Rockwood Academy

At the time I was a student at the University of Guelph I lived in a little cottage in Rockwood Ontario, Canada a 15 minute drive from the University. I was 25 at the time and had always lived in old houses. This place was no exception. I discovered, after moving out, that the house was built for the first Groundskeeper of the Rockwood Academy in 1834. It is located just south of the tiny Rockwood business district on the North West corner of Frederick Street and Highway 7. It was a beautiful space with pine floors throughout. A small living room and a bedroom constituted the front portion with a bathroom and kitchen at the rear. My bedroom was located in a loft like area that could be reached through an enclosed stair well. I moved in in December and everything was great. I had a room mate who used the bedroom on the main floor.

After a few weeks I started to wake up in my bedroom at 3:45am. At first it was a couple of times a week but it got to the point of being a nightly affair. When I would awake I would feel an uneasiness. I felt like there was someone there in the room with me. It got to the point where my dog refused to come up the stairs and I had to drag him up there as I did not like sleeping alone in the room. I finally started to sleep on the couch in the living room.

By February my room mate found a girl friend and he was rarely at the house. There would be occasions when I would be watching TV or listening to music when I would get the same feeling I got upstairs.I would even put on my coat and get out of the house. After a few minutes standing in the snow I would feel like a fool and go back inside. At times my dog would look up and his eyes would follow something across the room but there was nothing there. He even walked backwards from the living room to the kitchen with his hackles up and his teeth bared. This was the point when I started to become extremely uncomfortable and began to look for a new place.

The final event was real. I had not been drinking nor had I been using the smoke that was going around the campus at the time. I was sleeping on the couch in the living room when I awoke to the sounds of my panicking dog. My arms were pinned down as if some one was on top of me.The light from the windows was totally obscured, I could not breath and I felt that some one was kissing me on the lips. It was a male presence. I used all my strength to move what ever it was away from me and managed to get up. I could now see the light from the street streaming through the window and I could breath again.

I stayed awake all night as I packed my school stuff and some clothes I then moved to a friend's house. In mid May I returned to the place to give the Real-estate agent the keys and pick up all my furniture. She joked "I guess you found out about the house"? I asked her what she meant and then she laughing told me that she had heard it was haunted but she thought it was nonsense and not worth telling me. This all happened 29 years ago and I have since discovered that the house is on the market every 12 to 18 months, it is always "A real Buy" way under market value. About ten years ago I stopped by to check the place out and noticed a for sale sign on the lawn. The next door neighbour was watering his lawn and I asked him about the place as if I knew nothing about it. He told me it was always up for sale and it has reputation for being haunted. I asked him if he had ever heard or seen anything and he said no. I called the same real-estate company and they said it was a great little place and I could have at a great price. I then asked if it was haunted and after a pause she said she had heard it was. Something very bad happened in that house. After hearing about its history, the fact that it was a private school for boys from all social levels, and that it was the home of the groundskeeper I think I know what went on there.