From: ~*~ Miska
Subject: The Basement
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 2004 01:49:23 -0400
To: The Official Shadow People Archives
Hello and Thank You for letting me share my story. I've been carrying this story around for twenty-four years trying to figure out "what" I saw. Only recently have I started to search the Net in hopes of finding answers and discovering the term "shadow people".
This is the only encounter I've had with a "shadow person", but I have had numerous encounters with spirits on and off throughout my life - starting at the age of seven. I am sensitive to the presence of spirits in my immediate surroundings, in other words, if one is nearby I am aware of it. But I digress...
I remember this as if it were yesterday.
When I was eight years old I was down in the basement of my parent's house with a friend of mine from the neighborhood. The basement was half finished and the other half was left unfinished, as this was my Father's "work area" where he kept his tools and such. My friend and I were watching an old "Abbot and Costello" movie on the television in the finished part of the basement (the recreation room - rec. room). There are two doors along the eastern wall of the rec. room - one goes into the "toy room" where my toys/games and such were kept and the other door leads into my Father's "work area".
On this day, the door to my Father's "work area" was open and just inside this door going into the rec. room is the television my friend and I were watching. I stood up from my chair still watching the television while backing away as I planned on going upstairs for something to drink. Standing there a few moments, still focused on the show I heard the sound of someone walking in my Father's "work area" - the scuffling of "dress shoes" against cement. Naturally, I assumed this was my Father walking around in the room even though he had not been down the basement that day I thought he must have come down without my noticing due to my watching television.
Upon hearing this sound, I remember my friend jumping up quickly and coming to my side. I guess she didn't expect anyone to be in my Father's "work area" because up until hearing this sound as far as we knew we were "alone" down there - my parents were in other parts of the house. So there we both stood, waiting to see my Father walk in through the door from his "work area", and the sound grew closer. We both watched in silence when "it" walked past the open door to my Father's "work area". It was all in black, wearing what I described as a child to be a long black "coat" and wearing a black hat. Not a "top hat" or anything like that, but a hat with a brim pulled down over his face on one side - or at least where his face would have been if it hadn't been completely black. I did however see the "coat" sway as he walked along. Also, I recall his "gait" as he walked; it sounded as though he had a limp and was scooting his feet along the floor (not picking up his feet as in normal walking). So, the sound was like "shh shh, pause shh shh, pause shh shh" and rather slow.
After standing there for a few moments (until he was nearly past the open door) my friend and I ran quickly for the stairs. So quickly in fact were we trying to get upstairs we ended up pulling each other down to get up faster. Once upstairs I slammed the door and didn't go back down the basement that day, or for literally years for any extended period of time (other than say to retrieve something - and only when accompanied by someone - mother, father, brother, friend).
My parent's basement since that day has always had a "feeling" to it. There ARE indeed things around their house. Now that I've long since moved away from home since being married my Mother every now and again will tell me when she has seen "things".
There was another experience a year or so after the above mentioned that "may" be related to the above. Please allow me to explain:
My father and brother were not home on this evening; they had gone out to someplace (I can't recall where). At home were just my Mother, Grandmother and myself. The three of us were sitting in the Family Room watching television.
My Mother had gotten up to use the restroom right off of the family room, while my Grandmother and I continued watching the television show. All along the one wall in the Family Room are "floor to ceiling" mirrors. On the other side of this wall is the stairwell to the basement. My Mother wasn't in the bathroom very long at all, perhaps five or less minutes, however while she was gone my Grandmother and I heard a very loud bang against the wall with mirrors - as if someone had punched the wall from the stairwell side of the wall.
This "bang" was so loud and struck so hard the mirrors on the wall vibrated (thank God the mirrors didn't fall as my Grandmother was sitting in a chair that had it's back to this wall). The sound even woke up our dog that was sound asleep and prompted her to bark twice. When my Mother returned to the room my Grandmother and I must have looked terrified because my Mother questioned what was wrong. My Grandmother and I both asked simultaneously "Didn't you hear it? The loud "bang" my Mother never heard, which is strange since she was only in the bathroom off of the Family Room and it was so loud I imagine if one were upstairs they could have heard it, but she never did.
Not knowing if there was an intruder in the basement, my Mother quietly went to the basement door and latched the dead bolt. She then went upstairs and got my father's handgun in case there was indeed someone in the basement who tried to break through the door. Again, my father and brother were away that night, which made the three of us even all the more nervous now that we could possibly have an intruder in the basement.
Finally, we three decided to get into the car just to get us out of the house all together. So we piled into the car (I insisted I take my dog along) and we pulled out of our garage and sat in the street next to our driveway to wait for the return of my father and brother. After about forty-five minutes or so, my father and brother returned wondering why we were all in the car and the end of the drive. (And yes, he had a few laughs about how silly this must have seemed not only to my father and brother but also to neighbors passing by, but we didn't care at this point).
We explained the situation, and then my father and brother went into the house and down the basement. They hunted every square foot and there was no one to be found, no sign of intrusion, nothing.
Over the years and numerous conversations regarding this incident, I've always assumed that whatever it was I saw when I was eight years old banged on the wall. In any case, whatever it was that did, wasn't pleased and was very strong. I've never heard any loud bang on a wall like that before or since.
Did something want our attention? If so, why just my Grandmother and me?
Feel free to use this on your site if you wish. If you do, please let me know. :)
Regards,
~*~ Miska~*~
