5 replies to this topic

[Leon]

Hi, I'm new to this board. I own a 1920 house and have lived in it for about 3 years now. At first nothing overly strange happened, some bumps in the night like you might expect from an old house or blame it on the cats as long as they are not both right there

The light in the bedroom blinks a few times after it's been turned off. Maybe a couple of minutes later but I've chalked that up to old wiring. The light upstairs has turned on a couple of times for no reason but I've blamed that on the cat because it's a loft, low ceiling and it's a pull chain light so I figured he jumped on the cord.

The first really strange thing didn't happen until about a month ago. I have an enclosed front porch and an enclosed back porch. I always use the back door. So that day, I came home from work, walked in my back door and found my front door open. Not just unlocked but actually open into the porch. The door from the street into the porch was still bolted from the inside like always. The door from the porch to the house also has a wooden outer door that has a latch and I normally close that and also hook it from the inside and then lock the inner door but they were both open about 4". There were no signs of anybody having been inside the house, nothing missing, fresh snow on the ground and no footprints. I guess there's a remote possibility that I forgot to latch and hook the outer door but I know for sure I would not have left the inner door open because the porch is not heated and it was a cold day. So I wrote it off as something I couldn't really explain and went on with my life.

Then for the last couple of days, I have been noticing that the door from my back porch to the yard has been hooked from the inside without me remembering that I had hooked it. I used to hook it if I was home but with people coming to visit and having problems getting me to hear them knocking on the door, I stopped doing it. So I figured I had probably hooked it out of old habit and that was it. This morning I went to the store. I come home and cant' open the door. I put my shoulder into it cracking 2 of the old glass window panes in the door so I pulled the glass out of one of them and put my hand in and guess what, the door is hooked from the inside while the back door into the house is locked. So I guess it's possible that when I closed the door, the hook somehow swung around and hit the eye and hooked itself but what are the odds?

So.. I don't think this is very amusing, neither having my front door end up open or getting locked out of my own house so what do I do about it?

[AnnieV]

Hi Leon... ...welcome to GV!

I think your story is rather incredible! I have to admit that when I first started reading I thought it was going to be rather easy to explain away the happenings that you claim. I own a house built in the 1920's as well, and in two separate rooms I've had problems with the lights...nothing to do with the paranormal, just the switch in one room and the wiring in the other...so I right off the bat I thought that would be the answer. But then your story gets more interesting when it come to the hook-and-latch locks. That would really be something to experience!

The best advice I can give in this case is for you to remove those latches and install deadbolt locks that you can open with a key...and don't leave your key in the house, even if you're just taking the garbage out! lol. I give this advice assuming that you're comfortable with sharing your home with some sort of spirit...however, if you're not comfortable with that, I would suggest contacting a local paranormal investigation group for more advice...and the rest depends on your belief system I guess.

Hope this was helpful!
~Annie

[Leon]

Well, I don't think I really mind the spirit being around.. except if it's trying to lock me out and take over my house

Yeah, I think the hook is coming off the old outer door for sure. At least before I get the window fixed.

It's a strange old house, somebody put a safety chain at the bottom of the basement door, for whatever reason I do not know. To lock someone down in the basement I would guess

[GhostCat]

Don't even get me started on old houses, lol... I grew up in an old house, built around 1850, and yes haunted.
What wasn't already there, my teenage friends and I invited more in by using a ouija board...not realizing, we were just teenagers. Old houses have more of a paranormal sense to them. Sounds like some unexplained things could be happening in your home. Keep a close eye on things, if it is paranormal, more things will start taking place.

[brass city paranormal]

While your story is interesting, my suggestion would also be to remove all the latches and see if any new occurances being. Depening upon the type of latch it could have slipped/fallen into place.

As for the basement safety-chain is there another exit/entry to your basement from outside? A hatchway or a door? That could possibly explain why they would further safeguard.

Edited by brass city paranormal, 10 March 2008 - 10:18 AM.

[Tantric Kitten]

Leon, on Feb 17 2008, 07:57 PM, said:

It's a strange old house, somebody put a safety chain at the bottom of the basement door, for whatever reason I do not know. To lock someone down in the basement I would guess

Is there a cellar door on the outside of the house? Or could there have been one that was buried in/blocked over? It's fairly common for there to be a chain on the basement door inside the house when there's an outside cellar door... my grandparents' house has one as well as my MIL's house (I should be more clear... both have outside cellar doors and both have safety chains). It's because those cellar doors aren't especially secure because they open up instead of sideways.