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AIBU?

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Original poster

To ask you all to tell me this is not a ghost...?

71 replies

JonesyAndTheSalad · 22/03/2017 11:02

We moved into our current rental 3 months ago. It's a 1920s detached house with a very large garden...we're in Oz it's a bungalow)

It has what I'd call a strong atmosphere....not one I'm uncomfortable with but two of DDs mates who don't know one another have declared it "spooky".

It IS a big on the spooky side but that's because most of it is original...fireplaces, doors and kitchen...and it's a bit ramshackle...but I like it and so do the DC and DH.

Anyway...in our first week here, DH took the dog out at about ten pm. Kids both asleep. I was sitting in one of the sitting rooms...this one is next to the kitchen.

The kitchen leads into a bit of a lean to...a rough sort of "add on"...and there's a sliding door from this add on, going into the garden.

I was reading and DH had been gone about ten minutes when I distinctly heard the sliding door open...it has a very definite sound to it...and then I heard a man's sigh. Like a tired, man's sigh.

I was so convinced that something had happened to cause DH to cut the dog's hour long walk short that I tutted and called "What's the matter now?"

DH is a notorious faffer and he's the kind to come back ten minutes into his walk because he forgot his spare poo bag.

Silence.

"DH?"

Nothing.

I get up feeling scared incase it's an intruder and find the sliding door locked and shut.

It happened a second time about a week later and then, another week went by and DH heard it.

It happened again last night. Nobody there.

It's often when DH is out but sometimes when he's here but I'm not.

There's no neighbours on either side of us and a BIG garden. We're flanked by a field on one side and a bit of wasteland on the other, then a ten min walk takes you to shops which are shut at night.

Its a ghost isn't it? What else could it be?

OP posts:
Wishiwasmoiradingle2017 · 22/03/2017 11:05

Inclined to believe it's a ghost. Have you Googled your house to find out who lived there?

JunosRevenge · 22/03/2017 11:06

Nothing useful to add here OP - but I do love a good woo thread Smile

Derlei · 22/03/2017 11:06

I love woo stories.

This would freak me out OP although I'd probably try and rationalise it in my head. I think I'd also buy a cheap camera and have it facing the sliding door Blush

Original poster
JonesyAndTheSalad · 22/03/2017 11:07

Wish I am pretty sure it was one family for a long time as when I peeled up some rotten 1930s lino from a bedroom, it had their surname on it. Same on the ancient papers under a carpet. And then the same name appeared on a curtain rail....I had a google but nothing of note. Just normal things like "Mrs X organised a bake sale at the church on Saturday".

OP posts:
alwaysthepessimist · 22/03/2017 11:07

yep ghost. google your property and find out the history then come back & fill us all in please

Original poster
JonesyAndTheSalad · 22/03/2017 11:07

Meant to say the curtain rail was plastic and obviously a 1970s one...so the same family from at least the 30s through to the 70s.

OP posts:
steff13 · 22/03/2017 11:09

Yep, definitely a ghost.

HecateAntaia · 22/03/2017 11:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

WorraLiberty · 22/03/2017 11:10

Hahaha! You're now going to get all the "Oooh I love a woo thread, it's got to be a ghost" posters settling in Grin

As you've described the place as ramshackle and spooky, I'd say it's your imagination - coupled with the fact that the house is still relatively new to you, so you'll have plenty of sounds you still need to get used to.

Having said that, my cousin starting hearing the doorbell ringing at night last year. I mean to the point where she actually used to get up and answer the door.

Sadly, it was the onset of schizophrenia although obviously I'm not saying that's what you have.

Hissy · 22/03/2017 11:10

I do agree, and do also love a bit of woo

FilledSoda · 22/03/2017 11:11

Would you be horrified if it was ?
Is the atmosphere at home warm and welcoming or otherwise?

BreatheDeep · 22/03/2017 11:12

It's not a ghost.

MusicToMyEars800 · 22/03/2017 11:16

I clean in a funeral directors, I do it in the evening and I swear I hear voices and movement when I'm cleaning near the mortuary and in the chapels ( I am alone in the building ) but I reckon it's my mind trying to freak me out Grin especially if there is a body in the chapel ready for a viewing!

Original poster
JonesyAndTheSalad · 22/03/2017 11:19

Soda it is to us yes....it's felt homely since we moved in. I feel happy here generally....no issues being scared at night or anything.

OP posts:
BoreOfWhabylon · 22/03/2017 11:23

When. I lived in Oz I was terrified one night by sighing and groaning outside my open bedroom window.

It was possums mating.

user1469914265 · 22/03/2017 11:26

I've read this before...

WorraLiberty · 22/03/2017 11:26

I think you've subconsciously built this up in your mind OP. The reason I say this is because....

  1. You've mentioned the year it was built for some reason? I mean as though you think because it's old, it has more chance of being 'haunted'?

  2. You find the original fireplaces, doors and the fact it's ramshackle a bit spooky (your words and the words of your DC's friends) and that's something that's quite common.

  3. You have no neighbours and you're surrounded by fields/wasteland.

  4. Again, you mentioned 'ancient' papers under a carpet and how long the previous people lived there - almost as though you think that's more likely to make the place 'haunted'.

If this was a brand new build, I very much doubt you'd be asking if this was a 'ghost'.

Original poster
JonesyAndTheSalad · 22/03/2017 11:28

Worra maybe....I am fanciful I suppose. But it's so distinctive...that's why I can't help wondering. If it were a random bang or bump it might be less weird! But it's clearly the sound of the door sliding open.

OP posts:
Biscusting · 22/03/2017 11:29

Has anyone very in modern history managed to catch on film something genuine like a door closing by itself?

Just wondering, I do love woo

kittytom · 22/03/2017 11:32

It's not a ghost, it is your imagination in spooky mode. Like if I am on my own I hear burglars and notice neighbours' security lights going on and off. Heightened awareness caused by new house and unfamiliar surroundings.

Or it is possums Grin

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 22/03/2017 11:38

How is your dog reacting to it. Animals are very sensitive to these sorts of things.
Id rather it be a ghost than an intruder.

Original poster
JonesyAndTheSalad · 22/03/2017 11:38

Biscuiting but that's the thing....the door was locked the first time. It could not have opened itself and then locked itself.

OP posts:
FatOldBag · 22/03/2017 11:38

I wonder what he's sighing about. "Ugh it's raining again, I think I left the washing out... Oh wait, no, I'm a ghost".

ImsorryTommy · 22/03/2017 11:41

What else could it be? Literally anything else that isn't an imaginary dead person.

LoveDeathPrizes · 22/03/2017 11:41

Hmm. There are usually a few house noises that end with a sighing sound. Like a valve releasing or heating pump setting in. If it's regular I'm more inclined to think it's something to do with the workings of the house.