Annalese: Authentic or fictional, ghouls that lurk in the night and tales of people that are just beyond our eyes have been circulating for millennia. Debates about what is real and what is imagination stem from stories passed down from generation to generation of hauntings. Is there some truth behind these stories or is it just pure fiction?

Clara: I believe in the paranormal considering that I have been experiencing paranormal activity ever since I was young, from my recollection most of the ghost sightings happened around 5 years old. I was sitting in the kitchen eating when I noticed a woman walking around the kitchen like she was cooking. She looked like she was in her 50s and was unknown to me. I remember her looking almost transparent. I watched her almost everyday singing and cooking in the kitchen. When I told my parents about the lady in our kitchen they were very shocked. They showed me pictures of my great-grandma who died before I was born. I was able to recognize her as the lady I had been seeing in our kitchen. 

Annalese: Have any of you or your family members experienced anything?

Clara: Yes actually, most of my family members have had a paranormal experience. My dad and I were the ones that have had the most experiences with ghosts in my house, and still are. 

Annalese: Alright since you and your family believe in ghosts have you ever considered the possibility that it’s just your imagination? Or have you brought in a psychic? 

Clara: Well most of my experiences with the paranormal have mostly been with old family members of mine, and I believe that it would be hard for my 5-year-old self to imagine my grandma that I’ve never met. Even my cousin who’s just a few years older than me saw my grandma around the house when he was my age, it’s just hard for me to believe that’s all just my imagination.  

Annalese: Well there is a possibility that you and your family have experienced something called pareidolia; this is when our brain makes the perception of faces and shapes when there aren’t any. You mentioned being able to describe her, maybe you heard a description of her in passing from your parents or family members.

Clara:  Well that could be a possible explanation, but that doesn’t explain objects around my house moving by themselves, my dad had an experience when an empty bottle was thrown at the back of his head when he was by himself. 

Annalese: That definitely throws me for a loop, but it is very rare for a manifestation of a poltergeist let alone what’s called “the interactive personality”. The interactive personality is a ghost that is able to let out familiar smells or sounds to let you know they are present, they are not necessarily bad or good. As stated by an article published by ghosts and gravestones interactive spirits that take a manifestation of a loved one is because they feel that you need or miss them. Taking all this into account was the bottle throwing experience a lone happening or has anything similar happened?

Clara: I don’t know if it fits under the same explanation but doors in my house have slammed and then something or someone always says my name right afterwards, it’s quite unsettling when I’m home alone. Something more unsettling that has happened with doors closing by themselves was when I asked if something could close the door and it did. At first I thought it was coincidental until it happened a good 3 to 4 times. 

Annalese: At the time you requested the door to be shut was it possible any windows were open or was the AC unit for your house on? Because it is a common occurrence that something called negative pressure can lead doors to close while an AC is running.

Clara: I believe that the only thing I had on was my fan which could’ve been the case. My door’s a little heavy and old though so it can be tough to open sometimes, but I’ll still take that explanation.  

Annalese: So setting those occurrences aside have you ever done any research on your house or the land that it was built on. Or has your family ever tried to communicate with spirits through a ouija board or perhaps a seance? 

Clara: I’ve asked my family members who have previously lived in our house about its history, it’s a family house that my great great grandparents built back in the late 1900s. It was originally used for a house where if you needed a place to stay my great grandparents would let them stay in a room for a bit, almost like a bed and breakfast. That’s all I really know about my house’s history.   

Annalese: It’s interesting that the house has a deeper connection to your family, do you think the house could be a sort of conduit for the activity? 

Clara: I believe that since my house does have history and a connection to my family that it could be a source of the activity.

Annalese: It’s certainly interesting to me that there’s a possibility that human beings can have an influence on people and their surroundings even in the afterlife. It was definitely interesting hearing your experiences and stories so I appreciate you sharing them with me. 

Clara: I’m glad that I was able to share my stories with you, and I hope that my stories helped you understand the paranormal better.