The Ghost That Started it All

I've always wanted to keep a record of the strange things that have happened to me throughout my life. Looking back, I think there's only one place to start: the first ghost I ever saw.

Whether you believe what I experienced was paranormal or not, that single moment changed the course of my life. It sparked my fascination with ghost hunting and the unexplained.

I was eight years old when my mom, stepdad, and I moved into a townhouse in Garland, Texas. There wasn't anything particularly unusual about the place. It looked like any other townhouse.

Not long after we moved in, my parents surprised me by completely redoing my bedroom. They put in new carpet, painted the walls, and bought me a waterbed. To an eight-year-old, it felt like the coolest room in the world.

A few nights later, a thunderstorm rolled in.

I woke up to rain pounding against my bedroom window. As I rolled over to get comfortable, I happened to glance at the mirror attached to my dresser.

That's when I saw it.

The figure looked almost like dense black smoke shaped into a person, except it had no legs. Even though my bedroom was pitch black, it seemed to give off the faintest glow, just enough for me to see it clearly. Where its eyes should have been were nothing but dark, empty holes.

And I could tell it was looking directly at me.

I was absolutely terrified.

As I stared at the figure through the mirror, our dog suddenly began barking and growling toward the same spot.

That was all I needed to see.

I bolted through the bathroom that connected my room to my parents' bedroom and dove onto their floor. I think I slept there for at least a week after that.

After that night, strange things seemed to happen constantly.

I heard people calling my name when no one was there. I noticed odd things that I couldn't explain. I asked my mom to take me to the store so I could buy a notebook and started writing down everything that seemed unusual.

That notebook became the beginning of something much bigger.

As I got older, the notebook was joined by recorders, EMF meters, digital thermometers, cameras, and countless late nights searching for answers. Friends and family eventually joined me on investigations, although I've always enjoyed investigating solo the best. I've often wondered if spirits are less likely to communicate when they're surrounded by large groups of people.

I've been searching for answers ever since.

Welcome to Haunted Courtney.