Have you been haunted?

Here's her reply: "That is very strange. It is unlikely that anyone would copy a key in the off chance of coming back and most of our guests are from overseas. I have a key and the cleaner has a key and that is all. I'll check with the cleaner and find out if she had called in. I haven't hear any other guests saying that someone came the apartment. It is the house that Deacon Brodie was caught in. I don't know if you have heard the story about him but he was a builder and councillor by day but his business wasn't doing well part due to gambling and in the evening he used the keys from the treasury to rob houses. – Robert Louis Stevenson based his character Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde on Deacon Brodie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brodie May be it was a ghost?" The doubters say she was covering to save her business, or trying to drum up more by having haunted places. What about you? Any authenticated hauntings?

Andrea, Can we go to private message and then to email? I've got a story to share that also happened in Scotland. I posted it a few weeks ago on a thread about French haunted castles, but email will let me explain it well. Monte

My body felt like it was haunted by an evil spirit the morning after I tried absinthe.

We never thought of it as a haunting (but maybe it was!). We were staying in an old B&B in the countryside outside of Rye England. In the middle of the night, my husband and I heard what sounded like gravel being shoveled outside the bedroom window. It was quite loud and woke both of us. We looked out and could see nothing since it was so dark - it lasted for about 1 hour. In the morning we asked the owner if they were doing something outside in the middle of the night - the answer was no. They hadn't heard anything. Perhaps it was an animal - not sure - but it was quite scary.

Ghosts do not exist. Vivid imaginations do. I repeat, ghosts do not exist.

Not in Europe but poltergeist at a hotel in a country on the Pacific Rim years ago. I'm an investigator by trade and a magician who can simulate paranormal activity. Could not find source or modus operandi behind the activity. It became a rather sleepless night.

I always have a very bright flashlight with me when I travel (flashlight technology has advanced tremendously in recent years, and you can get a stunningly powerful light that's surprisingly compact, although it does have some heft to it). If I ever heard gravel being shoveled outside my window, I'd light that spot up. If someone was attempting to unlock my room's door....the hefty metal flashlight would make a good club. Personally, I'd rather investigate and find out what the source really was, rather than wondering and worrying.

The stone throwing reported by Sharon is the type of activity most associated with poltergeists. My theory: Everything at night sounds closer than it really is.

The stone throwing reported by Sharon is the type of activity most associated with Nighthawks, also. Nighthawks are a particularly foul species of person who go around, under the cover of night, with metal detectors onto other peoples property and search for ancient artifacts, such as old Roman coins, Celtic jewelery, and other precious objects. These objects, once discovered, belong in one of the museums. But the nighthawks dig these up and sell them on the black market. So, anytime you are in Britain, and see digging going on in the middle of the night, provided it is not your B&B host digging in his own yard, you should call the police. Or awaken your B&B hosts and let them call the police. This activity is a crime, and is taken seriously by British authorities. The site of ancient artifacts should be carefully excavated by the proper archaeological team, from the British Museum or a local government finds office. Not only are the objects lost when the Nighthawks steal them, but the location of the find and the history that might be learned from it is lost forever.

Andrea my thought on reading this is simple, why didn't you simply answer the door if you heard knocking,, you said you were still up and lights were on, in my case I know I would have simply walked to door and opened it.. why didn't you?
Anyways it would be disconcerting to think someone had entered the house without your knowledge or permission.

I'm with Pat on this one. You said, "it was early on a Saturday evening." Unfortunately, my suspicion is that it was either the owner/operator of the establishment or the cleaner. Someone with a key was obviously thinking you would still be out to dinner, and perhaps was wanting to go through your luggage and look for valuables to steal quickly while they thought you were out. Were you by any chance scheduled to leave the next morning? They were probably thinking you wouldn't notice the missing valuables until you were at your next destination, maybe even days later. This is why I never leave money, passports, or valuables in the room while I am out. No matter how innocent they act, there are always those around with sticky fingers. And before someone comes along and says, "Why would the operator of the place do this? They would be concerned about the reputation of the place." I would say that if you were scheduled to leave the next day, it would be very difficult to prove where you lost your valuable item after 3 or 4 days passed, and you had stayed in several places by that time, and they know that.

It was one of those moments where one doesn't think logically. Maybe you're right about the intruder, but I find life is more interesting when you allow yourself to believe once in awhile. Cheers!

James, there are billions of people on this planet who do not believe in the Holy Ghost. Billions.

I haven't had a paranormal experience in a hotel, but I believe there are entities in the building where I used to work. It was built in 2003 but there was a crackhouse (and a mikvah) on the spot between the 1920s and '80s or so, before the nonprofit organization bought the land in 2003. I've heard footsteps on the stairs when I was the only one in the building, and once I saw a shadow out of the corner of my eye leave someone's office and go down the hallway. Other people I've worked with have heard footsteps and whistling while they were alone; and one employee heard her name called. I do think there are unexplained occurrences in the world, and that we don't have the answers to everything that happens or can happen.

I had a strange experience in York, England. More than likely there's a mundane explanation, but it has confounded me for years: My sister and I were walking along the medieval wall which is normally pretty crowded with tourists, but this particular section was empty except for the two of us. We were strolling along taking in the surrounding beauty when I heard fast approaching footsteps. I didn't want to feel rushed so when we came to a turret where the walkway widens, I pulled my sister aside to let this person pass...there was no one there. Hmmm, okay, I guessed I had just been hearing our footsteps echoing off the distant buildings. Off we went again - again there were distant footsteps getting closer and closer. Somebody was quickly overtaking us. I stepped aside at the next turret, fully expecting to see someone in a hurry...again there was no one there. We set off yet again with me listening carefully for footfalls. I heard the echo of our steps bouncing off the buildings, but nothing else. Then, after about a minute, distant footsteps. This time I was sure it was another tourist, I had accounted for the echoes, so this had to be a person. I could even feel the impatience of this person as he/she quickly gained on us. I pulled my sister aside to let this rude person pass. No one! And there's no place to hide along those walls. Was it some trick of sound? Probably, but I don't know how it could sound like it was in the distance and then get closer and louder in addition to the natural echoes we heard. Someone once suggested it was a parabola effect like a whispering dome. At first I thought "Aha! That's it" because I like rational explanations, but the wall sections are straight. :/

Many years ago I stayed at a hotel in Hindhead, Surrey for a long weekend. On the Sunday morning at about 7 am, and in bright daylight, both my partner and I heard what appeared to be a man in some distress outside our bedroom door. We could both hear him say in a loud whisper "Oh God, oh my God, oh God etc etc. It seemed to last for ages but probably only seconds. My partner opened the door and there was nobody there but the Sunday paper we had ordered was on the floor. We joked that the delivery man must have had a bad back and that the heaviness of the papers was giving him grief! When I got home I told my flatmate (a reporter on the local paper) about the incident and she told me about a salesman who had been stabbed to death at the hotel a couple of years previously. I wish I had followed up on the story but was/am sceptical about paranormal activities so let it go. There is a theory that building walls, especially those made of stone, can act like recorders and in certain atmospheric conditions will "playback" soundwaves that they have absorbed. Maybe that was the explanation for our experience.

I've had a couple of similar experiences like that. One was in a bed and breakfast in Middleton, Massachusetts that involved seeing a greenish outline of a young woman in the bedroom mirror late at night from across the room which was later confirmed by the innkeeper as the spirit that haunted that particular room. The other occurred when my husband and I were hiking in deserted Dudleytown, CT. I felt a cold presence surround me and a heavy pressure on top of my head. We skedaddled out of there!

It could have been that creepy little kid from The Grudge, or maybe it was an alien. The military captured a few small greys years ago at Roswell...perhaps they got loose and went to Scotland. It probably wasn't Sasquatch...his range doesn't extend that far east. What about Nessy? You should have just answered the door...then we would know for sure.

I never believed in ghosts until I lived in a haunted house. Not the poltergeisty evil spirits kinda haunted - fortunately. We just had lots of weird things happen. Watched a book literally jump off a shelf in a level bookcase. Interior doors that were closed with a latch would open up. Even saw a white mist in the room of the house where the majority of the incidences happened. My daughter was home and I asked her to verify that I wasn't losing my eyesight and she confirmed that there was indeed a "cloud" in the corner of the room. We mostly tried to just respect that the ghost had been there first. (We even nicknamed her). If a shut door was opened, we left it open. Stuff thrown off shelves sat there for a day before we put them back. We liked to believe she looked after the place when we were gone.

I wasn't a believer or a disbeliever, but I had never experienced anything that could be considered 'haunted'. That is until I went to Barcelona 2 years ago. I was with a friend who had told me about her experience with 'something' at an old house she had stayed in while in Maine. She had a couple of other experiences too. We had just arrived in our Barcelona apartment and she was taking pictures of the place. I saw her camera forcefully fly out of her hands and land several feet away with such force that it dented the camera and broke it. She definitely did not drop it. It was our first day in Europe and she was so upset that she wasn't going to be able to take pictures. Luckily we were meeting with Larry from Elk Grove (a Helpline regular) for dinner and they had an extra camera they loaned her for the duration of the trip. Anyway, when we got back that night I went to bed. As I laid there trying to fall asleep I felt 'something' hold me down. There was no one else in the room. I decided the best thing to to do was to not fight it, so I tried to pretend it wasn't happening. A few minutes later the pressure was gone. Nothing else happened during our 3 days there. I don't have an explanation for what happened, but I guess not everything can be explained.

I just have to jump into this conversation. I haven't seen a ghost myself, but my best friend had an experience with the famous MacKenzie Poltergeist at Greyfriars cemetery in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is supposedly one of the best documented poltergeists in the world. Anyway, on an after dark tour, a small group was led into the particular mausoleum where the ghost is frequently encountered. Supposedly the ghost will be quiet for weeks at a time and then suddenly there will be a rash of activity. In the group that he was in, a woman had her hair pulled and another had her ear pinched so hard that it swelled up. As the group was being quickly escorted out, my friend witnessed a brick fly across the chamber. This was about 3 years ago. As I said, I wasn't there. But my friend is a respected law enforcement officer and, although he will joke about many things, this is not something he jokes about. He is convinced that it was real and I certainly have no grounds to doubt him as he is dead earnest on this. Anyway, if you are ever in Edinburgh and feeling brave, it's one of the few poltergeists that you can investigate for yourself. The truth is out there!

That's pretty impressive testimony from some very level-headed Helpline regulars!

Ok... so a number of years ago (pre digital camera...only film) I was on a quest to increase my creativity, thus studying the life of Leonardo Da Vinci and reading a number of books about his accomplishments. I rarely have a plan while driving around Europe, so by sheer coincidence I happened upon the town of Vinci (where Leonardo was born). Wandered around for a few hours, then moved on to another area (don't remember exactly where)but not too far away. Took a number of photographs with a 35 mm camera. It had a high speed grainy black & white film. Went home, developed film, checked out negs and printed a few I thought looked interesting. A year or two later I grabbed the film and wanted to see all the images so I had them all printed. As I flipped through the images there was one of a hillside with trees, a church steeple in the background and in the lower middle of the image is what appears to be a likeness of the top 1/3 of the face of a woman... everyone who sees it says it looks just like the Mona Lisa. It is in the middle of the roll of film, so no double exposures going on and pre-photoshop...I actually have lots of images that appear to have faces in them, but this one clearly looks recognizable.

The guide then told us that was the grave of a little girl who died of scarlet fever during the Civil War while waiting for her father to come home from the war. She likes to play tricks on visitors to the house. This happened in broad daylight, about 5:30 in the afternoon, although the back yard of the house and graveyard were in deep shade. It happened the last week of October, 2010, and I do swear that I am telling the truth; every detail happened just the way I said. I normally do not believe in ghosts, but what was that???

To Rebecca from Tenn. Good one!!! I actually got goose bumps!!

My sister, who I trust implicitly, has had two experiences.. She was spending the night with a friend in a very old victorian house. She was sound asleep but woke up very early in the morning because she could feel someone looking at her. When she opened her eyes she saw an old woman looking down at her, then the woman slowly turned and walked out of the room. My sister didn't think much of it because her friend lived in a large house with lots of family members. When my sister and her friend got up and were going downstairs for breakfast my sister asked who the old woman was.. her friend asked what she looked like.. my sister described her and her friend said.. oh, that's my grandmother.. but she's been dead for many years. The second was when my family lived in a large old house and both my sisters each had a bedroom on the top floor. That floor had 3 bedrooms but one was empty, we didn't use it. My sisters were each in their room across from each other after dinner one night when they heard heavy footsteps coming up the wooden stairs.. they heard the footsteps coming down the hall towards their rooms and they saw a hazy figure go by their doors towards the 3rd empty bedroom. They both got up to see who it was because it was so odd.. and no one was there. That house is at Ft. Baker, a former Army base at the base of the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge which is now owned by the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the National Park Service turned it into a beautiful resort with most of the original houses restored and used as guest lodging.. I was talking to a woman recently, who is the concierge there, and she said "oh yes, we've heard many stories from guests and staff of a ghost in that house." I don't believe in ghosts but I still find these stories fascinating...

If this thread is still going a month from now, it's a "shoo-in" for October's Helpline question of the month! What a great Halloween thread this would be!

I really did not believe in paranormal things but years ago I moved in with my then-husband into the house his grandmother built. Really,she actually participated in the building of it including putting on plaster with a putty knife. I had been there a couple of weeks and she appeared at my side of the bed 2 nights in a row. It was not a creepy feeling at all, in fact very warm and welcoming. I also worked at a hospital which was started by nuns at the turn of the century. Going up and down the staircase in the 1920's era building, I would occasionally out of the corner of my eye, catch a swirl of a white habit going past me and hear a slight swishing. It was never when I was thinking about it but usually when my mind was busy with my next task. Last occurrence was in June at one of the old buildings in the Old Faithful area in Yellowstone. I had asked to see a room in one of the old general stores where the founder tacked up cancelled checks on the walls. The manager showed me the room, we chatted and were leaving when the door to an armoire (the only piece of furniture in the room) opened. The manager laughed and said Mr Hamilton is here. We both said hello and thanks and left! That could have been the movement of the floor in the old building, but I prefer to think Mr. Hamilton is still in his office!