During my childhood my grandmother died in the hallway of my parent’s home. The room that she had been staying in eventually became my bedroom as I needed more space as a teenager.

For many years since moving into that room I was constantly disturbed by the floor creaking and the sound of movement in there at night. If I was lying on my back I would often feel gentle fingers touching my face. These disturbances were so frequent that I gave up telling my parents about them and would simply brush the fingers away and tell whatever it was to keep quiet. Although I always felt fear, I still found the courage to yell at it and tell it to go away.

One night I had only just gone to bed. It was about 11pm, much earlier than the usual sounds of movement. I was wide awake, trying to wind down and relax. Suddenly a ticking sound could be heard in the room. I had nothing in there that would make such a sound. I got out of bed in the dark and discovered that the sound was indeed right inside the room but at the opposite end to the bed. I switched the light on and the sound stopped.

Some weeks later, at approximately the same time of night I was wide awake in bed and the ticking sound started again. It was louder this time and definitely in the room with me. I was both scared and curious at the same time. I didn’t want it to stop so I tried slowly approaching it in the dark. It was down low near the floor in the back corner of the room and as I got closer I realized that the sound it was making was much more complex than just a ticking sound. I could hear all sorts of moving parts like wheels, gears and springs as if it was some kind of crazy wind-up toy. I don’t know how I found the courage to get down on all fours and keep moving closer to the sound. I reached a point at which it seemed to be right in front of me and I stretched out my hand into the corner expecting to feel something but there was nothing to feel. I was terrified because it made no sense, but also very frustrated that I couldn’t work out what it was.

In a bold move I leaned forward and I now seemed to have my head inside the invisible object. Mechanical gears and springs were moving around my ears and the sounds had become so loud that I panicked and jumped to my feet. I thought the sound would stop if I made a sudden move but it was still ticking away. I wanted to catch it off guard and hopefully see something, so I made a quick dash for the light switch. The moment the light came on the sound stopped again and there was nothing in the corner.

I never heard this sound again and moved out of my parent’s house years later. I was so sure that I was awake and not dreaming.