Gilbert 

Our most active ghost in the house is also the kindest. I cannot remember how or why my family and I started to refer to him as, Gilbert. He is a sweet old man who most likely lived in this house at some point. We noticed his presence immediately after moving in. He did not want anyone in the house. My older sister and parents renovated the house quite a lot too due to the poor condition. This really upset him and caused him to make himself known.

It started with the footsteps. My older sister, Rose, heard them first. She was alone in the house while looking at the next do-it-yourself project she aimed to finish when she heard heavy, loud footsteps from the staircase. Thinking it was one of her children, she peeked around the corner to see who it was but saw no one there. She asked who was there and heard nothing in return.

Everyone in the family has heard loud footsteps when someone wasn't around or heard Gilbert knocking on the ways but it became something we all got used to. It seemed like Gilbert himself knew that. The scariest experience with Gilbert started with my young niece, Lynn, who was eight at the time. It was raining one November night. Lynn was fast asleep, comforted by the sounds of rain on her window when she suddenly woke up to a loud boom from thunder outside. Sitting straight up, she looked towards the staircase, parallel to her doorway, where she froze in fright. Standing there was a bald, old man. They just stared at each other. Lynn, terrified, reached out to her flashlight that she kept by her bed without breaking eye contact with the man in the staircase. Right before her fingertips touched the cool metal, she saw the old man rush at her with anger in his dead eyes. Flicking on the light while screaming, Lynn looked around her. The old man was gone. Since then, every person in the family has woken up to similar experiences. We all knew it was Gilbert.

Lucas or Shadow Man 

Lucas, or Shadow Man, is like the other ghosts in the house in terms of his name. We randomly thought of the name and it stuck. He is the least active but he is the most dangerous one in the house. He has made himself known by making noises, showing himself to us and even physically harming members of my family. My brother-in-law, Juan, noticed him first. It was a simple shadow of something in the corner of his eye. Since that first interaction, Lucas has aimed to make sure we knew he was in the house. I have had most of my paranormal experiences with Lucas. He tends to stay in my room where he loves to move my things and give me scares in the night. He is commonly seen in the corners of the room where a shadow shouldn't be or as an extra shadow on a wall when there should only be the shadows of my sisters. He is a very tall black mist or fog that shows up when you're alone. He often is seen sitting on my bed. You can only see the pressure of someone sitting on the mattress but when you call his name and ask him to leave, you can see the mattress slowly rise back as if he got up and left. The physical harm Lucas has done to my family has truly scares each of us. His favorite thing to do is push people down the stairs or cause you to trip over nothing. Each person in my family has been hurt due to feeling someone shoving them down the staircase. Lucas has also scratched people and harshly tugging at girl's hair. He is someone that is never to be mocked or made fun of.

Miss Moon or Lady 

Miss Moon has only been seen a handful of times in the eight years we have lived in this house but she has surely made herself known. We do not know anything about her and she does not do anything to harm us. She has been seen only by the male family members. She first was seen by my nephew, Jack. He was asleep in his room one night when he randomly woke up to the feeling that someone was watching him. Turning over to face the door, he saw her. He said she was beautiful, pale, and dressed in a flowing white gown that matched her long white hair. He could not see her face but they looked at each other, almost curious as to who each was. He moved his body to grab his phone to turn on his phone light but when he turned to look at Miss Moon, she was gone. He named her Miss Moon due to the super bright full moon that shone through his window that night. My other nephew saw her through the reflection of his television one day and never saw her again. She was the exact description of what Jack saw. My brother-in-law, Juan, saw her walk across his bedroom door one night while it was also a full moon. That was the only experience we have of her and we still think about her. It has been four years since we last saw her. Jack still talks about her and hopes to see her again. Not a single person is scared of the ghosts anymore. We welcome them and talk to them as if they were a member of our own family. It is the only way to keep the peace. We will always keep them in our hearts and we hope that one day, they can move on and find the light towards their own peace.