The Ghosts of Stephen's Branch

True Ghost Story

I once lived, for a short time, in a haunted house. Many readers may be skeptical of this "story" but I assure you that it is true. I have been fascinated with ghosts and the unknown since I was a child. True, a clear explanation of just what ghosts are isn't easy to come up with, but the answer to whether or not ghosts are real can be found.

I was doing odd jobs for a retired couple. They had a house up for sale and needed some maintenance work done around the place. The couple made an offer to me to exchange some work for living in the house rent free. I was asked to tear down and remove an old barn, cut some trees, clear the weeds and keep the grass cut.

The house was a three story including the attic that had been converted into two bedrooms. The stairs ascended through all three floors. My wife and I wondered why the house had stood vacant for so long. We were told that no one had lived in the house for years. The owners of the house lived in a smaller place. Why didn't they live in the better one?

One night, shortly after we moved in, we were laying in bed when I heard some sounds coming from downstairs. It sounded like a party was going on. Music was playing. It was old fashioned Big Band type music and sounded as though it were from the 1940's. I could hear a lot of voices talking. Suddenly there were two voices that got louder. A man and a woman were arguing. Even though I could not make out the actual words that were being said somehow I knew that they were arguing.

I asked my wife is she could her anything. When she said "yes" it sent chills down my spine. I asked her to tell me what she was hearing. She described to me the very same thing that I myself had heard!

We got out of bed and I turned on the light. We could still hear the sounds from downstairs. As we went down the steps we turned the lights on as soon as we came to the switches. When we got to the second floor landing the sounds stopped.

We looked in all the rooms downstairs and were talking about what had happened when the sounds stated up once again. This time they seemed to be coming from upstairs. We decided to get our daughter from her room and all sleep downstairs for the night.

Several days later I was talking to an old man who had lived in the area for most of his life. I asked him if there were any strange stories to do with the house. I didn't tell him about my experience yet. He said that a long time ago there had been a murder in the house. He didn't remember the details of what had happened.

It wasn't long before the owners of the house asked us to move out. When I asked for an explanation they only said that they didn't think it was a good idea for anyone to live there. I think they heard about my conversation with the old man - they did know each other.

I may never know what happened in that house sometime long ago but I am convinced that there was a ghostly presence there. Both of us were wide awake and heard the very same things that night. Take it from me, Ghosts are Real!

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