Haunted House

A young couple very close to me is hunting for their first house. They had looked at dozens of homes, none of which had been "just right" until they found a lovely Victorian in a quiet neighborhood full of old growth trees. The house was love at first sight and a bargain to boot. After several visits to the home they met the sellers' realtor. She informed them that the couple that had previously owned the home had moved out after only living there for four weeks because, they claim, the house is haunted.

Now being modern, rational people my friends immediate response was to laugh. It's easy to laugh such things off at 2pm on a sunny afternoon, but, curious about what led the former owners to this belief, they started asking questions as to what had happened to drive them away. The realtor informed them that beds had been mysteriously unmade, there were "unexplained noises" and the constant feeling of being watched. Undeniably creepy stuff (at least from where I'm sitting.)

Lots of people don't believe in ghosts, they are completely immune to tales of the supernatural and scoff at those who believe in anything that lies outside the rational. Other people believe in ghosts, have no doubt of their existence, and find this thought comforting; they like the idea of lingering spirits who wish to commune with the living. I am not one of those people, oh sure I know that the existence of ghosts is extremely improbable and I have never had any experience I would classify as "uncanny", however, I find even the possibility of a ghost completely and utterly terrifying. I just can't believe that a happy spirit would hang around on this earthly plain, nope, only angry ones with scores to settle. And I know that if the word "haunted" was even mumbled regarding a home I purchased I would spend many evenings cowering under covers and jumping every time a floorboard creaked or a door out of plumb moved on its own.

My young friends find themselves in a strange position-having to balance their desire for this pretty little house with the knowledge that there will forever be a shadow cast by doubt over their  purchase. It's an unusual dilemma in a house hunt, one far outside the typical concerns of drainage issues and leaky pipes. If they do decide to go ahead with the purchase I wonder how much they could get knocked off the asking price in light of their spectral roommates? And I wonder how they'll sleep at night...I'm guessing with the lights on.