The Encounters

One night, while out enjoying a few drinks with friends, we had stumbled upon the topic of paranormal encounters. While many of my colleagues had fascinating stories of sounds and shadows, only my dear friend Don and I had any really first-hand experience with what we consider another realm of existence. I will start with Don's story and then continue into my own.

Don's story: "10 years ago I lived in a small home with my new wife and young son. He was 3 at the time and we live what I considered a normal, happy life. The house was previously owned by an elderly woman who was barren widow. We bought the house from her bank because she had no next of kin to will it to.

One night, after our final box was unpacked, I decided to take my wife to a nice dinner. I dropped my son off at my mother's home and we went out. I remember locking all the doors as I always did and all the windows were shut in the house (it was early winter and very cold).

After the meal me and my wife had made our way home to relax and enjoy the evening. I unlocked the front door and heard the sound of water running and noticed the light was on upstairs. Perhaps I had left the sink on after shaving or the toilet was running.

As I started to walk up the stairs I noticed the light was on, which was odd because I remember shutting it off; my wife had reminded me to do so when she noticed me walking down the stairs. I walked up and the bathroom lights were both on. That is not what alarmed me, not as much as what I discovered next. All the towels from the closest were in the tub with water running. The tub was full by now with the drain closed.

I ran throughout the house checking every window, closet, bed, and room. All the windows were locked, all the doors were locked, and no one was in the house. If someone had made their way into my house they would had to have leap out a window and locked it from the inside within the first few minutes of my wife and I returning. The water would have been overflowing any earlier.

No one had a key to that house. We had 2 keys and me and my wife both had them that night. The windows only opened from the inside. I do not know what did this but I had the house blessed by a priest the next day."

My story: "I grew up in a home where a grizzly double murder/suicide happened decades earlier, that is how my father got the home so cheap. I have never heard a noise, never seen a thing, and most certainly never had nightmares in my home.

We added on to our home about 10 years ago so we have 2 basements. One has low ceilings and old walls, the other is modern and semi-finished with a movie projector and very nice furniture.

One night I had fallen asleep to a movie on the projector, as I often do. A few minutes after the movie run time, the projector will turn itself off to conserve energy.

I remember having a strange dream. My mother and I were walking throughout the house looking for a ghost with a flashlight. We went in every room and finally made our way down to the old basement to find nothing. She decided to then work our way into the new basement.

I remember walking down the stairs and seeing myself sleeping on the couch in my own dream. I instantly woke up. There was an eerie feeling in the pitch black room. I slowly stood up to walk upstairs and make my way to bed.

As I stood, I heard a wispy voice say my name. I have never ran so fast in my life. I sprinted to my room on the 3rd floor and locked my door. After calming myself down and debunking the sound as imagination I fell asleep.

I had, for the first time in my life, a terrifying nightmare. I was in an ill-light parking deck. I could see nothing but a single light hanging from the ceiling, a door, and 4 concrete walls blocking the space that were around 5 feet in height. There was nothing but blackness everywhere. I heard my mother's voice saying that someone had robbed grandma's grave.

I looked to the far wall and saw a black creature digging up next to a tombstone that was marked with my grandmother's name. It was clawing at the ground next to the uncared for crooked epitaph. When I saw it, it leap over onto me.

This is where my nightmare began to turn horrible. I awoke, but I was frozen. I could slightly see but I could not move. I tried to call out for help but could only get a muttered inaudible grown out. I kept telling myself to wake up but I couldn't, I was already awake.

I then saw this creature from my dream open the door and enter my room. My struggle became more powerful. I had to move, I had to fall back asleep or wake up. I groaned and tried to yell but nothing would happen. The creature jumped across the room and landed next to me. It started to move on top of me and with one final struggle, I was able to move and scream for help. The creature was gone when I awoke.

I am an RN now and I know that sleep paralysis had these symptoms with it. The inability to move, the nightmare, the terrifying creature attacking you, I understand that it is all caused by my mind. What really made me terrified was the fact that my locked door, which takes a key to open from the inside, was open. My key was still on the night stand where I left it when I locked the door.

In the 15 years I have lived in that home I have never once slept with an open door. The question becomes: what opened my door?