We received the following report from one of our readers in July 2014, but events that are described occurred many years earlier:
"In Peterborough, on Rogers St. near Nicholl's Park, I lived with my mom, dad, sister and brother for 11 years. The only history of the house I know is that is it was built in a pre-indoor plumbing and electricity time. In the Peterborough Town and Ashburnham Village 1875 map, there are two rectangular structures, most likely houses, on the land in which the neighbourhood now resides.
There are a few stories which I experienced and kept to myself, but which I vocalized when visitors to the house described to me in exact detail the experience they encountered.
One of these occurrences was in the living room where we had our computer table. You sat in a computer chair facing the wall/computer with your back to the kitchen door on your diagonal left side. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a young male standing on the wrong side of the door (the side which the handle wasn't there and the door wouldn't open to you). I thought it was one of my brothers' friends since they came over all the time, so I got up and opened the door, walked out to see if they were knocking on his back room door, and then looked towards the side of the house towards the street to see if someone was walking away. We had an enclosed back yard which no one would have been able to leave from, and I would have seen someone walking to the street or further down the street in the quick time in which I had gotten up to check on the person. So I thought maybe they were just really quick. But a few hours later, my then-boyfriend came over and sat on the chair next to me. He looked startled and stared at the door. I asked him what was wrong and he said he could have sworn he just saw a guy standing on the far side of the porch, on the wrong side of the door. So I ran over this time, opened the door, looked out, walked to the street in which I would see someone 2 blocks down either way, and there was no one. The one historical fact I can tell readers is that the original structure of the house was where I was sitting. Where this apparition appeared “on the wrong side” of something actually was part of the backyard before an addition was added. This may explain the odd placement of where the person was standing. To us, it seemed “wrong” and pointless, but when the house was first built it would have made sense.
Another experience is that in what was my room at the time, my bed faced the door. And a few times while I lived in that room I would feel like my dad, (who used to audibly open my door and peek in and then shut it before he left for work in the morning) was staring at me. So multiple times I would feel like he had not shut the door and was just staring at me. In those cases I would open my eyes and see no one, but on about three occasions I opened my eyes to see the silhouette of a man with a 1930s style brimmed hat on with wide shoulders standing in the door frame but with the door closed. I knew at that time that it was benevolent and would not harm me. Possibly a year or so later, I am in a different room in the house, and my brother took over the room where I saw the silhouette. One day, my brothers' then-girlfriend was talking about how she didn't sleep well because in the early morning she felt like she was being watched, and when she opened her eyes she saw a man standing in the door frame and the shape looked like a suit and old-timey hat. So I asked more probing questions like what kind of hat? A tall hat? A fedora? A top hat? And she described to me the same rounded brim hat I believed I saw as well. I had never told my brother or anyone that story, so for his girlfriend to tell me the exact details of what I also saw in the same room, in the same way, it felt vindicating. The second part of this story comes from my genealogical research from which my dad lent me his mothers' photo albums. As I scanned through page by page, I flipped a side over to reveal a photo of a man standing in front of his train with a rounded brim hat in a suit with a particular stature, and I just had this overwhelming feeling and thought that HE was the man in the doorway. So it turns out it was my dad's grandfather, most likely just watching over us.
Other happenings in this house are a little less “friendly”.
My sister and many people who have been to our house claim that when you're standing at the bottom of the stairs, you have a very strong sense of fear and urgency to run up the stairs. I personally never experienced this feeling.
When I was in my second room mentioned, I had an experience that scared me in a way I hadn't felt since paranormal encounters in my childhood. One night I was sleeping on my side, and clear as day I saw a strawberry blonde-haired woman's face in front of mine, with sullen eyes, and the skin of her jaw and cheeks drooping as if it were melting plastic say “Why is your face melting?” and a quick, hard grab of my shoulder. I BOLTED out of bed and turned on my bedroom lights. My heart was racing. I still have no idea whether it was an extremely vivid dream, or a spirit. Either way, I'm glad I moved two months later and haven't experienced anything like that since."
Our thanks and appreciation go out to the witness for sharing this experience with us. Have you had a similar experience, can you add further information to this report? If so please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Your privacy will be protected and confidentiality is assured.