Johannes the Ghost

Name:
Story type: Ghost
Location: Denmark
Source: Form Submission

Here is one the "ghost" stories my Danish grandparents told me. It was a genuine phenomena which followed them whereever they lived in Denmark. A type of wardrobe made a constant knocking sound, as if someone were rapping it with their fist. The sound persisted regularly and my grandparents fonding called the phenomena "Johannes The Ghost." No matter where they moved to in Denmark, the knowing would persist. They lived many places, and the knocking would follow them in this wardrobe. It was only when my grandparents immigrated to Canada that the knocking finally ceased. My grandmother used to laugh and tell me, "You know what they say. Ghosts can't cross over water." The wardrobe and their other belongings were shipped by a huge crate after they had moved to Canada.

I find it hard to explain this as being a poltergeist, one of the more common explanations given to "rappings" and "knockings". After all, both my mom and her brother had moved from Denmark to Canada in their early 20s, yet the knockings continued after they left. Besides, most poltergeists are temporary phenomenom which usually don't last for many, many years according to case studies I have read.

No matter what "Johannes" really was, it still remains a good story. And a true one. (The origin of the name "Johannes" was more or less a joking title to give the knockings.)