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Haunted Chicago

Effie Tsaltas, Illinois, USA
April 1999

(un) Holy Smokes!

This is an account of what happened to my friend Nora and her husband Max about one year ago in their house.

Nora lives in the house she grew up in with her husband Max, her mother and younger sister Gina. Nora's father passed away 4 years ago. There have been quite a few strange occurrences in Nora's house since her father passed away, but this one scared me the most when she told me about it.

One night, Nora was at home alone with her husband. Her mother and sister had tickets for a play downtown, and would be home quite late. Since it was about 10:00 at night, and the middle of winter, Nora and Max decided to go to their room and watch some television in bed. After being in bed for some time, there was a knock on their bedroom door. "Come in", Nora called out, thinking it was odd that her mother and sister were home so early. No one came in. Nora started thinking she imagined the knocking, but Max had heard it too. Just as she was about to dismiss the whole incident, there was another knock at the door. Nora looked over at Max, hesitated for a minute, and then repeated, "Come in" louder this time. Still no one entered. Since their bed faced the door, they both had a clear view without any furniture or other obstructions. After what seemed like hours, a cigarette rolled under the door and into the room. No one in the house smoked, except Nora's father who had passed away years ago. The house had been rid of all cigarettes by now. It was bad enough that this cigarette appeared in the first place, but it was the same brand that Nora's father smoked. Max and Nora sat frozen in bed. Eventually the two got up enough nerve to open the door and examine the hallway and the rest of the house. As they suspected, Nora's mother and sister had not been home, and indeed did not make it home until about 1:00 a.m. (Nora and Max waited up for them).

Since then other things have happened in Nora's house (stereo coming on by itself, doors opening & locking from the inside). But they all occur quite sporadically. It seems as though whatever entity is in the house doesn't want to harass them, but at the same time, doesn't want them to forget about it either.

Effie Tsaltas, Illinois, USA
00:00 / 01:04
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