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Old Man In The Living Room

 

The home we had rented previously had been sold. Our new home was not ready for us to move into yet as it was still being painted, repaired and new carpeting installed. The previous owner had passed away so the son, inheritor of the home, was fixing the new home up and updating things.

We had about six weeks before our move in date, so we stayed at my Grandparents large home which was actually one street over. My Grandparents were pack rats. So we actually only had one bedroom that we could sleep in. I slept in there with my husband, young son, and my daughters crib was in the open space just through our door into the large living room area. The hallway resembled an L shape with our bedroom being at the end of the short turn on the L. A pocket door led into the living room at our end of the short L as well. This is where my daughters crib was placed.

My Grandfather hated us using that pocket door as children. Often going through great lengths to block, or obstruct the doorway. Even going as far as to drill a hole in the upper corner, and slide a peg through it with a lock and an eyelet screwed into the frame - just so we'd have to walk down the hallway. The hallway was quite long. In fact down one side of it was a series of standard sized double closets - three of them - with a hot water heater at the end in a small closet the width of a standard door. Even as an adult, walking down that hallway was scary. By the time I got to the end to turn left (four steps) towards my room, I was almost screaming in fear. As kids, the hallway was bare wood and my sister and I would lay in that back room in fright, clinging to each other under the blankets as we heard footsteps coming down the hall - but upon looking, nothing would be there. My Grandmother told us it was our imagination. My sister and I were convinced otherwise.

So here I was, in my late 20's and still having these same fears. The only difference was I was allowed to open the pocket door as my daughters crib was on the other side of the door. My husband smoked, but he did so outside. I was folding laundry and he decided to go for a smoke outside. I finished a couple pieces of baby outfits and walked through the pocket door into the front room. As I moved through the front room I could dimly see the coffee table, foot rest, and various pieces of furniture in the room so it was safely passable. The light coming through the thick sheer curtains of the front room window made it possible. As I passed through, I saw my grandfather sitting in the arm chair in the dim light. I turned my head to ask what he was doing up and sitting in the front room alone like that. When I looked, he had vanished. I moved (see: silently ran) to the front door and shot out onto the front porch. I sat next to my husband trying to collect myself. He wasn't prone to moments of silliness like me and was rather sceptical of some of my ghost stories. I never thought him one to admit to seeing a ghost. He took a drag of his cigarette, never asking me why I came exploding out of the house. After a moment he said to me, "You saw it too, didn't you." I swallowed hard and looked at him, "What do you mean?" I replied trying not to break into tears about the big scary ghost that just made me practically wet my pants. He looked at me and said "In the arm chair there in the dark, you saw him too. Looked a lot like your Grandfather and when you went to talk to him, he wasn't there" I nodded. He admitted it scared the tar out of him too. We walked back in together with a lot of lights on.

The next morning, we talked to my Grandmother. My Grandfather was there and said, "Well I was in bed at 8 which was well before you guys went outside so it sure wasn't me" My grandmother scoffed at us and our active imaginations telling us her house wasn't haunted. *I* know better and she's a total non-believing sceptic.

That afternoon I showed my husband photos of my Grandfather and his family. He pointed to one photo and said "That's him. That's who I saw". It was my great grandfather. The same person I thought I saw. He was mean spirited and used to make ghost sounds at us when we'd walk down the hallway or out the front door in the dark trying to scare us on purpose. He thought he was funny.

Not the first tale of sightings in that house, not the last either.

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Comments about this paranormal experience

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, AndiiFL, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

AndiiFL (4 stories) (8 posts)
+2
11 years ago (2012-10-20)
Glad you guys enjoyed the story!
The ghost as of my great grandfather. Want to fix some confusion here. LOL

My great Grandfather scared me at that house (the house of my grandparents) as well as his home, at the store, in the movie theatre. He was a mean 'ol senile man that liked to see little girls scared. He thought it was funny. I know he didn't mean me harm overall. But he was known as a mean old man.

As an adult I cannot see why it was not ok for us to use the pocket door into the back of the house. Maybe they didn't want wear and tear in their forman living room or maybe they were afraid that we'd use the hallway and path through the living room as a race track (as my kids did after my Grandfather died and my grandmother let the great grandkids run freely through the house breaking all the rules). I never saw the reasoning for it and we'd use that door and walk through the room very sneaky. Even as an adult I sneaked through because my Grandfather would tell me NOT to do it.

When I saw my Great Grandfather in the chair in the dark, I had thought I had been caught sneaking through the living room when I wasn't supposed to. I felt like I was 10. LOL
eric1966 (8 posts)
 
11 years ago (2012-10-19)
Scary,i really don't know how i'd react if faced with a ghost. (Don't want to find out either!). Good luck--Eric
shellzy (8 stories) (218 posts)
 
11 years ago (2012-10-17)
Fantastic story and great writing style!

I also thought it was ironic that your great grandfather used to make ghost noises at you when you were younger then showed himself to you as a ghost in later years!

As scary as it was, I bet you were glad that your husband saw the same thing too!

Thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed this

😊
Argette (guest)
 
11 years ago (2012-10-17)
Javelina asked the questions I was going to ask, but I'd like to know why you weren't supposed to use the pocket door.

Scary story. Again, well told.
Javelina (4 stories) (3749 posts)
+1
11 years ago (2012-10-17)
AndiiFL,
Okay, this is number two in the amount of times you have given me the willies today from reading your experiences. Oh yeah, great grandad sounds like a real sweet guy. NOT! Just out of curiosity, did your grandmother get along with him well at all? I mean, how can she not even notice the guy? Even your husband saw him.
The thing your grandfather had about the pocket door... What the heck was that all about? Was this house passed down to him from his father?
Sorry about all the questions, but this is a fascinating account. Thank you again.

Jav 😲
lozlady (4 posts)
 
11 years ago (2012-10-17)
That would have scared the bejesus out of me, as well. How interesting that he showed himself to you and your husband.
The thought that maybe the way he treated you and your sister as young children, would create that energy in the house. I mean, if he made you scared of the hallway, that energy would have imprinted itself on the house as the hallway. Which gives you that feeling of running for your life when you walk down that hallway.
And with your husband seeing him the armchair, that just makes me believe that it is that energy left over that was more akin to showing since you were there.

I don't know, just a thought. But I'm also very sensitive as well, so I know how hard it can be to decifer between what is actually happening, and what is just energy of something that once was, that is nothing more than that: energy.

Anyway, very well written. I love all three of your stories.:)
Lakota73 (5 stories) (108 posts)
+1
11 years ago (2012-10-17)
Fantastic and scary story. Very well written.

How odd that your Great Grandfather scared you into thinking he was a ghost only to appear as a real ghost some time later.

Was the house he scared you in the same house where you saw his apparition? I'm just asking as he could have well embedded the fear in you the hallway was haunted. I'm not saying it was initially your imagination as you saw a very real apparition.

Maybe it was his way of saying sorry or just a residual haunting. Have there been further sightings and by different members of your family?

Thanks for sharing a bone-chilling encounter,

Lakota73 😊
Siskakes (4 stories) (68 posts)
+1
11 years ago (2012-10-17)
I loved this story! It seems your great grandfather became the ghost after pretending for so long to be one! Lol
soulseekerdutta (4 posts)
-1
11 years ago (2012-10-17)
awsum way of writing... Luved the way you described the incident...

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