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Haunted House In De Aar

 

A few months ago, while visiting my brother in New Zealand, I coerced him into retelling me his preternatural experiences while still living in South Africa. It was like pulling teeth when he first started, but then it all came tumbling out so fast that I had to ask him to stop, while I grabbed pen and paper to take notes.

This first account took place over thirty years ago (1983), when he was first married. Rob (I have his permission to use his name) was working for SAR&H (South African Railways & Harbours) at the time. He had been posted, by his work, to the smallish town of De Aar in the middle of the Great Karoo where the second largest rail junction in SA is situated. I know his bride, "L", wasn't too impressed, especially when she saw the house they were to live in.

The railway house was almost antique (by South-African standards), to all accounts (I never saw this house), but it was near Rob's work. Besides the house being old, it was dark, dingy and dirty. It had been neglected too and had an eerie feel to it. "L" was so disgusted with the kitchen cupboards that Rob had to order new ones from Kimberley.

Shortly after moving in, the high-jinks began. The new cupboards were obviously not approved of by the spirits of the house. They were heard banging open and shut in the middle of the night, while the sound of crashing plates echoed from the kitchen walls. Naturally, on investigation, nothing was amiss in the kitchen. This happened more than once.

One weekend, Rob, "L" and one of Rob's work assistants left the house at 4pm (it was still broad daylight) to set up a disco that Rob held/ran nearby. They made sure to switch off the radio and lock the doors before leaving. On their return, late that night, they found the house ablaze with light. Every light in the house was switched on and the radio was playing full blast. All three stood looking in bewilderment; then the fearful thought struck them that the house may have been broken into. They were flabbergasted to discover that the doors were still locked and all windows were secure. Despite Rob being a qualified electrician by trade, he could find no electrical fault with the house.

Sometimes at night, a hacking cough could be heard coming from the passageway. Rob said it sounded like an elderly man with lung problems. The ancient toilet, which was extremely difficult to flush and needed great force to get the mechanism to work (being one of those outdated 'pull chain' models) was heard flushing by itself, just after they got into bed. Rob and "L" looked at one another with "What the h...!" expressions, leaped out of bed to investigate, to discover the cistern refilling but no human evidence in sight.

Needless to say, Rob and "L" only lived there for two months. They found another, more modern house to move into. They had packed literally everything except the bed they were sleeping in. On that last night, the jangle of curtains violently opening and shutting resonated from the lounge. The problem was, the curtains, plus rings and curtain rods had already been taken down and packed.

Rob admitted that in the beginning, when these other worldly sounds started, he would sit on the side of his bed, gun in hand, too scared to go look what was going on. I think these were the first supernatural happening in his life.

The second house, thankfully, was light and airy, devoid of anything that went bump (or cough) in the night.

On a side note: While my brother was narrating this, suddenly one of his cats came flying into the room like all the hounds of hell were at her heels - Rob hopped about six inches off his chair. I ragged him, saying that he was scaring himself with his own ghost stories.

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

Tweed (36 stories) (2529 posts)
+2
9 years ago (2016-04-05)
lol Fergie I got the impression L was a bit of a snob, but I didn't want to say anything! 😆
Fergie (40 stories) (1159 posts)
+2
9 years ago (2016-04-05)
Tweed, all I can say is, thank goodness I have never had to live in a house like that. I think it would have changed my whole perspective of the supernatural. 😉 I have had only two experiences which freaked me out, both of which I have written about on this site.

As for ghosts flushing toilets? My take ~ just to prove they can. My guess is that "L" was too 'high class' (she is a bit of a snob) for the previous tenants and they wanted her out. Well, they got their way, didn't they?

I really wish it was easy for us here in SA to dig into records and find the history of houses or properties.

Thanks Tweed, for reading, and your comment. 😊
Tweed (36 stories) (2529 posts)
+1
9 years ago (2016-04-05)
Fergie, some houses seem to be filled with 'what the heckness'. 😆 I couldn't find any logic whatsoever for what these ghosties got up to. Sounds like your poor brother ran in with some restless former residents who wanted he and L gone.
Why do ghosts flush toilets? Honestly. Maybe they do it for a laugh, I hope so! 😆
Fergie (40 stories) (1159 posts)
 
9 years ago (2016-04-01)
Hi BabyGP, Lol, what a thought. Spirits holding their own disco!? Hmm, I got the impression that there was more than one ghost/spirit in that house. Could it be possible for them to band together? A hilarious notion. 😉

As always, thank you for your comment. Are you a groupie? LOL 😆
babygoatpuller (4 stories) (432 posts)
+2
9 years ago (2016-03-31)
Fergie- I wonder if the ghost wasn't having a disco of it's own. Rob was out to his and comes back home to one going on in the house! 😆

Can't wait to hear about more of his umm... "adventures". Although I'm sure he doesn't think of them in that way. 😊
Fergie (40 stories) (1159 posts)
 
9 years ago (2016-03-31)
Hi Mack,

You pose very interesting questions. Unfortunately, I don't have answers for you. I can only hypothesize: Maybe it is easier to replicate kinetic sounds than to vocalize, in some instances? I am sure some of our esteemed members of YGS have more ideas than I.

BTW, thank you for the compliment, and the post.
Fergie (40 stories) (1159 posts)
 
9 years ago (2016-03-31)
Red, thank you.
Lol, at my first attempt to 'extract' the spooky experiences from my brother, he got sort of mixed up with some of the details. At times, I didn't know which house or experience he was taking about. That is why I had to take notes - even then I still got things a bit muddled. It took a few emails, post-visit, to get it all sorted out. So, look forward to more very scary experiences from/about Rob.

Glad I could supply you with a chuckle, Red. Thanks for your comment, and happy you enjoyed my narration. ❤
Fergie (40 stories) (1159 posts)
 
9 years ago (2016-03-31)
Seraphina, you are correct; this was just the start for my brother, as far as the supernatural is concerned. His, and his families' experiences are far more scary than mine. I don't think I would be able to endure the things Rob has been through.

You asked of my interpretation of the curtain sounds. The first thought that came to mind was that the spirit was extremely annoyed that they were leaving. But who knows, maybe it was just giving them a 'goodbye scare'? 😕

Thanks for the compliment, Seraphina, and for your comment. ❤
Fergie (40 stories) (1159 posts)
 
9 years ago (2016-03-31)
Spiritwaiting,

I'm glad you had a giggle. I just Had to throw that last bit in to 'lighten the mood'. Rob did look like he needed a change of underwear at that moment. 😆

Rob and "L" stayed in the "lighter" house for +-2 years before being relocated (again by his work) to a city nearer to where I stay. But that is another story.

Thanks for reading, and your comment, Spiritwaiting.
Fergie (40 stories) (1159 posts)
 
9 years ago (2016-03-31)
Calamity,

I agree, it must have been very scary for Rob and "L" to live in that house, not knowing when the next incident would happen.

My impression was that the spirit was angry, and was showing its displeasure by making loud noises, by whatever means possible. I don't think, but this was just My opinion, that it wanted the curtains back up.

Yes, I do have more unexplained experiences of Rob and his family. 😊

Thank you, Calamity, for your comment. I am glad you enjoyed my narrative and thanks for the compliment.
Macknorton (5 stories) (646 posts)
+1
9 years ago (2016-03-31)
Hi Fergie

Thanks for sharing - you write so well, and with humor. It's all very vivid😊

The thought that struck me as I read was: Why do spirits consistently decide to reproduce sounds? Such as cupboards opening / crashing, plates smashing in this case and in other cases, heavy furniture being dragged around?

What kind of mechanism or method is used to re-create these noises? They seem to defy the physics as we understand how sound waves are created.

Noises that are indiscernible from "false" noises and are frighteningly real? And following on from that; if they are capable on a whim of producing those sounds, why can't they produce more vocalizations?

Surely its on the same par? And wouldn't they want to vocalize at people if they are upset? I'm merely pondering aloud here; it's fascinating stuff and does my head in when I really think about it!

Cheers

Mack
RedWolf (31 stories) (1292 posts)
+1
9 years ago (2016-03-30)
Fergie,
I love your story! I hope you can get him to tell you more without scaring the heck out of himself. 😆
Thanks again for the story. I needed a good chuckle.

Regards
Red
Seraphina (7 stories) (147 posts)
+1
9 years ago (2016-03-30)
Thanks for another wonderful story, Fergie
It does end with a chuckle, but I can sympathize with your brother, since this kind of occurrence still scares the snot out of me! Sounds as though he went on to have many more experiences. Hope you'll tell us about them. ❤

About the noise from phantom curtains: How would you interpret that? In some experiences I've read here the spirit seems to get agitated when people are about to abandon him/her. Do you think this spirit was letting them know he wanted them to stay?
~Seraphina
spiritwaiting (42 stories) (843 posts)
+1
9 years ago (2016-03-30)
Fergie,

I giggled a bit at the end of your story.
And then thinking about your brother being in the room to scared to look.
Hehe I've definitely been there.
When it's anyones first encounters with the supernatural, I agree it can be terrifying.

I'm happy to hear he has found a "lighter" place to live. And nothing is going on there.

Thanks for sharing
Spiritwaiting
Calamity (2 stories) (53 posts)
+1
9 years ago (2016-03-30)
Fergie,

What a great story. I can only imagine how frightening it would have been living in that house. Two months is two months more than I would have lasted! How creepy that the curtains, rings and rods had already been packed. You have to wonder what the spirit was trying to communicate with the noise of them being opened and closed. Maybe he wanted Rob and "L" to hang them back up and leave them for him!

I enjoyed reading your post and hope you have more of Rob's stories to share.

Calamity

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