The Farmouse

Ok... I know a lot of people dont believe in the unexplainable that we call ghosts. I have always believed in them however, because as a small child I came in daily contact with them, even though I didn't know that's what they were.

My story is set in an old farmhouse that I lived in from the age of 6 months to about 5 1/2 yrs old. There were three distinct entities in that home that I can clearly remember, though there may have been more. Even though I know we shouldn't classify spirits as good or bad its the way I've always thought of these three. One was good, one was neutral, and one was definitely malevolent.

The first spirit (good) was of an old man. Since I was a small child at the time it never occured to me to ask my mother who he was. To me he was just a nice old man that came and played with me when I was lonely or had tea parties and the like. I didn't find out who the man was until about ten yrs after I had moved out of that house.

To my surprise my mom one day pulled out some old family photos and there he was. He turned out to be one of my ancestors although I'd have to run down through my family bible to find out who exactly he was.

The second spirit (neutral) was of more a playful nature... possibly a child. Although I never actually saw this particular ghost it was always moving things around and playing with my dolls and such, which is why I'm led to believe it may have been a child. The most interesting thing this little spirit did was to rearrange the order in which some people in an old painting were sitting. It was a family of four sitting on an old style slat rail fence and every morning my brother and I would run to this picture to see how they would be arranged that day.

There were several occasions when I would wake up at night to see some of my dolls being moved around in a manner that looked as if someone were playing with them. The most interesting part about this ghost though is the painting that he/she would arrange the people in. Although my brother and I both clearly remember going and looking at this picture every day, and we could both draw it identically from memory... my mother swears to this day that she never owned such a picture or one like it and no such thing was hanging in that house when we moved in or when we left.

Where it came from I don't know... where it went I don't know... but mostly I think it's interesting that my brother and I both saw it and remember it so plainly.

Finally, on to the third spirit (bad) that I remember. This fellow was never openly mean or hurtful to anyone although I feel it's only because he never had the opportunity to be. I say he although I never saw him, but often heard him. His footsteps would pace up and down the attic stairs at night, which were directly above my bedroom closet. The footsteps were very heavy sounding, like those of a man in work boots. He'd pace for about 15 minutes every night and then stop. I often saw a shadow moving down the hallway away from the attic door towards my parents bedroom, but it would vanish about halfway down the hall. It wasn't a shadow like someone would cast on a wall but as if someone held a flashlight straight down on you that moved with you... the shadow was always on the floor.

There was also a cool breeze that would follow in the wake of this shadow and would raise the hair all over your body. This man also had a propensity for dolls that I won't go into in detail at this time except to say that there was one doll in particular of mine that I had to eventually get rid of because I was so terrified of the thing. He would move this doll at night and often times I would see it and the shadow that followed this fellow.

The last incident occured one night when I thought my puppy had gotten into my room because I had heard what sounded like an animals claws moving around under the bed, where my puppy liked to hide. I noticed that the doll was missing however and when my mother and I got down and looked the doll was under the bed with one hand hooked into the bed rail on the far side... sort of leaning against the wall as if it had been interrupted climbing into the bed from the wrong side. The following day was when we got rid of that doll.

As a small child I often had what are known as night terrors... which is like a waking nightmare. I often would sleepwalk and wake up in strange places the following morning and only vaguely remember nightmares about a large man that was after me. I feel it was this entity either being picked up subconsciously and frightening me or maybe coming into my room and myself "running" from him in my sleep.

The house has since been torn down and only one family lived in it after my family moved out. It was a very old house, I'd guess around a hundred years old or so... but even that family had some strange things happen to them while living there.

Most interesting is a photograph that they took of themselves (man and wife) standing on the front porch of the old house. Although the porch and the two people in the photo were in sharp focus... the rest of the house was just a blur. If possible I will try to contact the man and see if he still has the photo around anywhere.

Since moving out of that house I have had some unexplained encounters... possibly because I grew up in a house that I was sensitive to them. But I have never seen nor sensed any of the entities that were in that home. So, I feel they stayed behind when we left.

The site where the house was located is now the back loading dock of a local store... I think I'd also like to contact some people that work at this store and see if they've had any strange experiences especially at night.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this and I will likely tell more about my experiences at this house at a later date and let you know if I have gotten a hold of that photo or heard anything back from some of the store's employees.

Thank you.