# Tenant says my house is haunted! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 19, 2004, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenant-says-my-house-is-haunted/251154 "2004-06-19T03:07:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenant-says-my-house-is-haunted/251154/21 "2004-06-25T20:37:32Z")
In any case you may need to check local laws. I recall hearing a story on funny laws once and in Oklahoma if a place had a reputation of being haunted then the seller had to let any prospective buyers know. I don’t know if that would apply to renters but if a future tenant is scared to death by ghosts and you knew they were there and didn’t tell them, then of course they can sue you. I’m not saying I agree with the law or anything but you may need to check that out now. Oh, and I’m willing to bet that if you offer to let her out of the lease she’ll spilt and that will be the last you ever hear of the ghost. ---
**Author:** ![Tess\_of\_the\_Derbyville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Tess\_of\_the\_Derbyville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tess_of_the_Derbyville)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenant-says-my-house-is-haunted/251154/22 "2004-06-27T02:27:50Z")
Well, Tenant is moving out even as I type. I offered to tear up the lease and refund her deposit if she would move ASAP. I couched it in terms of “Oh you poor thing, I know you’re unhappy here, so why don’t we fix it” and she jumped at it. While I feel like a bit of a wimp for caving in, your responses here made me realize that the situation was only going to get worse. Thanks all. I have yet to see the mysterious black cross, though I’ve asked her to get it back from the boyfriend. But I did google for “pirate’s cross” and amazingly enough came up with [this](http://www.treasurenet.com/westeast/200203/askmarkparker/) . Apparently these are not uncommon. I still don’t think she found it in the apartment, but it seems she wasn’t making that up out of whole cloth. I still don’t know what to think about all this. Did she really see/feel something? Or think she did? Or is she just making it up to get out of the lease? I would love to know. She seemed so normal and so excited about the apartment. I wonder if I called her a year from now if she would tell me the truth. But right now, I’m just relieved that she’s leaving. Meanwhile, I called the last tenant for some feedback. She was pretty funny – “What? You let her have a ghost? Unfair! You wouldn’t let me have a ghost!” She couldn’t recall anything strange or creepy happening to her and she lived here for almost three years. So, I’m not going to say anything to future tenants. Unless this keeps happening. Then maybe a Doper séance, anyone? ---
**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:** [June 27, 2004, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenant-says-my-house-is-haunted/251154/23 "2004-06-27T05:19:09Z")
Well, if he does leave, if he’s a friendly ghost-send him my way. I’ve always wanted to live in a haunted house. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenant-says-my-house-is-haunted/251154/24 "2004-06-27T11:09:30Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Well, if he does leave, if he’s a friendly ghost-send him my way. I’ve always wanted to live in a haunted house. **Guinastasia** wants to shack up with Casper. Oy. A new low. ;j ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenant-says-my-house-is-haunted/251154/25 "2004-06-27T13:01:26Z")
> [@Jeff Olsen](#): > > I wonder what would happen if **Tess** got [Ed & Lorraine Warren](http://www.warrens.net/) involved and they say there’s no ghost in the house. IF you really go that route, I have their phone number and will happily pass it along=) Very nice people, though we don’t exactly see eye to eye [they grudgingly allow I am _not_ evil despite being a poor misguided pagan…they are VERY christian.] I have taken seminars with them and have a friend who has worked and traveled with them. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2004, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenant-says-my-house-is-haunted/251154/26 "2004-06-27T13:15:18Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Well, if he does leave, if he’s a friendly ghost-send him my way. I’ve always wanted to live in a haunted house. You’ll have to come for a visit to our house, then: the previous owners swear that the previous-previous owner haunts the place. His name? Interestingly enough: Cecil. [Skip and **auntie em** ’s Spooky Mansion](http://home.kc.rr.com/skipmagic/spookyhouse.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenant-says-my-house-is-haunted/251154/27 "2004-07-11T10:01:45Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > IF you really go that route, I have their phone number and will happily pass it along=) Very nice people, though we don’t exactly see eye to eye [they grudgingly allow I am _not_ evil despite being a poor misguided pagan…they are VERY christian.] I have taken seminars with them and have a friend who has worked and traveled with them. I’d like that number. I’m not sure if it was just a dream or not but something very strange just happened to me. I’ve experienced odd penonema in bed before but this…if it wasn’t a dream I’ve just been attacked by something that tried to constrict me. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenant-says-my-house-is-haunted/251154/28 "2004-07-11T11:29:51Z")
> [@Jeff Olsen](#): > > I’d like that number. I’m not sure if it was just a dream or not but something very strange just happened to me. I’ve experienced odd penonema in bed before but this…if it wasn’t a dream I’ve just been attacked by something that tried to constrict me. From what you’re saying, You very likely experienced sleep paralysis, which often include feelings of a threatening presence, or even hallucinations, feeling that there’s something heavy on your chest preventing you from breathing normally, etc…There’s has been a number of threads about this problem, in particular in the “General questions” forum. You should make a search. Actually, it was the first thing I thought when I read the OP until she told the part about finding a black cross under the stairs. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenant-says-my-house-is-haunted/251154/29 "2004-07-11T11:38:02Z")
> [@Jeff Olsen](#): > > I’d like that number. I’m not sure if it was just a dream or not but something very strange just happened to me. I’ve experienced odd penonema in bed before but this…if it wasn’t a dream I’ve just been attacked by something that tried to constrict me. Before you go putting yourself into the hands of wackos, you should read up on [sleep paralysis](http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/S_P.html), particularly the section on [chest pressure](http://watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/incubus.html#p&b). While your description of what happened to you is very brief, it certainly sounds like a typical SP event. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenant-says-my-house-is-haunted/251154/30 "2004-07-11T11:39:11Z")
[Here’s](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=178518&highlight=sleep+paralysis) one of these threads, [another one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=148978&highlight=sleep+paralysis)[and a third one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247810&highlight=sleep+paralysis) ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenant-says-my-house-is-haunted/251154/31 "2004-07-11T11:59:22Z")
You are so lucky. Haunted houses are in great demand; people pay good money to stay overnight in them. Tell her you will have to raise the rent. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenant-says-my-house-is-haunted/251154/32 "2004-07-11T13:00:31Z")
> [@Jeff Olsen](#): > > I’d like that number. I’m not sure if it was just a dream or not but something very strange just happened to me. I’ve experienced odd penonema in bed before but this…if it wasn’t a dream I’ve just been attacked by something that tried to constrict me. Ed and Lorraine Warren PO Box 41 Monroe, CT 06468-0041 (203) 268-8235 Though I do agree about checking into sleep paralysys as well=) Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and little tchachkes are just stupid little demon figures. Might be a purely mundane explaination for things=) But just in case, there you go-( ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenant-says-my-house-is-haunted/251154/33 "2004-07-11T14:11:02Z")
For the love of all that it rational and intelligent, don’t contact the Warrens. If you think you’ve got a ghost, call [Joe Nickell](http://www.scifidimensions.com/Nov00/jnf_hauntings.htm) at [CSICOP](http://www.csicop.org/about/contact.html). That is, unless you need to get out from under a mortgage real quick - then they’re your people. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenant-says-my-house-is-haunted/251154/34 "2004-07-11T15:39:54Z")
> [@AerynSun](#): > > For the love of all that it rational and intelligent, don’t contact the Warrens. If you think you’ve got a ghost, call [Joe Nickell](http://www.scifidimensions.com/Nov00/jnf_hauntings.htm) at [CSICOP](http://www.csicop.org/about/contact.html). That is, unless you need to get out from under a mortgage real quick - then they’re your people. t all depends on your desires. They take the religious view, I am a sceptic=) [despite the observation i have had several paranormal experiences, I am not a practicing christian and don’t _quite_ see eye with them, we have spend some good quality time. And I _want_ their house, i love craftsman architecture and they have a very nice comfy exaple of a cottage=)] FWIW, I like Joe Nickell’s work, but have no idea how to contact him, I _do_ know how to call the Warrens=) and I know it doesnt look like it, but they actually do have several scientific types they work with, not all take the religious viewpoint=) ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenant-says-my-house-is-haunted/251154/35 "2004-07-11T15:45:23Z")
What was she doing ripping up your stairs to find treasure? Man, if only I could get at half the things I’ve dropped under our old not-quite-flush stairs… ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenant-says-my-house-is-haunted/251154/36 "2004-07-11T18:35:34Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Ed and Lorraine Warren > PO Box 41 > Monroe, CT 06468-0041 > (203) 268-8235 > > Though I do agree about checking into sleep paralysys as well=) > > Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and little tchachkes are just stupid little demon figures. Might be a purely mundane explaination for things=) > > But just in case, there you go-( Thanks. Thanks to **clairobscur** and **Early Out** too, that’s something I hand’t thought of. The constrictive feeling was all around, not just in my chest, and went away as soon as I woke up. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2004, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenant-says-my-house-is-haunted/251154/37 "2004-07-11T19:43:31Z")
> [@Jeff Olsen](#): > > Thanks. Thanks to **clairobscur** and **Early Out** too, that’s something I hand’t thought of. The constrictive feeling was all around, not just in my chest, and went away as soon as I woke up. I have had a couple episodes of sleep paralysis myself, and on top of asthma it is not pleasant…and it can be very creepy=) Anything we don’t fully understand can be creepy! At least I don’t get night terrors like my brother did when he was younger! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenant-says-my-house-is-haunted/251154/38 "2004-07-13T23:42:03Z")
Is [THIS](http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1259672,00.html) your house, by any chance? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tenant-says-my-house-is-haunted/251154.md?page=1)