The house I grew up in was very likely haunted. Everyone in my family had a ghost experience to tell about - both my parents, my brother, my grandmother. I had experienced strange but minor things however I didn't feel it added up to much. One night, though, my experience of the house ghost had much more weight.
When I was 15 years old, my parents bought a summer home in the country and left me on my own one weekend. I had a test to study for that Monday and my grandmother wasn't well enough to go with parents. My brother went with my parents to help out. My friend offered to sleep over and keep me company. My family home was a 2 family house with my grandmother's apartment on the first floor and my family's apartment on the second floor. My mother instructions were that that every window and door was to be locked tight that night. After helping my grandmother to bed, I made sure to do as my mother said. I locked my grandmother's apartment door (she could unlock it from the inside) and then I joined my friend upstairs making sure to lock the upstairs apartment door as well. All the shades were drawn and my friend and I proceeded to chat as girls do before going to sleep. My parents' room and my brother's room were connected by two large sliding doors. I opened up the doors so that I could sleep in my parents' bed and my friend could sleep in my brother's bed. It was like one very large bedroom.
After falling asleep, I was woken up by the sound of heavy footsteps coming down the hallway toward my parents' room where I was sleeping. It sounded as if the person was wearing heavy boots and practically pounding his feet as he approached. I was terrified. I thought a burglar had gotten into the house. I thought to remain still and just let him take what he wanted and hopefully leave. But he came into the bedroom and I forced myself to feign sleep. A light was passing before my closed eyelids and I imagined the intruder was testing with his flashlight to see if I was really asleep. I desperately tried to remain still as if deeply asleep. The light went away and I chanced a peek to see what was going on. From where I was on my parents' bed I could see my friend across the room in my brother's bed. At the foot of her bed, was a tall black shadow just standing there looking at her (I assume). I then heard my friend gasp in fear and say something incoherent. I thought we were doomed. He would do us in. I shut my eyes tight and prayed to God to save us.
Somehow, I woke up the next morning having forgotten the whole thing. I woke up before my friend did and proceeded to the kitchen where I saw the $20 bill my mom had left me on the table. That's when it came back to me - burglar? he didn't take the money? was it a dream? black shadow? my friend gasping? My friend came into the kitchen and I asked her if she heard anything last night. She said, "Oh yes! I heard someone with boots running down the hall and then I had a terrible dream of a black shadow standing over me"
That had been my exact experience and I was freaked out.
That definitve experience with the house ghost opened my mind up to further exploration into the paranormal and also put me on the search for the bigger picture.