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Real Ghost Stories

My First Time

 

I would like to start this by describing myself first. I think it is important to have some sense of the person relating a story so that the reader may know some point of reference from which it is being told. I am an engineer, and I am told that I have a very logic driven mind. Although I imagine myself to have some of the left-brained tendencies, it is true that I seek (and usually find) a logical reason to most things. Previous to this encounter, I have never experienced anything that I would put into the category of supernatural or ghostly in origin.

I have always been curious about the topic of the supernatural, often reading stories and occasionally watching some of those TV programs about encounters. An ex-girlfriend of mine (who was from Japan and described herself as someone able to interact with spirits) said she saw a black aura around me which acted like some form of ghost repellant. It was her (expert?) opinion that I was the kind of person that ghosts would avoid. Perhaps I should later describe the experiences of that ex-girlfriend, as she certainly told me more ghost encounters than anyone I have ever met (although I also had the impression she didn't tell me nearly all she had to tell...). I honestly think she was a little bit crazy, but not necessarily about the ghosts. I had broken up with this ex-girlfriend years before, so she was not even remotely in my mind when I had the following encounter. I mention her only to relate the part about me being somehow repellant to ghosts. In any case, you now know something about me as I relate this occurrence: I am an engineer, I am logical, I have bad luck with relationships, and I seemingly repel ghosts even though I am interested in the topic.

My previous job in sales involved much traveling around southeast Asia. I would travel almost every week. One week to Thailand, one week to Japan, one week to Singapore, and so on. The consequence of this continual travel was that I would spend many, many nights in various hotels. To me, a hotel was simply a place to sleep, and more often than not, to write those late night emails back to the company I worked for in the States that would be waking up just as I should be laying down to sleep. Hotels, I have come to learn, are prime locations for spirits as well as travelers.

On this particular occasion, I was in Vietnam in the small coastal town of Vung Tau. I had just completed my usual week long business meetings. Nothing at all notable had occurred during my week's stay. Check out of the hotel was at noon, and I had packed my bags in preparation of being able to grab them and leave after I finished eating lunch. I ate lunch at a local restaurant with my colleagues and upon return to the hotel, I went up to retrieve my bags for the long drive to Saigon. Upon exiting the elevator, I had to turn right and then right again to enter the long hallway of rooms of which my room (room 816) was at the very end on the left. I relate this particular fact because I think it is important to note that in the 15-30 seconds it took me to walk down the hallway to my room, I could see clearly that no one was in the hallway. No one had entered or exited my room. If they had, I would have clearly seen them, so I am quite certain that no person (maid or otherwise) was responsible for what I next witnessed.

Coming to my room, I inserted the electronic key, heard the lock open and then pushed the door open. Immediately upon opening, I heard the unmistakable sound of the toilet flushing. The bathroom entrance was very near to the entry door, in fact it was immediately next to the entry door (allowing only for the distance of the door swing). Because I heard the toilet flushing, I thought the maid may have been in the room commencing her cleaning before I had checked out (that would have been unlikely, but certainly possible). I called out something like "Hello?" because I didn't want to startle her if it was the maid. In two steps I had closed the distance from the entry door to the bathroom door.

While I was taking those two steps to the bathroom door, I noticed that the flushing toilet sounded different from normal. It sounded as if a lot of water was flushing, not the normal amount of water. This struck me as an odd sound even before I reached the bathroom entrance. Upon reaching the bathroom entrance, I was immediately struck by two notable things. First, I could now see the toilet, and I was very surprised to see the quantity of water sloshing around in the toilet. Of course, I have watched a toilet being flushed, but the quantity of the water that I saw in the toilet this time was much, much greater than a normally flushing toilet. I am talking about perhaps triple the amount of a regular flush. Now, the strangest thing yet was that as soon as I set eyes upon the toilet, I heard the flushing sound stop. Somehow, as soon as I looked at it, the water suddenly ceased to flow. I actually saw the residual water continue to slosh around rather violently for a few seconds before it finally settled down. At the same time my mind was processing the visual display, I was also struck simultaneously by the second notable thing. This was the horrendous, nauseating smell that permeated the bathroom. It was a ghastly smell, and something that I had to process in my mind at the same time that the water was sloshing around.

As my (logical) mind was trying to process the sight (and smell) before me, I got that unmistakable tingly feeling at the back of my neck that has been described by many others with better skill to describe it than me. Something was not right, and I could immediately sense the "not-rightness" of it. And although I fancy myself as being brave, I did not entertain any notion of sticking around to investigate what the cause of the violent flushing may have been. I took two backwards steps away from the bathroom door (not wanting to turn my back on it), reached blindly over to my suitcase which luckily had been pre-packed, and fumbled my way out the door. Hurrying down the elevator, I stumbled out and managed to check out. Sheepishly, I asked the front desk staff if any one had mentioned previously about room 816 being haunted. Their eyes were wide with surprise and a bit of fright. The Vietnamese have a healthy respect for ghosts, and I am quite satisfied to know that they at least believed me, even if my coworkers did nothing but mock my story during the 2-hour ride to Saigon.

As I said, I have a logical mind. Of course, I have thought of the possibility that a maid was in the room cleaning, and I startled her upon which she somehow hid out of site. I can not settle on that for explanation because I did not see anyone when I entered the room, nor did I see anyone enter or leave the room as I walked down the corridor. My engineering mind is always seeking reasonable explanations. I have thought of the possibility that the toilet valve was stuck open (perhaps I had flushed it prior to going to lunch), and the stuck valve was responsible for the running water. I can not settle on that for explanation either, because the amount of water flowing was greatly more than normal, to the point of splashing out of the bowl. And how then to explain that the valve stopped flushing the moment I looked into the bathroom? I could find no certain logical explanation, and I have thought it over many times.

Because I return to hotel very frequently for business, I have come to know the front desk staff, and they have come to know me. They know by now not to offer me the key for room 816 anymore. I refuse to enter that room, and nothing will entice me even though it is said to be one of the best in the hotel.

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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, jabond99, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

Bibliothecarius (9 stories) (1091 posts)
+3
4 years ago (2019-10-20)
Apologies, Jabond99, I'm responding to WisconsinLady's point.

WisconsinLady, please don't think I was dismissing your points or being overly-critical of your logic; I'm one of the people who "upvoted" your comment before I wrote my response. You raised good, sensible explanations for the phenomena; it was while I read your breakdown of the events that I realized the unlikelihood of both issues occurring *simultaneously* in one hotel bathroom on the 8th floor, then "the strangest thing yet was that as soon as I set eyes upon the toilet, I heard the flushing sound stop."

Your exploration of Jabond99's sequence of events is what showed me how really damn strange the situation was.

My apologies for any hurt feelings, and for slightly-derailing Jabond99's response thread. We now return to discussion of Jabond99's narrative.

Best,
Biblio.
jabond99 (3 stories) (61 posts)
+5
4 years ago (2019-10-20)
Hello all, and thank you for the warm welcome to YGS.

I appreciate the feedback and potential explanations. Don't worry, I am not afraid "not being believed" and I still seek out a logical reason for this. However, as Biblio noted, it is the "summation" of all the events that make me believe it is not a mechanical problem alone.

I would just like to re-emphasize the amount of water I saw... It was far more than a normal flush, or the amount I've seen before when a toilet valve stuck open. It was literally splashing out of the bowl.

I tried to ask the front staff if other guests reported anything strange in room 816, but they would not say. Asian cultures have very strong beliefs in ghosts and spirits, and I think they would not answer and risk their hotel getting a reputation as being haunted. I believe that would be bad business for them.

Wisconsin Lady: That is an interesting theory about the spirit making a mess for the cleaning staff. I wonder how many reports of unexplained occurrences come from the cleaning staffs themselves. They certainly spend a lot of time in hotels, and I believe they could have some stories to tell.

Thank you to all for reading and commenting. It certainly makes me glad I posted.
WisconsinLady (1 stories) (52 posts)
+5
4 years ago (2019-10-20)
General Audience, The intention of the first part of my previous comment was to give some possible explanation for some of the experience. The last part of my comment was meant to declare that I didn't think it was all just a mechanical issue. Especially the feeling you got and the timing of everything. I just wanted to clarify that.

Jabond99, I was thinking about this again a little after my previous comment. Perhaps this is a silly theory, but maybe a spirit could be trying to make a mess for the people that clean. Since you were about to leave, maybe the intended recipient was someone who would be showing up shortly and having to mop the floor and etc.
lady-glow (16 stories) (3149 posts)
+5
4 years ago (2019-10-20)
Consider yourself lucky because, though having to endure the stench, there was not a creepy crap floating in the crapper. - just kidding!

Jabond99 - welcome to YGS.

Although I agree with the suggestions by the previous posters, one should never ignore ones gutt feelings.

Have you ever asked if anyone else has complained/reported any problem, in room 816?

That sure is an intriguing experience.

Thanks for sharing.
Bibliothecarius (9 stories) (1091 posts)
+6
4 years ago (2019-10-20)
Greetings, Jabond99, and welcome to YGS.

From my research of such things, there are others who are natural ghost-repellents. This is a rare phenomenon, but I've heard of it before.

WisconsinLady has raised some good points, especially if the stench in the room can be traced back to the sewer system. The point that concerns me, though, is your assertion that "the water suddenly ceased to flow." I once dealt with a toilet that had a similar over-flow problem due to a leaky gasket in the cistern. It did not stop its continual flush until I shut off the valve on the cistern's supply pipe. If the overflow problem originated in the sewer pipes, that would explain the smell, but it would *not* account for the flushing you observed.

Each of WisconsinLady's suggestions is a good explanation for one aspect of the experience, but in each case it fails to account for the combination of phenomena. Thinking this through makes the data presented in your narrative seem even stranger.

Thanks for sharing with us.

Best,
Biblio.
WisconsinLady (1 stories) (52 posts)
+6
4 years ago (2019-10-19)
Hello, Jabond99 the engineer! I'm a physicist ready to help you with a mechanical issue. Wait... This should be the other way around! Lol 😁 ❤

Toilets can flush on their own if the water level drops too low in the tank from a leak in certain tank components. If the water doesn't leave the bowl fast enough, this could cause the water to rise higher in the bowl if there's a bad tank leak. A clog or back up in the pipes could cause this water level rise in the bowl and the smell. There's several sewer related reasons to cause a pipe back up and smell, depending on the system they use.
I can't explain the timing or feeling you got. It seems like the toilet worked fine during your stay otherwise, so the timing is a little weird.
Thanks for sharing your story! Any other weird hotel occurrences?

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