First-Person Ghost Story: She Still Speaks

I've always been curious about the supernatural. Back in 1998, I still lived at home with my parents in New York. In the summer of that year, my grandmother had died, and although it hadn't been at our house, I sometimes wondered if she was around.

One afternoon, I knew for certain that I was in the house alone...when an odd thing occurred. I was in the bathroom across from my bedroom, washing my face, when in another room (specifically the den), the sound of Creed playing "Higher" came blasting through the halls.

Honestly, that was not a group I would have played voluntarily...and this particular stereo system had no alarm clock that could have set it off. Thinking that someone else had come home, I ran into the den, shouting "Hello??? Is anyone here???"

A second later, I felt rather silly, realizing that I was the sole person in the house. Strangely, however, I glanced over at the stereo again...and the stations began changing of their own accord! This was, as best I can remember, the first time I'd ever experienced anything like this.

With no further provocation, I switched the stereo system off. I then spent a long while in the overwhelming quiet, unsure of what to do. At last, in order to calm myself, I sat down on one of the two reddish-brown Southwestern-patterened couches, saying what would best be described as a prayer.

This was highly uncharacteristic of me, mind you; though I believed in a higher power of some sort, I didn't often pray. Basically, my prayer consisted of well wishes to my grandmother, whom I referred to as Bubbe (the Yiddish word for grandmother).

Later on, I mentioned this incident to my mom, who said that a similar occurrence had taken place while she was home alone. Just as in my case, the stereo had turned on by itself, and had been playing the radio. To boot, the volume was blaring, as had happened to me.

Granted, I suppose you could chalk all this up to some technical issue with the stereo, but we had owned the equipment for several years, and had never experienced anything of this nature.

About a week later, another strange "electrical incident" took place in my bedroom, late at night. I had been sleeping, fitfully, on the top bunk of my bed. I began thinking something to the effect of, "I wish it were more comfortable in here." Just then, a small nightlight, which I kept plugged into an outlet beside my bed, switched itself on automatically.

Once again, a curious feeling overcame me, as if to say, "Am I dreaming?" As with the stereo, I had no previous recollection of anything like that occurring. Strangely enough, once the nightlight's soft yellowish glow permeated the room, I drifted off to sleep.

Over the next few weeks, the stereo would continue to periodically do strange things. Sometimes it would repeat the behavior with the radio; on other occasions, it would begin playing a CD, but no sound would come through the speakers.

Had the show Ghost Hunters existed at that time, I might have tried some of their methods to "debunk" the anomalies that were happening here. Finally, searching for a rational explanation, I checked in the stereo's instruction manual, and to my surprise, there was a section entitled "Stereo Turns On By Itself" under "Troubleshooting." If I remember correctly, there were some "codes" you had to change in the system that pertained to the remote control. So, hoping that this would end our electronic troubles, I went through the process, altering these numerical codes and letting the system be.

However, as luck (or something else) would have it, that wasn't the last we would hear from our "supernatural stereo." One afternoon, I was again sitting in the den, watching TV, using the system to enhance the sound. Out of nowhere, the stereo switched to radio mode by itself, and the volume began blasting again. Now I was almost convinced that someone, or something, wanted my attention. But what could I do about it?

I simply rose from my chair, switched the sound back, and hoped that it would never occur again. Thankfully, it didn't...but I still think about it from time to time.