First I would like to tell you how much I
have enjoyed your site. My fiance and I are
planning a honeymoon trip to New Orleans after
our wedding this coming August, and your site
has really helped us put together just the
kind of off beat trip we enjoy.
I have an interesting story that I would
like to relate to you and hope you also find
it interesting and maybe your staff or one
of your readers might have some input.
When my fiancé and I became engaged
this past February we began looking for a
place to make our home. We both grew up in
the suburbs but have always talked about finding
a nice place in the city that has a more bohemian
feeling.
When we found the house on Spruce Street
we were sure we had just what we wanted. It
is a duplex with an upper and lower. When
we went to see it, only the upper was available.
We fell in love with the place right away
and liked it’s stucco walls and the
wooden floors.
When the landlord showed us the apartment
we could rent we were surprised to find some
furniture still in it. Now that I think about
it the landlord sounded like he was apologizing
about this, but the moment we saw the furniture
we were both thrilled. In the kitchen was
one of those 50’s style dinner tables,
with the metal rims and a set of four chairs
covered in the most garish yellow vinyl they
could find. We loved it! There was also a
huge sideboard type of thing, it looked like
it had once belonged to a whole dining room
set and was very overdone. But there was nothing
else in the room that seemed to fit it.
But the best surprise was finding a beautiful
burled wood bedroom set in the bedroom. The
bed was huge, one of those big head board
affairs with carvings. It had actual ivory
inlays and the designs looked kind of like
something you’d see in African furniture
or Indian, maybe. In addition to the huge
bed there was a colossal stacked chest of
drawers that looks like two whole pieces on
top of each other.
This is when the landlord explained that
the previous owner had left all this furniture
because it had been too hard to move. When
he had taken over renting the house, he just
left the stuff in place hoping that whoever
rented the house would like the style and
keep it there.
We looked it over and looked at each other
and agreed that we would take the duplex with
the furniture too, and we went about getting
settled in.
We weren’t in long when we began to
notice some strange occurrences. First it
was little things like lights being on in
different places after we’d go out and
come home, sometimes I’d pour a glass
of tea and next go to reach for it and find
it on another countertop or on the other end
table. Stuff like that. But soon it began
to get really weird, especially in the bedroom.
My fiancé had been working the day
shift and when he was put on the night shift
about a month and a half after we moved in,
the problems began to really start for me.
When I would settle in to sleep at night
I was usually uncomfortable without my fiancé
there but could eventually drift off to sleep.
Once in my sleep I distinctly heard the sounds
of him coming home, undressing in the dark
and FELT the sheets moving as he got into
bed with me. Then, literally hours later I
would be awakened when he ACTUALLY came home!
One night I was particularly rattled by sharp
knocks on the headboard of the bed. I sat
up in bed and then jumped out. It took me
some time to settle down and when I finally
did, I thought I had dreamed it but something
kept telling me in my mind to keep to my “own”
side of the bed - I had been sleeping where
my fiancé usually sleeps!
Lately the problems have been getting worse.
We decided to rearrange the furniture and
believe me that was a chore. Now we know why
it was left! Now that the bed is in a new
place, there is actually more noise coming
from the corner where it used to be. There’s
a scratching and a sound that sounds like
sniffing, as if something is hunting for what
used to be there. But I think they’ve
found it now, since the knocks are back on
the headboard - my fiancé heard them
himself, and more than once we have both watched
the edge of the bed depress like someone is
sitting there, and once my fiancé said
his foot was lifted right off the bed and
held in the air by something totally invisible.
The latest incident is that there looks to
be writing on the headboard. I usually wax
the bed whenever I do my housework and it
takes on a great shine, but I noticed what
I thought were streaks and when I went back
across the room to wipe over them I distinctly
made out letters. First I wiped them away,
but they immediately came back. Nothing is
spelled out, but I can clearly see the letters
S and R and what looks like an I and an E.
I have contacted a local psychical research
society and have even posted to various chat
rooms about this problem. The psychics came
out and were able to determine that someone
had died in the house and they said it was
the feeling that the person was an invalid
and spent all of his or her time in the bedroom.
Suggestions from other sites about burning
sage or white candles only seem to annoy the
presence and I get a night of no sleep out
of it.
It’s becoming more frightening than
curious and I want to find a way to put a
stop to this. I have contacted Mickey of Miami
and am waiting for a reply from her. In the
meantime, I don’t know what to do and
have thought of moving or selling the furniture.
We can’t afford to move and would end
up sleeping on the floor, but this seems better
than what we’re going through now!
