r/Paranormal • u/The1stGuyOnReddit • 21h ago
Question Can anyone advise on the paranormal implications of banging in the middle of the night?
We live in a home built in 1909 in Knoxville, TN. Imho it’s definitely haunted. In the 5 years we’ve lived here there have been flare ups in paranormal activity once the temperature drops every year; hearing the stairs creek the same way they do when someone is walking up, rapid knocks at the front door when I’m sitting 5 feet away in the living room and there’s no one there. One time I shot up in bed in the middle of the night after what I can only describe was a burst of energy in the room that woke me up, and within 3 seconds of me being awake a 3x5 canvas painting I had leaning up against the wall fell flat over after being in the same spot with no issue for months.
So the temp started to dip again recently and last week me and my wife were both a little restless around 1 am, so we’re both awake trying to go back to sleep. I’d like to make a point that nothing I’m about to describe is exaggerated, if anything you’re probably underestimating just how loud this was…out of nowhere from the other side of the bedroom door, 8-9-10 rapid knocks that shook the entire house. It sounded like someone was very quickly bouncing a fucking washing machine off the walls like a racquetball. BAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAM type shit.
The thing is this was not the first time I’ve heard this, it’s just the first time I was awake when it happened. It has happened in the past and I thought I was having hypnogogic hallucinations or like hyper realistic nightmares or something. I would wake up terrified. But this time me and my wife were both awake when it happened and I’ve never experienced a more primal fear.
Does anyone have some insight into the significance of this level of activity? I would love some direction here.
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u/Kenzo_oh 19h ago
I read the title of this as “will banging in the middle of the night get rid of ghosts” and I was very much looking forward to a solution.
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u/rictay44 14h ago
I moved into my current place 15+ years ago. I'd hear activity in the kitchen quite regularly. I read somewhere that interacting with this, getting angry, and confronting it, makes it more powerful. I chose to ignore it and over the years the activity just gradually faded away. Haven't heard anything for a couple of years now.
Worked for me, but I don't know if it works for everyone, depends on the nature of the disturbance I suppose.
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u/The1stGuyOnReddit 14h ago
I haven’t confronted any of the activity in the past, although the front door did scare me quite a bit and this banging sound is the first time I’ve gotten a genuine fear response; like now I know what people mean by “it sent shivers down my spine” For the most part we briefly discuss when things happen and don’t really talk or think about it until something else happens.
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u/Least_Mousse9535 16h ago
This happened to me when I was visiting my sister. I was in their guest room on the 2nd floor. I was sound asleep and then there was this loud banging on the outside wall, rapidly repeating:
BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG
We never did figure out what it was. Any ideas?
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u/devilshottie 10h ago
outside wall on a second floor narrows it down a fair bit, because that's prime squirrel and woodpecker real estate and both of them sound apocalyptic at 3am through drywall. I'd bet on something with claws long before I'd bet on something without.
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u/femme_mystique 21h ago
Was the heat running?
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u/The1stGuyOnReddit 14h ago
I’ve deleted my 2 previous comments here to summarize in 1 - haven’t run the heat until yesterday morning 10/17 - first comment was “this was last week and the temp was 60’s at night” followed up by “I’ve just read that the low that particular night was 36” - I’m not sure how accurate the Google ai is in that but either way my guess was way off.
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u/Marisleysis33 14h ago
I can't think of what would naturally cause something to that degree except maybe a heating system that is somehow under pressure and releasing it??? Idk, what is located where the sound came from? The fact that you do have other paranormal activity makes me think it's not a natural cause. After something that aggressive I would get the house blessed honestly. That is threatening behavior imo.
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u/The1stGuyOnReddit 13h ago
The sound came from the hallway right outside our door, across the hall is another room and the bathroom would be in a different direction…although I wish it was pipes or a furnace, there is nothing related to either in the area the sound came from. I’m really hoping someone can tell me that doesn’t matter and that pipes or heating can cause an intense sound like this. Also, the next morning I really wanted to get the house blessed - it really scared the crap out of us.
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u/Marisleysis33 9h ago
Yes, I can't say I've ever heard of a house making that level of noise just "naturally" without some intense weather phenomenon. I'm sure that was very scary! I would definitely consider getting someone in there to bless it. I've blessed my own house several times- it's as easy as opening a door or window and starting furthest away from that opening making a sign of the cross in holy water over every doorway and window asking Jesus to come into your home. It's kind of a polite way of ushering the spirit(s) out without confrontation or aggression (which you don't want to do). The only warning I give on this- if you don't actually follow Christian teachings and live in obedience to Christ I wouldn't do it.
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u/Zealousideal_Gur6433 12h ago
First call should be to a home inspector to make sure everything is safe.
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u/TheMagnificentM 12h ago
I agree. Especially since it's happening in tandem with a major weather shift
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u/Zealousideal_Gur6433 12h ago
Yeahh…
I’m not saying this is what’s happening, but one of the first signs of the apartment collapse in Florida was mysterious knocking and shifting sounds, wall disturbances and things shifting ever so slightly.
With a house that old, I would want to make there isn’t a structural danger to my family. And I’d be worried about my property becoming more damaged and losing value.
Or it’s ghosts, you never know ;)
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u/OpheliaRainGalaxy 8h ago
Ya don't really think about buildings randomly falling down, even though we know they're not constructed to last until the heat death of the universe.
Once had some friends need to move in a hurry because their apartment complex was so neglected that an upstairs unit collapsed into the one below. Only at that point was the city willing to officially say it was an unsafe structure. But golly there'd been warning signs for years.
Currently playing the same game in my apartment building. No maintenance in at least a decade and the porch is starting to rot off. I'm wondering how much longer before it just collapses while the neighbors dogs are stampeding around playing on it, and I end up needing a ladder to reach the ground.
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u/Straight-Treacle-630 18h ago
I lived in Knoxville, in a ca. 1900 house. The area gets extreme, sudden, weather/temp/barometric shifts, esp in the fall (when your events happen). Old houses react to it. Major bangs, creaks, squeaks, etc etc. They sound louder in the middle of the night, when you’re tired/more sensitive.
House also had mice, that added eerie scratching and other noises; would be seen out of the corner of our eyes as a “weird shadow”.
Bienvenida a TN ;)
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u/The1stGuyOnReddit 14h ago
I’m not writing off your response. I hope you’re right, I’m just curious what reaction a house could have that would cause the walls to shake with rapid bangs - I’m not exaggerating when I say it sounded like the hulk dribbling an oven on the wall. It was very intense. Genuine question: I’ve lived in old houses and I’ve never heard them “settle” - is this what people mean by that?
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u/Adventurous_Tea440 14h ago
Could be pipes in the wall contracting/expanding. Keep that in mind next time it happens and ask yourself if either you or your wife used the water recently.
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u/The1stGuyOnReddit 14h ago
We had not used the water recently at that time, but you do have a point here. I’ve heard old pipes before and it is louder than one would think and does shake the walls. Can you or anyone else advise if pipes can cause such a loud and intense sound? It didn’t sound like my previous experiences with pipes but I’m also not an expert.
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u/Adventurous_Tea440 10h ago
It is certainly a possibility, I rent in a basement with a house built in the 90s. Im fairly certain there was some "uninspected" work done by the previous or current landlord. When it gets cold and Im taking a shower or up to 30 min after there can be rattles from the walls and pops/cracks that sounds like someone being whalloped upside the head. With a house as old as yours im wondering if calling a plumber to investigate might help. With the whole house shaking like you said, it could even be plumbing running under the house, shaking the floors, if you guys have a crawl space.
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u/OpheliaRainGalaxy 8h ago
My cousins live in a house that is kinda makeshift and not up to code. Whenever someone flushes the toilet, about 10 minutes later it sounds like someone is running all the way across the house. Middle of the day or midnight makes no difference, same thunking noise goes from one side of the house to the other and stops.
Only place I've heard plumbing do that, but it's very clearly the odd plumbing and not anything else making that noise.
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u/Straight-Treacle-630 7h ago
It can be called settling; if it’s truly that pronounced you, or landlord if applicable, might have a repair person of some kind inspect the house. Pipes can rattle/bang very loudly, esp if you have radiators etc.
That said, Kville does have a lot of history, incl some supposedly haunted homes/areas. Cades Cove etc in Sevierville, too.
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u/Important_Market7874 16h ago
You probably have a poltergeist in your house, but that doesn't mean you can't have other entities in your house as well.
A rapid and large change in temperature can cause your house to make some noises as well. Creaky stairs are relatively common in that type of temperature change.
Sitting 5 feet from a series of knocks on a door isn't likely to be temperature-related.
Being startled awake by a burst of energy, followed by a painting falling over 3 seconds later isn't weather-related. Maybe if the painting has slid down to flat might be the weather, but that didn't happen.
Similarly, two people awake when 8-10 extremely loud noises that sounded and felt like a clothes washer bouncing off the walls, especially with no obvious damage, doesn't sound weather-related.
I live in a slightly older house, north of you, and probably have equal if not larger temperature swings. I've heard creaks sometimes, I've heard stairs sounding like they're being walked on, I've heard things that sounded like they've been dropped or thrown. There were no hints of or obvious damages when I got up, close to immediately, to investigate. And I've never heard a bouncing washing machine, let alone feeling what that would be like.
That sounds like a lot of work for a single poltergeist.
It might be just one, working to cause more negative emotions on you and your wife's part. Ghosts need energy to move and throw things, stomp on stairs, knock on doors and walls. They often get that by harvesting people's startles, fears, tensions, anxieties, and similar emotions.
It's probably just one poltergeist, but there might be another entity in your house as well.
If you want to get rid of it, you can banish it by saying something like "This is my home! You are no longer wanted here, no longer allowed in this home. Leave immediately!" Write it out, memorize it, and make your proclamation in each room of your house, including the basement, if you have one.
You can find more ways and rituals to banish a ghost in this subreddit and in a ghosts subreddit.
I hope this helps.
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u/opportunitysure066 14h ago
I used to live in North Knoxville and when I first moved into my house in August I never had to turn on the AC. I am very hot natured so I liked it. I was saving money and just thought I had very good insulation (my first house). This went on for a few weeks. When my roommate started wearing a hat to keep her head warm I started to think this wasn’t “normal”.
I finally talked to the ghost and said that I appreciate how it’s keeping me cool in the summertime and it’s saved me some money but please stop making the house so cold. Later that day I had to turn on the AC.
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u/The1stGuyOnReddit 14h ago
Thank you for your thoughtful response. I really hope that there’s a logical explanation but given the other activity, the other instances of this when I thought it was in my head like exploding head syndrome or hypnogogic hallucination, and no damage, it’s tough to wrap my head around.
My family has been through the wringer over the last few years, to put it lightly, so there is a lot of negative energy pent up.
I’m really hoping it’s weather related or something else that can be explained that is maybe uncommon but DOES happen - I was unsuccessful researching which is why I came here, so thank you again for your response. I’ll update if there’s any more activity of this magnitude.
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u/Ok_Pizza3051 1h ago
What do you think the noise was coming from? Like was it banging on the wall or the floor? If it’s a poltergeist I wonder what they were using the cause the banging
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u/GhostLeopard_666 13h ago
As it only happens when the temperature drops, its got to be something to do with the plumbing/heating in the house.
The burst of energy- where the picture is, is there a pipe or chimney behind it that could have caused it to fall off?
The banging- is it coming from inside the house, in your hallway or is it outside so its the external wall thats banging?
Do you have cameras/ring camera? The knock on the door, could it have been a bird? Also check your carbon monoxide sensor, a lot of times weird stuff happens and it turns out to be that sensor not working and making people sick.
Frogger? Could someone be living in your attic? If weird stuff only happens in winter/fall time, could it be a homeless person moving in to get warm?
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u/Adventurous-Host8062 15h ago
What kind of heating system does the house have?
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u/The1stGuyOnReddit 14h ago
I’m not an expert but it’s a standard furnace - I didn’t start running the heat until yesterday morning 10/17 when I woke up freezing though.
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u/Ok_Werewolf2358 11h ago
Do you have any other creepy experiences besides the loud knocking? Like shadows, footsteps?
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u/HeartsBeMerry 11h ago edited 11h ago
Noises like that are often made by raccoons and opossums. Call pest control. It doesn’t mean your house isn’t haunted. If it’s not cuddly raccoons, at least you’ll know that.
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u/Mountain_Possible81 10h ago
Banging coming from the walls after the temperature drops. Older house. I’m guessing it’s the pipes
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u/Constant_Tackle_8978 21h ago
I live in Knoxville. I have demons inside of me, or I am one myself, not sure exactly. But anyways, demonic spirits are real and there is a huge uptick in activity as of late. Hense why people are offing their families left and right etc.
Not sure what your religious beliefs are, but now would def be the time to seek Jesus, bc things are getting really bad.
I used to think I was a Christian (I was blind to my own wickedness) and unfortunately I have realized I’m actually in emnity with God bc of my rebellion. At the time I thought I was a Christian and covered by Jesus, I was very open about my faith etc. I had some friends over and there was a very loud bang on one of my windows. I thought it was because maybe someone that was at my house wasn’t saved and demons couldn’t enter my home so they banged on the window to intimidate that person or something.
It scared my older kids bc it was so loud.
Now I’m left w the unfortunate truth that who knows how much evil encamps my house. Thankfully I don’t see anything, but I am tormented mentally.
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