Ok, I'll chip in. Mine aren't as "scary" as they are just interesting - so ya'll should be able to sleep tonight
I was talking about this wonderful house we moved into when I was very young. I felt such an instant relationship to this home and the property; it just felt safe there. The house was old and massive and full of antiques (it was written in the deed, I am told, that all the antiques were to transfer with the property).
There were lots of stories in the community about the house. They centered around the original property owners and the people who built the house (I don't want to use their names because the home is still pretty well know in the community so I'll call them Captain and Mrs. Ghost - lol). Anyway, they went like this -
The gentleman who designed and built the house was a sea captain. He traveled the world and frequently brought trees home from foreign lands (there were some unusual trees on the property). The basic design of the home was much like a ship (the original blueprints were actually in the library in the home - I remember staring at them for hours) and she had a sitting room on the third level where she could see the road at a great distance. She would sit and do her needlework there, waiting to see the Captain coming home.
Very often people would claim to see her sitting in that widow, with a candle beside her. I never believed that as I never saw it myself. The evening sun reflected on the glass and did give the illusion of light. Cool story, tho
Anyway, the Captain eventually retired and they lived there happily for many years. The home had a split staircase and on the landing of the staircase there was an amazing grandfather clock (it was still there when we lived there) that he had brought home from one of his journeys. When the Captain became ill, the clock on that landing was said to have stopped at the moment he died - 3:30 a.m. That's the time it was set to when I was there and the clock no longer worked.
Again, another good story - I have no idea if any of it is fact.
Now, when we moved in, it didn't take me long to start telling my mom about the lady who watched over me. Mom assumed that I had heard some of what people were telling her about the place but still .. it gave her the creeps. She would hear footsteps in the hallway at night and think that I was out of my bed. Instead she'd find me sitting up in bed, talking to someone that wasn't there. I only remember a little bit of these times. I was sick as a child and missed a lot of school. I didn't have any playmates because I was never at school long enough to make a friend. Also, no one wanted to come to my house. I don't remember ever having a friend visit. But this lead my Mom to believe that I was creating "imaginary friends" to keep me company. When she asked me if she was imaginary I told her that I supposed so, because she wasn't at all like "people."
So - on to some personal experiences.
My aunt had come to visit the first Christmas we were there. She was a very religious person and "poo-poo'ed" the stories of ghosts. She wasn't just dismissive of them, she was very mouthy about them. She would say things like, "You'd have to be insane to believe in ghosts" and proclaim her disbelief loudly and to anyone who would listen. She was my aunt and I loved her but I do remember wishing that she'd just "let it go" and quit talking about the ghosts all together.
Well, regardless of her bravado during the day, the first night she decided not to sleep in the maid's quarters (which had become guest's quarters with a private bathroom and an amazing clawfoot tub). The maid's quarter's were also a little bit scary to me and it's the only place in the house I didn't like to venture alone. Everyone in the family felt that way, even though the room was very nice and decorated beautifully. Instead of sleeping there, she crawled into bed with me. I had a fireplace in my room and it could get quite cold on a winter night. I also used an electric blanket to stay warm.
All was well - we talked a bit and she said a few more things about how silly it was to believe in ghosts and then we went to sleep. I wasn't happy with her because I just wanted her to leave it alone - if she didn't believe in them, that was fine, but don't be disrespectful
Well, sometime in the middle of the night, she woke me up with a yelp. I rolled over to find her standing beside the bed, hopping up and down in pain. She'd thrown the covers back and looked at me with her eyes wide and said, "Oh my gosh, get up!! How can you stand it??"
I didn't know what she was talking about. I was confused and actually thought I must be dreaming. My mom came running into the room and asked what was going on.
My aunt tells her to feel her side of the bed. The electric blanket was so hot that you could almost burn yourself with it. My aunt's skin was bright red. Mom quickly reached over and pulled me out, thinking that I must be too asleep to realize that I was burning up in bed and then she realized that my side was simply nice and warm.
The blanket was the kind with a single controller. How could one side of the bed be burning hot, and the other a nice, warm temperature?
My aunt started to freak out a bit, obviously starting to think about some of her previous comments. I remember her eyes darting around the room, as if someone was there. Every shadown made her jump. And I'll admit it - I was feeling pretty smug about the "lesson" she was learning
And I turned that blanket on every night that winter and the other side of the bed was never anything but toasty and warm again.
I'll come back and tell you about what she found the next morning later