Have you ever had an experience that was so unexplainable, that even after twenty years, you still pull that memory out and examine it, searching for answers? That is what happened to me, and I am still grappling with this experience. It all started when I was ten years old, in the summer of 1982.
My family had flown from Pennsylvania to California to visit my Aunt and cousins. I have never had any type of paranormal experiences aside from those in this house, which I am about to relate. So I had no bad vibes or hesitation about staying at this house, the thought of anything paranormal never crossed my mind. A little background on the room I was staying in, it belonged to my cousin and had a very large clown painted on the wall. At this point I was not scared of clowns, not amused either, just indifferent. The lights in the room were controlled by a dimmer switch, you would push the switch in to turn it on and then turn it to adjust the brightness of the light. For some unexplained reason, my cousin, brother and I spent the night sleeping on the floor, no one was in the bed, must have been a kid thing. I awoke in the middle of the night and noticed that the light was getting brighter and brighter. As I lay on the floor trying to figure out what was going on, the lights started to get dimmer and dimmer. The change was not super fast, but definitely fast enough to be noticeable. The dimmer switch was located next to the door, and I expected to see my folks or aunt standing there, checking up on the kids, but the door was firmly shut.
I have never been so scared in my life, too scared to even wake the others up, I just laid there watching the lights get brighter then dimmer to the point it was almost total darkness. The scariest part was that I knew that clown was on the wall a few feet away from the dimmer switch, I could not bring myself to glance away from that switch, certain that the clown would be looking at me. It seemed like the lights were changing for hours, but that was probably the fear that made it seem so long. I do not think I ever went back to sleep that night, just stayed there, too scared to move!
In thinking back on this over the years I have never come up with a logical explanation for what I was, it seems that a malfunctioning light might have gone on and off, but not brighter to dimmer. I also questioned whether I truly "woke-up", but the experience is so clear, the feelings and the fear, after twenty five years, that it seems unlikely. Ever since that night, I have been scared to death of clowns.
Fast forward to twenty plus years, I was taking a business trip out to California and was planning on staying at my Aunt's home for a few days before I started my work. I was exhausted the night I arrived and went to bed early. Honestly, the entire light episode was so far from my mind, that I fell asleep instantly. I awoke at 4:30 in the morning, wide awake. This always happens when I fly from the east coast to the west, and have found the best way to deal with it is to just get up, knowing I would not be able to fall back to sleep. I decided to go into the family room and watch TV, since that room was far removed from the bedrooms, no one would be disturbed at that early hour. In order to get to the family room I had to walk down the hallway the bedrooms were located in through the den. As soon as I entered the den, I froze. There is no other way to describe it; I just did not want to take a step into that room. To the right side of the den is a couch, without looking at the couch, it was as if I sensed that there was something there, that did not want me in that room. I admit it I ran through that room into the living room, never glancing at the couch. When I got to the living room, everything felt normal, but I still turned on every light and the TV! As I sat there, I thought back to that first experience and the one that just occurred. I could not explain that overwhelming fear I felt. I had never felt anything like that in my life, I thought maybe subconsciously I was thinking about that earlier experience and it was affecting me still.
After a few hours, my aunt joined me in the living room. We had never spoken of the paranormal, and I was not sure what her views are on it, so I was not sure if I should mention it to her or not. Well, I ended up telling her everything, both the experience twenty some years ago (which I had never mentioned to anyone but my brother) and that mornings adventure. It was then she told me that when they had first moved into their home, she had a very vivid dream that there were two people sitting on the couch in the den, she said you could not make out features, they were more black shapes, but it appeared that both "shapes" were holding cigarettes. In her dream she said you could see the red tip of the cigarettes glowing.
I still can not decide if the experiences I had at that house were a combination of my imagination and electrical problems, or if something is truly in that home. The second experience I tend to doubt more easily since it relied on feelings. I almost wish I had looked at the couch to see if something was there. But I know if I had it to do over again, I would still run. I should note that I have lived in various places, some of which have been over a hundred years old and never had any other experiences at all.
Any thoughts, ideas or explanations would be appreciated. And yes, I still hate clowns.
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