Haunted: Real Experiences With Metaphysical Phenomena

All of these things really happened. I have changed the names out of courtesy to those who didn't mind sharing their stories with me and with you, but who preferred to be kept anonymous.

I can't say I blame them. Some would say this is all nonsense. Some would say their minds played tricks on them. Some would curse them and call them witches for being able to see what they've seen. Still others would seek them out and ask them questions. The last sort are only curious like you and me.

She held tightly to the pair of sunglasses she'd brought with her from the suburbs. Claudia had never seen so many overgrown weeds in her life. She had also never walked so far or been so bored. The real estate man kept talking on and on about the beauty of this bunch of scraggly brambles set in mucky red clay.

The fact that her parents already owned a mobile home should have warned her of what lay ahead. This ugly piece of hilly woods hugging a cow pasture full of dung that still stunk was indeed being considered as a future site for the deluxe transportable house they'd left safely behind in an upscale suburban park. Claudia had nothing to say about it. When asked what she thought of the beautiful countryside, she replied quite honestly that it was ugly, which resulted in a laugh shared with the real estate man.

How could they not see the ugliness? Where she'd come from anyone who let the lawn grow to more than four inches tall was considered a pariah. Any yard not well kept was avoided as belonging to a drunk or an irresponsible slob. And this cowpatch had never been looked after by anyone. Ever.

Yet now here they were, with the man trying to make a sale by breathing out lies right and left. He told them fescue was really Kentucky blue grass, knowing city slickers didn't know the difference. He told them the state had almost no winter with just an occasional dusting of snow, which proved untrue the very next season they spent there. It snowed twelve inches. Twice.

Yes, they bought it.

Claudia tried to be optimistic. She knew she must make the best of every adventure. No one had told her this--it was just her way of looking at the world.

Despite insect bites and lonliness, allergies and screeching night forest sounds, she tried to think life would somehow be all right.

The local radio stations left much to be desired compared to the ones she'd left behind in the big city, but it was a way to hear another human voice and to assure herself she was not alone in this world.

Oh, you're not alone, Claudia.

What she didn't know, what no one had told her, was that before this place was a cattle farm, it had belonged, like most of the United States, to the Native Americans. And although there are a great many good Native Americans in this world, the ones who'd lived on this piece of ground seemed to be unfriendly, or at least their undying spirit guides were.

Startled from a sound sleep, Claudia looked around the room. Something had awakened her. Then she noticed two small red eyes glowing near the floor against the wall by the window. They were set deep into the skull of a medium sized black snake that was coiled in a heap with its neck rising straight up out of the center. The head raised and lowered in a rhythmic cadence. Back, forth, back, forth, up, down, up, down. Swaying. Rocking. Staring. The only time it changed its dance was when Claudia leaned toward the doorway to go get her mom. Each time she tried to get up the head followed her as if it were plainly saying, "If you set foot on this floor, I will strike."

She watched it from her bed. Back, forth, back, forth, up, down, up, down. Her muscles were rigid, and she now knew what the old saying "scared stiff as a board" really meant. She felt it. Every bit of it.

Not knowing what to do, she pulled the covers over her head and closed her eyes till she fell asleep. In the morning light she looked for it by the window. Nothing.

Many nights this happened. Every time she saw the snake she was afraid to move a muscle, because any time she leaned toward the door to attempt to run, the head of the serpent followed her, and she wasn't sure if she could outrun it. As long as she stayed put, it stayed put. It became her habit to watch it for a while to make sure it wasn't going anywhere, and then to hide from it and go back to sleep.

As an adult she later compared notes with her mother and was surprised to learn that her mother had also received frightening visits from the dancing snake in the middle of the night. "Why didn't you tell me about it?" her mother said. Claudia replied that she thought she was imagining things and that she didn't think anyone would believe her, e.g. kids are always seeing things like monsters under the bed.

The fact that two people could have identical occurrences suggests that it was more than just a figment of either person's imagination.

A ball of fluff dangled at the end of its drooping tail. The creature paced the eastern horizon, pausing every few seconds to glare at the house. It resembled a coyote, but was a little larger and had flexible black points running down the ridge of its back.

Her mother described it to her father while looking out the open window, trying to point it out so he could defend them with his rifle. It seemed, however, that she was the only person who could perceive it.

As she spoke she described a ring of light that encircled the creature and would not allow it to pass. The light became a cage to it. It continued to try to get to the house, but the light stopped it in every direction.

Stumbling in the dark she finally reached the bathroom for a night time pit stop. Washing her hands was another matter. She knew she should, but to do so she had to go near the nightlight.

Only at night, it danced in the same pattern and rhythm as the snake had done. It wiggled in its socket, up, down, up, down, left, right, left, right. Claudia knew a nightlight was supposed to be there for her comfort, but this one wasn't friendly at all. She stretched to reach the sink while still remaining as distant as possible.

During the day it looked quite harmless. She touched it in the daylight and it seemed very ordinary. But any time she went in there at night, it was doing the ritual dance. She wondered if she would have thought its movements frightening if she hadn't already seen a snake doing the same thing.

"It's just your eyes," offered her dad. "They're out of focus at night."

She wondered if her eyes being out of focus could have made her see a snake. She thought not. And why would the nightlight move in rhythm? She had seen the focus change on a pair of binoculars, and she knew what it looked like to see something blur in and out and appear to move. This was not like that at all.

Thump!

It sounded just like someone jumped up in the air in the hallway and landed on both feet. This usually happened when everyone was gone and only one of them was home alone. And it usually happened when one of them was busily doing something such as baking a cake or cleaning the fireplace--any time it would be inconvenient to go and check what made the sound. Time and time again the hallway was empty when anyone went to investigate the noise.

Eventually it became bolder, sounding when several people were home. It began happening more often.

One Christmas vacation it happened so much that Claudia's mother prayed very earnestly for the answer to the problem. They were all Christians, but none of the prim and tidy big city churches had said a word about this sort of thing.

That night Claudia's mother dreamed about a faceless doll. She peeked through a doorway, and a fake light shone out. The real light was apart from it, originating from Christ. The fake light came from this faceless doll, and it spoke to her saying, "I will be coming to you Monday or Tuesday."

Monday they opened presents from people outside the family. Tuesday they would open gifts from each other.

When Claudia's mom got to a certain box, she lifted the lid, then threw it violently away from her. What was in it?

A faceless doll with angel wings.

Remembering the dream and the way spiritual mischief had escalated in the house, she quickly took it outside and incinerated it in the trash barrel.

That night--the hallway--was quiet.

The stomach flu had left her ears ringing and her body weak. All she wanted to do was sleep, and so she did. She was home from school. Home alone. Sleep seemed a good way to regain strength. The ringing in her ears did not stop but rather increased as the day wore on. Finally, after taking some medicine and lying across the bed yet again, Claudia began to hear voices.

A wicked voice teased, "Claud eee ahhhh!"

It drew her name out in long taunting syllables.

"You're hearing into the speeee rit world," it said.

She imagined she was hallucinating from the illness, or else that because her body had become so weak her spirit was somehow more liberated, more aware.

"Don't tell her that!" a friendly sounding voice scolded. She didn't know who it was, but she was glad for the existence and proximity of whoever had defended her.

Gradually the voices, all conversing with one another, died away into silence as she once more drifted into slumber.

Was it merely the illness? Who knows? But in that house particularly, Claudia thought the existence of both good and bad spirits to be highly possible.

Claudia was playing with her dog outside, feeding him the last crumbs from a nearly empty dogfood bag.

Suddenly a strong idea took hold of her mind. The idea said, This is the last supper he will ever eat.

No, it's not, she thought.

She kept right on playing with him and tried to shove the thought away.

That night the dog was run over.

It wasn't Claudia's fault. Her mom was expecting company at a certain time, and had let the dog out to do his business. There was no fence, but the dog was well trained to come when he was called. although lately he had been obeying less and wandering more.

The company came quite a bit earlier than they'd been expected, and they ran over the dog before anyone had a chance to stop them.

She felt better when the same people had a litter of puppies and gave her one.

Still, the premonition had been right. Claudia began listening to them when they popped unmistakeably into her head.

A year later she was standing near the back door when her mother was walking the new dog.

What would you do if you heard your mother scream right now? the premonition asked.

I'd scream, too, Claudia thought in answer. Within two seconds Claudia's mother let loose with a blood curdling scream that would have raised everyone in the funeral home if they had heard her. Claudia, true to what she'd just thought, screamed loudly. The combination of both screams was able to be heard by her dad, who was in the shower, and who came running to help with a towel about his middle.

Her mom had fallen down the stairs and had been severely injured. She limped and hobbled for days afterward, refusing medical care and mending eventually with time and rest.

Another correct premonition.

"You can use the name of Jesus to rebuke the devil!"

Charismatic church. The family didn't stay there long, just a year or so. Still, they had an interesting take on spirits and spiritual activity that Claudia had never heard before.

The next time nightmares and spectre apparitions attempted to frighten and terrorize her, she tried it.

"I rebuke you in the name of Jesus!"

At first, there was no effect whatsoever. It was like trying to kill an alligator with a rolled up newspaper. The spirits resisted her and kept right on playing tricks and playing mind games and trying to scare her. Then she ran across a Bible verse that said, "This kind goeth not forth but by prayer and fasting." She read eagerly about how even the disciples of Jesus had found spirits that were difficult to deal with, asking Him, "Why could we not cast it out?" And that had been His answer: prayer and fasting. She began to pray on her own every day. Real prayers, communications from the soul, and not just asking to bless a meal. Once a week to fast she skipped a meal or a snack, or even just part of a meal, like the dessert. She found her mind and spirit growing stronger in these spiritual and physical disciplines. She liked it.

Then came a point, a lovely point, where an evil spirit--fled. That was it. God was stronger. She knew it now. When she yielded herself as an instrument of God against them, they fled. Every time. Every single, blessed time.

And she still saw spirits, but now she was seeing good ones. Angels. Beautiful creatures of light, both in her dreams and in her waking moments.

She still sees them, and she still talks about them to those who will listen. Those who don't scoff at what she says. The curious. The open minded.

People like you and me.