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Nightmares In Connecticut

 

My name is Vanessa and I'll start by saying that this is the first time I've posted anything on this sight, although I've been reading this sight adamantly for a while now. I've also had a few unexplainable paranormal experiences in my life which I have spent many years trying to understand by studying the paranormal.

The one that stands out the most was my first real notable experience with the paranormal. It was when my parents had just moved us into a new house, which was a big deal at the time since we never had much money growing up since my parents had the three of us young and didn't finish school or anything. Because of that we lived with my grandmother, which was definitely not big enough for all of us.

However, when we moved in our family started changing. We were always a close family, especially since we all practically shared a room at the old house. So it was definitely weird. My dad started drinking a lot and because of it my parents fought constantly, and my brother who was always the closest to me started being a jerk and really more hostile. He was 5 years older than me, at the time I was 10 and he was 15 but up until now it didn't matter, where now anything I said was "childish" and really just annoyed him.

Not long after we moved in, I started having nightmares, extremely vivid and real. It was never exactly the same but was always me in the dream, in the same clothes that I went to bed in hiding in my house or running in my new house from some man who looked to be in his late 60's I would say. He was tallish and really slim. He had a hat on most of the time like an Abe Lincoln hat and don't ask why I know he was evil but he was.

In my dream I never knew why I was trying to stay away from this man but I was. Luckily though, I always woke up before he caught me. When I would wake up I always jumped up like most people do when they have a nightmare, only I would be sweating disgustingly and my heart racing and would lay there until I could finally fall back to sleep.

About three months after the nightmares started, my brother started praying every night before he would go to sleep, which he never did before. I didn't ask him why though, I didn't want to look stupid. Also I never told my parents even though I know they believe in the paranormal and probably would of believed me but there was so much tension now and I wasn't used to it so I would just avoid being home or talking to them and always be out riding bikes with the kids in the neighborhood.

Anyways, I again had the dream where I was running from whoever this man is again. Only it was different though because usually I didn't see him much in the dream it was just mainly me running from him. This night he had a knife and he wouldn't catch up with me but every time I turned to look he was right there, just staring at me.

I jumped awake at some point during it and was more scared than usual. I was laying on my side and was frozen there for like 3-5 minutes and I remember I felt silly because I was ten and shouldn't be so scared and I jokingly thought to myself that at least he never catches up with me... And as I thought this to myself I rolled to lay on my back, so I would be facing the ceiling rather than the wall and when I did the man from my dream was standing on the other side of my tiny little twin bed leaning over the bed like waiting for me to lay back. He looked exactly like he always did, and wearing the Abe Lincoln hat, and had a black old looking trench coat on (which I never saw the trench coat in my dreams before). I was terrified and had that heart dropping feeling like someone knocked the wind out of me.

I screamed as soon as I actually realized what I saw, and as I did he was just gone. My brother woke up because we shared a room and he jumped up and asked what was wrong. I felt stupid so I said nothing and usually he would pry for an answer. This time he just said it's okay ness (my nickname) and told me it's just a dream and go back to sleep. I know this wasn't a dream though, there's just no way. I also know what sleep paralysis is and it wasn't that either. What I saw that night was a demon and judging by my brother's reaction, he had seen him too or at least had experienced the same nightmares, because I never said it was a dream or that I saw the horrible man.

We never talked about anything in the morning or at all really, and I've never told anyone this experience until now. Also I should share that the strange part of this is that I didn't really have anything else happen there to myself at least. Little things would happen like the feeling that you're not alone or being watched and stupid little things would move by themselves. Like my pens would go from my bed to my sock drawer or when I left the room for a second my drink would have been moved to the other end of the table and I know nobody would bother to do that or when I was alone there.

Also I would occasionally hear footsteps or the sound of muffled whispers of a man and a younger girl, a toddler it sounded like, always from the other end of the house when I was home alone after school. But what's strange is that was the first and only time he showed himself to me like that.

We moved out shortly after into a house that was the same price and bigger so my parents took it. I don't know if anybody else had any experiences, but like I said I think my brother had the same nightmare as me.

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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, vanessamarie223, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

vanessamarie223 (1 stories) (8 posts)
 
9 years ago (2015-06-03)
Hi tweed, thank you for your feedback. That means a lot because I do have the tendency to be my own worst enemy. I do think that's possible that's what happened with my parents. Unfortunately my mom passed away a few years after this but I want to ask the other members of my family about the house. Maybe he wasn't a demon, the only time I ever felt that was in my dream never from the peddy playful stuff that happened like the stuff moving or just disappearing. If the man was from that time period maybe that is what was going on. Thank you tweed I appreciate the feedback.

Also I apologize to both of you for the horrible typing and spelling. I typed both of these on my new iphone which autocorrects and honestly just sucks to type anything on lol. Thank you both. ❤
vanessamarie223 (1 stories) (8 posts)
+1
9 years ago (2015-06-03)
Hi rook, thank you for your opinion. As an adult now I look back and can understand that it may have sound like that but I just don't think that's what it was. I say that because aftee we moved my brother and I went back to normal practically the day we moved into the new house because I remember my brothee was helping me move into my new room and remember thinking he was being wierdly nice and waiting for him to stop being so cool to me lol but he didn't. Also after we left nothing like that has happened, although I did have other paranormal experiences, it was nothing like that. Since posting this I also was downstairs watching the show I recorded called paranormal witness and as were watching it my brother happened to be here and made a comment about "I always thought that kmick lane house was wierd" and I just said yeah it was. Ill have to ask him. And as for my parents, my father did stopped his drinking and although he would have an occasional drink it was nothing like it was and my parents were fine again. I have dreamed of this man since but it was like a random thing here and there and wasn't scary as before and didn't wake me up or anything. Thank you rook! I am thankful for any feedback.
Tweed (33 stories) (2475 posts)
+2
9 years ago (2015-06-03)
Hi Vanessamarie, and welcome.

Firstly you're not stupid! I got the impression, from reading your story, you told yourself that an awful lot growing up and I have a feeling you continue this today. It's not true.

I have a theory about your parents fighting and things going down hill after you moved from your grandparents. Based on the detail that they were young when they raised you and your brother, it sounds like they were coming to grips with adult responsibilities at a delayed time. As some of their responsibilities were probably covered while you shared with your grandparents. Your parents *might* not have ever had a chance to go through that kind of day to day give and take in their relationship and had a rude awakening to it when they moved into your new family home. People go through all kinds of lessons at all kinds of ages. I ain't no professional, and I ain't no parent either, this is just some chick off the internet's opinion. But I thought I'd offer it anyway.

On to Mr Abe hat man.

Have a sneaky suspicion he wasn't a bad guy. Certainly no demon either. But really terrifying I agree.
Let's look at what hat man did. Assuming the moved objects were his doing. Keep in mind this man's fashion dates him sometime in the 1800's, potentially.
Moving pens from bed to drawer. This could be a mark of respect. Kind of like everything has a proper place, and respect where you sleep (bed).
Moving the cup could be the same 'proper place' habit. The far end of the table. Etiquette.

Or hat man could have been an extremely vivid dream. I would have been terrified either way and at any age!

Perhaps, if he wasn't all bad, he had a message for someone (no necessarily you) though he chose you, as Rook says, because you were/are sensitive. Perhaps looking over you after you woke up from the dream was him hoping to ask you something or tell you something. Perhaps the dreams weren't about you, but about him, something that happened to him or the girl you heard, in this house.
rookdygin (24 stories) (4458 posts)
+1
9 years ago (2015-06-02)
Vanessa,

Welcome and well met. Thanks for sharing this experience with us... Here is my 'two cents'...

New House after living with Grandmother... Family of 5 (Dad, Mom 3 kids...) Close family living in tight quaters.

First: 'family started changing' Dads drinking... Did your Dad drink at all before? Parents Fighting... (more on that in a bit...)

Second: 15 year old Brother (5 years older than you) starts treating you like a jerk... This sounds like normal 'growing pains' I know what my sister and I were like at that age (I am 4 years older than her) so this sounds normal... Ish (but more on this later as well)

Third: The nightmares... Guess what... Its later...😉

It's my opinion that you are... Or at least were sensitive when you were this age (you may still be) and with all the stress from the move, your fathers drinking, the mom and dad fights and your older brothers attitude towards you caused you to have these nightmares and the 'stress' within your household took the form of this tall, thin man in the stove pipe hat.

The night of the physical manifestation... What do you remember about that particular night... What was the weather like... Had your parents just had another fight... Was your brother grumpier than what had become 'normal'?

It's my opinion that what you experienced was a manifesttation of the 'stress' in the Houshold... Add to that the potintal (sp?) of 'poltergiest activity' becasue of your brothers age AND the stress in the home and you get 'scary, evil man chasing the sensitive young 10 year old... Not only in her dreams... But as a single 'shot' physical manifestation.

Did these nightmares continue in the new home? Did your Father continue to drink and you parents fight? Did your brother begin to treat you nicer after the move?

I am not asking to 'pry' but a change of any 'one thing' that was happening would effect the whole of what you were experiencing... And 'increase' in negitive emotions and actions would lead itself to an increase in your experiences while an 'increase' for the better (positive) would lead to your experiences decreasing.

I hope that makes some kind of sense.

Respectfully,

Rook

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