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The Old Mill

 

I was working an overnight shift in an old textile mill. The mill was 117 years old. I had to stay overnight to keep an eye on a leaky water main where it entered the building. By 11pm the building was empty. I made a quick tour of the building just to satisfy myself that I was alone. Security had gone through before me and when they left they told me I was alone in the building as well. It was about 11:30pm when I returned to my post to watch the pipe leak slowly. There wasn't much to do in the small space so I started to read a book.

It was about 12:30am when I heard a muffled conversation outside the space I was in. I got up and stuck my head out of the room and looked down the hallway but there was no one there. I sat back down and picked up my book and I heard it again. This time I walked out of the office and up and down the hall. I checked each room and found no one else there. Now this is a 3 story building and I only checked the first floor, the floor I was on. I sat back down and read for a little while longer. I needed to stretch so I took a walk.

I went to the third floor and walked the main corridor. Everything was quiet. Same thing on the second floor. I looked out the windows and saw my vehicle was the only one in the lot.

It was about and hour later and I had made my tour of the building and heated up a dinner. I was sitting in the space with the leaky pipe eating dinner when I heard the muffled voices again. I ignored it this time and eventually they either faded away or I tuned them out. I sat there and read for about an hour after I ate with no other noises.

At 3am I got up to go to the bathroom. I walked down the corridor passing 4 offices before getting to the bathroom. All was quiet and dark inside the offices. I did my business and washed my hands and walked out of the bathroom. I noticed the office nearest me now had a small desk lamp on. I didn't see anyone in the office so I stuck my head outside to see if a car was here. There were none. I went back inside and looked around. I called out a couple of times but got no answer. I mustered up some courage and entered the locked office where the desk lamp was shining. I looked around and there didn't seem to be anything out of place. I shut off the light and backed out of the room. I pulled the door tight and backed away.

Just as I left the corridor and entered the space with the leaky pipe I heard a door slam. I may have made a noise myself, may have let out a startled scream but I am not sure. I looked back out, down the corridor and I saw nothing. I was pretty well freaked out but I managed to walk down the hallway. When I got to the last office near the bathrooms I noticed that the desk lamp was back on. I didn't bother turning it off again. I went back to my space and sat listening. I couldn't even concentrate enough to read. I just sat and listened. The voices would come and go. Sometimes nearly loud enough to make out the conversation but never quite. As the sun rose and the light made it's way inside the building the voices ended.

The first shift worker arrived just before 6am and I couldn't wait to get out of there. It was just too creepy for me.

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

Lenalaney (2 stories) (13 posts)
 
17 years ago (2007-09-01)
Shane, the idea of subsurface crystals perpetuating the "loop" is one of the neatest things I've heard or read in a long time. Other people said "ley lines" and upon reading your commentaries, I must say I'm impressed. That's the most refreshing thing I've thought about in quite a while. Now, you have to do us all a favor and come up with your "bibliography" (lol!) Thanks for sharing and I'll definitely be checking your commentaries. Keep up the good work! And any comments to what differences or what makes ley lines would be appreciated. Lena
Shane (13 stories) (1258 posts)
 
17 years ago (2007-08-21)
It was low frequency sound waves, lower than the human ear can hear, played over a 24 hour period that is supposed to be able to stop residual hauntings from happening. I do not know the frequency or where you would even get a recording like that from. But it has something to do with disbursing the energy that is trapped in the crystals in the earth below the haunted site.

Peace, Love, and Luck be with you.
Martin (602 posts) mod
 
17 years ago (2007-08-19)
Aaah thanks Shane, that makes sense. It doesn't mean I excuse your mini vacation though, leaving your ghost hunting expert post like that 😉 hehe, kidding. By the way, Abby, you were free to answer too, I asked Shane because he was the first to describe it as such. Thanks for the big hearts too ❤ (I knew these would be popular)
Shane (13 stories) (1258 posts)
 
17 years ago (2007-08-19)
Martin, sorry to take so long in responding, took a mini vacation. The reason residual hauntings stop when a person enters the area is because our energy interupts the energy field that is being used to generate the play back. I have heard that it is possible to stop residual haunting by applying a different energy source to the area. I will just be darned if I can remember what it was though.
If I remember or come across the article again I will let you know.

Peace, Love, and Luck be with you.
Lenalaney (2 stories) (13 posts)
 
17 years ago (2007-08-16)
I don't think it's a residual haunting, but an interactive conscious entity as demonstrated by turning the light back on and the slamming of the door. The ghost, most likely an early caretaker, is gaurding his territory from outsiders. That mill was his life and he can not let got of it which is not good. Perhaps his partner is the other entity and could have died prematurely and/or tragically while working on the mill. The muffled voices that you could "almost" understand is how it was with the haunted house I was born in. Our ghosts never did anything like slamming a door or turning lights on. It would be interesting to see the history of the place. I bet you would find a tragic end to a couple of old timers that just can't let go. Interesting story. Thanks for sharing. Lena
Martin (602 posts) mod
 
17 years ago (2007-08-16)
Shane, I do have a question regarding residual hauntings, if they are impersonal recordings of events playing on a loop, how come it stops when you come into the room as if you are disturbing them? Either it's a human reaction from ghosts, which would discard the residual haunting theory, or it's a matter of perception from the person hearing it, like seeing something from the corner of our eyes and it disappears when we look at it directly. Maybe our subconscious censors the experience if we pay full attention to it.
KimSouthO (27 stories) (1960 posts)
 
17 years ago (2007-08-16)
i think you definitely experienced a paranormal event. Wow, I don't think I could have lastecd the entire night by myself. Once hearing a few of the noises and conversations, my imagination would have gotten away from me making everything magnified.
dorenzotomas (1 stories) (3 posts)
 
17 years ago (2007-08-16)
Hi, this is Tom's wife Doreen. Our stories are about the same mill. I gave him a link to this website and he loves it. I have contacted and been contacted by people interested in investigating the building but nothing has ever come of it. I wish someone would though, it is an interesting place with a great history. We have spoken to at least a half a dozen people with creepy stories about the place. I have also spoken with people that work in surrounding mills and each have their own stories as well.
Abby (710 posts)
 
17 years ago (2007-08-16)
Dear Tom,

I agree with Shane that you may have experienced a residual haunting and/or a ghost haunting. This would make an interesting investigation, but most likely they are but energy imprints of the past replaying over and over again or a worker/workers who may have died there by an accident perhaps.

I was wondering if you are a plumber or work for the mill. It seems odd that they would leave just one person to watch a leaky water main, as what if the leak had greatly increased and flooded the place? Now, that would have been scary.

I truly enjoy mills and have had the opportunity to tour or dine in quite a few.

A Milling Thanks, --Abby
Shane (13 stories) (1258 posts)
 
17 years ago (2007-08-15)
That very well could have been a residual haunting with the voices. Now the other happenings could be an active haunt, but without doing further investigation I couldn't say for sure. Thank you for sharing your story with us.

Peace, Love, and Luck be with you.
Martin (602 posts) mod
 
17 years ago (2007-08-15)
Hi Tom, is your story related to:

Mill Haunting
http://www.yourghoststories.com/real-ghost-story.php?story=1712

They sound very similar. Anyway, that was quite the set up for the first minutes of a ghost movie! Except you wouldn't have survived 😉 Glad you did.

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