My Shed

I have never seen a ghost nor do I wish to see one. I am very sceptical about anything to do with the paranormal. I like mundane explanations because they are answers I can understand and get my head around. However, recent events have led me to searching the internet for not so mundane answers and this is where I have chosen to start. I know nothing about these things, so here goes.

I live in a small town called Taipa in Northland, New Zealand. My wife Claire and I moved here about 6 months ago from the city. The house we bought is old but it was in our price range and we're slowly fixing it up piece by piece. It's a nice quiet place with plenty of room for our two dogs to run around on. We're close to the beach and we're far enough away from our neighbours to still get all the privacy we enjoy.

In the backyard we have an old building near the fence line where I decided to keep my tools and gardening equipment. I'm not sure what the structure was used as before, but the design is different to the main house and it looks much older. When we first arrived, I spent a good two days cleaning it out as it was full of junk and smelled like a rodent was decomposing in there somewhere.

We'd been in our new house for a little over two weeks before Claire experienced what may have been the first incident. It was a sunny Sunday morning and I decided to spend a couple of hours out fishing on the beach while Claire had planned to do some much needed gardening. When I returned home from another fruitless morning of fishing I found Claire in the garden pulling out weeds.

As I approached, I noticed a nasty dark bruise on the back of her arm just above her elbow. It was very dark and roughly 3 inches in diameter. She said it happened in the tool shed while she was getting the lawnmower out. At first we thought it may have been an insect bite of some sort as she described feeling a painful pinch on the back of her arm. We decided to get the doctor to have a look at it but he didn't find any bite marks and said that it was just a bad bruise. The bruise eventually went away and we didn't think any more of it.

Several weeks later we were in the back courtyard having a barbecue when we heard a loud bang coming from the tool shed. The noise sounded too loud to be something falling over. It sounded like it had some force behind it. There was no lock on the tool shed so I naturally assumed someone was in there messing with our stuff.

I quickly grabbed the nearest weapon I could find (which happened to be my barbecue fork), told Claire to call the police and ran down to investigate while yelling, "Who's in there!" The dogs were going nuts barking at the shed. I'm not sure what my actual plan was or if I even had a plan, but I was pumped full of adrenalin now and ready.

When I reached the shed I flung the door open, and braced myself. There was no one in there. In fact, everything was in place except one of my spades was lying on the floor and a dent in one of the walls. I checked around the back of the shed but didn't see any sign of the intruder. Even if they ran, there was no way they could leave the property without crossing my line of sight.

Eventually the police arrived and I showed them to the shed. They asked a few questions and looked for fingerprints but didn't find any accept for mine and Claire's. No one was hurt and nothing was missing, so they didn't seem too concerned.

A little over three months went by with no further events, then about a month and a half ago I was watering the plants in the courtyard when I noticed that the shed door was open. I had purchased a padlock after the last incident so it should have been locked.

After I finished watering the plants, I went over to the shed to close and lock the door but I couldn't find the padlock anywhere. I thought perhaps Claire was in the middle of something and had left the door open, so I went inside to ask her if she knew where the padlock was. She said she had no idea, she hadn't gone near the shed all day.

I decided to go back and have a look in the shed just in case I had absentmindedly left the padlock in there. As I was walking through the backyard towards the shed, I saw the door open. It was a still day and there was no wind to blow the door open and I was absolutely sure I had just closed it.

As I reached the door to the shed it slammed shut. I called out and quickly opened the door, hoping to catch whoever it was in the act. Once again, there was no one in there. As I stepped through the threshold I was overwhelmed with unfathomable dread. It was an unshakable feeling of such despair that seeped into my soul. The shed reeked of decomposing flesh.

My immediate reaction was to back out as quickly as possible. The door slammed shut again. I was rather shaken to say the least. I made my way back to the house to sit down. Claire was in the kitchen doing dishes when I came in. She noticed straight away that I was rattled. I poured myself a bourbon and told her about what had happened.

Since then I have only ventured into the shed a handful of times. Mostly with no incidents. Last week I got most of my tools and equipment out of the shed. It wasn't until I went to put a new padlock on the door that I again felt the unmistakable dread. That padlock is now missing too. I try to avoid going into the shed now. The door still randomly slams shut on its own. It's not often but we hear it every now and then. The dogs won't go anywhere near the it.

Not quite sure what to make of it all, so I'm hoping someone can give me advice on what it may be and how to get rid of it? I'd really appreciate getting my shed back. Your thoughts and suggestions are welcome.