The Phanto House

From: Michael Mormino (zootsuit@juno.com)
Story type: Ghost
Location: St. Louis, MO
Source: Form Submission

I've read from Archive X for a few months now and can't tell if it's actively being updated or not. Regardless, here's a story told by my aunt, as best as I can remember it.

For a bit of background, my aunt has always been one of those "sensitive" people. Her hunches always come to fruition, and psychic phenomena tend to happen around her from time to time. For example, she loves antiques, but tends to "see" the owners of these antiques, even if the owners have passed on.

So, on to the story. 8 years ago, my aunt had a recurring nightmare. It started simply. The entire dream was from a first person point of view. Within the dream, she was walking down a street in a late 1800's - early 1900's era neighborhood. She saw a pink house with lots of white detailing all over it. Lots of fanciful decorative details that are called "gingerbread" by architectural historians. As the dream progressed, she would walk into the front yard and around the back of the house, which was full of junk, weeds, and planters full of unkempt flowers. In addition, the windows were very dark and smudged. She would then walk up to the dark windows and cup her hands to her eyes in an effort to see through the smudges. At that point, a pair of hands would break through the window, strangling her. She would wake up, choking and sputtering. This nightmare continued for several nights a week over the course of three months or longer.

On a vacation, my aunt and her husband travelled to St. Louis, MO and went on a walking tour of historic homes. (One of those "tours" which is basically being given a map and told to find your way around.) As she walked down one street, she stopped cold. The House was there in every detail.

But wait - there's more. She, of course, wouldn't go near the house. My uncle, however, was curious enough to go around back. It was exactly as my aunt had described every time she woke up from the nightmare. Needless to say, my uncle didn't cup his hands to look into the dark windows! He went back to his wife, my aunt, who was waiting in the street. They took down the address of the house in order to do some research on it, hoping to finally end the bad dreams. My aunt already knew the address - she had seen it countless times in her dream.

When they arrived at the tour office, they asked about the House and gave its address. The tour guide explained that there was no house that matched the desciption on the tour route. They insisted that they had seen it and were frantic to find out more about it. They told the tour guide about the dreams, etcetera, and the guide eventually agreed to accompany them to the neighborhood. When they arrived, they could find no trace of the house, not even an empty lot where it could have stood. But the homes to the left and right of where they saw the House were still there and the house numbers were in sequential order, leaving space(numerically speaking) for the address of the phantom house.

At least the nightmares finally stopped after their experience.

Michael Mormino