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Our Creepy House

 

When I was younger, around seven or eight, my mom's husband bought a house on the outskirts of Muncie, Indiana near the old Ball family mansion. It was built around the 1900's on an Indian burial ground. It was huge and even had a tennis court and a pool/pool house, but it was pretty cheap because it had been vacant for two years and was pretty rundown.

Our house was previously owned by an old women and her husband. Before them, it was owned by the woman's family who had been pretty wealthy. The actress that the movie, "Mommy Dearest" was based on even stayed in our house once. The woman had died in the house in the master bedroom, and her husband had died in a plane crash. The old servant quarters were now apartments and a man named Jack had lived in one when the old couple were still alive. He informed us that the couple were now buried in the woods behind the house because they loved it there so much. He also told us that a little boy had drowned in the pool during the 1920's. Even though I was little, I was very interested in the history of the house. That is, until all the weird things started happening.

When we first moved in, my mom and I had been sitting in the sun room when we kept smelling really strong old woman's perfume. We looked everywhere but couldn't really seem to tell where it was coming from. Nothing else really happened until a few weeks later.

My room was on the end of the house and you had to go through a hallway and another room to get to it. My room was also the only room in the house that had carpet. The stairs curved and led into the hallway. Then there were French doors you had to open in order to get into the other part of the hallway and the other room which lead to mine.

My bed was faced towards the door so I could see into the other room. At night, I would always hear heavy footsteps walking up and down the stairs. Then they would go into the hallway through the doors and enter the other room. One night was really horrible because I heard them coming through the other room, and then when it entered my room it stopped. I could hear a faint breathing noise. Sometimes I would go get my mom but she would tell me I was just imagining things, even though later on she admitted she heard things all the time, too. Most of the time, I would just hide under my covers and cry.

When I was on summer vacation one year my mom would sometimes leave me home alone so she could go to the grocery or the gas station, something along those lines. I would always see weird black things out of the corner of my eye when I was sitting watching tv in the living room, but when I would turn to look it would be gone. One time, when I was completely alone in the house, I heard something moving upstairs. When I muted the tv, I heard loud heavy thumping and then heaving footsteps moving quickly back and forth through the hallway and the master bedroom.

I was never really terrified to the point where I thought they were going to harm me. I'm pretty sure they were just curious to see who had moved into their beloved house.

Towards the end before my mom and my step-dad got a divorce, I had a few friends over to the house. We went down in the basement which had a old coal burner, another room with a giant safe that was broken, a steam room, and the laundry room. My friends and I were pretty curious about the coal burner, so we opened it up and found a ton of old newspaper clippings and animal bones, which was pretty odd.

Another weird thing that happened was that we always used to smell tobacco smoke, like someone was smoking a huge pipe. When we told Jack about it, he said the husband who had died in the plane crash always walked around with a giant pipe in his mouth.

Even though I moved out of that house I will never forget my experiences there. I am just thankful that our ghosts were nice ones and not there to harm us!

I was wondering if anyone else has ever smelled anything out of place in their houses and if that is common?

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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, mwehlage89, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

Allenemarie93 (1 posts)
 
12 years ago (2011-10-30)
I don't even know if you'll reply since this is so old but does your moms ex still own this place?
ghostlover13 (19 stories) (191 posts)
 
15 years ago (2008-12-24)
I think that smelling that stuff is pretty comment in some homes.

I think that the spirits just wanted attention.

Just remember to never show fear if anything with the paranormal happens again... It feeds them energy which makes them stronger.

Take care! ❤
ToraOkami303 (1 stories) (75 posts)
 
15 years ago (2008-12-24)
:) sounds like they just wanted to see who the new owners are... I don't think they wanted to scare you:) an the smell thing... Yeah I have no idea... Never happened to me...don't know what to tell you there...
Wonderful story thou:)

~Tora~
Curious (5 posts)
 
15 years ago (2008-12-13)
I've heard of stories of people smell perfume or other scents with haunting. It suggests so many things when the smallest detail like scents is captured, and then reoccurs. I really, really, wonder what could bring that about. If you have any theories visit my blog [at]

Http://haveyoueverseenaghost.blogspot.com/
indianvillage (1 posts)
 
15 years ago (2008-12-13)
i know where the house you are talking about is at I see all the time when I go fishin give you a eerie feeling drivein by it and watchin it at the same time I myself live not to far from it but I doubt if it was a indian bural grounds we thought the same about indian village until we found out that the name of our village hasnt any thing to do with indians its just what they came up with to go along with the name of the city muncie lol but by the way the house looks like a asome house to live in 🤔
lucyspay (1 posts)
 
15 years ago (2008-11-09)
I own a home that is about a 100 years old. My dad and step mom owned the house. I have been smelling pipe tabacco and food being cooked lately. I also have times where my front door opens and closes by itself. My step mom said that they also had these things happen to them when they lived here and that she saw an old woman dressed in a long dress with hair in a bun in the kitchen cooking and a man standing at the top of the stairs smoking a pipe. She believes them to be from the 1800's. They don't hurt us. Just like to open the doors alot
whitebuffalo (guest)
 
16 years ago (2008-09-24)
Sooo, there is no actual documentation this was actually BUILT over an Indian Burial ground, just the hopes and dreams of a College Professor.
It was actually Joan Crawford that rested in your home.

Goes to show that just because you research something that is written, it does not mean that you have reached the right place. 😊 (Talking about the "near the old Ball family mansion". I searched "the old Ball family mansion") But the place I turned up looked interesting as well.
In that there is a POSSIBILITY that this is NOT built over the Burial Ground, there is LIKEWISE the possibility that there is no direct connection with the Indian population.
Villages were HOME, not sacred. There would BE no guardians of the village. We can not OWN the land a village is on. We can only "own" our burial spot as WE BECOME one with the land (through the natural process of decomposition and returning to the handful of earth that we were fashioned out of).
I would think, that if Joan Crawford stayed in the home, your research should be made easier. Go to the county offices and tell them you need information about your old childhood home. Tell them you would like to know what it is constructed of, who the builder was, what was there before, MOST county workers would enjoy the break in a monotonous day to help you look up "trivia" such as you would like to know. Throw in the fact that Joan Crawford had visited there at one time, that may pique their interest a bit more.
Thank you.
mwehlage89 (1 stories) (3 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-09-23)
i just looked at that web site also and the place you are talking about is the minnatrisa center which is not close to where the house was that house is one of the old original ball houses. My house was on burlington dr. Kind of near Prairie Creek Reservoir and the ball house I was talking about is the house that some of the ball family currently live in. I really wish I knew who built the house that I lived in and why though... Is there anyway I could do that?
mwehlage89 (1 stories) (3 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-09-23)
thanks for all the comments:) to whitebuffalo...i'm almost 99% sure it was built on indian burial ground. If not a burial ground then I think they set up villages around that area because my mom told me a year or so ago that ball state had asked permission to have some of their students come out and do an excavation (sp)? Of the property but I'm not sure if it really happened or not because we haven't talked to my old stepdad. I know that he does still live in the house though. And the house wasn't built out of limestone but that's really interesting that its known to be a conductor for hauntings! And no Joan Crawford was the one who stayed in the house not the actress that played her. At the time her husband was the head of pepsi and they had to go to muncie to open a factory or something at the time and she came along and they just stayed there for a night or too. But still pretty cool I think! As for the couple buried out the in the woods jack was the one who told us that, I don't know if he made it up or not but there were paths back in the woods that lead to a clearing with a bench and some rocks and flowers so we thought that that might have been the place where they had their urns buried.
ChrisB (6 stories) (1515 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-09-15)
Wow what a great story! I realy enjoyed reading this one. Thanks for sharring it with us. It would be great to live so close a haunted place like that yet again it must have been scary! I hope to hear from you soon and take care
Luca (1 stories) (83 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-09-14)
Awesome story, loved it!

I guess every old house has a history behind the facade, no? Just imagine how many people lived there, what happened inside every room, who died there and why.

I'm a firm believer of everyone possessing a unique energy that accompanies us through our lives (and even after death), whether we were honest and decent or just plain bad and uncaring towards other human beings. You can feel it around you, when you enter a room full of people, simply by noticing the energy of each and everyone inside.

It's quite logical to me, to assume that a house inhabited for so many years by so many people is filled with those energies, after all, we can't take objects with us when we die, but we can sure leave some part of us behind.
Feiaby (4 stories) (31 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-09-14)
It's really common for old houses, especially those really big houses that are built a long time ago to have stories like this. It really gives me the creeps when I see old big houses because it's like someone's watching you from inside of it. Great story and just be careful then every time you're alone in that house. 😊
whitebuffalo (guest)
 
16 years ago (2008-09-13)
Hoo, boy, what an interesting thing researching your story has "dug up". The first thing I looked up was the mansion that you state you lived so close to. It is presently called the "E.B. And Bertha C Ball Center" and is mainly constructed in limestone, rosewood and stained glass. Another interesting fact is that they have Murder Theater there (Magna cum Murder Conference is an annual event that draws murder mystery writers and fans from all over the United States and abroad. Visit the Web site at www.magnacummurder.com.) http://www.visiteasternindiana.org/itineraries.html
While Muncie and Delaware County are named for the Munsee clan of the Delaware Indians, I could not find any documented proof that this area was built over an Indian Burial Ground.
Is there any way that you can post where you gained this information? I find it extremely interesting, that if it is common knowledge, that permission was granted for the man and woman to be buried in their backyard.
What a story to be able to tell your Grandchildren! That Faye Dunaway stayed in your childhood home (The woman who actually played Joan Crawford is who I am assuming stayed there).
As the home was built in the early 1900's, and in THAT area, I would assume that it also was made out of limestone (my research turned up that MANY residencies of the time that were built as mansions required MUCH limestone to be used). Limestone is known to be a great "conductor" for residual haunts.
Thank you.
one_who_believes (1 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-09-13)
i lost my father 8 1/2 years ago to natural causes. I loved the way he smelled. And every now and then when I am busying myself with dishes or something else I will get this wif of that certain smell. My father smelled to me like Stetson (colgne) and stail cigerette smoke. I love that smell. I never really knew my grandmother (my moms mom) but when I was around her I always smelled lilacs and she also passed away 8 years ago come this October. I smell her around my 8 year old daughter and I smell my father around my 6 and 5 year old sons. I know that your expeience was not family or anything like that but it is very common to smell odors that are out of the ordinary. When they were happy with the house in life so be it in death and that is one of the ways you can be sure that there is something there and I have to agree that they were just curious as to who you were. I hope this sorta helps about the smell thing.
rhodes68 (14 stories) (1596 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-09-13)
You were lucky to have someone not only willing to let you in some of the old history but also one who believed in spirits and was eager to make the associations.

Well, like you very well said it yourself, you had some very hospitable energies at home with you. I'm not sure if it was anything more than residual though since you never had a direct confrontation or any kind of interaction with any of them. Residual haunting is the kind that involves some sort of energy left behind without the involvement of actual ghosts. It's like a past scene being played over and over in time.

Thanks for sharing a very interesting experience with the rest of us. Hope to have you back with more tales to share!
Brownie09 (6 stories) (293 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-09-12)
That was definitely an interesting story, I do have to agree with you about the ghosts not being there to harm ya'll, but just wondering who the new people were in that house. As for the smell of tobacco, it does go to show that the man's spirit is present. As for the question of being able to smell things, yes cause when I went to my grandma's house, I could always smell my grandpa's cologne, and he will be gone for 18 years the 18th of this month.

Sorry, not very helpful but thanks for sharing your story. 😊
dreamergal72 (6 stories) (793 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-09-11)
wow interest story about your house is haunted and Mother dearest Yes I seen that movie before it was good but I hate the way joan mean to her daughter...

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