The Haunting of Shady Acres

When I was a child, I grew up in the countryside. I lived in a rustic bungalow on a 5-acre parcel of land. It was a quaint abode located fifteen kilometres from a hamlet of 300 people and sixty kilometres from the nearest full service town. All views of the house I lived in were concealed by a canopy of mature spruce trees. The trees were so dense they had to be trimmed back every year to prevent blockage of the driveway entrance. This property was accessible only by a single gravel road leading down a dead end street. Unfortunately, the gravel road was not well maintained and cellular phone reception was poor. It was common for foreigners to become lost in this area. My parents spent many evenings guiding travellers to the nearest gas station. This is how Shady Acres got its name.

In the spring of 2014, my mother began preparing to sell the property. She had enlisted my help in photographing the inside of the house as a means of enticing prospective buyers. Even though the property did not sell until 2018, my mother and I kept most of the photos. Unknown to most, Shady Acres holds a sinister secret. I believe the property is haunted by multiple spirits, the most unsettling being a black shadow figure. During my time at the property, I witnessed unexplainable noises, unjustifiable movement of objects, as well as unwarranted electronic malfunctions. I also have photographic proof of paranormal activity within the home. For the purpose of comparison, below is a normal photo of the house's master bedroom, taken using my digital camera.

This photo was taken using the flash setting on the digital camera. The ceiling, curtains, floral centrepiece, photo frame, and bedspread are clearly visible to the viewer.

This photo was taken a few seconds later, using the same flash setting. Here, you can see a black shadow hovering over top of the bed. Although not completely opaque, the black shadow is so thick it camouflages most of the upper curtains.

Here is the last photo taken in the master bedroom. As you can see from the glare on the decorative pillow, the flash is still on and visible. Interestingly, it longer illuminates the framed photo. The thick black shadow appears to be moving right.

According to Jason Offutt, author of Darkness Walks: The Shadow People Among Us, shadow people often appear as "a blacker-than-night, human-shaped shadow that people see walking through their bedroom, hallway, living room, etc." I found this theory interesting as I have witnessed the shadow figure manifest as both a human silhouette as well as an incongruous mass. In all of the photos I have captured, a blob-like cluster is seen. An aunt on my mother's side once stayed in the master bedroom during a visit. She reported waking up during the night to use the restroom and seeing a silhouette of a man moving towards her. My aunt, my mother, and myself have all witnessed the shadow figure.

As with most paranormal experiences, the haunting of Shady Acres has been met with heavy skepticism. The majority of people who visit the property claim to have observed nothing abnormal. Despite this, I stand by my experiences. The most chilling photo I have of the shadow figure that haunts my childhood home was taken in December of 2014 when I was nineteen years old. My mother insisted on taking a photo of me sitting on the rug next to the Christmas tree so that she could send it to relatives in her holiday greeting cards. I let her use my camera, the same digital camera that was used to take the photos of the master bedroom. Upon reviewing the film, my mother and I were shocked to find this photo:

The segment of this photo I find most disturbing is the variation in colour of my hands. The hand on the right is substantially darker than the hand on the left, even though the two hands are positioned right next to each other in my lap. My entire right leg and parts of my left forearm are not visible. In contrast to the photos of the master bedroom, the bottom left corner of this photo is completely opaque. Six years later, I am still perplexed by this photo. It unnerves me to accept that the black shadow figure was sitting next to me. Perhaps it was looking to hold my hand. I don't know who it was or why it was drawn to me. I can only hope that it has found peace. Ironically, my digital camera disappeared shortly after the sale of the property. It was never found.