4822
4822
Case #: 1-12/20/2006
Status: Closed
History: This is more of a personal history. This is what got me into paranormal research. 4822 is the house number of the home I grew up in. It was a full house. At the time there was myself, my sister Elliot, my parents, Uncle Koree and my Uncle Jon living there. Most of us experienced many unexplained encounters that we believed to be paranormal.
4822 was always full of laughter. We spent evenings playing video games, laughing with Uncle Jon, baking, water fights and having lightsaber duels in the yard. It was a great place. What we encountered was at times startling but was never a dark presence. We found it to be a welcome addition to our home.
Shadow People
I never saw a shadow person, but the adults did. One night my father was working in the upstairs office when he saw someone leave the next room, pass by his door and go down the stairs. He thought it was Uncle Koree but when he got up to follow him downstairs he saw that my Uncle had not left his room. When he questioned my Uncle about the identity of the visitor Uncle Koree reminded him that they were the only ones in the house at the time.
Uncle Jon recounted the time encountered one of the shadow beings.
“One night I came home (probably from work) and I went into my room to change. I didn't bother turning any of the hall lights on for some reason. My bedroom door was open and my back was turned to the hallway. I thought I felt someone move past me. I thought it was Koree as his room was right next to mine. I turned around to see a dark figure head into the bathroom down the hall. I still assumed it was Koree until I realized that the bathroom light didn't go on. After a few seconds I slowly crept towards the bathroom to see if everything was okay.
To my surprise, Koree was not in the bathroom, nor was he even home. Then I went downstairs and told you about it.”
The main area where these shadow beings were seen was the main stairway leading to the second floor. Several times my parents and Uncles were passed by a dark shadow running past them. The shadow had weight and made quite a racket going past like there was a person running up and down the stairs. I remember getting in trouble a couple times because they thought I was making the noise. Worried that I would fall and hurt myself, my parents would come to stop me only to find that I was nowhere near the disturbance.
Louis
Louis was the name of the resident spirit who lived in our basement. I used to play with him and he was a friendly gentle spirit. My Fathers office used to be in the basement with his desk facing the stairs. One night he was working and saw someone with white hair and what he described as grey sweats and hoodie come down the stairs and duck behind a corner. The stairs leading to the basement had this little corner you could easily hide and it was not uncommon for us to hide and jump out scaring him.
He went to see who it was to find no one there. Several times when there were guests over, some mentioned seeing a man with white hair crouching near the top of the stairs peering through the semi open basement window. My parents would laugh it off as our resident spirit Louis. The sight scared a few people into not returning.
During Christmas of 2005 we were going to be away with family for three days. We left a voice recorder in the basement and set it for voice activation. Our neighbours were also gone for the week as well. This was the perfect time to try and capture an EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena) When we returned we reviewed the tape to hear two distinct noises, a loud wail followed by someone saying in French “Bonjour.” Because he spoke French we decided to name him Louis after the main character of Interview With the Vampire.
A few times when my Auntie Poe stayed the night on our couch she felt someone tuck her in and stroke her head. She maintains that is was Louis because she never felt scared or threatened by it.
Take a seat?
I had a wooden chair I used to use to sit at the coffee table. It was made by a family friend of my fathers when he was a child. He moved it into the basement when it became too dangerous to sit in due it its age. He kept it in a corner by one of the downstairs dressers. Every now and then we would go into the basement to find it had moved from its location. One time while downstairs with my Mum doing laundry we heard a sound come from behind us. When we turned to see what it was we saw that the chair had moved to the centre of the room. Today the chair sits in my room as part of the archive haunted artifacts. I keep my fathers childhood teddy bear on it. It has never moved since.
We never would have left 4822 if it wasn’t for the sudden violent change in the neighbourhood. It all started when two men were shot down the street at the 7/11 we used to visit on a regular basis.
Murder in broad daylight
Hooded assassin walks up to SUV and guns down two men in hail of bullets
By NADIA MOHARIB AND BILL LAYE, CALGARY SUN June 10th 2005
Horror watched up close
Two men are dead after a daylight execution-style shooting at a northeast gas station yesterday in which a lone gunman fired point-blank at the pair, killing them on the spot.
Two unidentified men -- one who allegedly tried in vain to escape his assailant -- died moments after the attack at Gas Plus at 7196 Temple Dr. N.E.
The police gang unit is investigating.
Paramedics arrived at the bloody scene to find the injuries were so severe, there was nothing they could do to save the men -- one still sitting in the passenger seat of a gold-coloured Pathfinder SUV, and the driver lying on the ground next to it.
Dan Mulder, a 36-year-old heavy duty mechanic, was walking on the sidewalk along 52 St., pushing his nine-month-old daughter in a stroller when at least six shots rang out just after 5 p.m.
"I heard what I knew was a gunshot right away," said Mulder, adding he saw a gunman on the passenger side of the victims' SUV.
"He had his arm extended, gun up to the window, probably only about six inches from the window."
He said the shooter, who had a black hoodie over his head, then bolted to a new model van, possibly silver or grey, waiting in a back alley.
"Then they took off at a high rate of speed down the side road."
Approaching the two victims, whom he believed to be in their late-20s or early-30s, Mulder said it was clear they were gravely wounded.
"By the time I got there, the driver was on the ground, had managed to get himself out ... the passenger was gasping like a fish out of water," he said, visibly shaken.
Mulder, who's lived in the city's northeast about three years, said he's tired of seeing things like this in Calgary.
"I just moved out of Falconridge because of stuff like this," Mulder said.
A number of young adults gathered at the scene hugging and crying.
Police Insp. Stew Cooper said the shooting appears to have been premeditated.
"It would seem that something that deliberate would be planned," he said.
Police also said there was one shooter, but more people might have been involved.
Seasoned Insp. Luch Berti expressed his disgust at the level of violence.
"This just tells you that in a city of our size, we do have crime that goes beyond comprehension and we do have to be alert to this," he said.
The gas station owner who called 911 raced to help the victims, but said he knew it was too late. "How can you describe this?" said the man, who asked not to be identified. "This should not happen. It makes you wonder where we are heading to."
I don’t remember anything about this crime as I was three at the time but I have heard my parents talk about it. The crime shook them and they discussed moving. However they believed it was a random isolated incident.
Then in 2007 just a few houses down a teen was murdered in his basement.
It was as if the crime was getting closer and closer to home. Then in May 2007 everything changed.
“You know how after living in a place for so long you can accurately pinpoint where people are outside by their voices coming through the window?” he told me. “One night while I was working late on some writing I could hear voices outside in the back yard but they were real quiet. I glanced out the window to see nothing. Shrugging it off, I returned to work. Then I hear this tapping on the window. The office window is on the second floor and the tapping sounded like nails on the glass. You remember there were no trees in our yard so it couldn’t have been branches. I check the window again and see nothing. I try to return to my work for a second time when I hear the tapping again. This time louder. I check the window again and find nothing. I open and close the window to check if it is loose or something is caught. Nothing. I go back to return to my work again when before I can sit in my chair the entire window bangs and shimmies. I jump back startled and stare at the window in amazement. Then I can hear the voices outside again. I slowly approach the window and cautiously look out. There in our parking space are two cars side by side. I swear they weren’t there the last two times. I think they had just pulled in. The drivers and passengers still inside of their cars are talking to each other. I reach for one of the swords we had on display and head downstairs, run past your mother and Uncle Jon who were busy playing Shadow of the Colossus and run out into the backyard waving my sword above my head. The drivers see me coming and then drive off in a hurry taking out a few trash bins on the way. With the cars gone I inspect the area and find a small baggie filled with a white substance. I then called the police and found out that drug deals were on the rise in our neighbourhood. This was when we decided to move. Two murders and now people are dealing smack in our backyard. Nope. We’re out.”
He still believes that it was Louis who tried to get his attention by banging on the window.
In 2007 we moved from 4822. Before moving we had boxes waiting to be moved that were piled up like a maze. My mum was cooking and didn’t notice me slip downstairs. After a while she could hear me laughing in the basement. Afraid I would knock over the boxes she went to go get me. As she came down the stairs she saw me standing at one end of the boxes peering around to the other end laughing at something. My Mum looked in the direction I was laughing and saw the top of someone’s head between the boxes. Someone with grey hair. My Mum freaked ran down and grabbed me. She looked towards where the person was standing and saw they had vanished. She then ran upstairs with me in her arms heading for the phone when she realised it was Louis. Realising she couldn’t call the police on a ghost he then regained her composure, closed the basement door making sure it was locked. She told me I can’t play downstairs because the boxes might fall on me.
I don’t remember seeing him after that. I do know though after we moved I cried for days because Louis didn’t follow us to our new home. I often wonder what would happen if I returned to 4822 and asked the current residents if they have encountered Louis.
Hypothesis: Possible Haunting?
