Hi there! I’ve had many paranormal experiences in my life but nothing that felt negative or oppressive until the last year or so. It’s something that has been bothering me for a while now, but I ignored it until recently it became active to my parents as well. I want to know if anyone has any knowledge or similar experiences.

For context, I always watched my parents’ dog when they go out of town. He was an old dog, and I wanted him to be as comfortable as possible, so I would just stay at their house for the week.

It started about a year ago, the first time I stayed at their house since I moved back to the area. The first night I was there, I slept upstairs in my old childhood room. I had a nightmare, eerily realistic feeling, of three loud knocks on the front door. In the dream, I leapt out of bed, ran down the stairs in a panic, and right before I reached the door I woke up. This nightmare repeated for three nights. Each night I was there, I would see shadows moving in the corner of my eye and the upstairs hallway corner where my parents room was had a heavy oppressive energy. I closed all of the bedroom doors, hoping to ease the tension, but it prevailed. On the fourth night, I slept downstairs on the couch. I wanted to be closer to the front door, as in my nightmare I would run downstairs in a panic, and then as soon as I actually woke up, I would feel compelled to run downstairs immediately to check the lock.

This is when the noises started upstairs. Loud stomping. Items being dropped. Doors slamming. I kept seeing a shadow person in the corner of my eye standing on the landing on the stairs. I considered I was paranoid. My childhood wasn’t fantastic by any means, and I was never comfortable there since, but the dog really clarified things for me. He would look up towards the ceiling every time there was a bang. There were several times he would bark at me like crazy and run over to bite at his leash to leave. (This was very unlike him. He rarely barked, even when someone was over. It wasn’t that he needed to go outside for the bathroom because he would bite the leash we use for long walks or drives, not the long leash for just near the house.) There was an overwhelming feeling to get out almost all the time. It got to the point I could barely sleep. I spent more time taking the dog for drives with me than I did at the house. I couldn’t leave him there alone because it didn’t feel safe. When we came home, he would pull against the leash to not go back inside. My dad would message me at random points asking me to check upstairs because the motion activated cameras kept going off. There was never anything actually there.

I watched the dog twice after that, spaced out several months. I didn’t have the nightmares again, but I slept downstairs and refused to go up. Everything else was the same — the noises, the shadows, the energy, my dogs behavior.

I explained it to my parents each time. My mom, a believer, didn’t discredit my experiences, but expressed she never experienced it herself. My dad is a huge skeptic and said I was crazy.

The dog passed away a few months ago. We were all devastated and extremely emotional, even my dad who has always been a closed off, apathetic person. A few weeks ago, my dad called me around midnight to ask where I was and what I wanted. Confused, I told him I was at my house in bed and I didn’t want anything. He said he very clearly heard me call his name from downstairs. He said I yelled out “Daddy”, which I have not called him since I was incredibly young. I sent him a picture to prove I was at my house because he would not believe me.

Last week, my mom told me my dad was sleeping in bed while she was still awake. He woke up startled, turned toward the doorway, and said “It’s like 12ft tall and hunched over.” He went back to sleep immediately. The next morning he told us he saw a shadow figure walking from my old bedroom toward his room. It was so tall it had to hunch as it walked. The man who never believed in any of this and made fun of me for over a year now firmly says the house is haunted.

I share this experience in hope someone can provide any knowledge whatsoever, whether that be what this could possibly be or how to protect myself and my family.

If you actually read all of this, thank you so much. I’m really looking forward to hearing your opinion.