Background: The informant experienced this occurrence in his junior year of high school around November near Thanksgiving. The informant only experienced ghostly occurrences in his bedroom which was on the second floor. His room is overall an interesting shape and he has two steps that lead to a somewhat elevated area. Before this story they had remodeled the house and his room had been redone during this time. 

AP: To start off, my lights would flicker in my room whenever they were on. And we got it checked out, but the electrician said that there wasn’t and shouldn’t be any issue because everything was new and remodeled. 

Me: Had they ever flickered before then? Or was this the first time? 

AP: No they hadn’t flickered before. But in addition to the flickering lights, there were parts in my room that had colder parts. But it was only the upper parts of the room. 

Me: Mmm I see. Had you believed in ghosts before this experience? 

AP: Yes I did. I had heard other friends’ stories that I believed. 

Me: Did any other rooms in the house experience ghosts?

AP: No, it was only in my bedroom. So now I’ll go into a new part of the story. This was at night time. For a few nights in the span of the month while doing homework in my room, I sometimes get a feeling that something is there. And like okay, something is there, sometimes the lights flicker, sometimes its cold, just somethings up. I just have a really good sense that something is there. So one night, I go to bed and then wake up in the middle of the night and in the archway of the door there is this young woman wearing this old vintage dress carrying a woven basket. It was very faint, but it was there. 

Me: Were you frightened? Did you scream?

AP: Oddly, I didn’t freak out which was weird and I just stared at the doorway. Then I grabbed my phone and turned on the lights and it was gone. It happened once, but I still have the sense that that woman is in my room. 

Me: That’s so scary. Did you encounter her again?

AP: Actually yes. On Christmas night of that year, I was asleep and I felt a hand caressing my back and then an old woman whispered Merry Christmas. But I checked and my mom was asleep.

Me: Woahh

AP: I have one more part to share about the story. The next spring I visited family in New York for my break. We were all looking at photo albums and in one of the photo albums I recognized a lady that I had never met. She looked exactly the same as the one in my doorway. I asked my mom who that was and she said that it was my great grandmother, who I had never met. 

Me: Was your mom really close to her?

AP: Actually yeah. They were really close. And apparently she would visit a lot during the seasons, which was interesting since she only came out during the holidays. 

Me: Why did this story have an impact on you or why do you think it holds such importance to you? 

AP: It was my first personal interaction with a ghost. Like before it was all stories and folklore but now it was real. Also the fact that it was my great grandmother that visited me and I don’t even really know her. It was oddly comforting. 

Me: Are you more aware of paranormal-like experiences after this occurred? Or how did this play a role in your life?

AP: I’m definitely more observant and believe more stories I hear now. 

Reflection: I really enjoyed interviewing AP. He’s one of my newer friends I’ve made at USC so it was interesting to see this side of him. I liked this story in particular since it regarded a family member. I feel as though it’s very common to have paranormal experiences with deceased ancestors or family members. It reminded me of my own experience with my grandparents, which was comforting, as well.