So there I was, lying in bed in a 400 year old timber framed cottage in the dead of night in rural Suffolk. Looked lovely in the pictures. No light pollution and nearest neighbour miles away. Kids asleep in adjacent rooms and Mrs T fast asleep by my side. I'm just about to nod of to sleep when I hear a sigh then a heavy, rasping, breathing noise coming from the vicinity of the bedroom doorway. "Must be one of the kids" I think to myself and strain to see if there was anything there. Nothing. Then I hear a slow rhythmic creaking of floorboards just as if someone is creeping along the landing. Heart starts pounding as instinct tells me it's not the kids – not sure why, just seemed "heavier" footsteps. Some of the kids holiday bags are strewn around the room so I grab their wooden baseball bat and creep out slowly. It's pitch black. I couldn't see anything, but one more creak and the tripswitch controlling my colon would flick into "jettison" mode. I tighten my grip on the bat and duck down to creep through the low beamed doorway into the hall. Nothing. I go into the kids rooms – all sleeping and all well. Then I hear a "clang" downstairs. Not a "did I or didn't I?" hear it clang but the sort of noise you'd make if you dropped a frying pan onto a flagstone floor. By now my heart was really pounding and I was met in the hallway by a startled Mrs T who was awakened by a noise. We exchanged whispered "Did you hear thats?" and by now I was convinced that there was someone in the house. Change of tactic. I put all upstairs lights on and say in a loud voice "You lot stay up here and me and the blokes will see what's downstairs". Mrs T looks at me quizzically and mouths "What blokes?". I'll cut to the chase. I searched the house from top to toe, opening cupboards, checking windows and doors for a good hour. Bat held aloft ready to strike with each opened door. Nothing. No evidence of anything heavy falling, no evidence of any tampering. Nothing. I didn't sleep soundly that night. Then the following night, my 11yr old son comes in at about 3am and says that he can hear somebody talking and wandering around downstairs. Once again, I'm searching the place out, lights on, adrenaline flowing, dry mouthed and heart pounding, suddenly launching into the air and shouting "F**** b******!" each time Mrs T (following) coughed or sniffed. Again, no tampering, nothing. What's it all about? It doesn't sound much, I know, but it was extremely unnerving and I can't account for it. Then, on day 3, I'm reading the guestbook and two helpful souls independently make references to the fact that the house is rumoured to be haunted. Oh, great. I could have left there and then. I don't believe in ghosts but I don't mind saying that it tested my scepticism to the limit. I know old houses creak etc, but WTF? Explanation?

Badgers.

badgers

That would have been my guess

Brazilian or native species?
Do you mean badgers outside, sounding like they were inside? Didn't sound like it. That said, the walls were, I think, the sort of mud and straw whitewashed timber framed ones and you could hear quite easily through them.

Ooh, could've been a Honey Badger.

Probably not though because you'd probably now be dead with your intestines and eyes ripped out and your wife and children sold to be boiled down for ink.

Probably not though because you'd probably now be dead with your intestines and eyes ripped out and your wife and children sold to be boiled down for ink.

That scenario was playing out in my mind when I heard the clang. 'Twas a bit of a Blair witch moment. Not an experience I'd want to repeat. Silly as it seems now in the cold light of day (night?), it was very unnerving at the time.

My f****kin DVD player. More a , crr-ckkkt-chhhtt- noise. kept going tits up on The Hurt Locker. I felt like giving it fuckinn bump in the night. Ahhh, baby birds 🙂

Yeap! Sounds like your house is haunted alright so check the history of your house.

Log down the noise you hear so you know exactly when your "visitors" are around.

You may want to politely ask your "visitors" to move on …

😯

In my experience, weird creaking and banging noises are always either pipes and floorboards expanding/contracting due to central heating, or just the vengeful soul of murdered lover.

Do you have a "housemate" that has secretly moved in their boyfriend and some serbian "couchsurfers"?.

Needs moar paragraphs. Couldn't read that.

Live in a queenslander over here (Aus). And it spends half the night creaking and groaning.
Basically, your timber frame expands and contracts at a different rate to the walls, floors (well here, as it's a raised floor) and roof. So through the night the house will make some pretty interesting noises.
And, where there's a wooden floor you can get relaxation timing the same as footsteps, we get that, it sounds like someone coming down the hallway.
Sigh? well, I'd have that as just a gust of wind through some odd crack in a wall or similar.
Are we haunted, no, it's <10 years old and the country is less than <250 years old, so unlikely that Dick Turpin has ridden around our way…
And your Son is just picking up on your tension and externalising it. Bet he got to snuggle in with parents for the night as a result! :o)
[edit – just checked age again… or maybe not spend the night with you]

Or of course there's someone in the house.

Personally, it's it's haunted, I'd be down there with a glass of wine ready to have a chat to the other side, who says they're bad eh? Could be interesting to have a chat to ghost, never know they may like washing up and helping with the housework – nice to come down in the morning to a clean house I reckon. Ghosts, people without substance, and I've known a few of those in my life.

My f****kin DVD playe

Good thread bleeding there…

get this witch in, she'll sort it out for you.

CountZero; is that a Baby Robin?

We had another "visit" last night at about 10:30pm. This time he/she turned on the oven extractor fan. Only me and the good lady in the house and no way could it have been an "accident" because the button is very stiff.

The weirdest was 3-4 months ago when Mrs Spacemonkey, her mum and I were all sat in the living room and heard a wine glass smash in the kitchen. Again, same time at night and no evidence whatsoever, i.e. no smashed glass. And bear in mind it's open plan downstairs.

Other stuff has happened too over the last 4 years or so, but we get a friendly vibe from it. Tis a cottage though, with parts of it 400+ years old.

How the hell did the woman in that photo get her hands on the new USE Exposure 6 led unit ? Its not available for sale yet !!!

I had a mate who lived in an ex cottage hospital. Big house, lots of guests frequently visiting his large family. Fairly often people would "meet" someone having a cup of tea or drink of milk at silly o'clock, and describe this meeting to the family the next morning. Never anything nasty, just a stranger in the night, who wans't really there…

This time he/she turned on the oven extractor fan. Only me and the good lady in the house and no way could it have been an "accident" because the button is very stiff.

The souls of the dead walking the world? Or a dodgy switch? You decide!

Not sure what's going on in the OP's case, wouldn't pretend to know based on second or even first hand experience, but the supernatural would be pretty far down on my list of possibilities.

I was disturbed last night by a massive clang outside. I thought someone was breaking in. I got my stick and looked out but couldn't see anything. Then I woke up a bit and started to think, I looked at the dog, she was asleep, if it had been a person she would have been going nuts, so that made me feel a better.

I got back into bed. There were some more scuffling noises, still no reaction from the dog, so I just went back to sleep.

This morning I reckon a badger had been for a visit and had pushed past my ladder which has metal platforms and makes a hell of a noise if you shake it, had a bit of a rummage around generally, and then left. There's a badger-y smell too.

Gave me a few anxious moments, I must say !

My mates pub used to be the court house for the county assizes. The cells are still in the cellar. Sometimes whole full casks of ale get moved around so that they are stacked up or ballanced in a pyramid – you would need a forklift to do this but obviously there isn't one there.

The souls of the dead walking the world? Or a dodgy switch? You decide!

Dodgy switch – not physically possible. Like I said, it's stiff to move because it's designed that way. And it hadn't been used for days. Impossible for it to turn itself on "accidentally."

Of course it's possible. The OUTSIDE of the switch is stiff, the actuator mechanism, you don't know what's going on inside or where there are loose wires etc.

Still seems VASTLY more plausible (and physically possible) than the echoes of dead people turning on your cooker hood (ffs!)

Hmm… if I was renting out a rumoured "haunted cottage" I'd have hidden a CD player and some speakers on a timer switch, with the BBC special effects CD ready to roll. 🙂

There's a badger-y smell too.

Ectoplasm. it smells of Badgers. FACT

Of course it's possible. The OUTSIDE of the switch is stiff, the actuator mechanism, you don't know what's going on inside or where there are loose wires etc.

+1

Basically you've said there's issues with the switch, to you it's stiff, and now there's another problem with said switch.

Nice that the ghosts of centuries past put on the extractor fan though, maybe a wormhole to another dimension populated by the after life – try wiring it up in reverse so it's blowing not sucking and see if you get something from the other side (other than gobs of chip fat aka ectoplasm).

If there is one thing that a 400 year old spirit hates it's lingering cooking smells. 🙂

Indeed. How about tonight you put a note in the oven asking where elvis is, remember to leave a wax crayon to write with, just in case they don't have a firm grip on this dimension (other than your extractor fan switch, which, as you say is a bit stiff).

Anyway, not nice, I'm making fun, so apologies. Fear is real kids. However much bull the after life is.

When Sam (my dog) had to been put to sleep I was devastated. That night, as I lay in bed, I felt 'something' brush my arm in the same way as he used to do. The next morning certain things had been moved around in the flat.

The moved objects could well have been my flatmate having a laugh, but I swear, as I sit here now, that I felt that pressure on my arm.

I felt comforted, as if my Sam had come to say goodbye one last time. I think some 'phenomena' have a solid, scientific explanation, but I also think that some do not …

I'm rational to the point of dullness – but one of my favourite memories of the old Somerset farmhouse I grew up in was seeing our black lab go nuts at something only she could see. It was a deliciously spooky moment.

I think some 'phenomena' have a solid, scientific explanation, but I also think that some do not …

Unfortunately, everything has to have a scientific explanation by definition. If it happened, it had a cause. We may not understand it yet tho.

During my mornings ebolutions I passed what I was sure to be a sizable deposit but upon inspection the bowl was devoid of any things past and not a trace upon the silk towels. A mystery indeed.

Theres an old timber-framed hotel in the centre of Dorking- our Westie went crazy at the top of the vaulted-stairs. Utterly upset. I remarked someone must have been hung there.

Low and behold there has been a report of that.

scary stuff! enjoyed reading it, not much to say as I dont know where I stand on belief

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrJ2s5tG5A4

o0ooo0o

I am currently living in my Mother and Fathers cottage, which is heading for 300 years old. Both Mum and Dad have passed away so I am there on my tod. We always knew the place was haunted by a woman who had been seen by my Mother wearing victorian clothing, as well as by my Daughter who wanted to know who the lady was crying in the corner, we couldnt see the woman!

The lounge door opens by itself, its an old up an over latch so you have to raise the latch before the door will open. The stereo used to be retuned whilst it was being listened to and I have been followed up the stairs by someone.

I walked into the kitchen about two months ago and I was hit by a strong draft that gave the impression that a bird was flapping its wings around my face, thats the only way I can describe the sensation. No doors or windows were open and it was a still night.

Then the week before last I was woken in the early hours by someone blowing on my face and in my right ear, I could clearly feel their breath and hear the sound as they blew, the moment I opened my eyes it stopped abruptly, weird. No one was in the room.

But none of this has ever been accopmanied by bad feelings it is always relaxed and I kind of feel its as if someone is doing these things to say Oi! I am here!

MUTDs

MrNutt – Member
During my mornings ebolutions I passed what I was sure to be a sizable deposit but upon inspection the bowl was devoid of any things past and not a trace upon the silk towels. A mystery indeed.

Ahh the phantom dump. Strikes fear into the heart of everyone at least once in their lives. Worse when you hear the satisfying "plop" and feel the splashback on your warm dry cheeks.

It was the Punctuation and Paragraph Enforcement Service.