It Wanted My Baby

Hi everyone, ghosts are one thing when they scare you. It's a whole new ballgame when they want your baby... This actually happened to my son and me in 1981. I suggest you turn some lights on.

My oldest son was 18 months old and my wife (ex-wife now) was pregnant. We were living in a small guesthouse that sat about 100 yards down a dirt road from the main house. This was out in the boonies in Minnesota and the area is heavily wooded with tall pine trees. Whenever I worked out back behind the house, I often felt something watching me from the woods there. Sometimes, I would really get the willies, as a heavy feeling of dread would blanket me there. I would never let my son play out back.

When my wife went into labor, my oldest son went to stay with his grandmother and we went to the hospital. She had a long, difficult delivery but after 22 hours, she gave birth to my second child, a beautiful baby boy. By the time I got home in the afternoon, I hadn't slept in nearly two days. I went straight to bed and slept hard.

I woke up from the laughter. I could hear some men outside my bedroom door! It sounded like one of them would speak a few lines and then three or four others would laugh at what was said, like someone was telling jokes. Having grown up in Chicago, I keep a baseball bat near my bed, just for such occasions. I crept out of bed, grabbed my bat, and charged out the bedroom door all set to do some serious ass kicking. Nobody was there! Just a weird feeling that hung in the air making my hair stand on end and gooseflesh to crawl up and down me, that and the dead silence.

I checked the house, inside and out, but found nothing. Convinced I had just had a bad dream, I went back to bed. I was lying there, drifting off, when I heard the water running in the bathroom. I jumped up and dashed out with my bat again. Again, nobody was there but both faucets were all the way open, blasting water into the bathtub! As I turned the water off, again this creepy feeling washed over me. For a moment I thought I could faintly smell baby shampoo.

I was spooked now. I turned on every light in the house and looked around again. Again, nothing. I turned on the television just as they were playing the national anthem (this was back when T.V. only got three stations and they quit broadcasting around midnight). I was hoping for some company, even if it was just a T.V. I tried the radio, but all I could get was static. I dragged a blanket and pillow out to the couch and sat there holding my bat, listening and looking, until I finally dozed off.

When I woke up, it was morning. The sun was up and I was just wondering if the night's events had been a dream. Then I noticed my secretary desk. It was a simple desk, there in the living room where I had slept, with simple wooden drawers. Every drawer was turned backwards and closed so the handles were facing in! Instantly, I was filled with dread and goosebumps again.

I got out of there as fast as I could. I didn't tell anyone what happened. I stayed with my oldest son at my mother-in-law's house until it was time to bring the baby home. We all went back to our house and everything seemed fine. We settled in, but that scary night kept nagging at the back of my mind. I kept wondering if everything really was o.k. I wanted to tell my wife about what had happened but I didn't want her imagining things or fretting, so I didn't say anything about it.

We went to bed. I had a hard time falling asleep. I kept waiting for something to happen. All was quiet and I finally fell asleep. When I woke up, she was shaking me. She said, "Do you hear water running?" I jumped up and sure enough, again both faucets were blasting water into the bathtub! Again, my hair stood on end and my flesh gathered into goosebumps as heavy dread and the smell of baby shampoo washed over me.

Instinctively, I feared for my newborn son. I suddenly understood this was all about him! Something wanted him! I ran and scooped him up into my arms and yelled to my wife to get dressed, we were leaving, NOW! I told her I'd explain on the way. We bundled up the kids and got out of there as fast as we could. As we drove to her mother's house, I told her what had happened that other night. We stayed with her mom until I found another house for us & moved us in. I only went back to that haunted house during the day to pack and clean. When I first went back, the plug was in the tub and the water was off. Like someone had run a bath and just left it. I turned off the main water valve and kept it off unless I needed water, then I would get my water and turn it off again. When I was there, I always kept all the lights and a radio on.

When I told the landlord we were moving, he wanted to know why. I hadn't planned on telling him about the ghostly stuff but it just came blurting out. He listened without a word, just silently nodding his head. Then he told me that a few years back he was renting that house to a woman. She liked to party and always had men over, sometimes several men; sometimes they would stay the night. She got pregnant and soon there were no parties or men at her house anymore. She gave birth to a healthy son. It wasn't very long before her newborn son drowned in the bathtub. They never proved it, but the police didn't believe it was an accident. He said he didn't think it was an accident either. He thought she wanted her old party life back and her son was in the way, so she killed him. Even though my lease wasn't up yet, he gave me my deposits back.

The drive from our new house to my mother-in-law's house took us past that wretched place. Each time we would pass it, I would look at it and get this creepy feeling, like it was looking back.

I didn't tell my son about this until he was in his late teens. Even then he got creeped out about it and kept asking me to tell him I was making it up. When his mother confirmed it was true, he just sat there, very bothered by it. It still bothers me too.

Thanks for letting me share my horrid experience ~ Ric ~ U.S.A.