The Haunting on Leita Street

I am from Newberry, South Carolina. I lived there for 20 years. These are my experiences of my parents’ home.

My parents purchased their 4 bedroom house on Leita in 1986. They had 4 kids ages from 6-13. It was a wonderful upgrade from the small, mill house we had moved from. All seemed well for the first few weeks. We were moved in and adjusting to the new, bigger place. Shortly after we settled, a neighbor told us of the incident that had taken place many years before.

One of the previous owners committed suicide years before. We don’t know the circumstances. But, there is still a hole in the wall in the middle bathroom from the .357 used to end his life. If anyone knows anything about guns, that is a PRETTY POWERFUL gun. The hole is about the size of a softball! The owners before us only put wall paper over the hole and I don't remember exactly how, but through a rough game of tag or something we poked a hole in the wall paper where the incident occurred. Maybe it was our imaginations playing with us, but after we found the hole and heard the story of the man killing himself, things started happening. I was only a small child when things started happening. I am still afraid of the dark to this day.

The first thing I remember is the smells. The smell was that of vomit or something similar. They would appear then dissipate as quickly as they appeared. My parents first thought it was the plumbing or sewer lines under the house, but that proved wrong. The plumbing was fine.

Soon the shadows began. Several people outside our family have seen them. Out of the corner of your eye you can see "things" going around corners. One is about 6ft and black, the other is about the height of a house cat. But they do not go around just one particular corner, all over the house, at different times of day, in all sorts of light. Some members of my extended family will not stay in the house overnight nor will they be in a room alone. I personally will not stay there even when I go back to SC to visit. My husband, daughter, and I stay with my sister and her family.

There are several entities in the house. We are not sure, but we think there are 2 or 3. One is definitely male, we are not sure about the others but I think one is a cat. Our own cats would bow up and hiss at what appeared to be thin air, run down the hall, then growl. I don’t know if they are good or bad or simply just mischievous. Good and bad things have happened.

The most remarkable story was right after my grandmother passed away. I was 18 at the time. We had her wake at our house and that night after all the guests had left my sister, who was now married, my father, and I were up talking. My two brothers were married by this time and had gone to their homes and my mother had gone to bed. As we sat up talking the subject of the "ghost" came up and we began talking about our experiences. We had lived in that house for 13 years by that time so it was just accepted by then. We were all in the den. I was sitting on the arm of my dad's chair and my sister was on the couch that was perpendicular to the chair. My bedroom, the largest bathroom and my parents' room were down this one hallway. The hallway was visible from the chair my dad and I sat on. As we talked, I SWEAR, I saw the shadow go around the corner from the hall into my parents’ room. I stopped my sister mid-sentence and told them both what I had seen. My dad joked it was going to "get" my mother. Not even 15 seconds later we heard a scream and a thud come from the room. Horrified we all ran back to the room to see what had happened. My mother was crying that someone had physically pushed her out of the bed. She had hit her head on the bedside table on her way down, leaving a nasty bruise on the back of her neck. This was not the first time we had physical contact with "him." Walking down the hall you could feel as if you were passing someone and brushing up against them. A cool breeze could be felt when no window was open, no fan on, or the air conditioner. *Draw your own conclusions as to what actually occurred* I myself believe it was our ghost.

I once saw a glowing blue ball over the dining room table. I was about 13 or 14 at the time. I had come in from the living room where I was practicing the piano. I had to go through the dining room to go to the kitchen. As I walked out there was a glowing blue orb about the size of a golf ball over the table. I was only 5 feet away from it and it was there for several seconds! It was the middle of the day, like 4:00 PM. The light over the table was on, the kitchen light was on. This was not my eyes playing a trick on me; it was there long enough for me to get a really good look at it. It was like I had caught it off guard and it was staring back at me studying me just as I was studying it.

I remember a time when my parents had gone somewhere one Saturday night. My siblings were older than me so they were out at friends’ houses and such. I was about 12 years old. I for some reason was not allowed to have company stay with me that night. But anyway, back to the story. I had eaten my pizza and soda while watching a movie. I stopped the movie, washed my dishes, and placed them in the drying rack. I went back to my movie and sometime later there was a crash in the kitchen. I ran in to find my glass and dish broken in the middle of the floor. I was perplexed for a second then realized I had placed them in the drying rack at the back of the counter. I ran through the house turning on all the lights saying the Lord Prayer. Luckily my parents came home soon after that.

Many other things have happened in that house. Cold spots were through out the house. Light bulbs would explode in their sockets, a hair dryer’s cord exploded as I used it, leaving the cord severed and the plug still in the wall. Electricians said the wiring in the house was fine. Footsteps could be heard in the attic even though there was no floor to walk on, just insulation and beams. Many times heavy breathing could be heard over me as I was in bed trying to sleep. I could hold my breath to make sure it wasn’t me and still hear the loud breathing; pinch myself to make sure I was awake.

My oldest sister woke one night to feel a presence in the bed beside her. It got out of the bed then laid on her! Unable to scream all she could do was whisper, "No," until it got off and left the room.

My father woke one Saturday morning to see someone walking down the hallway. This was the first time the ghost appeared visible and not as a shadow. My dad is a sensible, honest man. He would not make this up. He described it as about 6 foot tall with a plaid shirt on. Both of my brothers were working, my sister and mother were out shopping, and I was still sleeping. All the doors were locked. We have seen "him" other times too. He is visible in reflections of TV and mirrors, but only as he passes by the doorway.

Chairs have been seen sliding out from the table by themselves. I was getting ready to go to school, and I had sloppily dropped my hanger on the floor of the bathroom as I got dressed. As I was finishing getting ready I watched as the hanger slid several feet from the sink to the door.

I was going to blow off my 8:00 AM class one morning, as I rolled over to shut off the alarm, the knocking began on my bedroom wall above my head. I actually got to class early that morning. The following semester I transferred to the University of South Carolina to get out of the house.

There is NO DOUBT that something is there. A minister from our church even told us there was something spiritual in our home, and not the Holy Ghost type. A roommate from college came home to visit with me one day. I had never told her the stories of the goings on there. On our drive back to USC she told me she felt uneasy about my parents’ home, and then I told her the stories.

We patched the hole and covered it when we renovated that bathroom, but the house is still haunted. The cold spots and shadows are still there. My parents don’t plan on moving any time soon, but after nearly 20 years in that house I guess they have learned to cohabitate with the entities.

There are other happenings to our family and not limited to this just this house. If you are curious to find out more feel free to contact me.