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Haunted In Low Income

 

In the summer of 1986, my Mother and I moved into an apartment in a low income complex. The first time we ever looked at the apartment I remember running around the place as kids do as my mother talked to the apartment manager. I remember my Grandmother being with us as we checked the place out.

I had ran into the bathroom to look around when the door had shut behind me. Looking back I don't know if maybe I knocked into the door and caused it to close but right after it did, the lights turned off. I tried to turn the knob and remember the door being locked. I started crying because I was scared and my grandmother tried the door handle on the other side and it opened. I clearly remember not being able to open it as it was locked and wouldn't turn. Looking back if nothing else had happened in that apartment, I wouldn't of thought anything of it, just a kid messing around and couldn't unlock the door, or perhaps I hit the light switch in my efforts to open the door.

Shortly after moving in both myself and my Mother had a uneasy feeling. It was hard to explain other than a feeling of a "depression" over the apartment. I was scared of my room and oftentimes would want to sleep with my Mom in her bedroom. A few months into living there, my Mother one morning asked me if I had been in the kitchen last night. I said no, that I slept all night and had just woken up. She asked me a few times, making sure I wasn't lying to her and sneaking a late night snack. She told me she heard the kitchen cabinets opening and closing late last night. I really had not been in the kitchen. I was so scared to even go to the bathroom at night in that place, let alone sneak a snack.

The strange noises continued. We both started to hear the cabinets open and close at night. They were typical apartment kitchen cabinets where if you open them and let them go, they will softly bounce against the frame until they closed. Late at night you would hear the soft "bouncing" of the cabinets being opened and closed.

One afternoon my mother and I walked together to the office to pay the next month's rent when my Mother ran into this woman who was there to collect her deposit or something from the office. She introduced herself to my Mother and asked my Mother how she liked the apartment and said that she used to live there with her son. My Mother didn't say much other than it was "ok" and was glad to have a place with affordable rent (My Mother was a working single mom). The lady looked at her a little strange from what I remember and asked her about any strange noises or problems? My Mother kind of looked at her strange and just said that she heard the upstairs neighbors sometimes and she thought it caused the cabinets to "bounce" some from the vibration of the upstairs kids running around. The lady looked right at my mom and I remember this so clearly and told her to "Be careful and take care."

We continued to live in this apartment. It was creepy and in the back corner of the complex but we made the best of it. I spent the summer days at my Grandparents' house while my mom worked so we were not there a lot. At night mostly and even then there were times I wouldn't want to sleep in the apartment and we would spend the night at my Grandparents' place.

As time went on I started feeling more and more depressed, almost to the point where as a kid who was otherwise happy, I started having feelings of suicide and feelings of dread when I was at the apartment. It got to the point where I refused to go to school and ended up being seen by a therapist because I was so depressed. My Mother went through hell with me due to the depression. We couldn't figure out why I was so depressed.

One summer afternoon we were in the complex "common" area having a BBQ with a few other neighbors. Your typical summer BBQ, water guns, Kool-Aid kids having fun. I remember telling my mother that I had to use the bathroom and she was helping cook at the time on the outdoor grill. She gave me the apartment key and I ran to the apartment to go to the bathroom.

The moment I opened the door I felt this heavy uneasy feeling. I can't explain what came over me but I swore I almost did not enter the apartment because I felt like there was a man in the apartment. I walked down the hallway to the bathroom, passing the towel closet and small storage closet on the way. I stopped dead in my tracks, afraid to even move. I felt like I was frozen in time and suddenly I heard what can only be described as someone with a TV on right beside my ear, super loud being turned on and off with the mute button. I heard bits of noise going on and off. I suddenly felt this strong feeling a man was standing behind me. The noise stopped but I still felt uneasy, looking behind me I saw nothing but I felt this heavy feeling in the apartment. I remember running to the bathroom and quickly going and then running out of the apartment, not even locking the door. I told my mom that I thought there was a man in the apartment. Her and my neighbor and her husband went into the apartment but didn't see anything. They looked at me like a "kid telling a fib" but my mother knew there was something wrong. I wasn't the type of kid to make up stories. She knew that apartment had something or someone a spirit there.

We stayed there one more year before moving to another place. Once we moved I felt the depression lift away after a few weeks. I was like a totally different kid after leaving that apartment.

A new person moved into that apartment with two kids and a husband. They lived there about 6 months or so before the husband, from what I been told, became depressed and violent. He ended up stabbing either his wife or a friend inside the apartment. I am not saying these things are related but I can't imagine anything positive coming from that place.

Years later when I got a little older, my Mother opened up about that apartment. We were talking about it and she told me there were times she seen a dark shadow at night in the apartment. She said she was scared of living there but, at the time, we had very little options and she never wanted to tell me about it because she didn't want to frighten me. During our last few months in the apartment we slept in the living room with all the lights on. It got that bad there, I can't explain what happened or what was in that apartment but whatever it was, I think was pure evil.

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The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, gypsysmile, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will participate in the discussion and I need help with what I have experienced.

zzsgranny (18 stories) (3329 posts) mod
+1
11 years ago (2013-07-15)
gypsysmile: Thank you for your reply. I completely understand your perception of your life there. Having been a person of lower income myself, I know there's a deeper appreciation of the little things in life 😊. I know about counting pennies to buy a loaf of bread and a can of soup to feed my daughter. I also know that scraping the PB jar with a rubber spatula, watering down the dish soap/shampoo, turning the ketchup bottle upside down, squashing the last sliver of a bar of soap into a new one, cutting open the tube of toothpaste to squeeze out the last drop, etc., and doing these things out of necessity and not thriftiness tends to wear on a person. It gets old.

Sometimes in our efforts to suppress these emotions, they build until they can no longer be kept at bay, and they need to be released. Unfortunately there are some who can't/won't cry or express these emotions outwardly. Some believe this is how poltergeist activity begins.

I'm not saying this is definitely what was going on, but just that having been in a similar situation financially, I can understand how the circumstances could produce poltergeist activity or manifest in a negative energy form that would affect one who may be sensitive.

I'm glad you have happy memories (mostlyπŸ˜†). That's a wonderful tribute to your Mom 😊
gypsysmile (1 stories) (1 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-07-15)
Sorry I had not checked this comment page after posting my story. To answer some of your questions and address a few things. I have not been back to that complex since we moved out in 1992. I am now in my mid 30s and don't live in California anymore. We did run into the lady who lived in the apartment before us and she had said she felt a depression when living there and that's part of why they had moved. She didn't go into any further detail. While I understand "low income" and "Depression" are factors, my Mother and our personal life was actually really happy. I had a wonderful childhood we were not "poor" to where we didn't do things or have food or things we needed, it wasn't anything like that and the complex itself was not depressing. The people there were fun and while we might of been "low income" we all (neighbors) had bbq's and summer parties and fun times. It wasn't a project by any means. I never knew or have been able to find out the history of the land or the former tenants. I just know that while we lived there, things happened that could not be explained.I'm not sure if it was demonic, past energy, ghost or what. I do know both myself and my mother felt a "male" was always there. How can I explain how we felt this? I don't know but I clearly remember feeling like there was always a man around or a strong male ghost? Spirit and or demon. I honestly think it was something evil. The apartment complex still stands today,it's actually in the bay area and the rent is very high there now, more or less a luxury complex. I would be curious to know who lives in our old place and if anyone is having issues.It's the Morse Courts apartments in Sunnyvale,California.Whatever this was, it has stayed in my memory over 20 years later. Thank you all for your opinions and thoughts, it means a lot to know others understand or at least took the time to read my story!
jazzyq (1 stories) (16 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-07-10)
Possibly not evil maybe someone who committed suicide there, that's the feeling I get from how bad you said the house felt.
geetha50 (15 stories) (986 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-07-08)
valkricry,
Thanks and no problem. That is what I (and many others) came here for, also, but somewhere in between a selected few thought it would be fun to rub us the wrong way, either with their stories or how they responded to us. As long as there are people who are willing to share information and at the same time learn new things without judgement, we can filter out the negativity.
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
+1
11 years ago (2013-07-08)
geetha,
I just have to take a moment here, because sometimes I get a bit over-whelmed at the negativity I see in comments. (I'm going through a rough patch so maybe I'm reading things a tad lopsided). Anyway, it was my pleasure to try an explain how I view something, and have it appreciated. I still recall all that not long ago, when you very patiently explained red threads to me. For me, that's what this site is really all about. Oh sure, we share our long-legged beasties and things that go bump in the night, but we also share customs, theories, and ideas. It helps make this big old world of ours just a tiny bit cozier. 😊 I'm glad I could be of service.
geetha50 (15 stories) (986 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-07-08)
Granny and valkricry,

Thanks for taking the time to explain. I understand now! 😁
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
+1
11 years ago (2013-07-08)
Dear geetha,
I believe that such energy can indeed have an affect on the living. Especially if that person is sensitive or an empath. Have you ever gone somewhere, and felt unexplainably sad, or sick? Yet when you left you were fine within a bit? You may have been affected by past emotions. Now imagine being bombarded by this negative energy day after day. Sooner or later it's going to wear you down.
It is possible that there was an intelligent haunting taking place at the same time. As far as I know more than one spirit or energy can take place at the same time. But since we don't know if the cabinets actually opened or closed or were merely 'heard' we can't really say. It could be simply residual. Then there is the whole matter of the apartment itself. What materials was it made of? Some low income housing have paper-thin walls, and the vibrations of one apartment can cause things to happen in an adjacent apartment. We once lived in an apartment where the vibrations of the guy next door (a really HUGE man) would cause my rocker to rock and small knick-knacks to dance on the shelves. At night, his steps could appear to be coming from my living room. It took a really long time for me to reach the conclusion that his movements were the cause, and there wasn't anything paranormal at play. Thankfully, he was a pretty good Joe and humoured my experiments even though he thought I might be a few fries shy of a happy meal. My point is, there is no way for us to know with any certainty. But we do know, that the OP, herself felt her mood impaired.
elfstone810 (227 posts)
+4
11 years ago (2013-07-08)
I can give you an example of emotions lingering with no spirit attached. On my drive to work there's a place where the highway curves onto a bridge. One day as I approached the curve I was hit with a wave of sick to the stomach, "oh my God! The car's going out of control and I'm going to go through the bridge railing and die!" panic.

As I rounded the curve, there were fresh skid marks all over the road. The bridge was intact, though, and there was no evidence of an actual wreck. So I figure someone was probably going too fast and lost control. They made it through the skid, but left their terror hanging around in the air when they'd gone.
zzsgranny (18 stories) (3329 posts) mod
+1
11 years ago (2013-07-08)
geetha: In my opinion, when there is a heavy concentration of any type of emotion, even from multiple sources, it can and will rub off on someone. A few examples include prisons, hospitals, hotels/motels, or apartment complexes. There are several stories in the archives where just one or two family members have created a manifestation because of negative situations, so the appearance of a shadow being in this account doesn't surprise me at all.

If someone is particularly sensitive, ie: an empath, then yes, the effect of living in such an environment could cause depression, anxiety, etc., in that person. Which, in turn, only adds to the energy already there.

Only my opinions 😊
White_Zen (4 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-07-08)
I don't know what will I do If I become you. Just read your story make me feel so uneasy and scared. I experienced this once before but not as bad as yours. Just uneasy feeling for weeks and its gone. I hope we don't feel it again next time. 😳
Shlain (13 stories) (246 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-07-08)
Gypsysmile, this could be demonic or it could be the spirit of a deceased person that's just plain negative. Not all human spirits could be considered Casper the friendly ghost. If this entity was horrible in life then it could well be so in the afterlife.

The sound you heard while walking to the bathroom that day of the BBQ gives me the idea that it was trying to interact. I'd say the same thing for when you were locked in the bathroom when you first looked around. The cabinets is a tricky thing as they could have physically been opened or it could just have been the sound of them being opened that you heard thus being residual.

You should see if you can get in contact with former residents to learn more about the place.
geetha50 (15 stories) (986 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-07-07)
valkricry,

I understand that a residual haunting can leave behind the residuals of the person's life while they are alive and that includes their emotions (good and bad). But I have to ask (and granny and others could answer as well, if they know), can those residual feelings rub off on the living? Can it be strong enough to do that?

In this account, gypsysmile said that s/he had gone from being a happy kid to being really depressed that s/he had to see a therapist and it all went away after they left the place. Is the emotions of a residual haunting really strong enough to rub off on the author? If that is the case then why is the residual energy not strong enough to actual open and close the actual cabinets instead of the noises that the author and his/her mother heard?

In this case, personally, I think there might be both a residual and intelligent haunting. My reasoning is because things like the cabinets sounds of opening and closing can be a residual haunting (and even then, the author and his/her mother only heard it and did not actually go and see if the cabinets were actually opening and closing or it was just the noise). Then there is the event of gypsysmile being locked into the washroom. Like gypsysmle said, in a panic to open the locked door, s/he might have knocked the lights off and when we are in a panicked state, even the simplest tasks, we can't manage to do. That can go either way. Then there is the author's mother seeing shadows. I don't think that is the act of a residual haunting.

I think something really bad had happened in that apartment and the evil of the intelligent haunting is there and the residual haunting of something before the evil was there is also there.

Personally, I think both a residual and intelligent haunting is happening in that apartment.

Gypsysmile,
You mentioned that something bad happened to the family that moved in after you. Did you find out, either from the manager or from other residents, if something bad happened before you and your mother moved in? You also mentioned that you and your mother met a lady that used to live your apartment with her son. Were you able to talk to that lady again to find out what experiences she had and if she knew what happened to that apartment?
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
 
11 years ago (2013-07-06)
I think that the energy of emotions leaves an imprint behind. Kin to the residual haunting, Granny spoke of. Only it has nothing to do with spirits. These 'currents' of energy can play havoc with our emotions. Low income housing is generally a 'battery' of negative emotions. Frustration, fear, sadness. They build on top of each other in layers. We talk about EMF fields and the havoc they can have on people, this is the same sort of thing. Especially if you have a sensitivity to it. Being young you were probably more sensitive then many adults would be. Can all that negativity manifest itself into a shadow? That I don't know. Just be glad you're out of there, and your mood has lifted.
zzsgranny (18 stories) (3329 posts) mod
+1
11 years ago (2013-07-06)
gypsysmile: I think this is a great example of residual energy. Not a true "ghost haunting", as Truth and Swimsinfire have pointed out. From your description of the complex, it was intended for those of lower income so it only makes sense that there would be some sort of depressing energy left behind from past residents. Your cupboards may not have been opening and closing at all, but the repetition of the act itself has made an imprint.

I think we can be as affected by residual energy as we are to intelligent hauntings, possibly more so if you have empathetic abilities.
Imabooknerdx (13 posts)
-3
11 years ago (2013-07-06)
This sounds like a demonic case to me. These cases are labeled rare but Once I had the same sort of thing happening to me when I was nearly 12 except as crazy as this sounds it was in a caravan awning, I don't think they are as rare and exotic as they sound. I am really glad that your depression has gone away.

Thanks,

Imabooknerd:)
Swimsinfire (11 stories) (556 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-07-06)
Truth, i'm so glad to hear somebody say that. I've thought a lot of these stories were something other than ghosts. It seems like there are a lot of energies out there besides ghosts, (for good or evil), and most traditions have names for them. Yeah, the evil thing can be dealt with; you could consult a pastor or priest or shaman, whichever you understand, or pray with friends. That has worked for a lot of years for a lot of people.
TruthWillPrevail (2 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-07-06)
Its not a ghost and has nothing to do with humans its what you said evil but its not spirits either its something different something only few know about
Cetic (5 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-07-05)
I feel your pain. I wouldn't have wanted to live there any longer either. Especially since it affected you so strongly. I hope you're way better now since you left it.
Sometimes I would like experiencing paranormal events where I live but times like this I'm glad I haven't yet. Although my work place seems to be by the rumors πŸ˜•

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