7 Chilling Real-Life Encounters with Child Ghosts

From Pet Semetary to The Sixth Sense and Sinister, child ghosts are a chilling presence in horror movies. Why are we so obsessed with the creepiness and tragedy of children who have come back from the grave?

The truth is, if we believe that ghosts or spirits are the residue of tragedy, then every deceased child would end up a ghost; nothing is more untimely or wrong or disturbing than the loss of a child.

Here are seven real-life encounters with child ghosts that will keep you awake at night.

"I used to live in a house in Livonia, Michigan. My family and I swear it is haunted. We have all experienced something except my father. I'll tell one story (even though I have plenty more). One cloudy day, my mother and I were home alone. My mother was upstairs and I was downstairs watching TV, when I decided to go up to my room. I turned the corner and froze. Sitting in the living room, was this little girl. I walked upstairs to my mom and asked, "Mom, who is that little girl downstairs?" So, my mom freaks out, and we go downstairs to look. There was no one there—all the windows and doors were locked.

Most people say that it was just my mind playing with me; but, if so, why do I remember so many details about the girl. Hmm..." - Austin

Related: 16 Ghost Books to Haunt You for Days (and Nights) 

"At my house in Dumas, Texas I had never really seen a ghost. But, out of the 10 years I have lived there, I saw a little boy—once. I was in my living room, and turned my head toward the kitchen ... and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a little, blue boy in my hallway with a blue bouncy ball in his hand. As he saw me look at him, he ran straight to the end of the hallway, and straight through the wall.

I haven't seen him since. It was in 1997..." - Heather Holt

"My daughter is only two and half years old, but speaks very well for her age. Back in July of 2003, I was nine months pregnant and about to go crazy trying to go into labor. So she and I decided to take a walk down a road near our home. We had only gone about a fourth of a mile when we passed the small rural church we attend and the cemetery beside it. She suddenly smiled and pointed to the cemetery and said, 'Mom, I want to play with that little boy.' I quickly replied, with chills going up my spine, that there was no boy. She replied, 'He is right by that tree.' With that, we turned around and headed back home.

A few weeks later, my curiosity got to me and I had to stop and see who was buried by that tree. The gravestone was covered in moss, but I could make out a name and a date. The date was born 1889, died 1892." - Kristie

Related: Forever Young: 7 Chilling Sightings of Ghost Children 

"It was particularly late and my friend Shayne had just fallen asleep. I shut off the TV and went into the front room. I sat down in the swivel chair in front of a large computer.

I was browsing the internet when I heard a faint tapping sound.

Suddenly, it got very, very cold. I would like to mention that this was in the middle of summer in Florida.

I turned around to look at the very large window behind me. The window was draped with a dark purple curtain. I walked toward it. I gripped the curtain, and pulled it open, fast.

I looked into the dark brown eyes of a girl. She had messy golden brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a floral patterned dress.

Her hand was pressed against the window as she frowned. She looked down and faded away, right in front of me.

The next morning, all that was in my head was the girl. I went to the window and saw her hand print, a faint outline of what used to be the girl's palm. This experience scared the crap out of me, but I will never forget her face. So sad and so lonely. Could it be that she was just as scared of me as I was of her? It's a strange mystery that I cannot solve." - Breanna P.

"I was visiting a friend of mine and staying in her guest bedroom. About 3:00-4:00 A.M. (don't remember exactly). I was asleep on her futon bed in her guest bedroom with the door shut.

I was awakened as if someone had touched me. I opened my eyes and straight in front of me, about three feet away, was a little girl. She woke me, as if she needed me. She was maybe three to four feet tall, about five or six years old and wore a plaid dress with shoulder-length hair.

I rubbed my eyes thinking, 'This must be a dream.' She was still there. So, I sat up in bed and looked over at her. She was still there and moved toward the door, trying to open it.

At this point I am freaking out a little and so I jumped up and out of bed. I was standing and looking at her.

The child was only about eight feet from me, still trying to turn the door knob. Still, I could see her even when out of bed. I realized she wanted out of the room, so I walked over (still seeing her the whole time) and reached for the door knob to let her out. As I reached for the door knob I accidentally hit her hands and she dissolved." - Rick Peters

Related: 8 Creepy Tales of Child Ghosts  

"In the late summer of 1981, my family and I rented a new home in Blythe, California. About two months later, one of my three daughters, Amanda, was studying for her first-grade class at the dining room table. I was lying on the living room floor watching TV. Suddenly, Amanda started to cry. I turned my head and asked her what was wrong. She said a 'dirty little girl' covered in ash with smoke wisps rising off of her was watching her do her homework.

The next morning, I awakened before sun-up, as usual, and headed for the bathroom to shave. A little girl whizzed past me and I thought it was one of my three daughters. I looked in both bedrooms and they were all sound asleep!

There were no other incidents. A week or so later, my family took a walk down our new street and I chatted briefly with a neighbor.

'How do you like living in a haunted house?' he asked. He told me that before the new house was built, a little girl died in a fire in an old house on the lot. He said he'd walked by the place several times before we moved in and saw a little girl, dirty and smoldering, peering out the dining room window!" - Gregory Bucci

"Palmer Elementary is one of the oldest schools in Pharr, Texas. It has been an Elementary, Middle and High School. Adults and children have had many experiences in the school building. The library is open all week except for Fridays, so the librarians can put back books. 

When a fourth grader went on a Friday to see if the library was open, she said that there was a little girl sitting at the computer, but there was no one in the library! Another experience happened to a couple of children waiting for the library to open. The children witnessed a girl that went into the library when it was locked. This was followed by a report of something happening with the janitor who went to work early (around 6:00 A.M.) and decided to open the library. He said that when he went inside the library, two little kids were playing and went and hid behind a bookshelf. 

Another ghost sighting was witnessed by the computer lab teacher, whose classroom is right across from the library. She saw a figure in front of her and told the person to wait, because she was busy. When she was ready to talk to the waiting person, the figure had simply disappeared. When she asked the children who was there, they told her no one had come in." - Sam 

This Story Was First Published on The Hauntist.

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