Have you ever witnessed something so strange that it haunts your memory forever? From eerie encounters in a century-old home to a mysterious sighting in the still of the night to a premonition of a loved one’s death, life is full of mystical phenomena. This month’s column has more real-life stories by those who have shared their experiences with the inexplicable.
The Attic Door
“We purchased a large century home in the early 2000s. It was converted into a triplex in the 1960s, and we spent over two years restoring it back into a single-family home. It was beautiful when we finished, and we were very proud of it.
From the start, we experienced some strange events, though. Muffled voices could be heard in other rooms when alone in the large house. Items were often moved from logical to illogical locations and the scent of a strong perfume often wafted through a room as it was being restored.
The most memorable experience for me was once seeing the apparition of a very elderly lady dressed in a Victorian-era nightgown and nightcap, staring at me with obvious curiosity as I was removing layers of old wallpaper off of the master bedroom walls. (I’ll describe that event in more detail in another submission.)
But one of the funniest experiences happened one day, not long after the restoration was completed and we finally moved in. My husband’s co-worker wanted us to give him and his wife a tour. They lived in another town but hoped to move closer to family and were possibly interested in purchasing the house from us. We hadn’t planned on selling it, especially after all our hard work to return it to its original state. However, the offer they said they’d consider was substantial, and we decided not to reject it immediately without a bit more consideration.
As my husband led them through the first and second floors, we could tell from their comments that they were pretty interested. Once he showed them the last room on the second level, only the attic remained to be seen.
As we walked toward the attic door, the couple explained that the third floor was actually their main focus because they wanted to turn the house back into multiple units as an investment property for their upcoming retirement, with the attic as their living quarters and the main and second floor as rental units. At first, we laughed, assuming they were kidding, knowing it had just taken us two years to restore it from that configuration. But they were serious.
Regardless of their generous offer, I did not want to sell after hearing that. From the expression on my husband’s face when he glanced at me, I could tell he was thinking the same thing.
But since they were keen to see the attic, and we were right at the door leading up to it, my husband continued the tour. When he tried to open the door, though, the doorknob wouldn’t budge.
He told me later it felt like someone was holding onto it on the other side of the door. We were both puzzled by this, as it had never happened before. His co-worker asked if it was locked. We kept the skeleton key in the keyhole because that was where it belonged, but the door was always just kept latched shut, never locked.
My husband tried the skeleton key, but that made no difference. Locking and unlocking the door did not affect the doorknob’s sudden immobility. He got the large collection of keys we inherited when we purchased the property and found the one marked “attic.” But it was identical to the one in the door’s keyhole and didn’t help the situation either. He tried everything he could think of, but nothing could get that knob to budge at all, so it was impossible to open the door.
We finally gave up and escorted them back down to the front door, bidding them goodbye after explaining we weren’t ready to part with the house yet.
Because of the other unusual incidents during the restoration and our frequent discussions that the house must be haunted, after they left my husband called out, “Okay, they’re gone, and we aren’t selling them the house. Will you please let us open the attic door now?” And we laughed.
But as we went back upstairs to check the attic door, not only did the knob turn normally again, but the heavy door was now fully opened on its own accord! It was a shock to see, but life in that house was full of strange moments like that.
We happily remained there for many more years, and the attic door never once gave us any more trouble like it did on that day when the would-be buyers discussed turning the house back into apartments. I think “they” (the original owners, perhaps?) appreciated that their home was put back to its proper state and didn’t want anyone to change that again.”
What Was That?!
“About 15 years ago, I owned a duplex and lived in one of the units with a tenant in the apartment below me. One night, I was sitting outside on the front steps, waiting for some friends to arrive for a visit. It was in the late spring, about 10 pm, so it was dark out. But the front porch light was on and was bright enough to light up the small front yard and driveway.
As I sat there, something suddenly dropped down from under the tenant’s parked car in the driveway. It fell with its back towards me, so I did not see the front of it or its face. But I saw the strange figure fall from the car’s underside to the ground below. I tried to figure out what it was as it lay still on the driveway for a moment.
Though I’d never seen any at night before, I thought, based on its size, it could be a sparrow because there were always so many darting around during the day. But it suddenly stood up from where it had landed, on unusually long and human-shaped legs! It definitely was not a sparrow! Then, without looking back, it ran across the road, right into the field of sweet grass and disappeared from my sight. I never saw it, or anything resembling it, ever again.
It was such a fleeting experience, but the memory of it remains locked in my mind as clearly as the night it happened all those years ago. I will never forget seeing that strange little creature.”
Fire In The Mirror
“Some years ago, two weeks before Christmas, I was in a curling bonspiel, and while running down the ice, I tripped and broke my hip. While in the hospital, I met a delightful woman who had been in the war years before. She had many stories to tell.
Her name was Maude, and she and her sister were from Ireland. They were both nursing at the same military hospital in England during the Second World War. For a night out, they would go to the canteen. This is where they socialized, playing cards, darts, dancing and drinking.
Maude’s sister had an American boyfriend, who had made her promise to never, ever volunteer to serve on a troopship. She promised she would not.
On that night, the girls were getting ready to go out. Maude’s sister was in the washroom when she let out a shriek. Maude ran in to see her sister staring intently at the mirror.
“Oh my God, “ she said. “As I was doing my hair, I saw Don’s face in the mirror, and then the mirror suddenly burst into flames. He was screaming.”
She knew something had happened to him and wanted to get down to the canteen to call him in Pearl Harbour. So, they went down and tried calling but could not get through.
The next day, on December 7, 1941, they heard the news that nineteen American ships had been sunk or damaged. The cost in lives was over 2,400. Maude’s sister was inconsolable.
After the confirmation of Don’s death, she went down to volunteer as a troopship nurse. She was determined, and there was no stopping her. On her first tour of duty, the ship she was on was torpedoed.
She was rescued but died from her injuries soon after.”
by Dorah L. Williams
Unexplainable phenomena often stay with us, forever firmly embedded in our minds, because of the “flashbulb” memories they create. Experiences of this nature make such a lasting impression because the unexplained remains an enigma we want to understand.
Many thanks to those who shared their stories for this column of Mystical Manitoulin! Do you also have a tale to tell? Whether you’ve experienced a haunting, a mysterious cryptic sighting, or a brush with the inexplicable, please share it with Canadian author Dorah L. Williams at dorahlwilliams@gmail.com
Your story, too, could be featured in an upcoming column of Mystical Manitoulin!
