Claw Marks on the Stairs

Witness: Kerri
Location: St. Catharines, Ontario Canada
Date of Encounter: 1988 to 2004

I used to live in Niagara for 16 years. In this time, I have experienced several unexplained happenings.

I owned a house on Ventura Drive in St. Catharines. Shortly after I moved in, things began to happen. The lights, gas stove, stereo, TV, wood burning stove, and washing machine used to come on by themselves. Toilets would flush on their own and large plants hanging from the ceiling would begin moving and turning. Closet doors were opening and closing, doors were slamming, we heard banging on the walls in the dining room, and the list goes on. Whenever there was "activity," there was a very strong scent from the wood burning stove — it smelled of ashes.

My scariest experience in this house happened after I had been out one evening. It began to rain and by the time I had gotten home there was a severe thunder and lightning storm and the power and phones were out in the house. I entered the house and went upstairs into the kitchen and grabbed a candle above the stove. I lit the candle and upon turning around toward the hallway, a large dark figure ran out in front of me. I was so scared I huddled up on the sofa, rocking back and forth until the power came back on. It was then I saw what looked like human claw marks in the carpet at the top of the stairs in front of the kitchen. Several weeks later I started to research the history of the house. At the public library I found out the house was built 16 years earlier and none of the previous owners had died in the home. 

Many of my friends and family have also seen and heard some of these experiences.