Growing Up In A Haunted House Wasn't As Bad As You Might Think | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
popular

Growing up in a haunted house Wasn't as bad as you might think

Don't mind the noise in the halls at night. It's only my family's 200-year-old, dead roommate.

2447
http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/WebZ/FETCH?sessionid=01-46682-771775389:recno=8:resultset=2:format=F:next=html/nffull.html:bad=error/badfetch.html&entityimageSize=l
Unknown

This isn't about proving there is such a thing as the paranormal. In order to enjoy reading this you have to buy into the concept a bit and not argue with the idea. If you plan on reading any further just humor the idea that ghosts exist.

I grew up in a Victorian home in Janesville, Wisconsin (pictured above). Construction of the house started in 1884, on top of the original Wisconsin state fairgrounds, by a successful banker named, Claremont S. Jackman. Needless to say, when my parents bought the house over 100 years later it had had more than a few tenants with at least one dying in the house.

The house has survived storms, blizzards and even a fire. It has been home to single families, been a bed and breakfast, and been rented as individual rooms for extended stays. I can't imagine all the things that house has seen inside of it. Of all those people to have walked through its doors there is at least one who decided to never leave.

My parents are firm believers that the house isn't haunted, but my younger brother and I have accepted it as a fact that the house is home to some kind of presence. I have had my toe pulled in the middle of the night, covers pulled off me as I'm falling asleep and have seen a plate split itself in half while sitting at the dinner table. My brother, as child, even picked out Mr. Jackman from a photo saying he lived in the house with us. He had never been told about Mr. Jackman nor had he ever been shown a picture of Mr. Jackman prior, but apparently, he would see him around our house occasionally.

When I was a kid there were certain rooms I wouldn't go into after dark. I would feel a sense of distress whenever I would go into them, almost like the air was thicker and it made it harder to breath. There was definitely a sense of presence, like you weren't the only one in there. I'm not sure what has kept Mr. Jackman in the house all these years, but by the time I was a teenager I learned to accept it and not be bothered by it.

The creaky steps in the hallways late at night no longer scared me after a while. I've read about ghosts that terrorize the living who share the same space as them. Fortunately, that isn't the case for the house I grew up in. For the most part, Mr. Jackman keeps to himself and never makes himself noticed. He's kind of like living with a roommate that works night shifts. You hear him around the house, but he's mostly respectful of your space and you rarely bump into each other.

Now that I'm older, staying at my parents' house really doesn't bother me. I've had one or two run ins with Mr. Jackman since I've moved out but now they just remind me that I'm home. In retrospect, growing up with a ghost is almost reassuring. To me there is validation to some kind of soul that is larger than life as we know it. I hope that Mr. Jackman isn't tormented with his existence among the living and that he finds whatever he's been looking for the last hundred-some years. If he wants to hang around though I don't mind. We're cool.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Gilmore Girls
Hypable

In honor of Mother’s Day, I have been thinking of all the things my mom does for my family and me. Although I couldn’t write nearly all of them, here are a few things that moms do for us.

They find that shirt that’s right in front of you, but just you can’t seem to find.

Keep Reading...Show less
Relationships

10 Reasons To Thank Your Best Friend

Take the time to thank that one friend in your life you will never let go of.

564
Thank You on wooden blocks

1. Thank you for being the one I can always count on to be honest.

A true friend will tell you if the shirt is ugly, or at least ask to borrow it and "accidentally" burn it.

2. Thank you for accepting me for who I am.

A best friend will love you regardless of the stale french fries you left on the floor of your car, or when you had lice in 8th grade and no one wanted to talk to you.

Keep Reading...Show less
sick student
StableDiffusion

Everybody gets sick once in a while, but getting sick while in college is the absolute worst. You're away from home and your mom who can take care of you and all you really want to do is just be in your own bed. You feel like you will have never-ending classwork to catch up on if you miss class, so you end up going sick and then it just takes longer to get better. Being sick in college is really tough and definitely not a fun experience. Here are the 15 stages that everyone ends up going through when they are sick at college.

Keep Reading...Show less
kid
Janko Ferlic
Do as I say, not as I do.

Your eyes widen in horror as you stare at your phone. Beads of sweat begin to saturate your palm as your fingers tremble in fear. The illuminated screen reads, "Missed Call: Mom."

Growing up with strict parents, you learn that a few things go unsaid. Manners are everything. Never talk back. Do as you're told without question. Most importantly, you develop a system and catch on to these quirks that strict parents have so that you can play their game and do what you want.

Keep Reading...Show less
friends
tv.com

"Friends" maybe didn’t have everything right or realistic all the time, but they did have enough episodes to create countless reaction GIFs and enough awesomeness to create, well, the legacy they did. Something else that is timeless, a little rough, but memorable? Living away from the comforts of home. Whether you have an apartment, a dorm, your first house, or some sort of residence that is not the house you grew up in, I’m sure you can relate to most of these!

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments