Rate this encounter: Ellen, Gainesville, Florida, May 2008

My daughter and I have lived in a charming two-bedroom apartment for the past two-and-a-half years. It felt very homey from the first time we saw it, and we have loved it here. Nothing strange happened at all until she brought home a chair about nine months ago. My daughter and her best friend found some chairs that had been left behind by someone moving out. They were in perfect condition and very clean -- small, plastic wicker-weave lattice with black steel legs. My daughter kept one and her friend took the other.

From the first night the chair was in her room, my daughter complained that she felt like someone was watching her. She had never felt that way before so I wondered what was happening. She complained about it on and off over the next few months, but I never felt or saw anything, and our cat would even sleep quite comfortably on my daughter's bed, even as she had these creepy feelings, so I wasn't terribly worried. After a while, she decided to rearrange her room and had no room for the little chair so I took it and made a little reading corner in my room with it. Immediately, I felt like someone was watching me from the chair. It didn't feel evil or threatening -- it just felt unfamiliar, like having a neighbor or a co-worker show up in your bedroom at night. You know they won't hurt you, but you know they don't belong there either. I kept the chair in my room, thinking the feeling would go away but it never did. I had to cover the chair with a blanket to sleep. Then one night as I was in the shower, I heard a very loud bang on the bathroom door and it flew open, as if someone had slammed their fist against it. I jumped out of the shower to see what was going on but there was no one there. I wrapped a towel around myself and ran out to the living room to see if my daughter was looking for me. She was sitting at the computer, head phones on, a blanket draped over her lap, and her legs tucked under her. There's no way she could have banged on the door and gotten back to her seat in that time. Our cat was asleep on the sofa. All the doors were locked from the inside, and there was no one else in the house. I got rid of the chair that night. My nephew took it, even though I warned him that it was haunted! He just laughed and thought it would be cool to have a ghost in his apartment.

I checked with him a while later to see if he noticed anything, and he said he has seen someone sitting in the chair, and he has also seen the chair rock back and forth (it's not a rocking chair). He isn't scared of it but he says there is definitely something in that chair. Once the chair was out of our house, the feeling went away and all was calm again until recently. My daughter has the feeling of someone hovering over her bed at night again and now she won't sleep in her room alone. I told her that it won't hurt her; it just seems to be a curious spirit that likes to watch her, but she is spooked. The first night she slept next to me, I felt uneasy as well. When she woke up in the morning she said, "Mom, it followed me into your room and sat in the corner by your closet all night." I decided at this point that we needed to claim back our house and we started talking to the spirit, telling it to go to the light and that we are the living and this is our space, not its space. We made salt circles around our beds and invoked Archangel Michael for protection.

The feeling seems a little weaker now, but we have also started to notice something touching our hair. First, I felt something tap my hair, as if a large bug landed on my head. I swatted at my head but there was nothing there. A few days later, I felt something run down my hair, as if someone was gently brushing their finger over my head. My daughter also had the feeling of someone running a finger through her hair down the back of her head. It isn't a scary sensation -- just odd.

I went into her room one day when I was alone and had a very calm talk to the spirit, telling it that it wasn't welcome, that we release it with love and good will but it is frightening my daughter and I can't have that. I told it to go to the light where friendly spirits will guide it and it will be safe and welcome there. I turned and walked out of the room and, as soon as I sat down in the living room, I felt someone very gently, almost affectionately, run their hand down the back of my hair. Yesterday, my daughter was in her bathroom fixing her hair when she felt the presence behind her. She spoke to it calmly and said, "In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to leave us." As soon as she uttered the words, her bathroom cabinet door gently swung closed. It feels to me like a gentle old lady spirit and it doesn't frighten me but I know it doesn't belong with us. I have an appointment with a spirit counselor tomorrow who has experience with these things and he says he can help. I'll keep you posted!