Weird activity in my house (again)

[MozzchopsThirty]

At the risk of sounding totally insane we have spirits in our house.

Dd (21) has always heard people talking at night, going up and down stairs, walking the landing etc
After my divorce it got worse and lights were going on and off, doors closing etc.
I had a priest round who blessed the house, then a clairvoyant 'cleaner' which made things much better.

Now things are starting again, dd hearing things and now ds1 has told dd he often feels like there's someone in his room.
Last night I woke to him screaming from his bedroom that there were people whispering outside his room and walking along the carpet! He was too afraid to even come out. Now ds1 is a no nonsense rugby playing teen who is certainly not hysterical at any time. He ended up sleeping with his sister (he'd generally rather die than this!)
There was also a cross knocked off a shelf and down the back of cupboards in ds2 room when I was here alone.

Don't know what to do? Do I get cleaning lady back?
Are we all going crazy?
(Sorry didn't know where else to post this)

I wouldn't be worried about spirits, I would be worrying that someone real and very much alive was getting into your house. Have you checked the loft? You mention a recent divorce. Was it amicable? Are you absolutely sure that your ex hasn't kept a key?

I've changed the locks since my divorce and it was 4 years ago and very amicable now
And exh certainly wouldn't want to scare his own children.

Draughts and pipes?

Or your son has occasional tinnitus.

When I was young and went to bed I could hear footsteps, sounded like they were walking on sand.. It's actually your heartbeat that you are hearing!

Pulsatile tinnitus

This is a rhythmic thumping or whooshing only you can hear, often in time with your heartbeat.

Most commonly heard when your head is on your pillow and is mistaken for footsteps!

Sounds like everyone has been wound up into a frenzy. Stop having the woo people round - it will only increase anxiety.

Ask for this to go into the woo section op. Or you'll just be ridiculed or told off
I'm open minded on the subject but it does sound scary for whatever reason.

Very similar happened to a friend of mine and she'd tried things just like you have. Things moving across the room in front of them. She even tried speaking to them, said ' if you're so clever you can change the channel' (she was watching TV). The channel changed.

Her kids were primary aged and getting really scared. So one day when they were at school, she went on to the worst room (kids bedroom) and basically had it out with the spirits. Sound mad but she just talked to them out loud. Told them they were scaring the kids, it wasn't fair and it had to stop, they had to find somewhere else to go etc. It was essentially quite a long one sided conversation.

It worked.

Only dd knows about the priest and the clairvoyant, it wasn't appropriate to discuss it with ds1 or ds2

I'm not a woo person but there were voices on my sleep app previously, lights going on in empty rooms when I was here alone, things being knocked on the floor
Although there's been a good 2 years without any of this activity

Funny that it was a one sided conversation , xyz

Do you live in a semi detached house?

I'm always having to check ob my sleeping kids as I swear I hear footsteps in their room. It is of course noises traveling from next door.

Sound travels so bizarrely in some houses. My sister has a loft conversion in her house which really messes with the acoustics. You can hear kitchen noises in the loft!

I agree, ditch the woo people; you're only reinforcing this "presence" business by givingthem such credence.

Sounds like a combination of things, possibly: draughts, pipes, tinnitus, dreams, hypnagogic thoughts/hallucinations, bats/pigeons/squirrels in the attic (we had these... I thought we had someone living in our house!).
If all three of you are discussing this and bigging it up, it's not surprising that any unexpected sound at night is going to increase anxiety in all of you and be taken as something sinister. But really, houses are noisy.

I'm sorry you've all been frightened by this, though.

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The fact that it's your kids hearing them but not you makes me somewhat suspicious, I admit. I think here may be an element of overactive imaginations here.

Is there anything stressful going on in their lives right now? Jobs, exams, friendship issues etc. Maybe you could perform a DIY exorcism? Burn sage (I think) and walk around the house together waving it around loudly saying something about spirits move on? It may well help.

Jist don't want you to waste any more money on charlatans.

Dd isn't here for most of the year (at uni) so it's not discussed much
And certainly not in front of ds's

We're in a detached house, and it's not that old (1980s)

I have 'spoken' to them before when I'm here alone, asking them not to scare me

I realise how bonkers this sounds, trust me I am not this sort of person

I've been brought up surrounded by woo and to be honest I don't really believe it.

All I know is when but I was about 16 and going through a really hard time in my life I had all sorts of stuff manifesting itself in my sleep. Night terrors, sleep paralysis. It was all coming from my very troubled brain and once I moved into a happier place head-wise I no longer had any of them.

You are always going to find people who will happily take your money and agree with your concerns re. spirits. Was any of this stuff happening pre divorce btw?

Hi folks,

We're just moving this thread for the OP.

Thanks MN

I second 'sound travelling oddly' esp at night - I knew someone who lived in a block of flat, about 10 of them, maybe 5 up, 2 across IYSWIM. The owner of the top floor, right hand flat complained to friend (2nd floor, left hand flat) that he could hear her bath running in his flat - and sure enough, he could!

Odd. But def scary.

Poor ds.

I'd get a traditional Catholic priest. One who uses Latin. Will make all the difference. If you let me know where you are I can find one for you.

Yes, please get this moved, you'll be told you have a brain tumour and you are insane. I'd tell them to stop it AGAIN!

Age of the home makes no difference, FWIW.

This sounds awful, OP. I do not believe in these things but I would feel the same as you about it. Would it be impossible to move? After all, you might consider moving if you had noisy neighbours and in effect this is what it is.

Moving isn't an option as I've just extended and it's perfect for schools etc

I've lived in this house for 16 years

I've recently split with my partner of 3 years and even though he didn't live here he was often here 3 x a week
I'm wondering if they've been upset again by emotional unrest

Dont know the op is being ridiculed. i have seen chairs move and be lifted
These things do happen, i have lived in housrs that have had sounds of people falling downstairs, sounds of someone sawing something, then found out later these things actually happened in that house
Whether you believe in spirits or not things can still happen

"I had a priest round who blessed the house, then a clairvoyant 'cleaner' which made things much better."

Getting rid of spirits is straightforward, but takes more time and effort than just some con-person waving their arms:

1. Take every book about spirituality, spirits, angels, self help, mindfulness etc in your house and throw them in the bin- don't give them away, destroy them. Same for all crystals, dream catchers, statues of fairies and goblins etc- in the bin.

1. Never, ever speak about the ghosts. Especially not to your kids. Not in the house, not outside the house, just don't mention it. When you feel really anxious about it- distract yourself.

1. This is the really important one. It will work, but takes time. Read a non-fiction, rationalist book every single night without fail. Not stuff about philosophy or religion- Science books are a good start. Try Bad Science by Ben Goldacre. Then The Selfish Gene by Dawkins. Any book by an proper scientist that analyses the word in a rigorous way, ghosts can't stand their presence.

Give it a year of this and I promise they will be gone.

Assuming you've checked your house is secure no one living in the attic etc I'd play white noise or the radio at night on the landing to drown out the silence as I'd assume that is what everyone is really 'hearing'

I understand op. I don't believe in ghosts one bit but when I'm at my dads house there's a feeling of someone being there when they're not. And my dads the most macho, no bullshit man alive and he says it too. We'd never discussed it until recently so we weren't leading each other to believe it. Really strange.
Once I was in the lounge and the door randomly swung open and the dog had been staring at it for ages before and after and I couldn't even stop him looking with a treat. It is very scary BUT honestly if these 'spirits' aren't hurting you then stop caring. If it's been 16 years they could have hurt you and haven't done so I wouldn't worry
Also, they're probably not spirits and it's just noises being distorted !