I also believe your dream the man in the plaid shirt was showing you how he died in the house!

Old houses creak. But then who says ghosts make noises like anyway? Those old refrigerators were hard to close because of the strong spring in the latch. But then who says ghosts open refrigerators anyway? You all obviously already believed in ghosts. Why else use a Ouija board? Why else interpret dreams in such a manner? And just as you attribute the beginning of the ghost with an arbitrary event (moving into a new house), you associate the end of the ghost with the tearing up of the stairs.

I say the episode of Jim’s child’s death is a little bit of creative memory.

I have a memory from when I was about 4 where I stepped into a mirror like it was liquid. I know its completely fabricated and can’t be real, yet its in my head clear as day as if it really happened. I could not tell you what actually happened.

Anyway, here you have these rags of memories interlaced with superstitions and ghost stories that your parents imposed on you, its natural that your memory is going to produce something like this.

You have to realize our memories are completely unreliable and can’t be trusted to be accurate. This story is fictitious, and logic should tell you that because its impossible, even if your memories tell you its true.

As a reader of this story, I feel it contains some features of the ‘urban myth’. It contains the tidy arc of traditional storytelling and three parts. The denouement of the death of Jm is perfectly gothic and very tidy.

If it isn’t a good story, I’d approach it on a broadly psychological level. Children move into a strange old house. The mother is a believer in ghosts, spirits and the supernatural. The father shouts out in the night. Mom contacts ‘spirits’ via a ouija board with her kids present. All in all a perfect environment to begin seeing and hearing things.

I imagine the atmosphere would be similar to having two control groups. One is told they are staying the night in a Hotel with a dark reputation of murder and haunting. The other is told they are spending the night in a hotel and going on a trip the next day. Guess which group would enjoy a good night’s sleep?!

Since I am a believer in this kind of stuff, your question is not directed at me. Thanks for sharing though.

Well first off I would look for scientific explanations as to the occurances. The bolt of lightening is amazing, but there is scientific proof that air pressure changes around the area where lightening will strike. This is caused by charged particles that are building up potential for lightening. Thunder is a result of differences in air pressure when lightening strikes. Thunder can be heard for miles. If it is this strong, an unbalanced object could eaisly be tipped or “pushed” with the varying air pressure. Thunder does occur before lightening, but we hear it last because sound travel slower than light.

The dreams could all be connected to a movie, play, tv show or vivid radio show (or something else) that everyone in the family witnessed.

I can’t explain the footprints in the carpet nor the refrigerator handle.

I think if the stuff you mentioned happened to me, I would look for a scientific explanation first, then when I exhusted those means, I would resort to parnormal occurances.