# Poltergeist? Haunting? HELP!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 19, 2012, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790 "2012-07-19T23:15:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790/21 "2012-07-20T17:37:46Z")
> [@Blkshp](#): > > Irony? No. ---
**Author:** ![Blkshp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blkshp/32/7135_2.png) [@Blkshp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blkshp)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790/22 "2012-07-20T17:49:27Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > No. Sardonicism? ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790/23 "2012-07-20T17:55:21Z")
> [@Blkshp](#): > > Sardonicism? No. ---
**Author:** ![Blkshp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blkshp/32/7135_2.png) [@Blkshp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blkshp)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790/24 "2012-07-20T17:59:47Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > No. Perhaps, then, simple mockery. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790/25 "2012-07-20T18:50:50Z")
> [@Ele\_the\_Stoic](#): > > Seriously, not trying to be an ass, but I never got that about ghosts. They basically just act like annoying two year old dicks. I’ve never heard any story about someone actually being killed (or even seriously injured) by a ghost even after years of hauntings, so what’s there to really be afraid of? I don’t believe in ghosts, and I hear what you’re saying, but if I were alone in my room and some spirit of the dead came skipping through the room, I would probably freak the fuck out. :eek: AND! If someone were killed by a ghost, how would you know (wooooooooo)? It could look like an accident or heart attack or lame Final Destination Rube Goldberg death. To the OP, salt won’t help as poltergeists have notoriously low blood pressure and very weak taste buds, so the salt actually attracts them. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790/26 "2012-07-20T18:54:15Z")
> [@Blkshp](#): > > Perhaps, then, simple mockery. Bingo. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790/27 "2012-07-20T19:07:35Z")
Okay OP I believe you. Similar things happened to me many years ago (minus the creepy images and feelings.) I came home from work a few times to find my bedsheets SOAKED with a puddle of clear liquid - under the comforter. Obviously it wasn’t a leak in the ceiling and obviously nobody pee-d on it. I ended up theorizing that my beagle at the time, who occasionally had seizures, had a seizure while I was out and where’s the safest place to be? Under the covers. She drooled excessively during the seizure which would explain the clear, odorless puddle. In my old apartment I came home one day to find my shampoo and conditioner sitting perfectly in the middle of the tub when I always left them on the side of the tub. Once I came home to find my toilet seat up like a guy had used it and I’m female and lived alone and always keep the seat & lid down. I chalked it up to **"no damn clue."** Your issues sound like sleep deprivation + stress, if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790/28 "2012-07-20T19:22:30Z")
I can’t believe I’m the first one who’s suggested not building your house over an old Indian burial ground. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790/29 "2012-07-20T19:50:32Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > I can’t believe I’m the first one who’s suggested not building your house over an old Indian burial ground. So new Indian burial grounds are fine then? (need answer fast) ---
**Author:** ![codgerone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c37758/32.png) [@codgerone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/codgerone)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790/30 "2012-07-20T20:57:19Z")
> [@Annwenxo](#): > > This could be a long post so let me begin by saying I am seeking help, > I understand completely many people beliefs are different and this entire post could seem like the ramblings of insane person. > Genuine advice, or some kind of explanation I what I am seeking with this post, I am tired but cannot sleep with fear!! > > Some months ago I felt I was the target of some kind of spiritual entity, at work I would see giant sweeping black figures cross the kitchen (I am a chef) with continual feeling of being watched, my phone would untouched fly across the room from one side to another (witnessed by a colleague) and taps which were broken turn on at full pelt. Combined with sometimes while sleeping or just before the sensation of being strangled or someone bearing their weight upon me left me with a genuine fear of what was happening. And lastly one morning last winter my mother was deicing the car while I was inside, I stepped into our living room and flicked the switch when the lights began to flash in a bizarre fashion until my mother came back inside when they returned to normal. We have experienced nothing similar before or since. I was so terrified I asked my mum to come to work with me and we laid salt down around the doors and I kept salt in my pockets (unsure what else to do) until last week that was all that happened and I began to feel safe and try to laugh it off as a joke though still deeply worried by it… > > Until last Saturday morning (I start at 5:30 and am alone until 8am) I saw the black figure leaning round a door way with it’s hand around the wall and bright shining White eyes lit out of the smoggy figure. I felt no fear so convinced myself to remain calm and felt no prolonged sense of being watched. Later on I left the kitchen to visit out freezer room an left the door on the latch, but when I returned the door was locked, it had been changed only days before and has worked completely fine but was self locking before replaced… > And lastly today I was visiting a friend for the afternoon, I woke up at 9am got ready and cleaned my bedroom an made my bed before leaving at 2pm. My family was all out by the time I left, my father returning at 7pm and myself at 10pm but he never goes in my room (but I did ask) > On returning my bed was still made and still tidy bar my ashtray which the contents of was all over the floor and my new rug!! However the ashtray was away from the spillage and the right way up, as if placed out the way deliberately with no ash or cigarette butts anywhere near it. Stranger still my bed which was made was very wet in the middle, the top was bone dry, it had no distict smell and was clear, my room when shut is unopenable by my cats and none were inside before or after. > Our ceiling does not leak and we have no problems with damp, The bed was dry before I left as I made it and always sweet the bottom sheet so I certainly didn’t pee!! > Might be relevant that it is the side I sleep on?? And I noticed last week a giant puddle in my room underneath a pile of clothes but didn’t think too much about it assumed I had spilt something but could be relevant?? > Please any help would be greatly received I am scared witless as to what this means and what avenues I can take as to help ?!? > > Sorry for any funny spelling I’m writing this from my phone and am very tired. Wow. I can’t believe that I had exactly the same experience last week and I’m a chef too! Well, except the bit about black figures sweeping across the kitchen. Mine were definitely chinese. But Wow anyway! ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790/31 "2012-07-20T21:10:38Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > So new Indian burial grounds are fine then? (need answer fast) Just check the local zoning regs - otherwise you should be good to go! Let me know when you’re going to have a housewarming - I’ll bring beer! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790/32 "2012-07-20T21:37:21Z")
Regarding wet sheets dry cover: My baby is cloth diapered so I have some familiarity with liquid absorption. Very often I will change his diaper and find the layer of cloth next to him is only damp, but the layers outside are wet. What happens is the liquid is pulled through the material by capillary action until it hits a barrier, where it pools. I could easily see a liquid seeping through layers of bedclothes in the same way, and while the undersheets are soaked the top may only be damp. Then the top layer, being only damp and exposed to air, dries quickly while the soaked sheets stay wet. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790/33 "2012-07-20T21:49:56Z")
[QUOTE=Jragon;15292750 1. Set up cameras. 2. Replay the tapes. 3. Realize that everything you saw was actually just something boring and explainable and move on with your life with a new peace of mind.[/QUOTE] QFT. There is no reason in today’s whizz-bang age of cheap web cams to not simply hide a camera and replay it later. Get back to us with the results. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790/34 "2012-07-21T02:27:13Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > So new Indian burial grounds are fine then? (need answer fast) I can see it on the NYT best seller list now… “I Left My Foundation At Wounded Knee” ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790/35 "2012-07-21T03:22:16Z")
See a shrink? ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790/36 "2012-07-21T04:32:16Z")
Well, I had the experience of being observed by a mysterious force. When I was a churchgoing kid I called it God. Later some things happened and I referred to it by names not printable in the Family Papers. You just need to get right with your mysterious force, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![scratch\_llll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@scratch\_llll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch_llll)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790/37 "2012-07-21T04:57:19Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > You know ghosts won’t follow you across a body of water right? So that’s why people piss thier pants when they see a ghost. To protect thier crotch. Actually I haven’t any room to make fun what with all the strange crap that’s happened to me. But I just figure I’m nuts. Maybe you are too. See? There are no ghosts, you just can’t tell what is real anymore. Don’t you feel better now? ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790/38 "2012-07-21T05:20:52Z")
What is it with new posters who post one post and never return? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790/39 "2012-07-21T10:49:17Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > See a shrink? Or get a room with **Bozuit**. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790/40 "2012-07-21T13:37:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Some months ago I felt I was the target of some kind of spiritual entity, at work I would see giant sweeping black figures cross the kitchen .. Those are called janitors. They wont hurt you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poltergeist-haunting-help/628790.md?page=3)