The perceptible, tangible world has its wonders and curiosities, but more interesting than what one’s neurotypical senses experience are those that appear to be from another dimension. From this world, one ventures into the type of experiences that leave goosebumps running up and down your spine, that shake your skeleton from the inside out, and leave you bed trodden with a haunting memory for the years to come. Many would call this dimension the paranormal. The following are stories from individuals who after experiencing mystifying contact with the paranormal, they willingly shared their stories with me. These stories are strictly for entertainment purposes and everyone is entitled to their own opinion and experiences.
What Science and Psychology Says...
Science requires an impartial mind to critically assess phenomena in the world. To do this, scientists must undergo a series of experimentation and observation. What we know as the para-normal, is that which is out the ordinary due to its unexplainable nature and lack of observable evidence. Many consider the paranormal to be pseudoscience for this reason. The paranormal, if not careful, can be used to exploit our fears and even griefs. On a similar note, psychology also attempts to explain such activity. One such study is anomalistic psychology, which through scientific processes explains the paranormal we experience as to demystify them and ground them into our reality. With that being said, I highly encourage anyone reading this to critically assess what they see or read regarding the paranormal.
Benjamin – Frequent Apparitions
There are only two types of people in this realm: those who firmly believe in ghosts and those who doubt their existence. From a young age, Benjamin’s ghostly apparitions in his family’s two-story house categorize him into the former. Ghostly inhabitants abide in his home and every once in a while, he and his family observe them as they wander around. He describes them as dark, greyish shadows. He also hears their footsteps as they move occasionally. From feeling a sudden presence pulling on the back of his shirt to the firmer touch hands on his back, to deny these apparitions would be to deny his reality. He is able to tell apart each presence the same way one can intuitively distinguish one’s family members’ way of moving around such as the way they open a door of their home. Each ghostly inhabitant tends to have their own sections of the home that they prefer, but he has never seen them cross paths. One of his most prominent recollections of these presences is when from the comfort of his bedroom, he caught glance of a descending spirit outside their firepit. It “walked” onto a chair, making its way the concrete patio until its wispy figure dispersed into nothingness, shrouding itself once more from the human eye. It’s hard to be skeptical when you’ve seen and felt what he’s witnessed. He doesn’t categorize these spirits as being either “good” or “bad,” but rather has grown accustomed to them. As I am retelling his story, it almost sounds like creative fiction, but he and his family are witness to this reality.
Remy – Cemetery Ventures
Seventeen-year-old Remy had recently moved out from her parents’ home to live in an apartment complex with her roommate. She worked in the day but was also responsible for taking care of her roommate’s brother, Carlos, who was three years younger than her. Life as they knew it followed the same monotonous routine; however, a lack of excitement can also be dangerous. An accumulated boredom hanging over their heads led Remy and Carlos to seek the paranormal at a nearby cemetery. In search of an adrenaline-inducing activity paired with the supernatural, they decided to sneak into Resthaven Cemetery at night. According to Remy, the cemetery had two front gates and unknowingly, they assumed there was a back gate. The entirety of its perimeter was about an acre with an archway separating it in the middle. It was wide enough for vehicles to cross. To avoid suspicion, they slid in between the gate and a hedge. They walked across the various graves until they spotted a truck entering the cemetery behind them. Afraid to get caught by an employee, they hide behind a an. From a distance, they observed as the truck parked into a shed with two men. She recalls their suspicious behavior as they repeatedly flickered the headlights and exited and returned various times into the truck. This abnormality arose fear and panic within both Remy and Carlos. Looking for an exit, Remy’s eye caught notice of a peculiar silhouette of a face on a tree, which appeared to be looking closely at them. Their surroundings were hardly perceptible, yet the mysterious, inexplicable shadow of this figure was discernable even as it stood against the dark. However, Remy recalls they were, “more afraid of the living than the dead.” As if from a place of instinct, Remy ushered Carlos to escape. Obedient, he bolted out towards a corner of the hedges and Remy followed closely. They ran in the darkness, desperate to find an exit. Outside the cemetery was a dirt road where they found refuge; however, as they ran to make their escape, they they heard rustling a few feet from where they ran with a sensation that somebody was running alongside them. Both turned quickly to find no one there. Nonetheless, their plight continued as the rustling steps came to a halt the moment they made it out the cemetery and onto the pavement. Luckily, they made it home safely, but their curiosity led them to seek further contact with the unknown. During this time, Remy notes how the usual comfort in their home was disrupted by strange activity after these risky ventures. There was knocking at their windows even though they live on the second floor and their dog had become aggressive in contrast to their calm demeanor. The knocking continued for a year and a half until they moved out. To Remy, this is only a few of the various times she has scarped paths with the paranormal throughout her life. In her childhood, she would hear strange voices. She believed to have heard her mom calling her from the other room, and when she would respond, her mom answered that she didn’t call her. And, vice versa. She recalls having her named called on frequent occasions and in response, she yelled at whoever, or whatever, to stop. Evidently, Remy holds some sort of sixth sense if you ask me. To this day, she is a firm believer of the paranormal in our lives.
Alex – Unexplainable Whispers
For Alex, turning five years old was a big deal; after reaching this age, her life turned upside down when her parents made the decision to leave Mexico for greener pastures in the United States. As sudden and difficult as the journey was, she soon found herself in a home full of her relatives welcoming their arrival. However, there was no room available for a family of four to rest and abide in. Fortunately, this was resolved when a “secret” room hidden as a wall in the kitchen was torn down. She vividly remembers the sound of hammers tearing down the wall as dust, wood, and plaster fell to the ground to eventually reveal a room within. Inside, the abandoned space contained a kitchen replete with cabinets, a sink with quaint windows, and and white tile flooring. Towards the back of the room, a wall cut across a third of the room. Behind the corner of this wall was a door whose stairs lead downwards to the basement. In this area, Alex’s and her younger sister’s shared bed would be placed nearby. Only a minute space separated their bed and the basement door. Their parents’ bed was placed towards the edge of the door to their room. Alas, they had a place to call their own, a place to retreat for privacy from their family’s constant chatter. For years, they shared many joyous memories in the space they shared. Albeit, she holds memories of waking up afraid to sleep, and being frozen in her bed, unable to move even her pinky. As for these occurrences, she could easily explain that out of curiosity, she watched scary movies alongside her dad and according to according to scientists, sleep paralysis is due to a disruption out of curiosity, she of the REM sleep cycle. This, she could explain, but another phenomena she distinctly remembers is the whisper of her name as she drifted off to sleep. ”Alex,” a voice whispered, but beside her, her little sister was sound asleep. Was this a figment of her imagination, she thought, but then, why did it sound so distinct and separate from her consciousness? It was as if a voice carried by a breezed passed by, uttering her name with no clear origin. To this day, she dismisses it as a mere trick of the mind, but was it so?
Conclusion
Was the rustling of leaves a coincidence, especially as the footsteps stopped at the pavement outside the cemetery? Is the whisper of one’s name a peculiar machination of the mind? How does one explain seeing, hearing, and feeing strange phenomena in one’s home? Whether you choose to believe that there is a spiritual world alongside us or not, this paranormal phenomena continues to leave us perplexed. Scientific explanations are intriguing and help to qualm our fears of the unknown. And if you haven’t experienced anything of the sort, maybe some day you’ll have your own story to tell and share. As for me, I will continue to be fascinated by my grandparents’ stories of revelatory dreams from a person long gone and by a delightful stranger’s chilling experience, and how the paranormal appears to seep into the cracks of this dimension, leaving behind cryptic evidence for both the believer and skeptic to investigate. Ghost hunters, adrenaline junkies, scientists, and skeptics alike are subject to the matrix of this universe where the very matter of its truth bends and collapses.
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