Ghost Visits with Physical Manifestations - True stories about unexplained sounds, voices, smells, lights and orbs at Dreamwatch®
Ghosts, spirits, a presence, call them what you want. When they appear, we know something strange is happening. Family, friends, strangers. We feel them. Sometimes they touch us. And sometimes they leave physical evidence behind.
Read what others wrote when spirits touched their lives:
Mum's Spirit Remains and Perfume Lingers
My beautiful mum died on the 9th of August 2011. Four months later on her birthday the 14th of December, I was sitting in my lounge room. I have a picture of her on my TV cabinet. I looked at it as I was watching TV, and saw that she was talking to me. Her head was moving and she was smiling and laughing. I couldn't hear what she was saying. That night I went to bed, had a dream mum told me to get my grandson who is 11 to church. We are Catholic and he is having a lot of mental problems. Do you think this is what she was trying to tell me from the picture? Or was she trying to tell me something else? Please help as I have not accepted my mum's death and I miss her greatly.
I know she is with me as I smell her perfume all the time especially when I'm driving.
— Robyn in AustraliaI'm so sorry for your loss. I've heard from others, too, about smelling perfume in the car. I think your mum's spirit remains with you, but I couldn't guess what she was trying to tell you. — Kat
Spanish Seasonings Linger after Departed Dad
About a year ago I was driving to work and in my car I could smell my deceased father. My dad was Spanish and his home and he always smelled of seasonings. Yesterday October 24th I was once again driving to work (no food in my car) and all I could smell was my dad. On November 13th next month he will be dead for 6 years. I have been going through a lot of problems lately in my life, and I'm wondering if it's my father's way of letting me know he's with me. I was told it means he was by my side in the car. I just know the smell and all I could smell was my dad.
— Tammy in New Jersey
I, too, believe that's exactly what happened. — Kat
Mum Came to Say Goodbye - Strong Smell of Cigarette Smoke
My mother had a blood clot burst suddenly and unexpectedly on her brain on Saturday 15th October 2011. She was clinically brain dead and her life support had been turned off at 6am. I was four hours drive away. She was breathing on her own and at 9.30am I smelled strong cigarette smoke in my car, none of us smoke, we were on a motorway and mum was a heavy smoker. I called my brother and he said she was still breathing … just, and holding on for me to get there. At 10am there was a strong smell again of cigarette smoke in the car. My husband could also smell it. A few minutes later my brother called to say she had gone. I got there an hour too late, but I believe that she came to us to say goodbye as her physical body could hold on no longer.
We are not religious (although mum was) and my partner does not believe anything we cannot see … however this has made me re-assess all of my beliefs. My mum visited me in the car. I know it. Where is she now though? Is she with Jesus in Heaven (as was her wishes?).
— Catherine in England
Please leave a comment on our blog's Friday Ghost Story: "Mum" to be posted Oct 21 2011. I believe none of us knows for sure, but I'll be writing my opinion on "where is she now." — Kat
A Lifetime of Unexplained Sounds - Dragging and Ticking Clock
The youngest I remember hearing things was 9 or 10 (years old, now in mid-twenties). We had a long hallway from which each bedroom was off it. I would hear dragging kind of sounds up and down, didn't matter if I shut my door, they would just get louder, as well as the ticking of a grandfather clock. We never owned one but it would tick before, after and during the dragging sounds. I still hear them to this day, they get so loud I have to rub my ear until I fall asleep.
— Nicole in New Zealand
Read more from Nicole on the Ghost Stories page: A lifetime of Apparitions, and Unexplained Sounds and Smells. — Kat
Old Lady Smell — Reiki stirs energy?
Some years back my partner attended Reiki healing (Parkinson's). After a few months we both would smell what could only be described as old lady smell but not the usual lily of the valley or lavender. I have smelt her whilst on my own and also with my partner. One morning alone in the house, early morning, I was awoken by her very strong smell. Not unpleasant. She was obviously standing at the side of my bed. I did not feel alarmed or disturbed but new if I opened my eyes she would disappear. I lay for a while and the smell stayed but when I opened my eyes she was gone.
Deceased Ex-Husband Returns? — And leaves a sign?
Some years ago whilst living alone I had operations one after the other and was (feeling) very poorly. I really thought my time was limited or even imminent. Fast asleep I smelled cigarettes. No on has smoked in my house for some 12 years. My feeling was it was my deceased ex-husband from very many years ago. Although divorced, strange as it may seem, we were both still in love, maybe for what could have been. I awoke but kept my eyes closed. I spoke, using his name. "Are you here to comfort or have you come to take me with you," I asked him. No response came back. But the feeling of being all alone and that no one cared did leave me, and was replaced with a warmth. I could almost hear him say: I am here always with you.
Can any one explain any of this? Any help would be appreciated.
— Ann in the U.K.
Though I don't see them, I occasionally smell flowers, as if someone passed by wearing a floral perfume, then it's gone as quickly as it came. When I first moved into my house I smelled pipe tobacco almost every evening; it came from the den where the previous, recently deceased, owner used to smoke his pipe.
It occurred to me that maybe it's easier for spirits to project smells than it is to materialize or move an object. I can't say, just thinking out loud. If you have a thought about this, please comment on the Dreamwatch BLOG. — Kat
Husband's Ghost Returns? — Door rattles. Water puddles in garage.
My second husband passed away 6-1/2 years ago. After the funeral I had dreamed of him often and so did all three of our daughters (all teenagers). Some of my dreams were quite scary. The day after he had passed away the wind chimes outside the back door started to make a lot of noise. There was not a drop of breeze. We knew it was my husband and we all heard it. A few months after he had passed there would be a small puddle in the garage in the middle of the floor. There is no water other than the washing machine in the garage and it was so far away from where the puddle was that it couldn't have been from the washer. My husband had been quite the practical joker so we knew this was his way of letting us know he was still there. I would smell his cigar smoke in my car sometimes, and I didn't have that car when he was alive, I had bought it after he died. The frequency of the episodes had started to become fewer and fewer. Our grandson was born last August and it was a happy time but a little sad too knowing his grandfather would never know him. As he has gotten older and looks around and points, my daughter has said the baby will just stare at the corner of his bedroom while she rocks him. We think that he is seeing his grandfather. I remarried last year and the episodes seemed to stop. On Friday, I was getting ready to leave for work, turning lights off, and I turned around by the front door and I saw my dead husband standing there. I turned and kept going thinking I was seeing things. I turned the garage light out and turned around to open the garage door and I saw him again. I really don't understand why? Why is he back and what does it mean? Usually when I would see or feel him before he was giving me a warning that our youngest daughter was sick; she is a diabetic. I don't understand why he is back now? I mentioned it to our youngest daughter and she said she had been having the dreams of her dad again for the last couple days. If anyone can offer any insight I would really appreciate it.
— Jan in Florida
Thanks for your story, Jan. The various manifestations seemed typical until the part about him coming back now. This story is also posted on the Dreamwatch BLOG Sept. 12, 2010 where you can leave a comment. I did. — Kat
Ghosts in the Theatre - Lights and Orbs
I was stage managing a show at our community theatre. While we were in rehearsals, someone took a picture of three of us that showed three orbs of light around us. Spooky, but could have easily been a lighting thing. Today we had two shows, a matinee and an evening show. During the matinee, in a darkened scene, a third floor light flipped on and glowed through the catwalk. (That's a floor that has almost no access, absolutely none to anyone who doesn't have intimate knowledge with the theatre.) Then, part way through the evening performance another turned on. The theatre manager took someone with her and went immediately up there to turn it off. Before they could turn around to come down, from out of the blue, they heard a crashing noise near them. This building is 100 years old and is reputed seriously to have a ghost. I've been working by myself backstage and have heard noises, but didn't get spooked at all. Tonight though, even surrounded by 35 people, I was a little nervous … well, maybe intrigued is a better word.
— E.H. in South Carolina
Unwanted Spirits Scare Family - Voices, Lights, Doors Open
My mom moved in to a house when I was 15 years old. My oldest sister started to tell me that something was in her bed with her at night; I didn't believe her and then a few months later, she moved out to a family member's place. Shortly after she moved out I started to hear stuff. I would hear a woman and a man's voice; then I heard the basement door open and you would hear someone go down to the basement and hear the dryer go on, or the door of the dryer would be open, and the basement light would be on. One night I asked whoever or whatever it was to leave, they don't belong here no more. The next day I could not breathe or really see, so I got scared and moved out. About a year after that my sister had to move back in; she has a two-year old son and he always talked about the bad man watching him in the bath tub or in the basement. It is scary … things that have happened there. Sometimes my mom calls a little scared. I could never move back in there.
— Amanda
I think you were right and very brave to tell the spirits to leave, that's what I would have done. — Kat
Dream of Lost Love - "I Call Your Name"
I dreamed that my ex-boyfriend called my name so loud that it woke me up. That was the whole dream as far as I remember. I actually thought he was outside calling my name. I still love him. What does this mean?
— Jill in Canada
Hmmm, it sounds like unfinished business to me. But maybe only business that needs to be worked out in your mind. I think we review relationships—like, could have, should have, would have—until we come to terms with what now is. This may sound crazy but I think our spirits meet on other planes and plan what to do next. "Are we really done? Should we try again? Should we move past this? What if …?" It is stunning to hear a voice that is not your own conversation with yourself. Whatever you do, keep dignity in your decision. It could be that the next guy can't come into your life until you close this chapter. As I wrote this I couldn't help think of the song, I CALL YOUR NAME by John Lennon. You can search on YouTube for the Beatles' or Mamas and Papas' version. — Kat
Spirits' Last Goodbyes - Great Auntie & Grandma - Felt Hands on Face
My Great Aunt was bi-coastal and lived on the West Coast. She was a painter, and left her easel, a half finished painting, two ukuleles, and a box of old jewelry. She asked me (on the East Coast) to take care of these items for her. The night before she died, I awoke in the middle of the night to see her head floating above the box of jewelry. I was scared out of my mind. When my dad heard me screaming, he rushed into my bedroom with a baseball bat. As soon as he came in, the head started spinning and rose to the ceiling, and was gone. It was too creepy. We got a call the next morning that Auntie had died at 3:00 a.m. I told my Grandma who lived downstairs, that Auntie was here last night and she said, "I know, she was here too." I told her that when she died, not to scare me like that in the middle of the night. I was very close to my Grandma. When she died, I moved downstairs and slept in her bed. One night I dreamed she came to the bed dressed in her funeral clothes and touched me. I felt her arm; it was cold and hard. That morning I was in the shower, my eyes were closed to keep water out, and I felt hands on my face. They were not my hands. I was too afraid to open my eyes but I know it was my grandmother.
— Louise in Conn.
Spirit Messengers - Orbs of Light
I was in bed sleeping and awoke about 1:00 AM from what I thought was a dream. In the corner of the room I saw lights—orbs of light—almost shaped like a Christmas tree without the tree. The feeling I awoke with was that this was a warning to be suspicious of people and be careful for the next few years. It was like the lights were spirits, one said she was my grandmother, my mother's mother who I had never met, and she talked about my mother. Other spirits gave me messages, one was about a friend, warning that the friend was going to have a hard time. And she did go into a difficult time in her life. It was the lights that surprised and freaked me out. I lived on the second floor with forest out the window so no lights could shine from the outside.
— Donna in Conn.
A Father's Spirit Visits and Talks to His Child
My son passed away 2-1/2 years ago. It was a motorcycle accident. It was 5 days before Christmas and he was a policeman. My granddaughter was 10 months old at the time. Now for the past month she has been seeing a policeman in her room. Even if she is at her other grandmother's house. She is three years old now. Is it possible that my son is visiting her? Her mother has asked her what the man looks like. She doesn't say. Her mother has also heard her talking to someone on several occasions. When asked who she is talking to, she says her daddy.
— Rhonda in USA
I'm sorry for the loss of your son. My grandson sees his other grandma who has passed. I think we should encourage discussion, listen, and believe the children's claims. — Kat
Loved Ones Passed
A few years back when I would shut the lights out with only my TV on I could feel a presence watching me. My hairs on my arms would stick up and my heart would start beating fast. This went on for about 2 years. I never saw anything. To this day I can feel a presence from time to time. Sometimes I feel like someone touches me or sits next to me when my back is turned. I also here my name from time to time too. Could it be love ones that passed checking up on me?
— Jessica in Mass.
I believe it is. I've had the same experience, often with the smell of flowers, a pipe, or cologne. — Kat
Smelling Deceased Husband's Cologne
On December 12th, 2008 my husband was in a car accident and was killed instantly. We live in bad neighborhood and my husband knows I'm scared to death here in our home at night with just my son and I. On Dec. 15th, we had his funeral services, that night our son went to stay with my father and I went on home thinking I could be strong and be able to stay there by myself. Around 12:30 a.m., it was the time he came in from working second shift, I was sitting on the couch where I always sat waiting on him to come home. I was crying, because I knew I would never see him come home again. I got up off my couch to go to the kitchen to get me something to drink, out of nowhere I smelled his cologne as if it had just been sprayed. I knew there was no-one else in the house to spray it. Is this a sign that he is here with me or was I imagining things?
— Tina in Kentucky
I've heard this before: A young man once told me that while driving to a meeting, his car filled with the scent of his grandmother's cologne. He was later notified that she had died—at the exact time he smelled her cologne. And a similar experience happened to me: I bought my house over 30 years ago from a woman who lost her husband and occasionally over the first few years, I would smell pipe tobacco as if someone was smoking in a small spare room. One day a neighbor who knew the previous owners told me that my spare room used to be the man's den where he would relax and smoke his pipe. I believe your husband has given you a sign that he is with you. I'm so sorry for your loss. — Kat
Visit from Ghost or Spirit? Footsteps and a Tug of the Pillow
I am not sure if my experience was a ghost or a spirit but I do know it was not a dream. I am 37 years old and swear this has happened before. Just yesterday while I was asleep I feel as if someone sat in my bed which woke me, too scared to open my eyes and turn around I feel a tug at one of my pillows. Again too afraid to move I did not release a pillow and pretended to be asleep. I was truly hoping whoever it was would think I was asleep and not hurt me. After a few tugs of the pillow I hear a few footsteps walking away. Then I quickly turn around, jump out of the bed, only to find there was no one in my house. I know no one was here. Could this have been a ghost? Is there a message that they would want to give me? Have you heard something like this happen before? Had I opened my eyes and turned over would I have seen it? What does it mean?
— Thalia in New York
Dad's Spirit - Footsteps and Whistling
I awoke to a whistle at my ear. I immediately sat up on my couch and could hear what I thought were footsteps from the living room into the kitchen. I felt something … it wasn't a dream. I sat in complete darkness and reached over to find my cell phone for some light. My heart was beating I think faster then it ever had before. I tried to rationalize the situation. It was so clear... the sound of the whistling. I couldn't fall asleep without the light on for the rest of the night. In the morning I was in my kitchen and on my island counter where pictures that where framed that I had taken out of storage boxes the day before to clean up and put out. One was of my dad who passed away back in 2001 of cancer. I had cut out of a newspaper his obituary and framed it along with his picture and a poem. I hadn't looked at the picture in years. Was this just a dream or could it have been him?
— Carla in Connecticut
My opinion is that you were visited by your Dad's spirit. I don't believe in coincidence. Maybe that you took pictures out of storage to hang, was your message to the "other side" that you were open to contact. — Kat
New stories are added regularly and older stories are rotated out, so please come again. Thank you for visiting Dreamwatch.com — Kat
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