My TRUE ghost story, our haunted house part 1

10/29/2010

I grew up in a small Southwestern Illinois town with a population of about 2000. When I met my husband and we got married we stayed in my hometown for about a year and a half. My husband was from St. Louis and most of his work was across the river in Missouri. It was quite a commute for him everyday and was just 8 miles North for me to drive to work. He started talking about moving closer to his work and we compromised on finding a home in a large old city still on the Illinois side about halfway to St. Louis. It was still going to be within 10 miles of my job but I would be driving South instead of North and it cut hubby's drive in half.

We looked at about a dozen houses and none of them felt right. I had put my house up for sale and it sold in 4 days. I didn't expect that at all. I started looking on the internet and one day as I was searching in our price range I saw a huge old brick Victorian that hadn't been there the day before. When B saw it he said "thats it!" We hadn't even seen the inside but I was drawn to it too. It reminded me of the house that I grew up in.

As we turned down the beautiful tree lined street with all the huge old mansions I had a feeling like we belonged here. Once we pulled up in front of the house I noticed right away that it appeared to have a lot of neglect and looked larger than the house I grew up in. Our Realtor informed us that the house had been empty for the past 5 years and she really thought we were wasting her time and ours looking at this old neglected mansion. "It needs a ton of work" she told us as she put the key in the lock. I was looking up at the gorgeous gingerbread woodwork that made up the porch, windows and roofline.

Once the front door opened we were in a huge foyer with the most beautiful staircase I had ever saw gracefully sweeping in a large curve toward the upper levels. It wound up past the 2nd floor and on to the 3rd. It was massive and breathtaking. Every piece of woodwork in the house was a piece of art. As we passed into the front parlor the first thing we noticed was the plaster on the ceiling had collapsed onto the floor but the huge fireplace was adorned with cherubs and carved flowers. The crown molding and woodwork were stunning. We looked at each other and we both knew this was it. We were home and we told our realtor that. She seemed shocked and told us we hadn't seen the rest of the house yet, but we just knew.

The rest of the house was just as neglected but gorgeous. Some of the windows had been boarded up and old wallpaper was hanging in sheets off some of the walls. We both knew it was a huge amount of work but we were in love. The house was about 5000 sq ft. with 4 levels. It had a huge balcony off the master suite overlooking the private back yard. Huge porches adorned the front and back of the house and it had a large tower which loomed above the 3rd floor. Once we made it up the stairs to the tower the first thing I noticed was the chill up there. It was April but was a warm sunny day and I was surprised that the round room was so cold. The next thing I noticed was the views. We could see down on all the other stately huge homes for blocks in every direction. The Realtor stayed on the stairs and asked us if we were sure we wanted to make an offer on the mansion. We both enthusiastically said YES!

Our offer was accepted and the day we closed on the house I had taken the day off work. B was working nearby and met me at the closing office. We signed a million papers and they handed us the keys. Everyone in the office including our Realtor told us they would love to come and see the house once we finished it. B had to return to work and I headed over to the house. I had purchased some new locks and wanted to get them installed before we brought over our tools to begin work. I was so excited as I turned the key in the lock and stepped into the foyer. I could visualize the place with new period wallpaper and since I was an antique nut I knew all my beautiful furniture and pictures would fit in here like they had always been there. A perfect compliment to this gorgeous house.

I took the bags to the kitchen and put them on the counter and began to open the lock boxes and get my tools out. About that time I heard a door upstairs close. My first thought was that someone was in the house. After all it had been empty for years and I was thinking maybe someone was squatting there. I called out that I was there and was calling 911. I grabbed the hammer, large screw driver and my cell phone and slowly went up the rear servants staircase from the kitchen to the rear upstairs hallway. It was so quiet I could hear my own footsteps and my heart beating loudly in my ears. All the doors were wide open to all the empty rooms. I checked everything including the balcony door. The house was secure. At that point I thought maybe it was a draft moving a door somewhere since some of the windows were boarded up. I kind of laughed at myself and happily went back down stairs to the kitchen and got busy with the locks. Within 20 minutes I heard the door again. This time I heard it slam loudly. I figured this time I would find out which room the breeze was blowing into because I knew that door had to be closed. Once I made it to the 2nd floor I stopped in my tracks, all the doors were now closed. I ran down the stairs and out the back door into the yard and called B. I told him that I was freaked out and what had happened. He laughed at me and told me that drafts did strange things and I was losing it. I tried to laugh it off, he told me to just go on home and we would put the locks in the next day.

The next 2 weeks were a whirlwind of activity at the house as we had hired an electrician to rewire the house and a plumber to bring the plumbing up to code so we could move in. We were in a hurry and had to get a temp. occupancy permit so we could move in as we had to move out of our old house cause it was sold. We knew we would have to live there while we worked on it, we had no choice. B had quickly replaced the bad ceilings and repaired all the plaster on the main level. The electrical was done but the plumber had not finished his work and we didn't hear from him for several days so I called and told him that the plumbing inspection was the only thing left to get the temporary OP. That is when he told me that he wouldn't be finishing the job and we didn't owe him anything for the work that he had completed. He told me very calmly that something was wrong with our house and he had no intention of coming back. I asked him what the problem was and he told me we would be wise to sell it and go. He said he heard things there that made him uncomfortable and that was that. He freaked me out when he told me that. But we found a new plumber to finish the work and the temp. OP was granted with the understanding that we had 6 months to scrape and paint the exterior trim and replace the guttering.

We moved in on a Saturday with the help of several friends and family. A great portion of the interior wasn't finished yet and we kept those rooms closed off. We had finished the front parlor, dining room, library, 1 bathroom, the master bedroom and 2 other bedrooms. All the while we were working on the house we heard things that we kind of shrugged off as it being an old house and its quirks. The first night in the house all our friends left about 11pm after a long day of moving large antique furniture and tons of boxes. We had placed our bed in the best position which allowed you to see the bedroom door and out into the hallway. The dogs settled in with us and we left the light on in the hallway so if we woke up we wouldn't be disoriented in the night. We were so wore out but B wanted to take a quick shower and I waited in bed for him to get done. I heard the shower turn off and shortly after that he walked into the room and I could tell right away that something was wrong. I asked him what it was and he said "nothings wrong" but I know my husband and I knew he was lying. I immediately thought that he had discovered something wrong with the bathroom that would require a lot of money to fix. "What is it!?" I asked. "don't worry, its nothing" he replied as he switched off the lamp on his bedside table obscuring the worried look on his face. Within seconds of that light going off we saw the huge dark shadow move past our open bedroom door blocking out the light. I gasped and grabbed B. He held me tight and said "OK. The closet doors in the bathroom were opening and closing on their own while I was in there, I think we have a problem."