An Ethereal Stalker

The following story is first-hand after a fashion.

In college I dated a woman who I'll call Ann. Ann and I had been dating for a few months when she confided in me that she had a rather unusual talent: she could see dead people.

Ann explained that this began when she was about 5 years old when she saw her maternal grandmother (who had died several months prior by drowning) standing over her bed one night, silently smiling.

As Ann grew older these visits from her dead grandmother continued, and when she reached her teens she mentioned these benign visits to her mother. Ann's mom was not surprised, and she informed Ann that she and Ann's maternal aunt also saw this dead grandmother occasionally. The grandmother herself, prior to death, had claimed to be able to see the dead.

Ann mentioned this to me because the evening prior we were visiting my parents and we fell asleep on the couch watching TV. Ann awoke at about 1AM to see an elderly man standing on the stairs, watching us. She woke me and asked if I could see anything but I did not. The following day she explained all of this to me. I was intrigued, as Ann was a pretty level headed woman and didn't strike me as one prone to an overly active imagination. She asked me if anyone ever died in my house. I told her that prior to our family owning the house its original owner, an elderly man who I'll call Mr. Smith, had died in his sleep in what was my old bedroom.

Mrs. Smith had left a few odds and ends about the house when she left, including a small framed photo of Mr. Smith. I showed this to Ann, who confirmed that this was the man on the stairs. Pretty neat, but now the story gets more disturbing.

About two years later we were again visiting my parents. I took Ann to visit a friend of mine who lived nearby. We were driving down a steep road and as we approached the bottom Ann was suddenly stricken with severe abdominal pain and nausea. This feeling intensified and reached its apex when we passed an old, unkept cemetery (where I actually used to go sledding as a kid). I needed to stop the car to allow Ann to vomit. We continued on and her nausea and pain had completely resolved when this cemetery was about a mile behind us. We visited my friend without incident. On the way back home (now well past midnight) the SAME THING happened as we passed the cemetery! I sped up because Ann was freaking out. We reached the far end of this graveyard when Ann let out a tremendous scream. She had apparently looked through her window and saw, in the cemetery about 25 yards away, the figure of a grizzled old man (not Mr. Smith) with an angry face who was pointing his finger at Ann! I stopped the car and looked but saw nothing. We went back to my parent's house where I spent the better part of three hours calming Ann down.

The following day we learned that Ann's paternal grandfather had died unexpectedly in his home.

About six months later Ann and I were driving back from a social function at my University (at least 100 miles from my hometown and this cemetery) on a deserted country road. Suddenly Ann experienced this same belly pain and nausea, and again (per Ann as I have never witnessed anything except Ann's terror) she saw this wicked old man, RUNNING BEHIND THE CAR! He was pointing at her and appeared to be shouting! He followed us for the better part of a mile and then disappeared. I don't know if it's coincidence but about one week later Ann's paternal grandmother fell and broke her hip.

Ann and I eventually ended our relationship but I saw her recently in passing. We exchanged chit chat and I asked about her family. She told me that her grandmother (who had broken her hip) recently died, and a look of utter dread fell upon her face. She confessed, "I saw the guy again". Although my experience with the paranormal was not a direct one, I do believe that this was real.

I hope Ann has nothing but joy for the rest of her life, as to avoid seeing this mocking messenger of ill tidings ever again.

Thanks for enduring this story.