r/Ghosts

I was in my room with the lights on. My roommates went to bed. I was still up. All of the sudden I felt deep dread. Like I was prey being stalked by something lurking in my room or down the hall in the dark. I assumed it was the latter. So I pretended to not be scared and not to notice it… 30 minutes or more went by, it was so scary feeling cornered like that. I kept trying to pretend “it” wasn’t there. Then I hear whispered loudly and clearly, in my ear, “I know you can hear me.” This means it knew I was trying to ignore it and pretend it wasn’t near me. I had no idea how close it was. Also, this was a new high rise nyc apartment building. I don’t think it was haunted.

The other time was fairly recent, a few months ago. I was feeling so down and dark and out about the job market. I was so sad, scared, and full of grief after losing my job and feeling like I have to start all over again. This feeling seemed to swell and I started to doom spiral. No hope for the future. I took a hit of weed with my gf and proceeded to watch a tv show.  All of the sudden I start to feel deep dread for my actual life. Thinking that for some reason I will k—l myself in about 2 weeks time, that I don’t have long left, and that I don’t have a choice in the matter even though I am not suicidal…
At this time, I feel what physically feels like gallons of my life force energy being sucked/pulled forcefully out through my chest toward the space in front of me (I was laying down). … this happened 4 times within 20 minutes approximately.  I could feel it pass/woosh through my flesh and out. I had a feeling that something was feeding on my energy and I want to know why and what it was.
I want to know if this spirit/entity/being is in my apartment or if it is following me?

What are these things?

Apologies about the lack of effort in my post, I’m tired.

So many thanks,
Ginger

I’ve had sleep paralysis before, but this was different.
Usually, when it happens, I know exactly what’s going on. I can’t move, I can’t speak, and after a few seconds I wake up completely. This time, I wasn’t dreaming.
At least, I don’t think I was.

It happened around 3:40 in the morning. I remember checking my phone before putting it on my nightstand because I had work the next morning. I fell asleep on my back. Then I woke up. I could see my bedroom.
My ceiling fan was spinning. The streetlight outside was shining through the blinds. My phone was still sitting on the nightstand. Everything looked completely normal.
Except I couldn’t move. I tried lifting my arm. Nothing.

I tried opening my mouth. Nothing. Then I heard someone walking in the hallway. Slow footsteps. My bedroom door was open about six inches. I live alone. I immediately started telling myself it was just sleep paralysis. My brain was probably creating sounds that weren’t actually there.
Then the footsteps stopped. Right outside my door.
I stared at the opening. Nothing moved.

A few seconds passed. Then I heard a quiet whisper. “Are you awake?” I nearly lost it. The voice sounded like my sister. But my sister lives nine states away. I tried screaming her name, but nothing came out. Then the door slowly opened another inch. I couldn’t see anyone.
Just darkness in the hallway. And then something happened that still makes my stomach turn.

My phone lit up. I could see the screen from my bed.
Someone was calling me. The caller ID said ME. My own phone number. I watched it vibrate against the nightstand. Once. Twice. Three times. I couldn’t move. Then the call stopped. The bedroom went completely silent. I thought it was over. Then my phone screen lit up again. This time, it wasn’t a call. It was my camera.

The front-facing camera had opened by itself. And I could see my own face on the screen. My eyes were open.
But behind me… There was someone standing beside my bed. I couldn’t turn my head. I could only see them on my phone. They were extremely tall. Too tall. Their head was almost touching the ceiling. I couldn’t make out a face. It was just this dark shape standing completely still.

I started crying. And then the figure leaned closer to me.
Except it didn’t move on the phone screen. It moved in the actual room. I felt the mattress sink beside my leg.
Something had sat down. I could feel the weight. I could feel the mattress pressing against my body. And then I felt breathing against my ear. Slow. Wet. Almost like someone had just run a mile. I was waiting for it to say something.

Instead, it whispered: “You always wake up before I get here.” I don’t know why, but that sentence scared me more than anything else. Because it sounded like this had happened before. Like whatever was beside me had been waiting for me to notice it. Then I heard my bedroom door slam shut. The mattress suddenly lifted. I could move. I shot out of bed and grabbed my phone. The room was empty. The door was closed. I turned on every light in the apartment and checked every room. Nobody was there.

I barely slept for the rest of the night. The next morning, I told myself it was just an extremely vivid episode of sleep paralysis. Until I looked at my phone. There was a photo in my camera roll that I didn’t remember taking. It was a picture of my bedroom. Taken from the doorway. The timestamp was 3:47 AM. I was asleep in the bed. And standing beside me was a tall, dark figure.

The worst part? I live alone. And the photo had been taken from inside my apartment. I deleted it. I changed my locks. I even bought a camera for my bedroom. I haven’t had sleep paralysis since. But three nights ago, I checked the camera footage before bed. There was one video recorded at 3:47 AM. The room was empty.

For the first few minutes, nothing happened. Then the bedroom door slowly opened. Nobody walked in. But the mattress on my bed suddenly sank. Like someone had just sat down. And then, from somewhere directly beside the camera, I heard my own voice whisper: “You always wake up before I get here.” I haven’t slept in that room since. And honestly… I’m starting to wonder if the thing I saw wasn’t visiting me during sleep paralysis. Maybe sleep paralysis was the only time I was actually able to see it.

For some background, I was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, but I’ve always been very open-minded toward other religions, spirits, and beliefs.
About a year ago, my partner and I had a random late-night or early-morning conversation about religion and God. This was very unusual for us. I don't remember every exact word, but we were basically questioning the existence of God and talking through the usual debates that come with that topic.
Mid-discussion, the room was suddenly lit up by a bright, bluish light coming from the top corner of the room. It lasted about a second, but it was incredibly bright, brighter than anything in our room that could have made a light like that. Trust me, we checked.
We also ruled out car headlights. My window runs parallel to the road, so headlights don't shine into the room the way this light appeared.
We were spooked, and of course, we wondered if it could have been a sign from God.
Then, a few minutes later, the exact same light appeared again right as we started talking about faith and religion again.
Because of the timing, it felt almost impossible to brush off as a simple coincidence. Since then, I’ve still wondered what it could have been. That moment actually inspired me to start educating myself on other religions and spiritual practices.
I wanted to share my story here to see if anyone has had a similar experience, or if anyone might know what kind of light this could have been!

I, 15f have lived in my house since mid 2021, I do not have a doorknob on my door due to it falling off before I even moved in. The house I live in is over 100 years old, made in the 1910s.

Randomly, my door will open up from the outside, like someone is opening it from the hallway. This has happened since I moved in. At first, I just assumed it was my little brother (13m) being an ass, but when I went to confront him, he'd say that he was in his room the whole time.

I started to pay closer attention and when the door started creaking, I'd take a look at the hole in my door, I couldn't see anyone's legs indicating that it was not my brother or parents doing it. Sometimes the door will fly open and other times it will open up like three inches.

I've memorized my family's footsteps (You start doing it subconsciously when your room is right by the stairs) and sometimes I'll hear footsteps that aren't my family's footsteps. Sometimes I'll hear people calling my name or like someone is watching me.

I know that people have been born in my specific room (the daughter of the original original homeowner visited the house and talked to my dad and told him she was born in my room). If people were born in my room, then I'd assume that people died in my house as well.

Is there anything else this could be? If it is a ghost than is there anything I can do to tell if it's friendly or not that doesn't involve outright getting a Ouija board and contacting it (ultra-Christian parents, dad dislikes chockers and anything that gives off witchy vibes.)

Edit: Thank you for all of the help, I have a fear of ppl watching me in my sleep, so I was kind of freaking out at the idea of a ghost watching me sleep.

There were only 2 other people in the park at this time & nowhere near my phone which was on the metal diamond leaned & leaned propped against a rail in the middle of the park.

This is one of two paranormal experiences I had in this house. I'm interested in people's opinions, whether they want to debunk it or have a paranormal explanation. I do believe firmly in the paranormal but that doesn't mean my experiences were definitely in that category.

This was back in August 2023, I was living in my grandparents victorian house in NE England. I was in the 'playroom' (essentially a study) one afternoon working on my university project on the computer. I'm pretty sure I had my headphones on as I usually listen to music when writing. That room has always had a different energy than the rest of the house- the whole house is gloomy and old but my grandmother is a Mormon and has made the house her spiritual safe haven, so I've never felt any paranormal vibes, other than a melancholy, quiet atmosphere to the playroom.

Anyway, as I was sitting there writing, I felt someone jab me in the ribs. It was on the left side, more towards the back than the front and about halfway up. It felt exactly like somebody had jabbed me with a finger. Bearing in mind, I am now chronically ill and have experienced many muscle spasms, twinges and the like, it did not feel like that at all. It was very external. I ripped off my headphones and spun around in the chair thinking it was one of my grandparents surely, but no one was there. My grandparents are quite old and so I doubt either was able to sneak in, poke me and then run away without me hearing, and I can't imagine why they would do that. But I was still sure it had to be one of them as no one else was in the house.

I went through to the kitchen (down a long corridor) and my grandmother was cooking dinner. I asked her if my grandfather was downstairs and she said he was upstairs napping. I told her something jabbed me in the side and she inevitably asked if it was a muscle twinge, which I am adamant it was not. Once she was sure of the situation she went into the playroom and verbally banished the spirit, which I was quite annoyed about, but what did I expect telling my Mormon grandmacthere's what she interpreted as a demon in the house. It didn't feel malicious to me and I wasn't scared, only startled. I did try to counteract my grandmothers banishing but as I am not the owner of the house I guess I don't have that type of spiritual clout.

I stayed working in the playroom until very late at night in hopes of interacting with the spirit again, but the atnosphere felt much more neutral and empty than before so I gave up. The other paranormal experience was a type of sleep paralysis/hallucination I've never found a similar account of online or from other people, I can share if anyone is curious. It happened in the same house a year earlier which is why I'm mentioning it.