A friend asked me, how do you know if your house is haunted? Easy answer, most people don’t know and if something weird happens they just ignore it. Human brains are very good at finding logical explanations for things that might be inconvenient. Occasionally, those weird things happen WAY too often and our brain runs out of excuses. Below are some of the things that residential clients often report when they reach out for help.
- Residents occasionally (or even frequently) hear voices that cannot be attributed to anyone inside or outside the house. (this includes whispers)
- Hearing the sound of footsteps walking through the house when no one else is around.
- Hearing the sound of furniture being moved in another room.
- Hearing doors close/slam.
- Hearing scratching in the walls.
- Noticing a strange smell that cannot be attributed to anything in the house. (examples: perfume or rotten eggs)
- Doors open or close on their own.
- Objects are moved or taken from their regular place within the house. Sometimes they are found somewhere else, sometimes they are never found.
- Seeing objects move without any apparent cause.
- Seeing strange shadows or even full apparitions.
- Individuals have been pushed, poked, or otherwise touched by something not readily visible.
- Pets stare at the walls or generally nothing at all.
- Pets bark or cry at an area of the house that has no identifiable issue.
- Pets avoid specific areas of the house.
- Feeling like a space causes headaches or nausea.
- Anger that is outside the range of normal for the situation.
- Depression that is outside the range of normal for that individual.
- Increased feelings of fear and anxiety while at the location. These feelings subside after leaving.
Of course, all of the items on this list can have very normal and rational explanations but it is the combination of several items on this list that often has someone calling their friendly neighborhood paranormal team.
My recommendation to anyone who is experiencing frequent strange phenomena is to get a notebook and start taking notes. Write down each time something strange happens and include details.
- When did it happen?
- Who was there?
- What were you doing when it happened?
- What were you doing before it happened?
- Did you take any medication or have an alcoholic beverage before the phenomena?
- What were the weather conditions?
- Were there animals present?
Think of every possible explanation and write down anything that could be relevant. Writing this information helps you track patterns and provides any potential paranormal team with useful data to start their investigation. Please do not try to investigate your own home as this can make things worse. Just make notes and ask for help from a group that has a good track record in your community. I hope this helps anyone who has a similar question.
Until next time, Happy Hunting!