An Unknown Entity in Sudbury's Flourmill

Submitted by: Ashley Cayer, Sudbury, ON

I lived in an apartment in the Flour Mill for four years, with my two children. From day one there was an overall uneasiness in the apartment. I chalked it up to just being alone in a new place. My eldest daughter who was 1 1/2 at the time would not sleep in either of the upstairs bedrooms. She would scream at the top of her lungs for hours, until I would take her out of the room. My youngest who was nearly 1 at the time appeared to be fine.

Every night once the girls were in bed, my youngest in one of the rooms upstairs and my oldest in my bed, I would hear what sounded like my youngest playing with her toys and moving her toddler bed. Night after night I would proceed to march up the stairs, request that she gets into bed and goes to sleep; and night after night she would be sound asleep! After the first little bit it didn't occur every night, but many nights throughout the week. Soon after moving in my eldest began to talk about/to someone/something named "Patty." We don't know anyone named Patty!

Anytime I would go to the bathroom at night I refused to look up the stairs as I was in sheer fear that someone/something would be standing there. I had to sleep with the hallway light on and many nights I swear I could see someone peer around the corner.

I had a distinct inclination that this entity/spirit was a child. To me, it appeared childish, playing with toys, sneaking around corners.

The first time anyone else noticed, was a fairly late evening when my cousin was over, she said "I don't want to alarm you, but it sounds like there is someone up stairs." I responded with what I had so far experienced. We went up stairs, asked a few questions and received nothing in response. We questioned my girls but never got a clear response from them either. Some small response about someone playing with toys, but nothing concrete.

My cousin would come visit frequently and do her laundry. She was terrified of my basement. Now let's make it clear that both of us love and are fascinated by the paranormal, this isn't something that should scare us, but this apartment screamed fear. I have had paranormal experiences before and never been frightened! I insisted the basement was the calm place and all was okay there; however every now and again the one light over the washer and dryer would flicker, sometimes going out and coming back on.

I began working graveyard shifts and had a sitter who would spend the night and sleep on my couch. On many occasions she heard the playing and noises coming from upstairs and it was always nothing. She continually had fear that she would open her eyes and someone would be standing there watching her.

It appeared that through the years whatever was bothering us would revert for a week or so then come back. It felt as though when it came back it was stronger, more frightful, more noises, coming further into the living room, more towards my bedroom.

My grandmother stayed late one evening babysitting for me, as she was leaving she told me it sounded like the girls were playing upstairs after they went to bed. I laughed and she asked what was so funny? I told her it was our "little friend", explaining that this has been heard for a good 2 years now.

Twice during our time in this apartment I discovered on my body what appeared to be bite marks. The first was a sensitive spot near my knee that I experienced in the shower and while drying. When I looked down I saw what was a red mark with some white marks inside, it appeared to be a full top and bottom set of teeth, a small mouth, what you would find on a 6-7 year old. I did take a picture with my phone, which didn't turn out great and was later lost due to a phone upgrade. The second bite mark happened more near my calf, had the same sensitivity, irritated feel and the was same size.

In our third year of living there I had the most terrifying experience. It was after a graveyard shift, my girls were sleeping in my bed, so I went to lay in their bed upstairs. As I was lying there trying to sleep I experienced a weight on my chest. It wasn't painful, but was quite uncomfortable. Following and accompanying the weight what was what felt like hands around my throat. At first I insisted to myself that it was the lack of sleep and I was just tired. It continued on for several minutes and would not "let go".

The final incident before moving out was when I was doing dishes, I was removing dishes from the sink and putting them in the dish tray. I looked over my shoulder to speak with my children who were at the door behind me. Upon turning back to the sink all the bowls I had previously removed were now stacked neatly in the previously empty sink.

We moved from this apartment near four years ago, my main reason for leaving was fear. We hadn't experienced anything in the new apartment we were in for the next 3 1/2 years.

Status: Unexplained

This story was selected as the first week's winner in The Paranormal Show Sudbury Ticket Giveaway Contest mainly because it creeped us out. That really says something given all of the  stories we've read, videos we've watched and things we've been told. 

To us, it seems like Ashley may have been dealing with a "noisy ghost" better known in German as a Poltergeist. According to Wikipedia:

"In folklore and paranormal studies, a poltergeist phenomenon alludes to the apparent yet unexplained manifestation of multiple force reactions caused by a seemingly invisible entity. Most accounts of poltergeist manifestations involve such force being triggered at objects, usually household (destruction and relocation of furniture, levitation of cutlery, knocking on the doors), although some seem to describe accompanying hallucinations, as well as physical attacks on human witnesses. Such actions can include pinching, biting, hitting and tripping the victim, or producing sentient noises (moaning, laughing, talking etc.) without clear source."

As always, the team at ParaNorthern.ca are not here to pass judgements on things we do not witness ourselves. But having said that, and going back to read the story one more time, you just can't help but feel an icy chill running down your spine.