The Cheap House

by CP
(New York)

Before I tell you my story, let me give you a quick synopsis of my background with regards to ghosts, horror stories and the paranormal. Ever since I was a kid, the macabre always intrigued me. At 10 years old I was reading Stephen King and Anne Rice novels while my friends were reading Judy Blume books. I always felt like I had "abilities" and often saw things that I knew others did not see and knew things that I don't know why I knew, but did. It's like thinking about someone you haven't heard from in a very long time and in that exact moment the phone rings and it's them...that kind of stuff. So knowing that I have always been aware and open to things that may or may not be paranormal is paramount to my experience that I am about to share.

About 18 years ago I met a woman named Lisa (name is changed) and we hit it off. She was married with a few kids as was I. Her marriage was rocky and had been so for awhile so it wasn't surprising when she told me she was getting a divorce. The first time her soon to be ex husband had taken the kids for a weekend, she had asked me and my husband to stay with her at her house because it was the first time she would ever be in the house alone, without her kids.

Now her house is literally in the country... miles away from civilization, on a long dirt road surrounded my woods. I never felt uneasy there and was completely on board to be a source of support for her. The first night we stayed there would be the catalyst to many experiences in that house that to this day, still sends chills down my spine. Mind you I say this knowing that I have not stepped foot in her house in over 5 years and Lisa and I no longer speak.

That Friday evening was a typical "hanging out" for the 3 of us. We made dinner, had a couple of drinks, watched a few horror movies before calling it a night. My husband had fallen asleep on one of her couches while the last movie was playing so Lisa and I decided to go to bed as well. I was going to stay on the other couch but she didn't want to sleep alone so we both shared her bed in the master bedroom. We talked for probably an hour before we both felt our eyes getting heavy, desperate for some sleep. We both said goodnight to each other and proceeded to fall asleep.

I don't think I was asleep for more than a minute when I awoke to one of the strangest feelings I have ever felt in my life. It felt like someone was in the room that shouldn't have been there. My body was physiologically reacting in a way that I was not used to... goosebumps, a cold sweat, my heart racing... but there was no one there. I chalked it up to the second glass of wine and the horror movies we were watching. I gained my composure, cursed myself for being an idiot and attempted to go back to sleep.

Within a few moments, it happened again... goosebumps. But this time I smelled an odor. It was a smell I was very familiar with... a pipe. I knew that smell because my dad used to smoke a pipe and it smelled like my dad. My first thought was that my husband was awake and enjoying a smoke. My second thought, my husband doesn't smoke. I looked at Lisa and shook her to wake her up. She half opened one eye and mumbled something incoherent and went back to sleep. At that point I had no choice but to get up and go into the living room to see what my husband was doing. To my surprise he was sound asleep, snoring in all of his glory. Again I decided that between the wine and horror movies my mind was not at ease and I was imagining the weird feelings and smell.

I go back to Lisa's room, lay down and close my eyes. After what seems like forever, I finally start to doze off. As I start to give in to my slumber, I hear creaking on the floor as if someone was walking towards the bed. I look towards the door and no one is there but there's a creak on the floor again. I take the sheet and throw it over my head and in that exact moment, an unnerving pressure on the bed literally freezes me. Someone has sat on the bed next to me, the smell of a pipe strong, and then it happened. Something or someone stroked my head. Without a moment's hesitation I jumped up and ran out of the room and jumped on top of my husband and began crying. He woke up and I told him to go back to sleep. I laid there on the couch with him until I finally was able to fall asleep.

The next morning Lisa came into the living room and asked me why I was on the couch. I told her that if I told her the real reason she would laugh at me and think I was crazy. Her response, "try me." So I did... I told her exactly what had transpired the evening before. Instead of laughing at me she looked at me and spoke these words. "Did I ever tell you why I got my house so cheap?" I said no...she proceeded to tell me this...

The previous owner of the house had killed his wife in the master bedroom and then himself after losing his son on the property to an accident (apparently his son was riding a four wheeler in the woods on the property and had gotten decapitated by chicken wire on the outskirts of their property). Even more so, the man was a heavy smoker and smoked a pipe. Needless to say I didn't stay the night again for awhile.

For me, this was only one experience I have had at her house. I saw an older lady in her rocking chair stroking a white cat once....turns out it was Lisa's grandmother who had died (I know this to be true because she showed me a picture of her grandmother with the cat). I have seen a lady looking inside her house from a second story window, I have heard a boy crying, seen things move and felt like someone was always watching in the distance. I can't name everything but I can tell you that my "spidey senses" were definitely on high alert each and every time I walked into that house.

So you may be asking... why don't we speak anymore. I without hesitation blame it on the house. In the 18 years that I have known her, she went through 3 marriages, 2 fires in the house, burglaries, and battled many personal demons. She changed and everything she seemed to get her hands on somehow, someway turned negative. She dabbled with the Ouija board and I am convinced that there is evil at her house and it has manifested itself throughout different periods of her life. And it seemed like the more we hung out, the black cloud extended in my life. Without getting into details I began experiencing unexplainable occurrences in my life.

I began to pull away from Lisa because I knew that my life depended upon it. It's been many years since we spoke but I do speak to one of her daughters on occasion on Facebook. From what she tells me it doesn't sound like Lisa is doing well. I can't help but think that the house has a hold on her. Believe me you I have tried to help her over the years but she's not hearing it. This is not the strong beautiful woman I met almost 2 decades ago. I miss her dearly and think of her daily. I just wished she did the same.