One of the creepiest encounters I’ve personally had was many years ago while my dad and I were both home and we heard a thud in the attic. It was a bit like someone had jumped or something. We walked around the house to the spot where the sound came from until we ran into each other at the spot the noise came from. We did that sort of sideways glance thing and asked each other if we had heard the same thing. After confirming we had, we headed up to the attic apprehensively with a flashlight. We found a sleeping bag and some supplies (I think there were bottles, but it’s been a long time). We did another sideways glance but we’re more creeped out now. He asked me if it was mine and I said I’ve never seen it before. Neither of us did. I had this weird, creepy feeling like my house was suddenly unsafe. My thoughts were: Was there someone living in my home? Was a squatter or something hiding in our attic? A fugitive?
After looking around in the big, pitch-black attic, we didn’t find anything or anyone. Quiet, dark, and suddenly very unsettling. We just went back down to the garage and did a sweep of the house, a bit more seriously this time. After finding literally nothing, not even a trace or hint of anything at all, my dad told me not to tell my mom about it, and he installed a lock on the garage door. He also fixed wiring up to the garage door motor, so he could turn it off. It would be a little annoying if you got caught outside after he turned it off, and had to go the long way, but at least we felt a lot safer.
But, prior to him installing all of that, we would sometimes hear our garage door open at night. We thought it was just malfunctioning, but after finding that sleeping bag with supplies in the attic, I thought the two were connected. Thinking that maybe someone had been living in my own attic for months or even a year really freaked me out. Like, what if they went into the house itself and did stuff?
I was home alone later on, maybe a few weeks or months, and heard what sounded like steps in the attic. I know what squirrels and birds on the roof or mice in the attic sounded like. It wasn’t that. I grabbed my rifle and flashlight and yelled up into the attic that the police were on their way (they weren’t because I hadn’t called them yet. It was a bluff. If you find yourself in a similar situation call the police, arm yourself and try to get out of the house. If you can’t, hide somewhere safe. Do NOT bluff). I went up cautiously and did a sweep all on my lonesome. One of the freakiest, quietest, most unsettling experiences I’ve personally had. There wasn’t anything or anyone up there. I’ve played a lot of horror games and watched horror movies, and I have a very active imagination. That made the experienced worse. Being alone was the worst part.
To this day, I’m still uncertain why there was a random sleeping bag and some supplies in our attic. We’d been living in this house for years and years and family/guests always used the guest room when they’d come over. The only thing that makes sense to me is that our garage door “malfunctioning” and the sleeping bag were connected. I deeply hope they weren’t, but… After installing the lock, we didn’t have any more issues with the garage door.
Just imagine finding out that some stranger had been living in your own house for a while and had free access to you and the rest of your family. The thought that, if this person was violent they could have murdered all of us at nearly any point. My lifestyle at that point had me staying up very late, so maybe that deterred this person. Either way, it was more than a little unsettling, knowing what people are capable of.