10 Spooky Signs Your House Is Haunted

Picture this: You’ve had a tough day at work. Susan from Accounts annoyed you more than usual, and your boss caught you coming back late from lunch. All you want to do is settle on the couch with a glass of wine and rewatch the first season of Stranger Things to distract yourself.

But, as you reach for the remote, glass in hand, the TV flickers to life on its own. It switches to a channel where people are screaming and crying for no apparent reason. Not Stranger Things. You try to switch back to the Netflix app, but suddenly, the remote refuses to work. You shrug off the uneasy chill running down your spine, put the glass down, turn off the TV, and head to the kitchen for a snack.

There, you find the wine bottle you just opened. It’s empty and no longer leaning against the inside of the makeshift ice bucket you made during your company’s last teambuilding exercise. It is now on top of the refrigerator, leaning against the cabinet next to it. You freak out. Someone is inside your home. You do like they do in horror movies and run upstairs first. While there, you grab your old high school hockey stick.

It is strangely cold and dark up there, but you don’t see anything weird, so you walk back down slowly, hockey stick still in hand. You check every door and every window. All are shut and locked. Calming down, you sit back on the couch and roll your eyes at yourself for getting freaked out so quickly. You turn the TV back on, and soon, the familiar intro to Stranger Things finally distracts you.

As you sip your warming wine and shake your head at the guy in the elevator because you know what’s coming, your heart rate is almost back to normal. You still want to know what happened to the rest of the wine in the bottle but, at the same time, don’t want to think about it too much. Luckily, you can’t see the shadow crawling along the wall behind you, a trail of red spreading across the floor as far as it goes.

Still don’t believe in ghosts? Maybe you should.

Related: Top Ten Hauntings at the Theater

10 Your Technology or Electricity Is Acting Up

So, now that it’s clear that your TV (or your walls) may be a problem, you might notice other things, too. Maybe your cell phone keeps draining for no reason. Perhaps your overhead lights keep flickering, and your kettle won’t switch on for some reason.

If your other appliances start turning on and off by themselves, you have a bigger problem than just the TV. And, if the power cuts unexpectedly, but the TV or your computer stays on, there may be an otherworldly presence in your house.

Apparently, you can test this theory with an Xbox of all things. Connect a Kinect sensor if you notice your games freezing or running ahead without you having the controller. If you are the only one in the house and the sensor detects another player in the room, get out of your house immediately.

Or you could just not connect the sensor and live in blissful ignorance of the demon out to get you.^[1]

9 You Feel Eyes on You

You know how you can sense someone staring at you from across a room? The same happens when there is a not-so-friendly ghost in your house. If you constantly have the feeling of being watched or going into a specific room raises the hair on your neck, your house may be haunted.

Considering that ghosts were once living people, it makes sense that they would want to hang out in a house, doesn’t it? Especially the house they used to live in while they were alive. After all, you wouldn’t want to come back as a homeless ghost, right?

So, if you sense someone’s eyes on you but you are alone, maybe give them room for a bit. Make them feel at home. It beats trying to drive them out and them turning on you.

In all seriousness, however, if you experience anxiety, nervousness, or paranoia along with a sense of being watched, it is possibly due to an underlying mental health condition. You should be medically evaluated and treated promptly.^[2]

8 Your Child Sees Dead People

If you have kids, you probably know all about their imaginary friends. You know, the invisible little girl who wants to join your family for dinner. Or the little unseen boy who wants to play soccer in the backyard. Sometimes, kids use imaginary friends to try and get their way. “‘Mom, Jerry wants to go to Disney World.” “Dad, Sarah wants to play outside. Can I go with her?”

In most cases, imaginary friends are harmless. They are a normal part of childhood and can benefit your child’s development. The problem starts when invisible friends become terrifyingly visible. So pay attention if you see your child constantly babbling while no one is next to them.

You do not want to end up like the couple who viewed a flat in Chicago, instantly thinking it should be their forever home. Their three-year-old daughter, Claire, was just as enamored with the place. When her parents asked her if she wanted to live in the condo and if she liked it, she very enthusiastically said, “Yes!” Then she tagged on, “The little boy that lives there is nice too.”

When her mother asked her what she meant, Claire said she saw a little boy around her own age in his pajamas sitting in the dining room. He waved at her, told her his name, and that he was afraid of water.^[3]

7 Things Move by Themselves

Generally speaking, things don’t move on their own unless there’s some kind of natural disaster or your kids play with a ball in the house. So, if everything is quiet and peaceful, and your cute cat ornament suddenly flies across the room, there is a problem.

Ghost hunter and paranormal researcher Greg Newkirk has seen books thrown across a room and even people bursting into flames right before his eyes. And he’s not the only one. Reddit and other online platforms are filled with stories from people who saw objects move on their own with no rational explanation.

For example, Ryan Crawley relayed his own terrifying experience in an essay to Business Insider in 2023. When Crawley was in his early thirties, he moved into a massive upstairs apartment in a nondescript brick building in Illinois. On his first night in the building, he heard heavy footsteps approaching his room at 2 am. At first, he thought it was a friend of his, but when he scanned the room, it was empty. Crawley searched the entire apartment and found nothing out of place.

During the next six months, things escalated. Appliances would randomly turn on, and furniture would move by itself. The faucets spluttered at all hours, and the kitchen cabinets opened and slammed on their own. Crawley moved out of the apartment after two years, but not before waking up with scratches on his body and being pinned down by an invisible force.^[4]

6 You See Things from the Corners of Your Eyes

When you see things floating in front of your eyes, it may be actual floaters, or it could be a flickering spirit. If it happens in your peripheral vision, you may just be seeing creepy shadow people flitting in and out of your vision. It doesn’t help that it is generally believed that shadow people are either demons or ghosts watching you and disappearing when you look directly at them.

Reports of shadow people have been around for decades. But, if you see them, it is also important to have yourself medically evaluated. In some instances, seeing shadow people can point to a medical issue like schizophrenia or dementia. You may also see them as a result of sleep paralysis.

Reddit user Scradleighman had a terrifying shadow-person encounter of their own. They woke up to a shadow towering over their bed one morning. The figure had blurry edges like a crayon drawing and red eyes. When Scradleighman looked past the shadow, five others stood behind it at varying differences, just staring. ^[5]

5 Objects Disappear into Thin Air (or Appear in Different Places

Do you have odd pairs of socks because one out of each pair keeps disappearing? Do you keep putting your keys on the kitchen counter only to find them in the living room the next day? Have you been looking for your hairbrush for days, only to find it in the same place you’ve searched three times? You either have a memory problem, or you’re absent-minded. Or, you know, you have a poltergeist in the house.

Poltergeists are both creepy and mischievous. You can hear them knocking around in your house. You might also hear things whizz past your head as the spook hurls them at you. Some people who have encountered poltergeists have had objects in their houses moved or around or disappear completely. If a poltergeist is annoyed with someone, they might slap or push them around.

The Enfield haunting is quite possibly the most famous example of a poltergeist messing around with people inside a house. The poltergeist knocked on the walls, moved furniture, and even made itself heard via disembodied voices.

Another poltergeist, not in a house this time, made its presence known in Germany in 1967. The phones would ring nonstop, objects moved on their own, and lights would not stop flickering in a law firm in Rosenheim. It was disturbing to the point where the police and parapsychologists investigated the building. They found no reasonable explanation for the strange activity.^[6]

4 Whispers from Inside Your Home

Hearing voices or whispers when you are alone is not normal (unless it’s Alexa trying to creep you out). Especially not if the sounds seem to be coming from inside the walls of your house. Again, it is important to remember that hearing things that do not exist can also mean you are stressed out or not getting enough sleep.

However, if you are healthy, relaxed, and sleep eight hours a day, hearing whispers coming from your walls will no doubt be terrifying. Just ask anyone who’s had the unfortunate experience of hearing labored breathing and coughing sounding up from the walls at the aptly named Whisper Estate in Indiana.

After 2006, while the estate was being renovated, the new owners reported strange, unexplained activity happening inside the building. Even worse, guests staying at the estate heard urgent voices whispering directly into their ears after the restoration.

Reddit user Someone-_-68 had their own creepy experience when they heard a woman whisper ‘right now’ and a man shout their name out loud. Someone-_-68 was alone at home at the time. In another incident, they heard multiple voices coming from the wall they sat next to. Now, this may have been the onset of schizophrenia, as many of the comments suggested. It may even have been something as mundane as voices traveling from next door. Or maybe not.

Experts in spooky happenings have suggested that whispering voices in a house or office could mean the dead are trying to get the attention of the living. It could also apparently mean that the place is residually haunted.^[7]

3 You Keep Finding Random Coins

Do you keep finding pennies or quarters in weird places throughout the house? Have you ever looked for something only to find a coin in the place you thought you’d left the missing item? If so, you either have a hole in your pocket, a dreadful memory, or something, or someone from the other side is trying to get your attention.

Some people believe that finding a random coin means your ancestors are reaching out to you. It could also mean that angels are trying to let you know they are around and ready to help you when needed. Others believe finding a coin means a deceased loved one, like a parent or grandparent, wants to make you aware of their presence.

Actress Emma Stone has first-hand “proof” of this. In 2014, she appeared on The Letterman Show, where she shared a story about her deceased grandfather leaving quarters in her house. Stone never met her grandfather, but she claimed she knew his spirit was leaving her the quarters. She did not go into detail, but she did mention ectoplasm, which confused the audience and host more than anything else.

But despite David Letterman’s skepticism, Stone insisted that she knew her grandfather was responsible for the quarters and that his appearances in her home were “magical.”^[8]

2 You Have an Overwhelming Feeling of Dread

Have you ever felt completely and utterly terrified for no reason? Perhaps you woke up convinced you were going to die. Or, you may have stepped into the office only to be taken down by a severe panic attack. Studies and real-life situations suggest that an overwhelming feeling of impending doom or dread can be caused by several things. Sometimes, anxiety can lead to strong feelings of unease or fear.

Unfortunately, such feelings can also be one of the early signs of a medical condition, such as a heart attack, stroke, seizure, or anaphylaxis. It is also true that struggling with your mental health can cause sudden or abrupt feelings of dread. However, there is also one other reason you may experience these feelings—phasmophobia.

Phasmophobia refers to the fear of ghosts. Some people fear things like vampires and witches, while others become irrationally afraid of ghosts after watching a horror movie or TV show. Many people believe that a real-life haunted house can also trigger feelings of doom. A general fear of haunted houses is said to be brought on by watching scary movies or visiting a haunted house attraction (of which there are more than 5,000 in the U.S. alone).

When ghosts appear in your house, all of these factors (and the fact that there is a ghost in your house) can trigger this unpleasant phobia. Even worse, some believe that feelings of doom are not brought on by ghosts, per se, but by demons. The real-life story of the Smurl haunted house seems to support this belief.

Jack and Janet Smurl alleged that a demon roamed their Pittston, Pennsylvania home between 1974 and 1989. The demon would make loud noises and push the Smurl children down the stairs. The couple also claimed that the demon assaulted more than one family member.

Before these incidents, Janet would frequently wake up in the middle of the night, convinced that something terrible was about to happen. Her pervasive feelings of dread would keep her from sleeping soundly. She and the rest of her family also became aware of an oppressive atmosphere inside their home.

Jack and Janet finally called in the big guns for help in 1986, namely Ed and Lorraine Warren. After an investigation, the two demonologists claimed that the demon would not leave and even told Ed to “get out.” The upcoming 2025 The Conjuring: Last Rites movie is said to be about the Smurl haunting and will provide more details about the frightening events that happened in the Smurl home.^[9]

1 Your Cat Acts Weirder Than Usual

Cats are enigmatic creatures. Each cat has its own distinct personality and abilities that continue to surprise us. If you have a cat, you may have noticed it chattering at birds or find decomposing gifts at the back door. Your cat may headbutt you or jump into a cardboard box and proceed to attack it from the inside out.

Your cat can also sense and see things you can’t. They can pick up on insects or small animals crawling around inside your walls. And yes, they can apparently also see ghosts. According to a 2014 study, cats and dogs see in ultraviolet. Considering that ghost hunters use ultraviolet light to find ghosts, it makes sense that your cat could see them, right? Your cat may also be able to hear a ghost because cats can hear frequencies up to five times higher than humans can.

If your cat feels threatened by something you cannot see, it may flatten its ears or puff its tail. Your cat may even growl at an empty space. If your cat turns on you and wants to attack you, you should run because it apparently means they have been possessed by the ghost in your house.

Fortunately, it is more likely that your cat will try to defend you by standing next to you and being aggressive towards the empty space. If this happens, your cat is probably trying to protect you from a ghost or demon attack.

Jackson Galaxy is a well-known cat wellness and behavior expert who noticed strange behavior in his own cat. After a while, he realized his cat was picking up specific energy inside his home. This incident eventually made Galaxy believe there is more out there than we can see.^[10]