I’ve always been fascinated with the paranormal. I love shows like Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures, My Ghost Story, etc…. I love going on ghost tours in historic cities and towns, hearing ghost stories, and watching scary movies. I’m the type of person who loves hearing about other people’s paranormal experiences, but I wouldn’t exactly be thrilled to have my own. I don’t know how I would react if I ever came face to face with a ghost or direct evidence of the paranormal. Since Halloween is right around the corner, I want to share an experience that I had a few years ago that I have no explanation for.

It was August of 2013, and I was two weeks away from moving into my dorm to begin my freshman year of college. I’m an only child and I don’t have any pets (unfortunately.) My mom was down the hall in the master bedroom and my dad was in the basement. It was about 9:30 or so at night and I was in the bathroom upstairs. I was washing my hands when I began to hear breathing coming from outside the bathroom door. It was heavy, slow, and labored. What’s stranger is that it seemed like whatever was making this breathing noise was about three feet tall, because the noise seemed to come from behind the bathroom door, at about the height of the door knob. It was as though a small child was standing outside of my bathroom door, breathing heavily against it.

Confused, I asked, “Hello?” There was no answer except for the heavy, slow breathing. I asked “Hello?” once more, a little louder this time. Again, there was no answer except for the breathing. At this point, I got scared to open the door. Maybe somebody else would’ve opened it immediately, but since I’ve been watching shows about the paranormal for as long as I can remember, I’m not as quick to assume a strange noise is nothing. Still, in the bathroom, I called for my mom who was down the hall. She didn’t answer. I knew my dad was in the basement, so it was no use calling for him. The breathing continued for a few more minutes. Each time I heard it, I grew more anxious about what could be behind the door. I started to feel silly for being afraid to leave my own bathroom. The breathing suddenly stopped. Once I was sure whatever it was wasn’t going to start up again, I opened the door. Of course, nothing was there. I found my mom in the master bedroom and asked if she had heard me calling for her. She said that she didn’t. This is also strange because the upstairs area of my house is pretty small, so it’s easy to call to one another. I asked her if she heard heavy breathing coming from the hallway outside of the bathroom door. Again, she said no. I told her what had happened and that I was freaked out. She told me not to worry and that it must have been my dad. I rolled my eyes at that one. Why would my dad crouch outside of my bathroom door and breathe heavily? I would have heard him come up the stairs. Also, that’s a pretty weird thing for somebody to do. I told my mom as much, and she brushed me off.

I have no explanation for what happened that night. I know that what I heard was heavy breathing. My mom and dad also aren't the type of parents to play jokes on me. I haven’t experienced anything strange like that since, and I never experienced anything weird in my house before that night. As far as I know, there haven’t been any strange deaths (or deaths at all) in my house, either. I feel a little uneasy when I’m alone in that house at night over summer breaks, but that feeling passes quickly. I think that at some point in our lives everyone has an experience they can’t really explain. So, maybe this was mine?

Happy Halloween!