The Stanley Sisters by Elizabeth

The Stanley Sisters

We hadn't been living in this house for long when "things" started happening. I was 8 months pregnant, big and uncomfortable. I was nesting as fast as my swollen legs allowed and desperately trying to finish the baby's room before my water broke.

We had just moved in to this house a month earlier when my husband, Clay, accepted an Assistant Professor position at the local university. We had been told by our realtor that this charming, old house was owned by the Stanley sisters since it was first built almost 70 years ago and then stood empty for many, many years. Two years ago, a wealthy young real estate investor bought the property to renovate for an easy flip but when one of her family members became seriously ill she had to sell the house "as-is" to quickly rush home.

The first time "something" happened I was alone with Evan, unpacking in the kitchen. The dog started barking at the front door and then the doorbell rang. Drying my hands on a tea towel, I answered and found nobody there. This must have happened over 8 times that afternoon but I chalked it up to old wiring in this 1939 house. Several nights later, my belly was sore and throbbing and I awoke to find my ratty t-shirt pushed up past my ribs and my stomach covered with stripes of blood. It was a hot and humid September night so I assumed I had been scratching at my stretched and over-plumped belly but when I stood looking at myself in the bathroom mirror there were ten straight and distinct crimson slashes down my stomach. Neither my husband, nor I had any trace of skin or blood in our fingernails. I don't know how this could have happened.

My 2-1/2 year old son, Evan, slept in the toddler bed across from the crib in the nursery. The next night, while Clay was working late, I heard creaking and what sounded like a woman humming in that room. I thought Evan might have climbed into the rocking chair and turned on his lullaby CD so I went in to peak on him and put him back in bed. As soon as the light fell across his empty bed I saw out the corner of my eye a baby blanket held in mid-air drop to the floor and the rocking chair come to a dead stop. Confused and now panicked because Evan wasn't in the crib either, I flipped on the light when the baby blanket started wiggling, crying and then screaming. It was Evan! He had just been DROPPED by something or someone and was just as scared and confused as I was. Shaking and crying also, I scooped him up into my arms and ran into my bedroom to call Clay to come home immediately. We all left minutes later and slept in a local hotel that night.

The next day two of my elderly neighbors watched, puzzled, as we arrived back home in our pajamas. We told them of the strange things that had been happening. The muffled music playing in the basement in the middle of the night, the feeling as though someone was watching every time I bathed my son, the overwhelming smell of liquor as you walked down the stairs, the blood-curdling screams then baby cries, the house shaking and rattling as though the train track over a half-mile away ran right through our family room, and a female wailing I had heard 4 days ago. It was too much too ignore now. We asked if they knew anything about the house or the previous owners. What could they tell us? We wouldn't spend another night in there and we were considering a quick sale of the house.

Mr. Wade muttered something and then went inside. Mrs. Wade must have sensed our desperation. "Please." I begged. "I can't. Evan and I can't be alone in there." I could tell she knew it too.

She began back with the Stanley Sisters- two sisters who had saved to buy a house after graduating from college back in the early 1940's. Rosalie was a nurse and Nina was a teacher. Neither one had much luck dating but somehow they both had fallen for a local boy, Walter. As Rosalie started going out more with her new beau Nina became more and more jealous and obsessed. She had always wanted children, lots of them. Feeling her dream of children being stolen from her, Nina began to drink heavily. Rosalie and Walt were soon married and he ended up moving into the house as well. Nina continued to drink. She resorted to tying her bottles on levied ropes up in the tree branches or hiding them in the loose stair. She was soon fired as a teacher for showing up to work intoxicated.

Walt was a Naval officer and sent overseas as soon as war broke out. Rosalie found out she was pregnant three weeks after he left. She had a tough pregnancy and went into an early labor one night while Nina was out drinking with friends. Nina had stumbled home drunk to find her sister lying in a pool of blood and a naked, squealing and shivering newborn between her legs. Fumbling in her drunkenness and fear, Nina tried to wake Rosalie. She wrapped the baby up and headed outside looking for nearby help. She had run up the road screaming in desperation when she and the new baby boy were hit by a coal train, killing them both. The coroner found that Rosalie must have hemorrhaged during the last few moments of the labor and had probably passed out from the pain and loss of blood. When she came to she awoke to the sight of blood and gore and her vacant belly. She followed the bloody footprints heading for the doorway, leaving a new trail of blood behind her, slowly bleeding to death with every step. Searching inconsolably, Rosalie found her lifeless sister and baby near the railroad tracks. She fell to the earth with one hand on Nina's arm and the other on the cheek of her cold, small infant son. All three were found dead when the morning light revealed the night's tragedy.

Mrs. Wade whispered now, "I believe Rosalie is in some way trapped in that house, overcome with endless grief and anger from never having held or rocked her and Walt's baby boy. I think she's still enraged and looking for their tiny son."

"Walt has seen her on occasion…swaying back and forth in that bedroom window, or staring blankly out the front door. He hears their song playing sometimes from the basement where they used to dance and talk privately when Nina was home. It's the only thing that keeps him going. Hoping for the next glimpse, hoping she will be able to see him the next time."

Mrs. Wade continued "You see, when Mr. Wade, my brother, returned home from the war, he was never the same. Having witnessed death and destruction abroad he returned to death and despair here at home. He's been totally disinterested in any mortal happiness since then and has never remarried or moved on. Walt has tortured himself everyday for the last 63 years. I think he feels as though he failed to protect Rosalie, Nina, and the baby in life and so he watches over and cares for them in death. They've all been laid to rest but Rosalie has never rested. She won't rest until she has her baby. But if you want to rest, dear, take your baby and leave the Stanley sister's home."

Pokemom's submission

A Cry in the Night


I’ve never told anyone that this happened to me- I guess I didn’t want them to think I was crazy. But it’s true- it really happened. As to if I’m crazy or not- I’ll leave that to you to decide.

A few years ago I was wakened in the middle of the night by the sound of a baby crying. Clear as day, I heard it. Now, the important thing to remember is- I did not have a baby in the house at that time. I was supposed to have one- but our baby had been stillborn a week before, and we were still slowing coming to terms with the fact that we would not get to meet this child in this lifetime. As I lay there, listening… I heard it again. The cry of a tiny newborn.

In the morning, I started second guessing what I had heard. I convinced myself that I just wanted so badly to hear a baby that my mind had manufactured the sound. I put it out of my mind, and didn’t think of it again.

However- a few nights later I was again woken from a sound sleep by the cry of a child. And I realized I was not the only one lying there listening- the sound had woken my husband, as well.

Those cries haunted me for quite some time... so much so that one day I hesitantly asked my neighbor if her grandson had maybe been visiting, that last week? Or maybe, had she heard a baby crying in the night? No, she hadn’t.

I have not heard the baby since. And yet, I wish I would. Occasionally, when I wake at night I’ll listen quietly and try to hear him. I don’t want to think that he’s left us entirely.

Pokemom's submission

A Cry In the Night

I’ve never told anyone that this happened to me- I guess I didn’t want them to think I was crazy. But it’s true- it really happened. As to if I’m crazy or not- I’ll leave that to you to decide.

A few years ago I was wakened in the middle of the night by the sound of a baby crying. Clear as day, I heard it. Now, the important thing to remember is- I did not have a baby in the house at that time. I was supposed to have one- but our baby had been stillborn a week before, and we were still slowing coming to terms with the fact that we would not get to meet this child in this lifetime. As I lay there, listening… I heard it again. The cry of a tiny newborn.

In the morning, I started second guessing what I had heard. I convinced myself that I just wanted so badly to hear a baby that my mind had manufactured the sound. I put it out of my mind, and didn’t think of it again.

However- a few nights later I was again woken from a sound sleep by the cry of a child. And I realized I was not the only one lying there listening- the sound had woken my husband, as well.

Those cries haunted me for quite some time... so much so that one day I hesitantly asked my neighbor if her grandson had maybe been visiting, that last week? Or maybe, had she heard a baby crying in the night? No, she hadn’t.

I have not heard the baby since. And yet, I wish I would. Occasionally, when I wake at night I’ll listen quietly and try to hear him. I don’t want to think that he’s left us entirely.

The Dead are Not Dead, or The Dead Return

After I bought the house and moved in, I found out that a woman had died at the kitchen table only a few months before. Now I’m not a superstitious person, or one that even conciders that there may be ghosts. Haunted houses are just stories to frighten children on Halloween. Aren’t they?

After I got settled in, I heard feint noises, only to discover they were mice in the walls. And yet sometimes the noises were too loud for a mouse. Some of them sounded like a dragging sound, like maybe dragging a walker along the hall around the corner. This is a large house, over 4000 sq. ft., and it takes a while to get to were the dragging sound came from. But there was never anything there.

In the night I would wake up to a slight popping sound, like a house makes when it gets really cold outside, you know, 20 below? But it wasn’t that cold.
Then one night at bed time I went to the kitchen sink in the dark to get a drink of water. I noticed the light was on in the sitting room, and a woman in a red robe was in the chair reading! I said under my breath, "What the.......", and strode down the hall and turned the corner toward the sitting room, but the light was off and the chair was empty. WHAT"S GOING ON HERE? My mind was playing tricks on me.

The next morning when I got up and went into the kitchen, I saw something that really made the hair stand up and a shiver go down my spine! The white hand towel was folded very neatly on the kitchen cabinet! I never fold towels! I looked all around, walked to the towel and unfolded it. Yes, it was the one I had used the night before, a little bit dirty from my hands when I dry them after using the kitchen sink. I NEVER FOLD A TOWEL!!! And then a noise startled me and I turned around to see this walker coming at me, thrown by an old lady in a red robe. Her hair was arranged like a helmet. OLD HELMET HEAD! I had heard about her, but I thought she lived some where else.

After I carefully raised my head above the cabinet , I saw the red robed clad ghost going around tidying up the towel and other things I had left a mess. I sure hope the next person who lives here will be neater than me. THERE REALLY ARE GHOSTS!.

The Lifeline

Summer arrived at the restaurant, smoothing her long brown hair. She scanned the room, looking for her friend Janice. No Janice, so she sat at a table, to wait.

Chills suddenly racked her spine. Why’s it so cold, she wondered? The cold felt like it was seeping into Summer’s bones. Maybe they’ll turn up the heat, she thought.

“Excuse me,” Summer called, as a waiter walked by. But the waiter didn’t stop; he kept on going.

“How rude!” Summer thought angrily. No tip for him, she decided.

She looked down at her placemat and noticed that it was on palmistry. It showed a hand and descriptions of what each line meant.

“A long lifeline,” Summer read, “means you’ll enjoy old age, a short lifeline means you should expect to leave this world early, depending on your lifeline’s length.”

Summer glanced down at her hand and raised it, turning it so it faced palm side up. She saw her love line, her heart line, but she couldn’t find her lifeline.

“Where’s it supposed to be?” she said aloud. She glanced at the placemat and memorized where the lifeline was located. She looked back at her hand and still didn’t see it. Bringing her palm right to her eyes, all she saw was smooth supple skin. There was no lifeline.

Weird, she thought. I hope Janice arrives soon; I’m freaking out.

The waiter walked by again, Summer reached and her hand passed through his, causing cold to streak through Summer’s body.

“What’s going on?” Summer shouted!

Summer felt dizzy and the room started to swim in front of her of her eyes. Something’s not right, she thought, I’ve got to get out of here.

She ran out to the parking lot. Her blue sports car was gone. Feeling frantic, she started running. At the corner, she turned to the right, heading towards home.

As she rounded the second corner, she saw a group of people. As she got closer she saw Janice and a man.

Thank goodness, Summer thought. Janice will help me figure this out.

As she got closer, she realized the man was a cop, and that Janice was hysterical. She was crying, and the officer had his hand on her shoulder, comforting her.

“Janice!” Summer called as she stopped a few feet away.

“Jan?” Summer said again. There was no response. As Janice walked through the crowd Summer followed behind, wondering why Janice was so upset.

As the crowd shifted, Summer found herself standing with Janice in front of a wreckage. A wreck of what had used to be a blue sports car.

“No,” Summer moaned, “oh, please, no.” She walked closer and saw long brown hair falling from a smashed window of a blue sports car.

As she walked to the wreckage, she saw a battered, bloody hand lying palm side up.

Summer looked down at the palm and tears welled in her eyes and she smiled a bittersweet smile.

“Damn! Talk about a short lifeline!”

Canadian Hair Raising Ghost Stories

Submitted by Deedra Levy of Winnipeg, MB, Canada

#1
My grandparents owned this big old house in Penetanguishene, Ontario. Apparently neither of them experienced anything weird, but their kids did.

One time, my Aunt who lives in Florida came up to visit and were staying at the house while my grandparents were away. Well, she got home when it was already dark. She washes up and climbs into bed. She hears the faucet turn on in the guest bathroom. She figures she just left it on somehow and went to turn it off. She got back into bed and heard some noises. She figured one of her sisters were coming to stay at the house, too, so she just dismissed it again. Well, a couple minutes later, she feels the bed move beside her, as if someone has crawled into bed beside her. She feels around and there's NOTHING there. Just the indent in the bed.

She high-tailed it out of there.

#2
My Mom went to stay at my grandparents house when they were away. She decided she would sleep on the couch downstairs because frankly, upstairs scared the snot out of her. Well, it's dusk and she's reading her book. All of a sudden, she hears the sound of feet dragging down the stairs. She said she could just feel bad energy.

She high-tailed it out of there.

#3

We had an old farm house in Wye Bridge, Ontario when I was a little girl. My Mom was reading (hmm, I see a pattern here...maybe my mom should just stop reading and these things would stop happening to her! lol) in bed, and she looked up to see a woman all dressed in white putting away her clothes. Weird, huh?

#4 My parents had a house in Calgary, Alberta. My Aunt (a little insight into this woman's personality is that she is an awful, mean, evil woman) was staying with them. They all left the house that day. Don't know where they went. All that's known is that when they were gone, my Aunt's bedroom burned down. Nothing more, nothing less. Just her room.

#5 This story comes from a friend of mine. She and her brother used to share this bedroom. Two twin beds in the bedroom. Anyway, every single morning, her brother would wake up, having wet the bed some time during the night. Their mother found it most frustrating, and would often get the little boy in trouble. Anyhow, one night, in the middle of the night, my friend woke up, and saw why her brother kept wetting his bed. Floating above him was an angryfemale ghost. Inches above his face. The little boy lay there paralyzed staring at this apparation. So scared, was he, that he wet his bed every single time she appeared.

#6 This is about the ghost of a little girl. Some people I know moved into an old house and every now and then would see this little girl run across the room, only, when she was running, she was a foot above the actual floor. No one could understand it until they realized that since the house was old, it had settled almost a foot. A little girl died there when the house was new.