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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
PollyBanana · 22/03/2017 11:43

If it's the same noise each time, I wonder if it is something like the boiler firing up

GinAndTunic · 22/03/2017 11:44

I, too, love a bit of woo.

Greenfingeredfun · 22/03/2017 11:44

The sound you're hearing isn't the door.

SoupDragon · 22/03/2017 11:44

You're in Australia, surely it was just a fuck-off ginormous spider letting himself back in.

xStefx · 22/03/2017 11:46

SoupDragon lmao I was going to say something similar

SpreadYourHappiness · 22/03/2017 11:48

It's your mind playing tricks on you. There's no such thing as ghosts.

HermioneJeanGranger · 22/03/2017 11:49

Do you only think it's the sound of the door, because it's what you thought it was the first time, and now you've "heard" it once, you hear it all the time. If you've told DH about it, he'll know what you've heard and could easily convince himself he's heard it too.

The word "heard" looks wrong to me now! Grin

ProseccoBitch · 22/03/2017 11:50

It's not a ghost because there is no such thing.

graciestocksfield · 22/03/2017 11:50

It's spooky but it isn't a ghost, as in it is not a spirit of a dead person coming to haunt you.

YetAnotherSpartacus · 22/03/2017 11:50

You're in Australia, surely it was just a fuck-off ginormous spider letting himself back in

Suddenly the idea of a ghost sounds almost cuddly ...

WorraLiberty · 22/03/2017 11:51

Why does no-one ever see a ghost bopping about a new building, wearing a hoodie and Nike trainers?

Wishiwasmoiradingle2017 · 22/03/2017 11:53

Sprinkle some flour on the floor beside the door one night......

NutellaLawson · 22/03/2017 11:53

Option 1: it's not a ghost and is your mind creating a best guess about sounds the house or the environment is making.

Option 2 it IS a ghost but not a threatening one. Its a residual haunting.

If you do subscribe to the ghost hypothesis, the repeated nature of the sounds leads me to suggest it's actually a residual haunting. That is, you are witnessing a replay of something that happened in the past. The 'ghost ' is not an aware being, any more than replaying a video of someone is their aware self.

So there isn't an invisible entity in your house (because it's either not a ghost or it's a residual).

Option 3 is a fully sentient, intelligent ghost sharing your living space but it doesn't sound like its that to me and i DO believe in ghosts (as a phenomenon). If you find this 'man' starts responding to you then maybe but it doesnt sound like anything to be afraid of.

JonesyAndTheSalad · 22/03/2017 11:54

Worra they do! Grin You've obviously never read a spooky Reddit thread. More to the point, why does nobody see Neanderthal, cavemen ghosts?

OP posts:
Biscusting · 22/03/2017 11:54

Exactly Jonsey! Film it and catch the ghost unlocking it or shagging possums

HateSummer · 22/03/2017 11:54

Well you should watch Round the Twist, seeing as you're in Australia! It could be a dragon, a ghost looking for his teeth...a clown. Do you also hear string instruments from upstairs?

gnushoes · 22/03/2017 11:57

When I sit on my sofa working there is a noise outside which sounds like one of the children saying mum. It's not. No idea what the noise actually is but it is very realistic. Suspect your "ghost" is some local regular noise.

scampimom · 22/03/2017 12:07

A CLOWN??? IT MIGHT BE A CLOWN?!?!?! ARGH! I'd rather it was a host of yard-haunting sighing spectres than that.

Or, maybe is crocodile. Crocodile notorious sighers, and also stealthy movers....

morningconstitutional2017 · 22/03/2017 12:08

I've lived in several houses, new and old, and I can add that all houses have their own particular set of noises which you get accustomed to in time. Sometimes an odd creaking sound is just a pipe shrinking or enlarging due to the weather.

However, I don't blame you for feeling scared. For security couldn't you make sure that the door is locked whenever you're alone in the house? My doors are always locked as I'm paranoid about intruders just walking in.

WorraLiberty · 22/03/2017 12:10

More to the point, why does nobody see Neanderthal, cavemen ghosts?

Cracking point that! Grin

SuperFlyHigh · 22/03/2017 12:14

I'm the most woo person going but I think this one can be explained away by possums mating/boiler starting etc.

So if you do want to think ghost there must be more proof dammit!

Elphame · 22/03/2017 12:14

Highly unlikely - my house is old and full of strange noises - when the wind is in a certain direction some very strange noises come down the chimney and it can sound if something is right beside me.

If you fancy a bit of fun though you can always download a free emf detector for your phone and see if it picks up anything....

SuperFlyHigh · 22/03/2017 12:15

scampi crocodile in the house, Aussies have salties don't they, those huge man eating ones.... Grin

OreoDream · 22/03/2017 12:16

I don't believe in ghosts. Put up a camera or even an iPad Facetiming your phone.

SaltySalt · 22/03/2017 12:20

Or in the queue at Starbucks?