A couple of months ago, we asked readers to send us their ghost stories for this edition. Rebecca Kraker and Jeanne Erickson responded.
Strange visitors
by Rebecca Kraker
My father had deep roots in Northeast. His grandparents settled here from Poland in 1911 in a side-by-side house across from where Webster School is now. He lived in Northeast his whole life, and I was raised here, too. He grew up in the Logan Park neighborhood and played in that park as a child. His final days were also spent in Logan Park neighborhood, which to him, completed the circle of life as his grandchild plays in that park now.
My dad was in his final stages of lung cancer that spread to his brain. He was put on hospice care and spent his final days in my home where I took care of him.
The last month, I could feel an energy in the house. It felt as if it was full, but only my Dad and I were there, as my husband and son were at work and daycare. Sometimes, I would hear bumps in the night, as he had a walker and would bump into doors, cough his lungs out and sit at the coffee table with his day-old coffee in his cup at 3 a.m. as if he was ready for the day. I would come downstairs to make his breakfast, startled to see him sitting at the kitchen table waiting for me.
One morning, I woke up, went into his room to check on him. He was already getting his button-up shirt on and getting ready to sit in the kitchen for his morning coffee and breakfast. I heard white noise in my ear as if some kind of energy just surrounded me. I finished with him, got his walker and we started walking to the kitchen when I noticed the TV has already been turned on.
I said, “I didn’t turn the TV on.”
Dad said, “They did.”
I just ignored his comment as I was alone in this house and already a little spooked by the TV. I know when someone is passing away, the veil is lifted and they are closer to the spirit realm and the spirits are closer to us as they surround the person passing on.
After breakfast, I led him into the living room so he could sit and watch the news. As he was hard of hearing, I had to turn the TV up pretty loud and I could hear it as I was cleaning the kitchen. I turned off the TV in the kitchen and heard him talking to someone. I figured it was just him talking to the TV.
As I cleaned, I heard him yelling in the living room, as if he was yelling at someone, and coughing uncontrollably. I turned off the faucet and ran in making sure he was ok. He said he was fine and to leave him alone. I turned around to find the TV was back on in the kitchen.
I just left it on and turned on cartoons because now I was pretty freaked out. This hasn’t ever happened before, so I know it was his energy or the energy around him that was messing with our electronics.
About three days before his passing, I could tell he was getting weaker. I was still experiencing TVs turning on, but now our lamps were flickering randomly at night. My husband, who absolutely does not believe in the paranormal, started getting nervous. I could see it in his face, but he wouldn’t admit it. I was cleaning the house when I heard Dad screaming, “GET OUT OF HERE!” I stopped at the door to listen to him.
“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?” Dad yelled over and over. “WHAT DO YOU WANT? STOP KNOCKING AND LEAVE ME ALONE”
I walked into the room slowly, not knowing what to expect or if he was by the door. I noticed the TV was on — the remote was on the dresser. He was still in bed in the same position as he was in when I left him. I asked who he was yelling at. He said there are people here to take him and he didn’t want to go. I heard the door creak like someone was opening the door further to get in or out. I looked behind me to see if the door moved; it was open wider.
I asked if he turned on the TV. He said, “they” did.
Fast forward to the day after his passing. My husband and I were sitting in our kitchen talking, contemplating what just happened in our lives the past month when we heard a banging sound coming from my dad’s room. It stopped, then again like it was making its way into the bathroom. My husband looked at me, terrified. I suggested it was our son waking up and making stomping sounds. I went to go check on him. He was still in bed sleeping.
I came back downstairs smiling, knowing full well who it was. We ignored the noise and continued with our coffee chat when we heard it again, but louder and we heard Dad’s cough. My husband looked at me again. I said to him smiling, “It’s just the radiator.” He said, “Thank you for saying that.” We both knew it wasn’t the radiator.
Mysterious happenings
by Jeanne Erickson
When Mickey, a boyfriend of mine, moved into my Northeast home in 1992, after a time, strange things started happening.
•A treasured purchase Mickey found in an antique store disappeared from the closet where he had stored it. When searching for it, he said he felt something touch his bare back in the closet. I was near him, but standing away, outside of the closet. He was surprised and upset.
•Electrical fuses kept blowing in the house.
•The electric lawnmower shorted out and stopped working when he was mowing the lawn. It had always worked without a problem before.
•When I was in the bathroom one time, a low growl came from a corner. I left, scared.
•A dresser in the bedroom was moved away from the wall. Neither of us had done it.
•Once, my cat sprang from out of the walk-in closet nearby during the night, causing us to sit up straight in bed at the same time. Nothing was evident, but we had no idea what caused it.
Once, Mickey told me about a situation he’d experienced some time ago in a darkened hallway. He saw a disturbing vision that caused him to throw his pack of cigarettes at it. The entity threw the cigarettes back at him with speed and force.
In time, I got too upset, and had do something. I called a local medium I’d heard about, who had credibility and experience. I described the things that had been happening. She felt Mickey had an aura that caused these things to happen. I was instructed to address these spirits lingering in my house. She told me what to say, and to tell them to leave the house. They were to go “to the other side, toward the light.”
I did what she suggested. Her instructions made sense to me, because they invoked a clear spiritual element to them. After I did as she said, the problem stopped. I haven’t shared this story with many people, because there’s always the feeling they won’t believe what I experienced in my home.