This story is from my (the editor's) own account. It was taken from my journal, so it is written in that form. This story took place 7/11/02 in Philadelphia, Pa. at my grandmother's house.
Before I go on, I have to warn you, just so you know where this is going. Grandpa died when I was ten.
This was our first night in the actual house for this trip. Mom opted for the sofa down in the living room and I took the middle room upstairs since I had hurt my back when I caught grandma when she fell in the bathroom. The middle room is very small, it has a bed, an old wooden rocking chair, an old dresser, and a broken TV. This was my grandpa's room for many years. He didn't die there, however. He died in the hospital. So we've only encountered him once before.
I don't remember my first encounter with grandpa, but mom told me about it yesterday. It was the day after he died, we had gone to Philly and spent the night because obviously grandma was very upset. During the night, I went into my mom's room and woke her up, telling her grandpa was in my room. Later that night, grandpa also woke up my mom. It seems he was going to blood relatives and waking them to say goodbye. We aren't sure if he woke up grandma or not, she never said anything.
I seriously didn't remember him waking me up. I knew about him waking my mom up, though. My mom found it funny that I didn't remember, and she told me the next morning when I complained of being very uncomfortable in the middle room. And it had nothing to do with the lack of air conditioning.
I went to bed that night, and right away I felt like I was being watched. I sat up and looked over by the dresser. I didn't see anyone, but I knew someone was there. And I knew it was my grandfather. I said, "Goodnight, grandpa," and laid back down.
That was short lived. I felt even weirder, and became downright terrified. I took my book and went into the bathroom. I returned after calming down, only to get taken over by this terrified feeling again. I knew I wasn't in any danager, but something was wrong. I promptly marched into grandma's room.
She was fine, so I went back to my room. The feeling had calmed a little so I laid back down. I started to nod off again. Again, the old man woke me up. I ended up standing out in the hallway staring into the room, hugging my book. I don't know why I kept taking my book with me, I guess I just needed to hold on to something. Then again, it was the Darwnin Awards book, so who knows.
I finally went back into the room and flicked the light on. I fell asleep with the room fully lit.
The next morning my mom asked me why I had the light on and why I was wandering around real late. I didn't get to sleep until after 3:00 AM. I told her I felt weird and she looked at me funny. So I admitted that I felt like someone had been watching me, and I had to keep checking on grandma.
My mom started to laugh. "Old man's keeping you up, is he?" She knew grandpa was in there! I was happy she didn't think I was nuts, I can tell you that much.
But I know he was there because grandma is sick and he knew she was leaving for good (she moved in with us). He was worried, and he was making me worried on top of it, which is why I kept checking on grandma. Why he couldn't do it himself, I have no idea. He's a very bullheaded man!
Needless to say, the next night I spent on the floor on the living room next to mom. I started out up there, but he was in the room again, and I needed my sleep. So I packed up and went downstairs. That was no better. I forgot about how haunted that house was. But it simmered down pretty fast. I think grandpa followed me downstairs and watched over me. So it was ok. I won't go into the other ghosts because I don't know the specifics on those two. I know small details, but not a lot. I don't have much room left, either. It was freaky to say the least.
Note: As for the other two ghost mentioned above. As it was told to me, many years ago (probably about a hundred or more since my grandparents have owned the house for 60 years) a man and his wife lived there. One day, the man went nuts and drug his wife into the basement. He killed her, then hung himself. To this day, we can't get any animals to go into the basement there. Dogs tend to sit at the top of the steps and howl, but never enter.