There’s plenty to be scared about when buying a new home. But when you sign away on the dotted line to invest in a brand new place, are you guaranteeing yourself a completely haunt free experience? Home buyers have been surprised for years by the sudden bout of paranormal activity that might happen in a house that may have never had a previous owner. But how do you know it’s something stranger than a house simply settling?
Ghost hunters are sometimes met with surprised volunteers who let them into their homes to look into a mysterious sudden bout of activity. And often this activity seems to be happening in a place where there is no real history. Are these ghosts simply wandering from house to house like eternal trick or treaters? Or is there some method to this madness that can turn a home upside down on certain anniversaries or seasons? The jury is still out on just how mobile ghosts can be. Some who subscribe to the residual theory of haunting suggest ghosts are glued to one spot in space and time – meaning they cannot leave a specific area and have either an extremely limited or completely nonexistent ability to relate to the world around them. The residual hauntings are generally thought to be ghosts that appear as a single image in space and time. Residual hauntings are generally compared to light burning its way onto a piece of film for a photograph. Only instead of light on film, it’s a residual emotional energy that is released in a specific area.
But if no one has ever lived in the area before, then how can it be haunted residually? Parapsychologists have speculated that sometimes the area itself may not be the single thing the ghosts are related to, but rather a specific object. Building materials can come from a variety of places, but sometimes certain materials are harvested from other older houses before being put into a new one.
But what if you know all of the materials your house was made out of and still find yourself being awakened by unearthly sounds or images? Take a look at the area around where your house was built. Was it constructed in a place that has been settled for a long time? Were there any buildings present before the new house was constructed? And of course, what were these grounds used for previous to the new house? The cause of the paranormal plight haunting the family in the film “Poltergeist” was one of the most well known pop culture examples of the latter, but there has been some speculation that the Amityville Horror House may have been constructed on a burial ground.
And finally if the problem is exclusively sound related, and nothing else seems to be out of place, sometimes a house does make strange creaking and knocking noises for a period as it settles into place. But these will never sound deliberate or intelligent. And if the sounds go on year-round as opposed to during a specific season, settling seems less likely. It may be a good idea to conduct your own investigation just to be safe.
