October 15, 2007

Our Haunted Apartment

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Kathy, Edison, New Jersey, 1994 - 2000

I moved from Brooklyn, New York to Edison, New Jersey in September of 94 into an apartment complex and from the very first moment I moved in, I knew the place was haunted.

I had a two-bedroom, midsize apartment and my very first experience happened one morning a couple of days after I moved in. I had my daughter who was in her twenties, my son who was 13, and my younger daughter who was 3. Anyhow, my older daughter and son had gotten up early -- she had to go to work and he was going to school. I had a pot of rice that I was soaking overnight on the stove so I could clean it in the morning. My daughter lit a cigarette on the stove but forgot to turn the burner off and they left. I don't know how long it took for the water to evaporate from the pot, but in my sleep I heard a woman's voice yell out to me "Wake up now. Wake up!" As I jumped up I found the apartment was full of smoke and the contents of the pot was burning. I feel that if it wasn't for that voice, I would not be here today with my daughter.

There were many other things that happened, too. I would shut the closet door and go in my room only to pass by the living room closet door and find that the door would be wide open. This would go on throughout the day and it got to the point where I began doubting myself. One night after my younger daughter and my husband went to sleep, I stayed up in my living room listening to my music and singing to it softly. I saw a woman walk from the window, right across the living room, in an old nightgown not of this era. She did not even glance at me even though I clutched my hand to my chest it scared me so much that I though I was going to faint. As quickly as she appeared she disappeared but I had enough time to look at her, and to this day I remember what she looked like.

Another time I had gone out for a walk when I came back I walked in to my living room and I had this tick-tack-toe game made out of plexi glass with water in it on the side of my stereo on my wall unit and it got thrown right across the living room floor just like that. As quickly as I walked in, I bolted right out the back door. I would be doing things around the apartment and I would get this eerie feeling of someone watching me. Sometimes I would feel the person walk past and bump my shoulder. There was one time and my husband witnessed this where my bathroom was. There was a small foyer that had one closet, a linen closet, and the bathroom. The bathroom faced directly into my bedroom. My husband was on the bed watching TV and I was standing folding my towels in the linen closet when suddenly the door started closing behind me and hit me in the back. Well, I though it was my son going into the bathroom and I said "God, he can't even say excuse me..." And to my amazement when I looked there was absolutely no one behind me or in the bathroom. I looked at my husband who was staring in disbelief and I asked him if he saw that and he answered yes. Another time we had gone to bed fairly early (me and my husband had a habit of sleeping with our backs to each other). Anyhow, I awoke to this feeling of being watched. I could sense like a woman standing on my husband's side of the bed, and it was a very scary feeling. I could not explain why I felt so scared that I did not want to turn around so I lay awake for a few minutes. Finally I got the courage to begin ever-so-slowly to turn around, but before I could completely turn around I heard someone or something pull the door open and run into the living room. I screamed and my husband quickly woke up and we both jumped out of the bed and ran within seconds into the living room but there was nothing. The doors and all the windows were closed. We went outside to look but found nothing. It terrified me because my youngest child used to sleep in the living room.

There were many incidents that I have tried to come up with logical reasons to explain but can't. I would have things disappear and then reappear such as my wedding band. I got up one morning to do the dishes so I took off my wedding band and put it on top of my dresser as I usually did because my wedding band would come off with the detergent when I did dishes. I did not want to lose it. A while later when I got done in the kitchen I go in my bedroom to get my ring and it was gone. To say the least, I had everyone looking for my ring. We turned the house upside down and I even had my neighbor looking. I also went as far as accusing my husband of taking it. I was going nuts as this ring meant a lot to me. After a few hours of looking we all gave up. Later on, I went in my bedroom, I locked the door, and sat down on my bed. I stared at the spot where I always put my wedding band and I began sobbing because I knew I had put it there and I wasn't crazy. I could not comprehend why it wasn't there. After a couple of minutes of having my face in my hands crying I looked up and there it was -- my wedding band exactly where I had put it.

That was something I could not explain -- after having it disappear for a few hours it was suddenly there exactly where I had put it. I know that there were other people there who had some kind of experience with the supernatural, but I never dared tell anyone about my ghostly encounters for fear of being ridiculed, so I pretty much kept a lot of this to myself. I have tried to find out about what was there before the complex was built but haven't been able to. All I know is that the complex is about 86 years old. Perhaps there is a portal there where spirits come through. I know that during the years I lived there a lot happened, but after a while I kind of got used to unnatural things -- it sort of became a way of life for me. I couldn't afford to move out and I also liked the place. Although I eventually did move out I often wonder if the current tenant has experienced the same things I did. There was so much that happened there that I often think of writing a book about the place. If anyone who reads this has an answer as to why all these occurrences happen, please let me know. This is not the only place I have encounter supernatural things, but it was the one place where I encountered the most ever in my life.