Paranormal Experiences

Hey everyone, I hope you enjoyed The Inspection. Things will be getting back to normal this week with a regular post today and a lore post on Thursday.

Today I’d like to talk about the paranormal.  Specifically paranormal experiences that I’ve had, some that folks I know have had, and some that folks I’ve never even met have had. I grew up in a very active house, as far as the paranormal is concerned.  I have five siblings older than me who grew up in that house before me and most of them have had some kind of experience or another.  As for me, when I was very young, I used to see shadow forms a lot.  Some looked like small animals, some looked like standing humans and some looked like hooded figures.

Once, when I was about six or seven, my sister and I were home alone.  She was babysitting me and the rest of the family was out for the evening.  It was quite late and I was in my sister’s room laying on a daybed near a window, trying to fall asleep.  I could not even remotely sleep; my mind was  racing.  Suddenly, I saw a silhouette on the shade of the window from the outside.  At first I thought it was a bird or something, but I realized almost  immediately, and to my horror, that it was in the shape of a human skeleton wearing a Parson’s hat.  I started to cry and woke my sister who was sleeping nearby.  She turned on the light and, of course, the silhouette disappeared.    My sister was skeptical, but went and looked out the window, finding nothing.  This wasn’t surprising, as it was a (roughly) twenty foot shear drop to the concrete ground out the back of the house.  She let me sleep in her bed for the night and I never saw the figure again….while I was awake.  Chronically after this event, I had a recurring nightmare.  Not about a skeleton with a hat, but featuring a wicked old man with a hat, dressed all in black, including a huge black cape.  As I grew older I stopped having the nightmare and dismissed the event as the overactive imagination of a very imaginative child.  I later discovered a phenomenon called the Hatman, which brought back all of those memories and had me wondering just what was outside that window that night.

I’ve heard a ton of stories over the years and I admit I seek them out.  If you know me, I will likely ask you about any experiences you’ve had as candidly as I might ask about any movies you might have seen.  By far the strangest story I have ever heard was from a coworker of mine from when I worked as a janitor at a university which will remain nameless for the time being.  She told me she had been working in a building on campus which at one time had been a morgue.  It was not her regular posting, but she was a thorough cleaner so she looked for something to do.  She found a bathroom on the sub-basement level and cleaned the entire thing.  Pulled the trash, disinfected, cleaned the toilet and wiped everything down.  She later informed her coworkers that she had done the work, so they did not need to worry about it.  They were very confused, insisting that there was no bathroom in the area that she’d indicated, to the point at which they insisted she show them the room.  When she brought them down to the area, the hall in question was not there.  The hall simply dead ended after a turn.  Needless to say, she was very worried and confused.  She even went so far as to seek therapy, concerned she may need assistance with her own metal health and faculties, but there wasn’t anything wrong with her that any doctor or therapist could find.  She was later relating the experience to another coworker, who informed her that there had at one time been a bathroom there, back when the building had been a morgue.  When she told me this story I was completely floored.  I knew I would never forget it, just because it was so damned strange.

Which brings me to the experiences of folks I’ve never met — you!

Please share any strange experiences you’re comfortable with in the comments.  I look forward to reading and, of course, retelling your stories.  Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day.