The Invisibles - pt 7 of my personal paranormal stories

The Invisibles

By Dana Davis

Sometimes visions can happen when coming out of the sleep state. They are hypnagogic in nature, when we’re not quite fully awake but no longer asleep, an in-between period when the dream world overlaps with the waking part of our brains. We think we’re actually seeing, hearing, and experiencing these incidents, and since the body is still in sleep paralysis and we can’t move, they can be very frightening.

I’ve experienced hypnagogic episodes, where I’m completely paralyzed and helpless as a presence holds me down in my bed and scares the living bejeebees out of me. I have learned to recognize them. The following incidents didn’t feel the same way. I’m combining several different, yet very similar, episodes in this blog.

The first happened when I was living in Pasadena, California in a tiny apartment back in the 1980s. I was young and didn’t have a lot of money, so my bed was one of those fold-out futon chairs. It was made of thick foam and surprisingly comfortable. I awoke to the feeling that someone sat on the edge of my futon. I could actually feel the movement. I also felt a presence in the room, like someone was watching me. Something brushed my hair from my face. I had no sleep paralysis at all, and I opened my eyes to see an indentation, about the size of an adult’s buttocks, in the futon. I was amazed. As I watched, the dent slowly lifted until it was gone, and the feeling of being watched left as soon as the indentation disappeared. I didn’t feel threatened. Oddly enough, I felt somewhat comforted by it. It was morning and time for me to get up for work and my roommate was still sleeping.

The second incident happened about a year later, when I was spending the night on a friend’s couch. I awoke to soft footsteps coming down the stairs but I was very tired and didn’t open my eyes. I really wanted to sleep longer. I felt the edge of the couch press down as though someone sat on it. Again, I felt a presence in the room, like someone watching me, then a gentle touch brushed hairs from my face. I opened my eyes expecting to see my friend, but I saw no person, just an indention on the edge of the couch beside me. I watched as it lifted as though a person got up. The feeling of someone watching me disappeared and I looked at my watch. It was time for me to get up. My friend was still upstairs asleep.

The third time, was after I was married and I awoke in our apartment bedroom with the feeling someone was watching me. It was morning and light streamed in through the draperies. A woman, not completely solid, wearing a long skirt and a blouse from the late 1800’s stood in front of our window. She was putting on a bonnet. She turned to me and smiled then just disappeared. Again, I didn’t feel threatened.

Incident number four happened in my current home about four or five years ago as I was napping on the couch in the afternoon. Again, felt like I was being watched. This time the indentation and brushing of my hair was accompanied by what sounded like tinkling wind chimes. I felt the indention lift as I opened my eyes but I didn’t see anything. The sensation of being watched didn’t disappear immediately. Instead, I felt a presence for several seconds after I sat up. I asked my husband, who was in another room at the time, if he heard wind chimes. He told me he hadn’t. Curious, I walked outside to see if I could hear any chimes coming from one of our neighbors’ homes. Nope. Nothing.

The fifth and final incident, so far anyway, happened just last year. I awoke in the morning and sat up to get out of bed. To my surprise, I saw a girl about ten or eleven years old, crouched next to my nightstand. Like the last figure I had seen, she wasn’t completely solid. She turned to me and her eyes grew wide. She looked as surprised as I felt. Before I could say anything, she disappeared. I had already been training with my paranormal investigative team by this time, so I immediately ran to the other room for my camera, recorder, and EMF meter. But by the time I had them set up, it was too late. I got nothing on any of them.

I have no explanations for these incidents and no witnesses or evidence. I’m looking forward to another one happening because I hope to get some evidence. So much time happens between them that it’s not practical to set up equipment every night. But if I see a figure in my bedroom again, I plan to do just that and see if I catch anything. Wish me luck.

The Spooky Door - pt 6 of personal paranormal experiences

When it comes to my paranormal experiences, doors tend to play a role. Here’s another one involving - you guessed it - a door.

The Spooky Door

by Dana Davis

It was just before Halloween and my parents had taken my brother, sister and me to visit a family we'd been friends with for several years. They had just bought some land—I believe my dad said it was forty acres—in a rural area and moved an older home onto the property. Their oldest daughter was my age and their son somewhere between my younger brother and sister so we looked forward to this visit.

It had grown dark and Dad was outside with my friend's father, unbeknownst to us kids. We heard rapping at one of the windows and a spooky, ghostly sound. Woooooooo. You know, the eerie kind of sounds ghosts make. Like they have nothing better to do than stand outside windows and moan. You'd think that bright light they're supposed to go into would be a distraction. Anyway, since I was a wise old teenager of fifteen or so at the time, I caught on pretty quick that my dad was the culprit. But the younger kids began screaming and running through the house to find the moms.

Once the women realized what was going on, they promptly chastised the husbands for frightening the children. The men just laughed, of course. We were given snacks and told to stay in another room, with me and my friend in charge of the younger kids.

Whenever my parents had company or were with their adult friends, my mom had a saying that went something like this—“If somebody's not bleeding or passed out, don't bother me.”

Isolation in a separate room away from the adults prompted a flurry of ghost stories and reminiscences of strange incidents from all of us, including bogus tales of a woman who’d died upstairs and walked around her nightgown. White, of course. In case you didn’t know, lady ghosts love to wear white. Okay, I have no idea if that’s true. But I do know that the upstairs had been added after the house was moved to this property so there couldn’t be a lady in white, but that didn’t deter us from telling the story. We got spooked at every sound then would laugh hysterically afterwards. Kind of like when we took my younger sister on her first snipe hunt. But that's another story.

Once it grew late, about midnight, we were told to get ready for bed. The other kids took off and my little sister and I were the only ones in the room. I was helping her pick up books or something. After a couple of minutes, I headed for the door. Someone had left it open about a hand's width and when I reached for the knob, the door closed.

I looked back at my sister and, with a racing heart, said, “Did you see that?”

She nodded, eyes wide.

I turned back, and reached for the knob again. This time, the door opened and the knob pushed right against my palm. No one was on the other side. Now, when things like this happened, I tend to grow curious and try to recreate it or explain it. That didn’t stop the goose pimples from crawling up my spine, though. I carefully let go of the knob and turned to my sister, who had backed herself against the far wall, eyes as wide as saucers and face as white as the paint behind her. She reminded me of a deer caught in headlights, which they had plenty of in this rural area.

I tried not to spook her but I was darn curious by this time. “I'm going to try again.”

She shook her head, no, and I thought she might start to cry. She did that a lot at that age.

“It's all right,” I said. I turned back and reached for the door and, low and behold, it closed again. At this point, my sister was ready to do that cartoon running in place where the feet are mere blurs and then take off like a pistol. So, I smiled and said, "Probably the wind." Though I didn't believe a word of that since no windows or doors were open to the outside. It was chilly outside. “I'll do it one more time.”

I didn't wait for a response from her and turned back to the door. When I reached out, it remained exactly where it was. No movement whatsoever. Absolutely nothing. I quickly opened it to check if someone was on the other side but everyone was at the other end of the house, getting ready for bed. With adrenaline pumping in my ears from both fright and the exhilarated thought that there just might be a ghost in the house, I motioned my sister out. She ran straight to my mother and proceeded to tell her everything.

Of course, the adults were skeptical, even when I corroborated my sister's story. Nothing unusual happened the remainder of our stay, and we left the following day for our own house in the burbs. We talked about that incident on the drive home, which freaked out my younger brother a bit. But then he was the one who stood on a chair if he saw a spider. I don’t think he still does that.

We lost contact with that family a few years later, but to this day, whenever I ask my sister if she remembers that spooky door, she tells me that she does. Then we share a knowing smile that it just might have been a ghost after all.

Virtual book tour news

Please join me on another leg of my virtual book tour for the paranormal fantasy Desert Magick: Day of the Dead (Book 3)

Virtual book tour and interview with Dana Davis

Thursday, April 14, 2011 at 10:00am - 11:30pm

http://theembraced.blogspot.com/

Virtual book tour and interview with Dana Davis

Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 10:00am - 11:30pm

http://amberpolo.blogspot.com/

eBook contest winner!

Congratulations to Alicia, the winner of my birthday contest and a free PDF copy of Desert Magick: Superstitions. Thanks so much to everyone who entered. Have a fantastic weekend!

Free eBook contest!

It’s my birthday week and I’m giving away a free PDF copy of my bestselling paranormal fantasy Desert Magick: Superstitions. Simply leave a comment here on my blog or on my facebook page that you would like to be entered in the contest.

The winner will be chosen at random and must have a valid email address that accepts attachments in order to receive the prize. Only one entry per person. Family members are not eligible. Contest ends 4 pm PST Friday, April 8, 2011. Good luck!

If you prefer to leave a comment on my facebook page, please go to http://www.facebook.com/danadaviswriting