I'm generally quite a sceptic and am extremely pragmatic when it comes paranormal topics, especially ghosts. I do believe that most things can be explained. However, have had some truly unexplained things happen to my family and me most of which happened in a house I used to live in. The house was built by my dad in the early 80's and was apparently built on top of an old Victorian tennis club. This house is located in Higgovale, a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa and is now a guesthouse.
Many strange things happened in this house, which led us to the belief that there was some kind of Haunting. A number of occurrences happened in the 5 years we lived there including a full apparition that appeared to my aunt. The first signs of strange activity started in the form of touching. Both my sisters and my mother experienced the feeling of someone touching them on the shoulder while sat up in bed reading. This occurred in more than one room of the house. I remember spending most nights sleeping at the foot of my parent's bed because I was scared of my room. Some nights the whole family would end up in my parent's room just because of an uneasy feeling and the inability to sleep. I remember being really scared of the corridor and the pantry, and would run through the corridor to get it over with quickly, a horrible feeling. I always remember seeing a woman in a purple Victorian dress. This was out the corner of my eye, but happened on a regular basis.
My mother was victim to some of the instances that happened. She was hovering in the corridor (The one I was scared of) and our large brass clock flew off the wall at her and landed on the floor, breaking the glass face. The clock was quite heavy and had been well secured to the wall. Even if it had lost its fixture it would have fallen down not out, towards a person. While alone in the house she was also locked in the on-suite bathroom that was attached to her bedroom for about 20 minutes. There is no lock or catch on the door; it was a simple cupboard door that opened and closed, that's it.
My sister also reported seeing someone looking at her through the bathroom window. There is a three-storey drop on the other side of that window. There is no way someone could have been standing there. Another thing that happened is my Uncle Henry who had committed suicide a few years earlier appeared to my mother in her room at the foot of her bed. She could have been dreaming but I don't think so. My mother is a very logical and worldly-wise person and wouldn't make a mistake like that.
The biggest thing that happened was to my Aunt. She was looking after the dogs while we where away on Holiday in the UK. She would come in twice a day to feed them and then use the phone to call us in England for a chat. One night she came round, went to use the phone, dropped the phone book on the floor. When she bent over to pick it up she looked up and noticed someone sitting on the couch right in front of her. She described him as an old well-dressed man with very old-fashioned suit on and white hair. He looked at her, she froze, he got up and walked towards the kitchen and disappeared. She grabbed the dogs and got the hell out of there and wouldn't return on her own ever again.
I consider my aunt to be a very truthful person; she was really freaked out by it. She told my mother after it happened but didn't tell us until we had moved out. She didn't want to scare the kids. At the end of the day I really don't think she was or would have anything to gain my telling a story like this if it wasn't true.
I also remember a family friend who claims to be psychic coming round and without us saying anything to them about what had been happening, the first things she said was "You didn't tell me you had ghosts" That just sent a shiver up my spine.
My family sold the house in 1989. We have been back since it was turned into a guesthouse in 1992 just to see what alterations had been done to the house.
The current owners have never experienced any strange things and have been living in the house happily for the past 17 years. They did look at me funny when I asked them, so maybe they are too closed minded to even notice things like this. Or maybe they where aware of activity and didn't want to talk about it. Either way their reaction to the question was a bit strange to say the least. Even if they did think I was Crazy.
I know it's a long shot. But if anyone has stayed in a guesthouse in Higgovale Cape Town and have had a strange experience then let me know. It was the house opposite the old Orphanage.
I would love to go back and spend a night there some time. Maybe I should.
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