Are you afraid of the dark?

[Modem Butterfly]

We had a strange interaction with a friend of ours the other night. We've just closed on a new (to us, anyway) house and are busily packing our old house and moving. We got the keys on Monday, and Tuesday night we went out with a friend of ours to celebrate. We weren't far from our new place, and my partner asked our friend if he wanted to see the new house after dinner. We weren't far away, so we drove over there around 9 or 10 PM. We have the keys to the place and water and power are on, but no other utilities (gas, phone, etc.). It's a three story house built in the late 70's with a big wooded yard and a nice deck, in a pretty quiet neighborhood. We knew that most of the lightbulbs would have to be replaced, so we pulled out our flashlights and unlocked the door, and our friend said, "Whoa, I don't want to go in there!"

Why not?

"It's dark!"

So?

"There could be anything in there!"

If someone broke in, the alarm system would have been tripped. Anyway, it's been empty for a few weeks, so there's nothing to steal.

"That's not what I mean. I'm talking about... well, you know... anything could be in there,"

I put it together before my partner did.

"He's talking about ghosts," I said. Our friend laughed, then agreed.

My partner turned on the light in the kitchen, and he came in, but he made us turn on the lights in each room, and if the lights weren't on, he wouldn't come in. My partner and I were using the flashlights to plan out where we would put pieces of furniture, what kind of curtains in which bedroom, and he would be in the hall stairs, saying, "Um, guys? Maybe we should come back when it's light,"

Afterwards, we walked out and got safely back in the car. Our friend said, "You guys must have icewater in your veins to just walk around an empty house in the dark,"

My partner said that since we're going to be living there, we needed to get used to it now. Our friend just laughed and said he'd be happy to help us move, as long as the lights were on.

[Mutley]

1. i get a weird feeling

at nights when i'm heading up the stairs to go to bed and it's all dark downstairs.

[Modem Butterfly]

2. It's never bothered me before, except that I worry about break-ins

I lock the dogs and us in our bedroom at night because I'm concerned about someone breaking in. We live in a very safe neighborhood, but we don't have any kind of security system and our house has a lot of ground windows, and a beautiful old nine pane door.

[Mutley]

4. i don't worry about break ins

and i don't know about ghosts and such... i just get a weird feeling. maybe i'm afraid the dark!

[ghostsofgiants]

5. I'm the same way

Especially when I have to turn my back to a window. Always creeps me out a little.

[jukes]

3. darkness is my friend

& i can still see in the dark like one of my cats. seriously, i have excellent night-vision, but oncoming headlights can give me a severe headache on long drives.

[underpants]

6. Truth be told I have been getting a little freaked out in our new house

Move day is Saturday so I have been over there trying to FINALLY finish painting and being there alone just freaks me out for some reason. I'm not afraid of the dark but being in a new (to me) house alone and having nothing to think about while painting.......well the mind wonders.

[Modem Butterfly]

7. I think the new sounds will bother me

Our current house is nearly 100 years old. It's as settled as it's going to get. If I hear a strange sound, and the furnace isn't going, I know it's something weird. Other than the heat, our house is absolutely quiet.

Our new house isn't even 30 yet, so I'm sure there's going to be all sorts of strange new sounds. My dogs will sure appreciate that. I anticipate no sleep for the first couple of months or so...

[underpants]

8. There is a lock that pops every once in a while

and everything reverberates in that empty house. I think reading "Amityville" when I was a kid was a big mistake.

[Modem Butterfly]

12. You know Amityville was a scam, right?

I WISH I could pick up a house like that on the cheap after a couple of con artists made it infamous...

[underpants]

13. The retraction is printed on page B16

Yeah I know but it worked, on me.

[eyepaddle]

9. The dark doesn't bother me, but

once I lived in apartment where my front door was effectively on a sidewalk, some cat just happenedd to pick that spot to start yowling like a demon escaping hell.

To be awakened by that noise, and it sounded like it was INSIDE my apartment, well, let's say I was disoriented for a second!

I got up and shooed him away from door and went back to sleep.

Sometimes though, I would hear, umm, "noises" emanating from my neighbors--not as creepy, but still hard to sleep through! :evilgrin:

[Left Is Write]

10. No, not really.

I'm not afraid of ghosts or hobgoblins or anything.

I do get creeped out in a dark house with no window coverings, though.

[NoSheep]

11. I am at times. I just get an eerie feeling. But it is always unexpected.

Sometimes, I don't mind at all. That kinda makes me wonder. Why not ALL the time?:freak:

[skygazer]

14. No, not afraid of the dark

As a matter of fact, when I was 15 and ran away from home (one of several occasions), I spent the night in a crypt and all my friends thought I was nuts. They thought sleeping in a cemetery was wierd enough but a crypt was really strange.

My thought was that no one would look for me in the cemetery and the crypt provided some shelter from the elements. It was very comfortable and peaceful. :shrug:

[Modem Butterfly]

15. You were certainly safer there than in a doorway

After all, whatever freaks roam the cemetary at night, they don't expect to find someone living...

[leftofthedial]

16. hello darkness my old friend

I've come to talk to you again

I'm way more afraid of the dork in the white house than the dark anywhere else

[LynzM]

17. Um..... yeah, I am.

I don't like having to walk into dark places by myself, or walk around in dark houses alone at night. Some bother me more than others. It's not even so much the dark, it's being afraid of what might jump out at me... which I am aware is patently absurd. Too many books and sci-fi movies when I was little that made a big impression on me, I guess. :shrug:

[pie]

18. I think everyone is afraid of the dark

Ever walk a leafy mountain path in the dark?
Ever think about being buried alive?
Ever think about going totally blind?

The darkness is my friend only when I know
I can move into the light; the darkness
is only my friend when I know
exactly what it hides.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

19. When I was a LOT younger, I was afraid of the dark...

But when I became a night nurse, that all stopped...I haven't done any hospital work since 1991, but the dark still doesn't bother me any more...

[GreenPartyVoter]

20. Yes, I don't like the dark. Hated walking the dogs at night.