The Ghost and Mrs. Byers

[ShaniFaye]

I need to get this down to get it all out of my head

Ok, for all of you that thought I was losing my mind, and for all of you that graciously believed me and commiserated with me….here is a full story complete with details I just got today.

Dave and I moved into our house April of 2006, and we love it….hopefully we are going to get to buy it from our landlord. I remember when we moved in I said something like, wouldn’t it be cool if it were haunted, cause most everybody knows I believe in that stuff.

When Dave went on his first trip for work after we moved in, I had an unsettling experience. Now I am not by any means afraid to be alone, but being a tad sad with him gone I would spend all my time, when I was at home, laying in bed watching tv and net surfing. I started noticing when I would shut everything down, I would hear music…big band swing type music. Now I know a lot of you are saying…well it’s a neighbor. I know what it sounds like to hear music coming from another house, you get that muffled base booming thumping sound. This is not what I was hearing. I was hearing the music very very clearly, as if it were coming from my living room, like I had left the tv or stereo on, which I had not.

This has happened so many times, I would really only notice when I DIDN’T hear it, again, keep in mind this doesn’t happen when Dave is home (of course, I wouldn’t look insane if he heard it too lol) and honestly it hasn’t been creeping me out. We all know Dave has been gone a LOT this year, but when he left for China at the first of November something changed.

I don’t know if somehow I was missing stuff before of it the “ghost” has stepped up activity, or if I am truly losing my mind but….the morning after he left I was getting ready for work, the cat and I were sitting on the bed and I was putting my shoes on. A picture I have stuck up in the corner of my dresser mirror fell off…no big deal, while it has never done that before I know that pictures fall off mirrors lol. What happened next…doesn’t. We keep a framed picture of Amanda on Dave’s dresser, next to the TV, next thing I knew it was in the floor, scaring the crap out of me. When I went to pick it up I also noticed that a golden snitch (from the HP movies) antennae ball I had bought Dave had been moved. It had been sitting one way on that tv since it was put there, and it had moved 90 degrees. Yeah….you can say I was freaking out lol and so is the cat.

I try to gather my wits and go in the kitchen to get my lunch together and leave and while I’m getting my keys out of my purse I hear this “thump” that sounds like somebody had dropped my kitchen garbage can in the living room. Morgana is in there freaking out, I turn on the lights and look all around and cant see anything that has fallen, even though Im looking all around the area the cat is “staring” at and where I heard the noise.

I give up and leave for work. That morning I’m telling the guys in the office what was going on and one of them suggested I might have some rodent in the house, which even though sounds gross, it makes sense so I figure, me being the trained exterminator I am, can find evidence of a chimpmunk or rat or mouse or something, so I’m feeling much calmer. Dave calls me and I tell him whats going on and he says maybe he moved the snitch when he was setting up our new dvd player…he doesn’t remember. So all is good right?

Wrong

I come home that afternoon all ready to search for rodent poop to find one of our Doctor Who dvds laying in the middle of the living room floor, not just the disc but the entire case which I know for a fact was on the dvd shelf with others sitting around it. So I’m left telling an empty house that if “he” wants to watch tv so badly to please put up stuff when he’s done lol and I walk into the bedroom to change to my after work comfy clothes. That’s when I see that the snitch Dave had thought maybe he had moved, has been moved again. I’m telling myself to stay calm….and to remember I’m supposed to be looking for evidence of rodents, so I start inspecting the house, all the while thinking I know I’m not gonna find anything…which I don’t. I search the house from top to bottom, including the basement (my mother has so kindly asked me that day if maybe someone was living in the basement and I didn’t know it….lol THANKS A LOT MOM).

Whats interesting to me is during all of this I notice I hadn’t heard the music, and I still haven’t. Things keep happening, noises I cant explain, the cat chasing things that aren’t there (and YES I know cats do that, but on top of this other stuff its extra freaky ok?)

Several people come over that week to sit with me at nite, which was very nice and appreciated, but of course nothing happens while they are there. Sunday afternoon I go in the bathroom and notice there is a bag of cough drops laying in my sink. Now I know for a fact they weren’t there when I brushed my teeth earlier and I know where they were previously, and the sink wasn’t it.

There have been a few other things, that I cant say for sure are anything at all, but in my head its adding up to paranormal activity. Now I don’t mind living with a ghost, I really don’t, I just don’t want it scaring me lol

As I knew would happen, Dave comes home for thanksgiving and it all stops, absolutely nothing happens and I’m way apprehensive when he leaves it will start up again. But so far….nothing and I’m kinda relieved.

This afternoon, I was leaving to go to Burger King to get some dinner and Diane, my neighbor across the street is walking her dog so I stop to chat for a minute. In the course of the conversation I admit to her weird stuff has been going on in the house and how crazy its making me feel. She looks at me kind of oddly and asks me what….so I go into the whole story, then she hits me with hers.

It seems that the day after Dave came home for thanksgiving, stuff started happening in her house that she shares with her partner. Weird sounds, footsteps when nobody but one of them is home, and one more thing that thankfully I haven’t had to put up with lol. They have this electronic papertowel holder that looks like a lighthouse and has a button on it that if you press it, it sounds like a foghorn. It seems that has been going off at odd times, they changed the batteries in it and it was still doing it, they took them completely out now and are supposed to report to me if it happens again lol.

Its nice to know that Im not the only one here freaking out…..I guess I never realized that ghosts might “travel” from house to house and maybe they don’t, maybe they have one of their own…its just weird that my activity stopped and theirs started.

Oh and she told me one more interesting thing…..The original owner of this house died here, he had cancer…….

…..and he was a huge fan of big band swing music

[Hain]

Best thing when weird stuff like that happens and only happens to you: tape recorder. If nothing else, it acts as a placebo that you are doing something to monitor it. Likely causes and I hope they are the real causes: your own stress combined with a cat that has a mind to play tricks on you by trying to watch some good ol' Doctor Who. Which Doctor is it by the way? Stress makes us do strange things that we often forget the reasons we did them. Couple this with a mind that all ready accepts paranormal activity and you have for some really really keep-you-up-at-night ghost experiences. And the reason the ghost travels to your neighbor's house... he likes to party...

While paranormal stuff scares the bejesus outta me for no other reason than I can't explain it, I know that the world I live in is based on rules (well it better goddamn well be). If I don't entirely understand those rules, too bad for me, I ought not fear them. I imagine I won't be pulled into my closet because some poltergeist confuses me with the real light...

F***! that movie still scares the piss out of me. I have watched damn near ever other ghost horror scary movie... and Spielberg's Poltergeist still gives me that intense must-run-now feeling. It isn't the effects, it isn't idea, it is the way the actors portray fear and the music behind each of the scenes.

Jeeze I miss the good ol' days of having night terrors and the like... http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showpos...5&postcount=12 http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showpos...7&postcount=22
One thing I did not mention in that post, was that the reason I didn't remember what my friends were talking about was because I had "spaced-out" for over 20-30 minutes. I try not to remember how long the IM logs were recording before I looked up.

[ShaniFaye]

I've tried doing some recording but havent caught anything yet. I cant try to take any pictures cause when Dave is out of the country our camera is with him...and when the camera is here nothing seems to be happening lol. It was Season Two of the good Dr lol, maybe I should put it on and see if anything happens.

Its strange sometimes, its like when Im here alone someone is here with me watching tv...the room gets all cold and if I try to talk on my cell phone it completely dies

[DaveOrion]

Well Shani, you seem to have all the signs. Unfortunately TFP is not conducive towards discussions of the paranormal, and I'm personally sick & tired of the LRATFP (Logic & Reason Association of TFP) never giving anyone a chance to have a discussion of any such activity, without being raked over the coals or treated like a fruit loop. Such is the current state of affairs.

[ShaniFaye]

welll...we could ignore those type and have a discussion...I do it all the time in other arenas, I honestly could care less if someone here believes me or not, but I WOULD like to hear from others that have had something similar and how they handled it.

Im not some loony that believes everything that goes on is a sign of the paranormal, but I DO believe that crap happens that just cant be explained by "logic and reason"

[Hain]

--Ah hell, I hoped it was a Tom Baker or Jon Pertwee Episode. Oh well, Tennant isn't that bad. Maybe that is what the ghost wants, to catch up on the new Doctor Who series from beyond the grave. I know I would.--

That is why it is parapsychology--we need to eliminate all possibilities of normal human activity before the investigation can begin. I believe you when you say something beyond your control is happening.

The question is: what to do to take back that control? Try to take extra mental notes of the ways things are arranged, and try to pick up habits or patterns on how you place things. Also... just try to take extra mental notes of what you do and how you do it. That way in case you fumble for something in a fluster and drop cough drops into the sink, you think, "Damnit in my fluster I dropped the cough drops." You never know when this weird random shit happens. See, I am the guy that finds other people's lost things. I notice their habits/patterns and I predict the most likely place where they broke that pattern... [phone call] "[Augi], I lost my keys, please hurry I need to go to the doctor's." "Check outside your apartment door."

How did I handle it? I believe that even ghosts, while in a sense immaterial must take some material form to affect this world, must be susceptible to club like objects, e.g. a swinging crowbar. I kid you not, I kept a crowbar next to me, for what scared me (and because of my neighborhood was getting bad with break-ins and robberies). Also I am not trying to make you sound crazy. I want there to be more to this world than I see... but I know I couldn't handle their being more to this world, so I hope that it is something related to stress or that it goes away and it can remain one of those mysteries.

[ShaniFaye]

lol Season two wasnt Tennant, it was chris eccleston. I was telling my mom last nite (since he had many Dr's to choose from, I've got dvd's of almost all of them) that he must have been a fan and wanted to catch up. As for the cough drops, I know 100% for a fact where they were prior and that I hadnt gotten them out and for them to end up in my sink was REALLY strange.

In the last 3 weeks I have made a point to try to make sure where stuff is, because I've had a few things happen that Im not 100% sure of like I am the cough drops or the dvd or the snitch or the picture but I did have something else happen yesterday.

Saturday my daughter, who was over for the weekend, and I had been decorating the christmas tree and she got out a long piece of blue garland that was in a box of stuff, I told her we werent going to put it on the tree and I told her we had to put it up so the cat wouldnt get into it cause if she swallowed any it could kill her, so I took it and put it in a box where she couldnt get to it. Sunday morning I got up and it was in my dining room wrapped part way around my one chair and the rest on top of the table....but this is "one" of the things I cant swear to....I dont know that my daughter didnt do it just to freak me out (silly 14 year olds) but she swears she didnt

[ratbastid]

You should play some big band music, see if it calms him down any. Maybe his ghost record player broke or something. Set up a Benny Goodman channel on Pandora and let it play, and see what happens.

[Hain]

This is why I never tell friends or family members about paranormal things that occur to me. I know I am all too tempted to pull a prank if they tell me. Like I said, just keep your wits about you but keep your mind elsewhere.

Plus... you are from Georgia. Lots of weird shit like that seems to happen in Georgia. Friend of mine moved down there there were all kinds of weird ... things happening when the sun went down and the storms flared up.

David Tennant was season two and on... Eccleston was season one... :-P

@ Ratbastid:
Good idea, and now when the ghost starts picking likes and dislikes in pandora I will have to explain it is a virus... why does the paranormal get so hard to pass off as reality. Actually now I know how House, M.D. writers must feel...

[ShaniFaye]

You're right....sorry lol dont know where my brain is this morning I knew that cause I didnt start watching it til season two

Lots of weird stuff happens lots of places hehehe I dont think it being GA has anything to do with it

[MSD]

The first thing to do about the ghostly music is to get or borrow a good radio with AM/FM/shortwave, and when you hear the music, slowly go through each band to see if your speaker wire is picking up a radio station. I've heard it happen before, and it tends to freak people out. If you do that a few times and can't find anything, you've ruled out the most likely explanation.

For things falling down, two things to look out for are drafts (use a smoke pencil to check for slight air currents, although that would just explain the picture on the mirror and the antenna ball, not the heavier stuff,) and to keep a close eye on the cat. If you put a bell on her collar, the likelihood that she can wander in quietly, knock something over, and run away when the falling object scares you.

As far as noises, I've had mice in the house, and they can make some disconcerting noises. Since it's winter and you're in a new house, it's probably a good idea to put out a few traps for mice and rats anyway, and if you catch something, you can either conclude that they were causing the noise by keeping track of where you found them, or just assume it was them to put your mind at ease.

When you had people over, it's possible that either everything stopped, or you were distracted enough by having company that you didn't hear anything.

If you want to get more evidence, you can get webcams for almost nothing online, or if you're willing to make an investment, get a wireless networked one for ~$100 and set it up to record in an area where there's been a lot of unexplained activity. Keep it up with the tape recorder, too.

It's easy to interpret a large number of odd occurrences as something bigger than what it is, so by taking things one at a time, you're more likely to be able to find clear explanations for each incident. If you go through each one and there's still stuff you can't explain, at least you've determined the exact scope of what you're dealing with and aren't attributing to a paranormal infestation what's actually caused by your daughter playing a joke on you or the cat ... um ... doing those things cats do.

And if it gets really bad, you can always call the TAPS ghost hunters from the TV show and become a local celebrity.

[ShaniFaye]

Well as I stated in the OP, the cat was sitting on the bed with me when the falling objects occured, so I know without a doubt it wasnt her.

This is our 2nd winter in the house so Im used to all the "house" noises, and like I said earlier, Im very experienced in tracking rodent activity and I've found none. As for drafts, in a year and a half nothing like this has happened, and the it would have to be a wind gust to move that snitch as much as it was moved and as heavy as it is.

As far as the dvd ending up in the floor, there is no way that was the cat or another person as nobody else was there between the time I left for for work and the time I came home...I know that for a fact.

The cough drops could not have been another person or the cat either, they were in the bottom of a basket on top of my medicine cabinet...even I have to get on a chair to get to them.

(I know those all sound kinda snippy, dont mean them too lol trust me I've thought of every single thing you mentioned)

[MSD]

I must have missed the part where you said "2006," and that the cat was on the bed. I assumed the snitch was one of the tiny foam things like the freebies radio stations give out, not something of substantial weight.

All I can say is to keep at it with the recorder, check for big band music on the radio, and try setting up webcams to constantly record or motion-activate. The obvious explanations are out of the picture and it looks like you've covered the basics plus some. And keep us updated if you find anything, of course.

[Ustwo]

All I know is that if I'm a ghost, I'm going to be trying to do more than move cough drops while being chased by cats.

Talk about a cosmic let down.

[Lasereth]

If this happened to me, and if I believed in paranormal activity, I would be setting up cameras around my entire house (literally) with a sound recording system and everything. Why? Because the first person in this world that gets PROOF of ghosts will be filthy. stinking. rich.

The problem with ghosts and paranormal activity is that out of the billions of people on this planet, not a single one can prove that ghosts exist. Once someone does, every science book has to be rewritten and it basically says that we don't know shit about science.

So get those recorders going!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Daniel_]

I'm generally sceptical about paranormal stuff for exactly this reason - there are billions of people, and no solid evidence that stands up to scrutiny by independent outsiders.
I have no doubt that people who have been haunted (for want of a better word) have had a genuine experience, but that it was the unquiet spirits of the dead is beyond my own experience and understanding.

I'm not saying it can't happen, but I'm saying that I've seen no evidence that I can feel confident in.

That said - if Shanni needs someone to stay over while she looks for the ghost, I'm there.

[Hain]

Actually science books would not have to be rewritten... just amended that there is an entire scope of the universe that we have yet to observe. Science is the quest for knowledge (... not truth, truth implies metaphysics and philosophy) through observations and models of the universe.

Like Lasereth said, anyone with solid proof can cash in... GHOSTBUSTERS! "If someone asks you if you're a god you say yes!"

[ratbastid]

Originally Posted by Augi

Actually science books would not have to be rewritten... just amended that there is an entire scope of the universe that we have yet to observe. Science is the quest for knowledge (... not truth, truth implies metaphysics and philosophy) through observations and models of the universe.

Very true. It would be a piss-poor scientist who would claim that science can currently explain all phenomena in the observable universe. The whole POINT of science is to explore the currently-inexplicable.

[abaya]

Originally Posted by Ustwo

All I know is that if I'm a ghost, I'm going to be trying to do more than move cough drops while being chased by cats.

Talk about a cosmic let down.

The only person I could trust to come back as a ghost and not freak me out would be ktspktsp... because he knows how I am, and if he did come back, then he'd know exactly how to "visit" me so that I wouldn't freak out. (Why do ghosts always have to come back when you're alone, anyway?... I mean, jeez... do it when there are two or more people, at least!) Of course, that would mean him dying first, which of course I'm not keen on wanting to happen!!! But if there was some kind of paranormal activity after life, I would like to come back and prove it to him, or have him come back and prove it to me.

All the other people who have died, or will die in my life?... no, don't want to see them, thanks. I had a rough time at nights when my grandma died in 2005... I was alone from Monday to Friday, and I imagined every possible sound and vision. Nothing happened, though. Thank goodness.

[ShaniFaye]

yeah Dave and I have had that conversation hehehehe we have imagined many dif and fun ways to prove to one another we were a ghost hehehehe

/my mind is always in the gutter

[Daniel_]

Originally Posted by ShaniFaye

yeah Dave and I have had that conversation hehehehe we have imagined many dif and fun ways to prove to one another we were a ghost hehehehe

/my mind is always in the gutter

That's the point. Millions of couples have made the same deals, and none of them have ever come up with sufficient proof.

I want to think that if it's real that ghosts exist, someone palusible by now would have come back and proved it more efectively than they have.

Maybe ghosts DO exist, but being a ghost is like being stoned?

[Redlemon]

Originally Posted by Ustwo

All I know is that if I'm a ghost, I'm going to be trying to do more than move cough drops while being chased by cats.

Talk about a cosmic let down.

The best "explanation" (note that I'm a non-believer) that I've seen was in Douglas Adams' book "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency". There's a character who is murdered and becomes a ghost, and part of the story is from his perspective, trying to get himself noticed. I won't tell more -- read the book.

[Ustwo]

Originally Posted by Redlemon

The best "explanation" (note that I'm a non-believer) that I've seen was in Douglas Adams' book "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency". There's a character who is murdered and becomes a ghost, and part of the story is from his perspective, trying to get himself noticed. I won't tell more -- read the book.

I read it.

Its still a cosmic let down.

Douglas Adams wasn't a believer either, but he wrote some amusing stuff.

[lktknow]

I have not one iota of trouble believing everything you say happened, happened.
There have been things, just such as what you are saying, happen to me my entire life.
I learned the hard way, as far as mentioning most of them to anyone.
It's not a kind thing when friends seem to think you are either loony, or have been nipping the cooking sherry.
So, nowadays, (especially since I am getting up there in age, and truly do not want to be remembered as a quack), I rarely mention any of it to anyone. And, I do not mean to suggest these things happen on a daily basis, or even a weekly basis. They just happen with no rhyme or reason.
I'll give you a few examples, it feels rather good to be able to talk about them actually. If I am bombarded with excuses as to the why of these things happening, I'll tell you first, that I have went through every scenario as to why the certain thing happened, and the majority of them were found to be unexplainable to me.
One of the things that happened, is after I moved in with my last significant other, and had lived there about a month, (his wife had passed away in the house a a few years before my moving in), and this started happening on a regular basis. I would go about my morning chores of making the bed, and just generally cleaning up the house. I would finish in the bedroom, and move to the next room. One day as I walked past the bedroom door, his side of the bed had the covers turned down as if someone were going to bed. I went in and remade the bed, smoothing all the wrinkles out, and standing at the door thinking , "how did I forget to make that side of the bed"? About an hour later, I was in the hallway, glanced into the bedroom, his side of the bedcovers were turned down again. I went to the front room, sat on the couch, trying to collect my wits, convincing myself I am not crazy, and I see what I see and know what I know. That I made the bed completely and twice now his side of the covers have somehow been turned down. I went in and made it again, and it didn't happen again that day. But on a regular basis it happened once or twice a month. I did tell him about it, and he said it was very typical of his wife to turn the covers down for him, because he usually went to bed before she did. I left it that way one time, and he said it was the exact way she would turn them down for him. But, he still looked at me a little sideways, because he was not actually at home when he could have seen me make it, and then without me going back in the room, see how it had been turned down. I just let it drop as far as telling him about it.
Another thing that happens here is I have a very heavy music box on top of the bookshelves. You have to wind it up and push a button to make it play, but it plays by itself ever so often. It has doors that open and fold outside of themselves, and then repeat the process in closing them. It happens about once a month, that it just starts playing without being wound, or anyone pushing the button.
I could most likely write a book about the different little things that have happened, well, maybe a couple chapters to a book. A few of them had me actually questioning my recollection of the events, and second guessing myself as to if I had really put something where it was found, or not, but knowing I had not, but just for the sake of not being made out to be crazy, going along with everyone , admitting to them, that "yes, I may have been mistaken "..but it hurts inside to have to do that, when like I said, you know what you know, and have seen what you did. So, now like I also said, I just don't mention it to anyone.
I guess it matters not, if you all think I am loony, lol.

[DaveOrion]

I don't think you're looney, and neither is Shani.......things do happen with no rhyme or reason. Truth is stranger than fiction..........

[blktour]

Originally Posted by DaveMatrix

Well Shani, you seem to have all the signs. Unfortunately TFP is not conducive towards discussions of the paranormal, and I'm personally sick & tired of the LRATFP (Logic & Reason Association of TFP) never giving anyone a chance to have a discussion of any such activity, without being raked over the coals or treated like a fruit loop. Such is the current state of affairs.

though this site does tend to move towards the logic and reasoning side, i remember having a class called LOGIC AND REASONING, and came to this site many times to look for assistance.

it is good to hear something not of the norm..

though to experience it, i would say /RUN..

[ShaniFaye]

lktknow thanks for sharing that I know exactly what you mean about thinking you're remembering something incorrectly.

We had an incident this week, the day after Dave came home. In our "formal" dining room I had put out the christmas table cloth, candles, placemats etc and tidied up in there. I made sure all six chair were where they were supposed to be (we are having Dave's bday party this weekend and that room will be utilized).

One of Amanda's christmas presents is a collectible Irish barbie and I had laid it on the table so I would remember where it was when I bought the wrapping paper this week.

thursday when I came home Dave calls me in the dining room to ask me if I had put the barbie on the floor and pulled out one of the chairs to sit in it (which would be silly, we only use that table when we have company)

So....yes, its *possible* the cat could have knocked barbie onto the floor where it landed standing straight up....but no way could she have put the chair where it was

[Ustwo]

Home surveillance web cams are cheap, I've been looking into them for more conventional reasons.

Hook them up around your house and see what happens.

[LoganSnake]

Also being a believer in this stuff, I got goosebumps reading your post. Our previous place of residence wasn't clean and we've had weird stuff happening as well.

Probably a wild shot, but take a look at this

Domovoi

A domovoi (Russian: домово́й; literally, "he of the house") is a house spirit in Slavic folklore. Domovois (the correct plural form is domovye) are masculine, typically small, and sometimes covered in hair all over. According to some traditions, the domovye take on the appearance of current or former owners of the house and have a grey beard, sometimes with tails or little horns. There are tales of neighbours seeing the master of the house out in the yard while in fact the real master is asleep in bed. It has also been said that domovye can take on the appearance of cats or dogs, but reports of this are fewer than of that mentioned before.

Folklore

Traditionally, every house is said to have its domovoi. It does not do evil unless angered by a family’s poor keep of the household, profane language or neglect. The domovoi is seen as the home's guardian, and he sometimes helps with household chores and field work. Some even treat them as part of the family, albeit an unseen one, and leave them gifts like milk and biscuits in the kitchen overnight. To attract a Domovoy, go outside of your house wearing your best clothing and say aloud "Dedushka Dobrokhot, please come into my house and tend the flocks." To rid yourself of a rival Domovoy, beat your walls with a broom, shouting "Grandfather Domovoy, help me chase away this intruder." When moving, make an offering to the Domovoy and say "Domovoy! Domovoy! Don't stay here but come with our family!"

The favorite place for these spirits to live is either the threshold under the door or under the stove. The center of the house is also their domain. The domovoi maintains peace and order, and rewards a well-maintained household. Peasants feed him nightly in return for protection of their house. When a new house was built, the Polish homeowner would attract one of the domovoi by placing a piece of bread down before the stove was put in, and the Russian one would coerce the old house's domovoi to move with the family by offering an old boot as a hiding place. People made sure they only kept animals the domovoi liked, as he would torment the ones he did not. Salted bread wrapped in a white cloth would appease this spirit, and putting clean white linen in his room was an invitation to eat a meal with the family. Hanging old boots in the yard was another way to cheer him.

The domovoi was also an oracle, as his behavior could foretell or forewarn about the future. He would pull hair to warn a woman of danger from an abusive man. He would moan and howl to warn of coming trouble. If he showed himself, it forewarned of death, and if he was weeping it was said to be a death in the family. If he was laughing, good times could be expected, and if he strummed a comb there would be a wedding in the future.

The domovoi does have a more malicious side. Although one's own domovoi could be considered an ally, the domovoi from a neighboring household brought no happiness. Russian folklore says that a domovoi could harass horses in the stable overnight, as well as steal the grain of a neighbour to feed his own horses. Still, domovye could befriend one another and were said to gather together for loud winter parties.

If a domovoi becomes unhappy, it plays nasty tricks on the members of the household. Those include moving and rattling small objects, breaking dishes, leaving muddy little footprints, causing the walls of a house to creak, banging on pots and moaning. If the family can determine the cause of their domovoi's discontent, they can rectify the situation and return things to normal. If not, the spirit's tricks may escalate in intensity, coming to more closely resemble those of a poltergeist (cf. tomte), or he may threaten to stifle people in their beds (this myth is likely to be based on sleep paralysis). More often than not, however, families live in harmony with the spirits, and no problems arise.

[Ustwo]

domovoi?

[abaya]

In regards to the domovoi, this image popped into my head: