a small pond, it was very overgrown and pretty much choked with lily pads. Stories around town told of two children, one the son of a servant who use to work there, and the daughter of the owners, had been boating on the pond, the boat overturned and both children drown.
the house had been in the same family for many many many years. At one time it was used year round by the family, later on it became just a summer home.
One woman who lived in the house loved the garden, you could tell from the remnants that it must have been spectacular at one time. Again the stories about town, said she loved flowers, but was very allergic to them and wouldn't allow them in the house.
Another person who lived in the house at one time was a bit of recluse, and was very particular who was allowed in the home and into which rooms they could go.
Now you have the readers digest synopsis of the house.
When we moved into the house, there was just 3 of us, later over the course of the winter we became a revolving door of sorts for various friends needing a place to stay. the household population varied from 3-5 people.
We moved into the house at the beginning of October. Because the house was furnished, we decided to store most of our stuff in the rooms above the garage. There was a set up stairs from the garage to those rooms, with a door at the bottom of the stairs. After bringing up a few boxes, we started moving the boxes more quickly without really knowing why. And one of us would always be at the bottom of the stairs making sure the door stayed open. It was a month or so later when we talked about how weird those rooms felt, and how none of us felt comfortable going up there alone and without making sure the door stayed open.
Those rooms weren't the only ones in the house that you just didn't want to be in - especially alone. There was a little blue bedroom - I originally took that room as my bedroom, but after a couple of nights of hearing tapping on the window, from the outside, and it's on the second floor - I moved to another part of the house. Might have been branches? Well, that might be a plausible cause except there were no trees on that side of the house close enough to tap on the window. Critters? Ok, but tell me what critter taps to the tune of "jingle bells" on the outside of the window.
The back bedroom was pretty much off limits and the bathroom in that area of the house. You just didn't want to be there. Same goes for the front stairs leading from the foyer to the second floor.
Fortunately, these rooms in the house were on a side of the house we had planned to close off for the winter to save on heating. In any event, if for whatever reason you had to go to that side of the house - you didn't go there when you were alone in the house.
Different things would happen to different people. One friend like sitting in the 'winter livingroom' to watch the sunset, when he would go into that room around sunset, a wicker chair would "move back" - like someone was getting up from the chair or pushing it back a few inches to make room for my friend to pass by.
Another friend reported feeling someone sitting on the edge of the bed at night, yet no one was there. Or she would feel like a cat had jumped up on the bed. We did have cats, but they were kept in the kitchen at night, and a nose count would account for them before going to bed.
Another person who moved in for a few weeks had stereo record player, he usually kept a stack of LPs on the spindle all ready for listening. It wasn't unusual for the LPs to start playing when no one had turned it on. It spooked him pretty good when it started playing when he was home alone one afternoon.
Another friend woke up one night, out of a sound sleep, to see a little girl in a striped dress standing at the foot of his bed. He freaked out, but really freaked when a few days later, we were moving some things into the attic and came across a painting of a little girl in a striped dress.
What use to happen to me alot was the mudroom door opening up on it's own. I had worked late, but had the next day off - so I decided I would treat myself to a nice steak, some wine, and a good book. Got home, cooked up the steak, yum. Poured myself a glass of wine, and because it was winter, the kitchen with the wood stove, was the warm place to be. I got comfortable, and settle in to read my book.
About 15 minutes into reading, the mudroom door opened. Ok, old house, these things happen. I got up, shut the door. Went back to reading, the door opened again a few minutes later. I shut it again, back to reading.
It opened again, this time I'm thinking maybe the outside doors weren't shut all the way, so I checked those. They were shut and locked tight. So, shut the mudroom door, and back to reading.
Mudroom door opens again, this time I'm thinking maybe wind? I check outside, it's a calm night, no wind at all. Shut the mudroom door yet again, sit down and the mudroom door opens.
now, keep in mind, each time I shut the mudroom door, I check and double check the latch.
Now, I'm guessing loose floor boards popping the door open? I shut the door and start walking "heavily" around the kitchen trying to trigger the loose floor board -nothing.
I sit down, the door opens. By now I'm a bit pissed, I get up and head for the door. In a loud voice, half joking - I say" If you're going to use the damn door, shut it behind you."
the door shut on it's own.
that was it for me. I finished off my glass of wine, did a nose count on the cats and went to bed. That I didn't sleep too soundly goes without saying.
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