Footsteps Ghostly Library at O'Neill's Ghostories

This is something that happened to me when I was five or six years old. I know that is young, and being the age that I am now (16) you would think that I had forgotten, but I haven't. Not at all . . .

We used to live in a modular (house) when I was younger. I lived with my parents (they have since been divorced ) and I had to share a room with my brother where we slept in bunk beds.

It was about 2:00 a.m. and I was awakened, for what reason I was unsure. Because I slept with my feet facing the doorway, I was looking out of the door and noticed that the light was on.

It was then that I started to hear some noises, like the little footsteps of a child.

I strained my eyes to look and then that is when I saw the shadow, it was the figure of a little girl. I could even see details in the shadow where a skirt covered her legs -- and the shadow was about two feet tall. I also could see that she had pigtails.

I know that it could not have been human because I know that there were only three people in the house and I was the only little girl there. I know that this doesn't really sound like much of anything, but the fear that I felt that night was immense. I have never had an encounter like that since then.

I have two or three other stories to go along with this weird encounter but that is best left for another day. Hope you put this in. I wonder who that little girl could have been? I should go back there because I own the house now (yes, it is mine now so I could go back sometime, just to see what I could find out).

Reap THIS!
by David W.
Hailing From: North Alabama
Where it Happened: Camp Pendleton, California

As a child I had a very creative mind and have grown up to be a fairly competent artist. However, even an endless imagination couldn't have prepared me for the encounters I had at 8 years old, and the events have been burned into my mind.

It was 1974, and my family had just moved from Quantico, Virginia (my dad was a Marine Officer) to Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base, California, into a two story duplex.

Just about the time we got settled in, my paternal grandfather was murdered.

A few months later my mom's parents visited. Since we had a big family, a few of us kids were delighted to give up our beds for visiting family. Pappy got my bed, and I was relocated to my brothers' bunk bed. Mark and I didn't get along, so I slept on the bottom with Daniel, with my head at the foot of the bed.

At about 4:00 a.m. the first night something awakened me. I didn't think anything about it and started to sleep again. However, it felt as if someone was watching me. Then I could hear very heavy breathing and felt a downward draft on my face. Scared out of my mind, I squinted my eyes and saw a hulking black figure, looking like the "Grim Reaper" without bones, hovering over me as if staring into my eyes. I tried to ignore it, but it wouldn't go away. I even snored, but it still didn't leave! Thinking that a little movement might disrupt the "nightmare," I moved towards the center of the bed. But I didn't wake up, and the tormentor continued to breathe on my face, moving around the bed and laying down beside me!

Immediately I lept from the bed and screamed at the top of my lungs "IT'S GOT ME!!!! IT'S GOT ME!!!!

Everyone in the family came running to see what had happened, commenting that a dark figure had disappeared in the hallway to the bedroom. Needless to say, I didn't sleep the rest of the night. What's worse, that black fiend and his lot continued to haunt me, the family and the neighbors for years. I resorted to sleeping with an adult very close by, as often as I was allowed. Otherwise, encounters like the following were a nightly ritual. If I ever turned my head from the hallway light (which was left on for my security), the fiend's shadow would appear and he would start panting like he'd just run a 26-mile race!

Sometimes he'd hide behind the door or in a closet. Sometimes the whole family would hear chains dragging across the floor or glass breaking downstairs. One night it sounded as if plungers were being walked up and down the stairs. By this time I had mustered enough courage to investigate the sounds, and saw nothing in the stairwell. Perhaps the scariest moment was the night I heard the hedious, angry laughter. As usual something had awakened me, and I sat there wondering what to expect. Suddenly I heard a commotion from downstairs, followed by laughter that could have come from the movies "Cybil" or "The Exorcist"! First it was one voice, then it was two, as if they were running around the first floor. Then they stopped. Suddenly the first one started again and I could hear it coming up the stairs. It entered the hallway, ran to the bedroom and brushed up against me, passing into the wall. Then the second voice started - but I didn't lie in bed waiting for it - I ran straight to may parent's room.

Another time one of our cousins came to visit, and it was decided that he and I would share a bed. Sometime that night, I awakened to see the outline of a goat's head on my moms heirloom wardrobe (it was kept in my room), with a bright ring in its nose, and spiraling, fiery horns. As I screamed, it went away.

Finally one night I'd had enough of the crap from whatever was haunting me. He had decided to inhabit the corner behind my bedroom door, just staring and breathing towards me. I sat up and said, "In the name of Jesus, leave me alone!"

Guess what? It stopped!

I have never seen that thing again! And everyday I thank God for the relief! However, all the haunting hadn't stopped. As recently as 1988, I have been harrassed by a 'paranormal phenomenon' - even though we moved across the country. At times, I would wake up being dragged by my feet off the bed!

I also asked my parents if they had noticed my old bunk bed (the one from California) would sometimes shake and squeak as if a couple were "goin' at it." My dad confided that, when I was young, the bed would often make lots of noise, sometimes when I was asleep on it (which would explain why I was often awakened in the middle fo the night). He'd bolt out of his room swearing someone was harming one of his boys only to find us all sleeping soundly. He also said the neighbors in California (the Martins) shared similar experiences to what I'd had.

The past 11 years have been pretty uneventful, paranormally, and I hope it stays that way!

So around midnight we all gathered in the grand foyer waiting for the bride to appear. After a short period we got a little restless and started to joke around about the whole affair. We returned to the room disappointed. A friend thought we should ask her (with the Ouija board) why she didn't show.

Juliet, Juliet -- Where For Art Thou?
by Sarah Hill
Hailing From: Hillsborough, North Carolina
Where it Happened: Orange High School

A few nights before the big production at my high school, the director was staying after school to work on the set's final touches. She was alone on stage when suddenly a single long blond hair fell from above . . . she thought to herself, "Hmmmm must have been Stephanie's. Yeah, it must've stuck in the light fixture when she was working on it." Still, Ms. Holton couldn't shake the somewhat eerie feeling that crept along her neck . . . she'd had this feeling ever since the beginning of rehearsals.

The next day Ms.Holton went to visit a friend of hers in the school.

"Elizabeth, I had the strangest thing happen last night. I was staying after and when I was on stage when this long piece of hair fell from the ceiling."

"Was it long blonde?'" asked Elizabeth.

"Yes, why?"

"It must have been Julie's," Elizabeth said in an eerie tone.

"Who's Julie?"

"You mean you haven't heard of Julie before?"

Back in 1974, the drama department decided to put on Romeo and Juliet for the spring production. Julie was a tall, beautiful blonde senior who was talented in every way. She was determined to get the part of Juliet.

Auditions came around, and sadly, Julie didn't make the cut. She was outraged!! She told the director if he didn't give her the part she "would die, simply die!"

"If I don't get the part," Julie told him, "I'll kill myself."

Of course no one took her seriously, and a few months later, Romeo and Juliet opened up. The first night Julie was there, sitting directly in the middle of house staring angrily at Juliet, she didn't laugh or cry. When the play was over she got up and left.

Juliet went to the house manager and told him, 'My God, Julie was giving me the creeps! She just kept staring at me."

Her friend comforted her and told her not to worry about it. "Naw, she's just jealous, that's all. She won't come back the next night -- but Julie came back again.

She sat in the center f the house, neither laughing or crying; just glaring at Juliet.

Once again Juliet went to the house manager and told him, "She was here again, Jared! She just kept staring at me. Now, I mean it, if she comes tomorrow, give her a different seat!"

"Yeah, yeah. Ok, ok, sure I will. Whatever you say."

Sunday was the final night, and sure enough Julie showed up. Somehow, she got the same seat and glared at poor Juliet. When the show was over, she got up and left. The house closed and the techies began to knock down the set. They left a ladder center stage and a rope hanging from one of the pipes.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Julie broke into the theater and climbed the ladder. She hitched the rope around her neck and hung herself.

On Monday morning she was found by a teacher. She was dead and bloated.

". . . and that is Julie's story."

Elizabeth completed the story and asked, "What play were you originally going to do anyway?"

Ms. Holton gulped, 'Romeo and Juliet."

Julie has haunted our theater since the night of her untimely death. Sometimes she makes props disappear. Other times she makes the noise of a chair being thrown down. Of course no one will find the invisible person whose pranks (or are they warnings?) scare them. Her footsteps simply ring in the empty halls.

One thing for certain, though -- we know Julie had come to visit.

It all started when I was about 8 years old. My family and I moved into a rent house in Haltom City (Ft.Worth Texas). This house was not really all that old, maybe built in the 50's (that's a guess). Anyway, after moving in I was outside in the front yard playing and two neighbor boys came out and started talking to me. Eventually I went to their house to visit and get to know these prospective new friends. While inside, I was standing in a particular spot in their kitchen when one of the boys looked at the other, and then at me, and says "I wouldn't stand there if I were you." Curious, I asked "why not?" and the boy replied, "Because there was a ghost in that very spot one time."

Needless to say I jumped right off that spot and went outside.

Then I was curious. I started asking these guys about their ghost and they told me that their aunt and little cousin had come to visit them and while they were in the kitchen talking and catching up, the little boy was runnng around in the house playing. A little bit later the little boy walked into the kitchen and stood next to his mom. His mom noticing him out of the corner of her eye went to place her hand on his shoulder and HER HAND PASSED RIGHT THROUGH HIM! She jumped back aghast and looked at the little boy. The kid just looked up at her then all the other adults in the kitchen one by one then vanished and about that time the little boy came running down the hall screaming like something was chasing him.

As a kid that story frightened me quite a bit, but then they proceeded to tell me that they will be sitting watching TV and the channel will change or the volume will go up full blast all of the sudden and sometimes their front door will swing wide open WITH THE DEADBOLT STILL POKING OUT as if it passed right through the door or something.

The boys I was chatting with had an older sister, she was about 17 or 18 years old, and one night she was asleep and she distinctly felt someone grab her by her arms FIRMLY and lift her into the air and start banging her into the window like it was trying to toss her out. Of course she woke up terrified and started screaming at the top of her lungs. When her parents burst into her room and turned the light on it dropped her and disappeared (it was never visible but it left right then).

The next day I saw the bruise marks on her arms that were shaped like someone with LARGE HANDS had been squeezing them very hard.

At the time I was too scared to ever go into their house but at the same time I felt like they may be pulling my leg and making up these stories, that is until one day my parents were outside talking to these boys parents and they told my folks the same stories that they told me!To top it off they said to my parents, "Some very strange things have happened in YOUR house too but we'd rather not talk about that..."

. . . and they never told my folks what happened in our house.

I'll send in another story soon of the very scary stuff that proceeded from that day on in my house.

I don't know why, but I've always had "experiences" ever since I can remember. The "experiences" have been from ghostly encounters to, well, I rather let you decide what the others are. I guess, the reason why I "draw" these things towards me and other around me is that my "awareness" is higher than most people, or that I'm just lucky. All my life I "felt" things that I cannot explain. I'll visit a new place with my family or on a school field trip and things will happen, or they just happen at my home. I've had very pleasant experiences and then there were the scariest kinds. I'll tell you a few of the scary ones.

Massachusetts is a very old state with a lot of very old homes, and that's why haunted tales are not unusual -- but no matter how many experiences people have or tell, no one seems to believe them. I will say that all of my stories are true, believe them or not, that's your choice.

By the summer before my eight grade in junior high, my family (mom, grandmother, and myself) moved into a new house. Ever since I can remember things would move around on my bedroom dresser (I have crystal vases, boxes, etc.). I would go downstairs, and realize I that I forgot something and the things on my dresser would have been moved completely to the other side of the dresser. Since I was a only child at the time, my grandmother was downstairs and my mother would be at work.

I knew it was a ghost. However, it wasn't threatening so I didn't think about it too much about it. I just let it do what it wanted.

About three years later I experienced something very scary. I had a friend from school sleep over my house and that evening I saw someone in my room. I awoke from sleeping (I was on the floor in a sleeping bag) and my friend was in my bed). I thought my grandmother was in my room. I saw a figure pacing back and forth in front of my bed. Again, I thought it was my grandmother, so I called out to her. I thought she was just checking to make sure we had enough blankets, etc. But when it finally turned to look at me, I realized it wasn't her.

It was a medium size man (?) dressed in black with a long black cape and a hood over his head -- and the whitest face I ever seen -- and one more thing, I swear that he had a mark on his face in black similar to the letter Z.

After I saw this I turn to my friend and starting yelling at my friend to wake up. When she finally did, I told her to look and of course he wasn't there. She told me that I was imagining it and to go back to sleep. The next morning we both went downstairs, and I told my family what I had seen. They all laughed at me, but I was serious and my mother told me see believed me. I don't think she did though. I think she just said that to humor me.

About a week later I was on the phone with another friend of mine, Shelly. We were talking about what we had been up to. She told me that last weekend she and some friends of ours went out at the end of the evening for a drive to a nearby cemetery. She said the three of them got out to walk around the graveyard, but she stayed behind in the car to wait. She said when she was waiting for the others to come back, she saw this man coming towards the car at her. She then proceeded to tell me that she was never so scared in her life! She started to freak out. She quickly leaned over all the seats of the car to make sure the car door was locked, and when she looked up the man was still walking towards her and the car. She then described the man to me on the phone, and she described him to the "T" as the man that I saw in my room that same weekend. I was speechless on the phone and just listened to her story. I didn't tell her about my "visit" from the man who I call the "Z" man.

About a month past after that and I finally told her my story. She was shocked and thought I was making it up. I told her I wanted to tell her that night she called me, but I was so scared that I just couldn't. Two months past (towards the end of the summer), Shelly and I and some of our friends went to the drive in theater. She and I had to go to the rest room. As we waited in the line, we turned to look on the wall and saw written black was "the Z man is coming." We then both looked at each other and ran out of there as fast as we could.

All I know is that it was evil, and I didn't want to find out if he or it was coming again or not. I haven't saw this "man" since 1989, or at least not that can remember. But nor do I want to. Then again, I live in Florida now and maybe that could be a reason he hasn't made an appearance.

Tool Man
by Rebecca J.
Hailing From: Dayton, Ohio
Where it Happened: At Grandmother's House

This is a story told to me by my father who is a no nonsense kind of man, who does not scare easily and who is not prone to fantasy. That makes the story he told me tonight (even with it being April Fools Day) all the more valid.

My dad's father had recently passed away and my dad was in the garage working on my mom's car. When my dad could not find the tool he was looking for and asked out loud to my grandpa, "Where is that (such and such) tool?"

(By the way, he had looked everywhere.)

Then, he heard a noise and went in that direction -- and low and behold there was that particular tool. To him I am sure this was not scary, he was just helped by his father.

It Seems to Float
by Kel
Hailing From: Australia, Vic
Where it Happened: Australia

It all happened when I was at my old house, which was a rather smallish farm house. There I lived with my mother, father and 17 year old brother. I was always a little suspicious, but not greatly into anything like ghosts in any big way or manner. Little things would always happen around the house, things like books falling off shelves, vases (etc.) -- but no one really took any particular notice -- everyone else in my family simply blamed it on the old house's feeble foundation. But me being a little "sus," I always came to the same conclusion that it had to be a ghost and that the house was truly and purely haunted. Especially since someone died in the old place about 10 years before we moved in, and well, that would give you the creeps, right? Well, it did a righteous turn for me, I assure you.

I'm not quite sure how the person died, no one ever talked about it. Anyway, my brother used to love attempting to scare me -- he would jump out at me all the time and go running past my door and screaming, "BOO!" -- stupid, immature things like that. But one day I was in my room, lying on my bed just glancing at my door that was wide open. My brother was in his bedroom (right next to mine) I could tell this because his music was turned right up. My father was at work and my mother was . . . well I didn't have a clue where she was, I thought she was in the kitchen. So I was staring at my door in the middle of the day when suddenly a shadow whisped past my door. It appeared about half the size of a human being and seemed to almost ... float?

I thought it was just my brother playing tricks on me, as if he had just ran past my door and was squatting to make himself look short. So I called out to him, "Very funny Ad's, very funny!"

I looked at the door again and once again the (thing) ran past my door in the opposite direction heading towards my parents room to the back of the house. This time I was freaked but I still believed (or wanted to believe) that it was my brother fooling around. So I ran into his room, to find it unbelievably ... empty.

So I ran back into my room and looked out my window, and there out the front of out 5 acre block was my mother and my brother doing some gardening. I ran out the front and accused my brother of being stupid -- and he had no idea what so ever was going on. My mother became suspicious and we all went back into the house together.

We searched the house from front to back, finding absolutely nothing to blame. Strange things kept happening around the house, we soon moved. (Thank God).

Now that we've moved house into town we only just found out that one of the houses around the corner where we use to live was also supposed to be haunted. Apparently once a whole bookshelf fell over almost crushing the owner of the house for no apparent reason.

The world is weird, but were definitely not alone.

After the Struggle
by Abigail Ung
Hailing From: Woodbridge,Va.
Where it Happened: Manila,Philippines

First of all, I would like to dedicate this to my loving grandfather. His family loved him dearly and misses him very much. Here is how it all started.

It was the day after Christmas (12-26-91). It was late at night. I know my grandparent's daily evening routines. My grandfather would watch some t.v. shows before going to bed and my grandmother would be upstairs saying her prayers -- and then my grandpa heard a noise coming from the kitchen.

So he went to check it out, and it was a burglar (who I call a murderer) that had just broken into the house. The stranger and my grandpa fought and struggled and my grandpa could not fight the man off, he was too old and the robber was stronger. Eventually, the robber killed my grandpa and left the premises.

My grandma heard all the noise coming from downstairs and so she rushed out of the room and found my grandpa lying at the bottom of the stairs, bleeding to death. She was too scared so she barricaded herself in the room and I guess, with all the adrenaline rush, she managed to pickup my grandpa's sword (sword he had when he fought in war).

This was told by my grandma to my family back in the Philippines who told us the day after his death.

The officials suspected the husband of one of the housekeepers as the one who did this. You see, one of the housekeepers had been recently laid off when my grandparents found out she was stealing from them (all was discovered at her own house and then retrieved).

So it was revenge, I suppose.

My family and I went back for his funeral. We all stayed with my grandma's for a couple of weeks to ensure her safety and of course, to comfort her. I still cannot believe this could even happen. Especially to a very good man. I was very upset and frustrated over all. I used to live with my grandparents, they practically raised me. My grandpa was very funny and loving to his family.

The weeks we were there, odd things would happen. One night when we were having a family prayer (this is tradional--to have prayer for a week--for the departed) in the living room, noises would come from the kitchen to the dining room going towards up the stairs, but nobody would be in the rooms at the time. And when it was time for bed, everyone would go except for me, I would stay up late, watch tv and eat.

I was just sitting around thinking about him. I don't know what time it was, but I would hear the rocking chair in the front patio of the house, like it was rocking back and forth. And I would also hear the flipping sounds of newspaper being read. I was spooked I didn't even bother to turn off the t.v or finish what I was eating. I just ran up the stairs into bed. I told my family what has happened and they didn't seem to mind. They just say, "Oh, it's just your grandpa visiting you."

It was scary. My mom said she would have dreams about him visiting her. She said that one time she was even awakened by him. She woke up to feel someone was shaking her foot. (My grandpa would wake her up like that before-- when he was alive--he would always grab her foot and wake her up).

Well, I want to know what you think. I hope this was not boring. It was something I had to tell. I never actually seen his presence, I just felt and heard him around. I still think about it though and it still haunts me.

My grandma sold her house and moved in with my mom's sister. She is doing fine now emotionally and physically. Once in awhile she (and I witnessed this) would be talking to herself (in her room with the lights out, just sitting there watching t.v.) or maybe... who knows...my grandpa. That is when I leave her alone at the moment, she spooks me sometimes.

Trans-portation Nurse
by Tina
Hailing From: Alderson, West Virginia
Where it Happened: River Rest

Well I wouldn't really know how to describe this event, it was chilling to the bone, and the most heart pounding event that had ever happened to me.

It was when my sister (Judy) first started seeing her boyfriend, who is now her husband, Lewis. We were living in my grandmother's house up on the hill. My sister worked at Pizza Hut as a delivery driver, and after work she would go see Lewis.

The house was actually a trailer which my grandfather built onto and connected it to their cabin, which means we had 2 kitchens (kind of odd, huh?) The trailer is a 40 footer, a 1970's model and my Grandpa built a long enclosed in porch for extra space. My bedroom was in the back of the trailer, right beside the bathroom. The rooms were adjoined only by sliding doors.

Four days before the incident occurred, I was reading a book when the water turned on. I thought nothing of it. I just thought Judy had came home without me hearing her. So, as I usually do, I called her name, and naturally there was no response -- so I got up and turned off the water. I went through the trailer part of the house and there was no sister to be found, so I glanced out of the enlarged window and there was also no little white Festiva in the driveway. I thought she was really playing a bad joke on me because she is famous for doing so. I went to bed and the next day I had told her about it, but she told ne she was at Lewis'

That brings me to four days later. As usual I was home alone and had gone to bed early. I started dreaming of a place down in Florida, a little log vacationing house and my whole family was there. I was tanning outside when a big tractor trailer ran over me. As I floated up I could see my family weeping over my bloody body, and I heard an announcement on the radio of my death.

It suddenly got pitch dark. As I opened my eyes I was in a lighted room and I heard a women saying, "Tina. Tina" I could not turn my head, but at this point I was truly waking up -- and I was trying to open my eyes when I said, "Where am I?

She replied, "You are in South Africa."

I had opened my eyes to a very small squint and said, "No I'm not. I'm in my room in West Virginia."

She grabbed my hand as I turned my head I could see the women now, dressed in all white with a needle heading toward my hand. I jerked it back but she grabbed it again.

I started praying to God just as the needle punctured my skin, only a bit, and then the woman disappeared. My eyes flew wide open and I tuned my light on to see the back of my hand -- and you guessed it -- there was a small red spot of a needle puncture. It hurt for a few days and no one could ever explain the event. It hasn't happened again, and I hope and pray to God that it never.

Will, . . . can anyone help me find the reason for this? Please!!!!!!