Hoarders: Haunting Edition

This photo from the common domain and not from any actual investigation footage

 I recently conducted an investigation at a home that was experiencing several different phenomena: Feelings of being watched, hearing footsteps, doors closing on their own, dogs barking and growling at things no one can see, photo of a dark shadow and scratches appearing on body parts.  The house was built in the 1930's and owned by the same family until about 4 years ago.  The house changed hands when the original owner's son passed away suddenly and the house was auctioned.  Further research showed that the man who passed away was a hoarder and a recluse who died of an apparent heart attack and was actually dead for a few days prior to being discovered.

During our investigation, there was an overwhelming heavy oppressive feeling throughout the main level of the home.  In the upstairs area that had recently been renovated, the atmosphere was much lighter and more comfortable.  While we do not readily accept orbs as strong evidence of a haunting, we did see several orb-like anomalies on the IR cameras that only occurred in the rooms with high levels of activity.  We were able to get several EVP's that lead us to believe that the former owner was the spirit haunting the home.  This included one EVP that said its name was that of the former homeowner. Additionally, we felt that this man did not realize that he had died (based on a couple of EVP responses) and he was upset with the fact that his things had been disposed of and his house undergoing some renovations.

Because a house that is hoarded can trap energy, the home was holding onto a large amount of negativity which was creating the oppressive feelings.  The current homeowner was looking to clear the house of the negative energy.  The best way to do this in this type of situation is by regular house cleansings with sage.   In a situation where a former owner was a hoarder, doing a "spring cleaning" prior to the sage ceremony is beneficial.  Cleaning out any clutter in the home, opening the windows and burning sage in each room while firmly telling the spirit that the home was no longer theirs was the recommended way to deal with this situation.  Repeating the cleansing on a regular basis was strongly recommended. 

After our investigation, the homeowner did say things seemed to have quieted down.  Perhaps learning that he had passed away and that the new homeowners had nothing but respect for his house helped settle down the spirit.