True Ghost Tales

I’m 17 and live in a suburb in the surrounding area of Austin, Texas. I’ve seen things for as long as I can remember. Most of my paranormal contact were with ghosts. I lived in a house in the part of town that was historically where the Mexican workers lived for this rich white rancher who used to own the town. It was pretty old. Don’t know the exact year of when it was built but I had many experiences there, but none that really caused me to feel afraid.

My grandparents lived out in the country about 2 and a half hours from my house. My grandmother collected antiques. She had a dresser that had belonged to my great grandmother and was old even then. So it was built in the late 1800′s. It had a vanity mirror attached and four drawers on the sides and a long drawer in the middle of the top two. It was in a room where my grandmother kept her dolls. I never felt at ease in this room and typically, wouldn’t stay in the room or go in it alone.

One day, I must have been 11 or 12, we were up there and she was giving us what ever things we wanted to keep because she was wanting to sell some of the antiques in a shop she opened up in town. I liked the vanity and asked her if I could have it. She told me it was okay with her so my dad loaded it up in the truck. I was very excited and when we got home, my dad connected the mirror to the back of the dresser.

As time went on, I started seeing things in the mirror. Always out of the corner of my eye and never was able to see what it was exactly. I heard a lot of popping at night. I told my parents and they told me it was just my imagination and the popping was probably just the house settling. I believed them but in the back of my mind I knew it was something else.

One night, I was laying on my bed. It was a bunk bed and my sister slept on the bottom bunk, me on the top. I was watching King of the Hill and after it went off, I turned the TV off to go to see. Maybe five minutes after turning the TV off, I heard the popping and a sound of furniture groaning coming from the mirror. I looked over and saw a black figure in the mirror. Not like a reflection…it was actually in the mirror! I was trembling but for some reason, maybe fear, maybe fascination, I couldn’t look away. It shifted and glowing red circles that must of been the eyes were staring at me. I couldn’t move. The figure started scratching at the mirror and there was a sound like glass breaking, only there was no broken glass. The thing crawled out of the mirror. The light coming in through the window caught it. The skin looked extremely bumpy and it had small horns in it’s head. It had long claw on it’s feet and hands. He stared at me with an evil, toothy grin and started toward me. I started whimpering. I couldn’t only shut my eyes. I started praying and something made me open my eyes. The thing was almost to the bed. I screamed and managed to turn on the TV. The thing let out a weird cry and ran into the wall that separated the room to the bathroom. My mother ran in asking if I was okay. I knew if I told her, she wouldn’t believe me so I told her there was something on TV that scared me. She told me to not watch scary shows and to go to sleep. I nodded but I didn’t turn the TV off or go back to sleep. I covered the mirror after that.

Strange things started happening after that. There was a munching noise always coming from the wall. Like something was chewing on the wood. My dad thought there might me termites after the tiles in the bathtub fell off on to my older sister while she was taking a shower one night. He checked and sure enough, there they were. The weird thing was that we had a contract with a pest control company that sprayed for termites, ants, spiders and other insects. Our home became infested with roaches and the garage had rats. I didn’t like that house. I couldn’t stay in it alone.

When I was in seventh grade, my parents moved my four younger siblings and I to a new house on the opposite side of town. We had the house built on a lot and I was excited. I thought that maybe a new house would stop the terrors. Everything went fine at first. Then we moved the dresser and mirror to the house. I had a thing about mirrors as was to be expected and I couldn’t stand them in dark. My dad had propped the mirror facing out to the room. I got out of bed and went to turn it toward the wall. As I was turning it, it got very heavy and I heard a growl. I saw the thing in the mirror. I screamed and dropped it. It fell the carpet and shattered. I heard demonic giggling coming from everywhere. Then something whispered in my ear, “Thanks for releasing us.” My parents came in and told me I should have had them move it. I was terrified.

After that, there were certain places in the house that creeped me out that didn’t used to. I no longer felt safe. My sister’s room that was next to the room I was in when the mirror broke, was always cold and felt like someone was watching. Same with my closet. My parents bedroom and bathroom were creepy. The downstairs the dining room and living room became very eerie. I started seeing shadows dashing around outside the house.

One night, I was taking a shower in my parents bathroom and I heard a door open and cold air. Thinking it was one of my siblings, I didn’t say anything. Then the lights turned off. “HEY!” I yelled. The lights came back on. That’s when I realized I had locked the door. Suddenly a black figure pounced toward the shower and started beating on the door of the shower. I screamed. It started to open and I pulled on the door to keep it shut. The whole time I’m shrieking for my mom and crying. I heard her at the door calling my name. The figure disappeared. Trembling, I got out of the shower, grabbed a towel and opened the door for my mom. I told her everything. She rolled her eyes and sighed. “Alana, you’ve been watching too many horror movies. There’s nothing here. Nobody came in my room. I was watching TV on my bed and I hear you beating the door and screaming. Nothing happened. Finish your shower.” Then she left. I felt so scared. I heard laughing from the closet. I closed it and got back in the shower to finish.

After that, I never took a shower without closing the closet. I even slipped into a deep depression. Nobody believed me. I was terrified. I couldn’t sleep in the dark. I had to have the TV on. I still have these feelings. I’m still terrified of mirrors in the dark. What’s more, is that my youngest sister who’s nine is seeing the things too. I’m terrified. What can I do if my own family doesn’t believe me?

Written by Alana Hilliard, Copyright 2009