The knock at the door

[goneveryquiet]

Last summer we travelled down the country to see family and rented a cottage at a farm. They had one modern lodge and an old farm house. The kitchen was modern but the rest of the house was old dark furniture with two bedroom adjacent next door to each other at the top of the stairs. We had been out late and my teens had gone to sleep. My DH was down stairs watching an old film .

I had gone to bed and was dozing when there cdd as me three raps on the bedroom door. It was so loud I jumped out of the bed and flung the door open. No one was there. I looked in at the teens and they were asleep.

I went down stairs and DH was obvious to the noise and he hadn't moved.

Thus all came back to me again tonight as it's warm again. It's freaked me out again, something triggered the memories of it.

It was a small thing and I didn't dream it. .

Anyone had something similar happen

Very spooky if not a dreamt scenario.

DP works night shifts and I ALWAYS feel like I hear things when I'm alone and in bed! My only logical explanation for your scenario is maybe the wooden frame/door or floor boards expanding/contracting which sounded much louder while in your dozy state OR pipe noise... these are the things I tell myself anyway cos they're a lot less scary than "gonna drag me through the TV" poltergeist in the house!

www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/hypnagogic-hallucinations

Yes. I wasn’t asleep. We were staying in an old hotel just outside Edinburgh many years ago. DH left after breakfast for a business meeting, leaving me and our dog with the day to ourselves. I was sitting on the bed planning my day when there were 3 sharp raps on the door. Thinking it was housekeeping, I called out for them to come in. 3 more knocks, and again I responded. When still no one came in I went to answer the door myself. Our room was at the end of a long corridor, and there had been no other guests. There was no sign of anyone on the corridor.
we were due to stay several days but checked out that evening as I was so freaked out. And I am a very rational, unruffled sort of person.

Yes, I’ve had this a few times! So real and so loud, but each time I’ve been the only one that’s heard it so realised it must be an auditory hallucination of some description as I’m falling asleep. Glad I’m not the only one 🙈🤣 That link’s really helpful, thank you!

Quite likely to be exploding head syndrome (yes it's a real condition I promise).

Yes! Big long bangs on the front door of our new army house 10 years ago our second night in the house.it was about 4.30am
no one woke up (I was awake) and the dogs didn’t bark so my husband said I must of imagined it.
i knew I didn’t later that week chatting to the next door but one neighbours and they had it as well very strange I never liked that house

Was also going to suggest exploding head syndrome.

Sounds terrifying!

DD and I were talking about this just the other day as she gets it and looked it up and we were laughing at the name of it.

It doesn’t happen to me but I do often hear our doorbell when falling asleep or waking and others in the house will confirm that it didn’t ring.

I hear the doorbell as well. Just one ring.
Always just as I'm falling asleep. I'm sure it must be something the brain does as its going into sleep mode

If you were dozing like you say, the chances are that you'd dreamt it or had some kind of auditory hallucination while drifting off - they're very common.

I know MN likes to make everything all woo but the vast majority of unexplained things have very boring explanations.

Another one here who has exploding head - I hear loud noises, including the doorbell, just as I’m falling asleep. I am always reassured when it’s the doorbell, because we don’t have one - so I can be quite sure it’s my brain making it up!

You can stop feeling creeped out by what you experienced, OP.

I agree. It was an auditatory hallucination. I've had them just as I'm in a drifting off, but not quite asleep state. I had one where someone was shouting, really loudly in the bedroom. They weren't as dh was asleep next to me.

I had this once, a house in the middle of nowhere in Mull. Group of us having breakfast and 3 loud knocks on the door. Nobody there. Nowhere for anyone to go. Very strange. In Highland tradition is supposed to mean impending death of someone in the house. Don't know if that happened as we didn't know the people we stayed with, they had very kindly just let us stay at there house after a Ceilidh.

I once heard someone shout my name as I was falling asleep.

My DH was right next to me and is a light sleeper but heard nothing so I guess it was in my head.

I thought I could be dozing or a dream but the doors were old and hollow. I rapped on the door in the morning and it had the same hollow sound if that made sense.

There was no sense of threat, but the house was old. It felt if anything more like a trick.

I would also add the properties stand alone around a km from the road, it was a still warm night.

I've experienced a few odd things in the past and this really came back to me last night as it was warm night. I hadn't thought about it for a while.

My DH was away from home (work) staying in a hotel on the sea front.
About 6am he heard a knock on the door got out of bed opened the door no one there. (Deep sleep)
This happened 3 more times when he realised that it was a pigeon tapping on the window.😂

It could be ghosts or it could be hypnagogic hallucinations.

I 100% sure I seen a ghost. I would swear down it was a man in tri corner hat standing at the end of the bed when I was like 22.

Now I realise it was the hallucinations I see people standing over me all the time and it's that. It bloody horrible. Last night it was the queen with a wee handbag then it was a man in a hoodie. I was waking up with such a start I thought I was going to have a stress induced heart attack

Isn’t 3 knocks supposed to be a demon or something like that?

I get this, others have heard it. It’s the floorboards expanding and contracting with heat.

I have auditory hallucinations when I’m stressed. Generally hear a child calling my name or shouting MUM. It happens when I’m halfway between sleeping and waking. Freaky.

It means the same in Ireland, happened to myself and my friend one night, her auntie died the next morning

I used to hear a loud knocking when I was in bed, or sometimes someone shouting my name. It was really loud and clear.
It was so weird!

Then I was really surprised to see someone on MN asking about it because the same thing happened to them, and lots of people saying it's common. It was the first time I'd heard about exploding head syndrome.