Holladay Poltergeist

Reader Bobby writes of an experience he had about 30 years ago:

Back in the early 70's, I was a early male teenager, (about 14) and my stepfather was a Memphis Policeman. My stepfather had a friend, who was also a policeman, that had some property in Holladay, TN, in Benton County, that had an old farmhouse on it. My dad bought some land next to his that had a unlivable shack on it, to build on for his retirement. We would go there on weekends, holidays, and vacations to restore the shack to a livable condition. We would stay our friends farmhouse while the work was being done over many months time. That summer, I convinced my parents to let me stay in the friends old farmhouse by myself for the summer alone, since I was so helpful with the work and gardening.

I don't remember how many days transpired when (or in what order) unexplainable things started to happen. I slept in the main bedroom, and just as I was dozing off one night, the bedspread and sheet were suddenly and forcefully whisked off the bed, toward the foot of the bed. I remembered having the linens tightly snug around my neck, and had been yanked from my hands!

The next morning, I heard a loud and fast knock at the front door, which really surprised me because no one locally to my knowledge knew I was staying there. So I sprung out of bed to answer the door, to find there was no one there. I went outside try to catch a prankster, to no avail. The closest neighbor is at least a halfmile away.

When I tried to go back inside, the door was locked! I had left the main door unlocked and open, because the front door had a screened storm door. While standing there with screened door held open by resting on my back, the screened door reared back on its' own power and slammed into me so hard it made me dizzy. I then heard footsteps that sounded like heavy boots marching along the long front porch. I then looked under the porch expecting to see the source of the sounds, but there was nothing there.

Later, I was in the kitchen making breakfast, when I felt a strong yank on my back beltloop so hard it threw me off balance. I looked back startled and saw nothing there. Then, the refrigerator opened by itself.

After breakfast, I would always make the bed. I purposely wouldn't sit on the bed after making it, because there was a chair next to the bed. One day, I went to the bedroom for something and saw a definite imprint on the bed where someone had been sitting! That really freaked me out.

After hours of boredom, (because I didn't have a tv)I would repeatedly read the same magazines and newspapers. Once, after reading the newspaper, I folded it up and put it on the coffee table, and began to read another mag that I had laying on my lap, when I felt a stinging slap on my forehead and saw the newspaper that I had just laid on the table fall into my lap on top of the magazine. Then, from the same position I saw the curtains in the same room begin to flop around like something was grabbing the tails of them and whipping them towards the ceiling. At first I thought the window blew open, but after checking the closed window, I went out side to see if the wind had picked up, but it was calm.

Another day while making breakfast, I heard what sounded like a truck pulling up outside and driving slowly on the gravel drive towards the garden in the back of the house and heard voices talking to each other above the sound of the truck. I looked out the kitchen window to the garden in the back and saw an old lady that looked like 'Granny' on 'The Beverley Hillbillies' in the garden (wearing heavy boots) holding a basket and looking down as if to pick something. There was no vehicle out there. I thought, "Someone is here, and they're not aware of my staying here". So I quickly went out the backdoor to see who she was to introduce myself. I purposely checked to make sure I didn't lock myself out (ha-ha). As soon as it took me to open the door and walk out onto the back porch, there was no one there! I walk all around the back area, around an old tractor shed, nothing. I became very scared and nervous walking back to the house. When I tried to open the kitchen door, it was locked!

These are just some of the things I saw while staying in that farmhouse. The total amount of time I stayed there was two weeks, so the frequency was pretty often.