Child Ghosts of Tennessee: Guest Blog #1

Theresa's Note: My call for Guest Bloggers has gotten a much bigger response than I ever could have imagined! I want to personally thank each and every one of my readers who have taken (and are planning to take) the time to submit such wonderful stories for us all to read. Throughout 2018, I'd like to make it a top priority of Theresa's Haunted History to showcase more personal experiences, more varied viewpoints, and of course, more of what YOU want to see! 

Our first Guest Blogger of the year is Kevin G. from Tennessee. Kevin has been gracious enough to share several strange and unusual experiences he and his family encountered at their private residence: 

My story begins in 2000. I had been living in a house with my ex-wife and young son for about six months when we started having strange events happen. One night on my way home from working second shift, I saw my wife driving up our road. Upon seeing me she slammed the brakes and said something's there. When I got her to calm down, she said she was in the basement of our tri-level house when she heard someone kick the door next to her from the outside. She fled. 

At the time I didn't believe her because she was fond of hyperbole. However, a month later I was waiting for my son to awaken from his nap when I heard what I thought were his footsteps coming distinctly down the stairs. I didn't see him peep around the corner so I went looking for him, only to find that he was fast asleep. 

These initial encounters were to become routine after a while. 

The highlights include the time when my oldest was standing in the hallway at 2:30 in the morning talking to someone. When I asked him who he was talking to he replied "these people keep calling my name." His first cousin told me that someone kept pulling the blanket down to her feet. Another time, I felt someone poke me in the side and sit down next to me on the bed. Then I felt them get up and I heard what sounded like someone standing on a loose floorboard in front of me. 

We finally asked the neighbors if anything strange happens at their house. He said no, but the look on his face said there was more to the story. "You are not going to want to hear this, but three children died in your house from smoke inhalation ten years ago." I will say that explained quite a bit. The occurrences were shocking at first, but we never felt anything evil or malevolent. It was more like someone wanting attention. 

My mom didn't believe me when I was telling her about it in my house. Suddenly she got a strange look on her face and said someone just put their hand on her shoulder and breathed on her neck. My response was, "told you"! 

I always felt like the ghosts liked the fact that my house was full of kids at all times. I was the last one in the house the day we moved and I felt a heaviness in the air. Like an incredible sadness.

Awesome story, Kevin! Thank you again for sharing it with us. I'm always looking for new contributions, so if anyone is interested, please see my blog, Looking for Guest Bloggers, for more information. 

My Haunted Home

I don't think I would ever classify the house I live in now as haunted. Having grown up in my mom's current home in Winfield, where it was a strange day when you DIDN'T see an apparition walking down the hall, pretty much any sort of suspected paranormal activity happening here would pale in comparison.

I can't deny it, though. Over the years since we've owned the house, there have been a few things going on that we were never able to fully explain away.

It first started before we even moved in. My son and I were still at my mom's house, but Aaron was ready to move out of his house in Charleston. Before he could, the house needed some major work. Aside from desperately needing a new roof, we also had to clear out the rest of the previous owners' belongings, tear up all the old carpet, lay a new kitchen and family room floor, and paint. Aaron, often accompanied by my dad, would come over to the house in the evenings after work to get as much done as possible.

On at least one occasion, both Aaron and my dad swear they saw a UFO. They were taking a break out on the front stoop. Our neighborhood is pretty high up on a hill, so we have a fair view of the Hurricane Walmart out our front door. It was in the sky above this area where they noticed the glowing orb. Inside the house, things were a little spookier...

My dad was working alone one evening, after the carpets had been pulled up. He was in one of the bedrooms painting and heard the distinct sounds of kids running through the living room, laughing. He assumed that we had brought Luke over and that it was he who was causing the commotion. However, when he stepped out to meet us, he discovered that he was still alone and had been the entire time. I have yet to hear the sounds of the children in the house, but later on, I'd have my own experiences.

Living Room, where the sounds of phantom children running were heard

After the house was in livable condition, Aaron moved in. Luke and I came about a year and a half later. We moved in the summer before Luke started preschool. That winter, Aaron got a new job. As part of his training, he had to be out of town for a week at a time several times over the course of a few months. That left me and Luke home alone....but not entirely alone.  Around this time, Luke had been having trouble sleeping. He's always had night terrors, but they seemed to have gotten worse. This is also around the time when he started wanting to sleep in our bedroom. Or, he would wake up at night, turn on all the lights, and shut his door. The logical part of me tried to explain his behavior by the changes that were going on. We hadn't lived in this house all that long, plus Aaron was away a lot.

But then I started seeing things. When Aaron was away, I would sleep in my office/bedroom. I usually kept the door partly open so that I could hear Luke if he got up in the night. And, of course, we were keeping the hall light on for Luke as well. Lying in bed on several occasions, I could see movement in the hallway through the crack of my door. It looked as if there was a person standing in the hall, peeking in at me through the crack. Even though this shadowy figure was much taller than Luke, and Aaron was out of town, I'd still always get up and check...never finding anything.

Things reached a peak one weekend while Luke was spending the night at my mom's house and I was alone. As I walked past his room and peeked in, I nearly had a heart attack. I saw what appeared to be a dark, shadowy figure standing beside his bed. That night, I grabbed the sage. As I saged every inch of the bedroom and the hallway, I firmly told whatever it was in there that we were going to come to a compromise. It was welcome to stay in the house if it wished, but under no circumstances would it EVER show itself to my son or invade his personal space (the bedroom) again. If it did, I would do everything in my power to make sure it was banished from here.

That seemed to work, lol. Luke's sleeping habits started to get back to normal, and I never saw the dark figure again. Every now and again I'll hear a noise I can't account for, or something will go missing, only to reappear nearly right in front of me. Many times as I'm sitting on the couch in the family room, I'll swear I'll catch movement coming from the living room in my peripheral vision...but I can never get a close enough glimpse to see if it is anything. I honestly don't know if there is anything in this house and if there is, where it came from. However, I'll be keeping my eyes and ears open and letting you all know of any potential activity that may occur in the future.  Happy Haunting!