Author Archives: gluba

Ghost or Elf On The Shelf?

Age: 21

This story takes place in a childhood home in San Antonio, Texas, on an early Saturday morning in December. PR was elementary school–aged at the time and asleep in his bed. Suddenly, a knock on the door pulled him out of a deep sleep (not enough to fully wake him, though) so he ignored it and drifted back to sleep.

Then he heard it again: another knock, this time accompanied by a low voice telling him to get up, something like, “Hey, PR, wake up.” Assuming it was his dad, who followed a strict morning routine, PR figured that a knock so early on a Saturday must mean something important. So he put on his slippers and bathrobe and headed downstairs.

Confused, he looked for his dad but couldn’t find him anywhere. A family friend from Spain had been staying with them and was already awake due to the time difference. PR asked if he had seen or heard his dad, but the friend replied, “No, he hasn’t been here.”

Still puzzled, PR went back upstairs to check his parents’ bedroom…only to find both of them fast asleep, completely out. Despite the unexplained knock, he returned to his room. Since it was the Christmas season and his family had an Elf on the Shelf that supposedly moved around every night, he blamed it on the elf.

“As a kid, I immediately thought, ‘Oh, it was the Elf on the Shelf. He was playing a prank on me.’ That made perfect sense to me then.”

Years later, however, PR looked back on the experience and had a realization: “Wait…that wasn’t the elf.” It suddenly struck him how strange the whole event really was. It felt almost ghostly. He tried to rationalize it, but pointed out that neither his dad nor the family friend were the type to knock and then rush back to bed. They were both very routine-oriented.

It left him wondering whether it had been something paranormal or simply a half-dreaming state. PR considers himself a rational thinker and believes there must be a logical explanation. He suggests it could have been a groggy hallucination, though he isn’t entirely sure. Regardless, it felt very real, very strange, and has stayed with him ever since.

He also noted that there was no known history of haunting in the house. It was relatively new, built in the late 1980s or early 1990s, and only one other family had lived there before, who they didn’t know. His parents once mentioned that a young daughter had previously occupied his room, but aside from that, nothing else unusual or paranormal ever occurred in the house.

Although PR believes it’s unlikely that his dad or the guest could have knocked, it’s still possible. Another explanation could be that a combination of ordinary noises woke him, and his half-asleep brain filled in the sound of his father’s voice. It may have been a mix of both.

The story reflects common elements found in ghost narratives, particularly the motif of poltergeist activity. A “noisy ghost” associated with domestic spaces. It also involves a child, which is significant, as children are often portrayed as more sensitive or connected to the spirit world. Additionally, the timing is notable: the December holiday season, when routines are disrupted, traditions are heightened, and households feel different than usual. Early Saturday morning, a time typically reserved for uninterrupted rest, adds to the sense of disorientation.

All of these factors could have placed PR in an unusual mental state, where strange occurrences felt more believable, or where his mind was more likely to interpret ambiguous stimuli as something extraordinary.

The University Of Vermont Hallway Ghost

Age: 19

The story takes place at the University of Vermont, in an old dorm, on an October night at exactly 3 a.m. LL got up to use the communal bathroom. When she stepped into the hallway, she immediately noticed a mysterious girl standing just past the bathroom. The girl had long blond hair hanging in front of her face, was facing away from LL, and was wrapped in a towel as if she had just stepped out of the shower. LL thought it was an odd time for anyone to be showering, and the sight gave her an immediate gut feeling that something was off. It was “creepy,” she said.

After finishing in the bathroom, LL stepped back into the hallway, and the same girl was still there, standing in the exact same spot, still facing away from her. The girl hadn’t moved at all. Feeling increasingly unsettled, LL began walking quickly back toward her room. Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her, growing faster as if the girl were following her. LL sped up, practically running, until she reached her door. She said she was relieved her roommate was inside so she didn’t have to return to an empty room.

LL emphasized that she had “never seen her before” that night and never saw her anywhere on campus afterward. When asked what the figure might have been if not a ghost, she said, “Maybe she was hooking up and then she went to take a shower… or really drunk and trying to scare me.” She also mentioned that she never saw the girl’s face…only the long blond hair and the towel.

When asked about the dorm’s history, LL explained that she lived in the worst dorm on campus and that the university itself was pretty old, so she’s “sure somebody has died in it before.” The combination of the hour, the setting, and the strange stillness of the girl left LL genuinely shaken by the experience.

I agree with LL. On a college campus…where people are experimenting with drugs and alcohol, keeping unusual hours, and living with strangers for the first time…it’s plausible that this was just a bizarre coincidence. The girl may have been standing there in a daze, unaware that her presence could be interpreted as unsettling.

There’s also the liminality of college dorms to consider. They’re your home, but not quite. They’re spaces layered with the histories of countless past students, full of stories you’ll never know. New experiences happen constantly, often before you have the framework to understand them. In an environment like that, the mind is primed to fill in the unexplained with occult or supernatural interpretations, especially when something feels off.

The timing only heightens this effect. It was October, when people are already steeped in horror imagery and Halloween atmosphere. It was 3 a.m., a disorienting hour when you’re groggy, alone, and hyper-aware of everything. In that context, encountering a silent, unfamiliar girl in a towel becomes more frightening than it might be in daylight. LL’s reaction makes sense: the setting, the hour, and the ambiguity of the moment all worked together to make an ordinary situation feel paranormal.