10 Signs Your House Is Haunted (And What to Do About It)

In this installment of Practical Magic, Lisa Stardust shares the signs of a haunted home, and explains what to look out for when ghost hunting. Always remember that magic is for believers, but this column can also simply serve as a guide to getting in touch with yourself — magically or not.

Are ghosts real? It’s a question we’ve all asked ourselves. You’ve heard bump-in-the-night noises, smelled weird odors, and experienced bizarre dreams. And, thanks to our cultural obsession with haunted houses, you’ve seen your share of ghost movies, too. Does this mean your house is haunted? It’s that time of the year when the veil between worlds is thin, so it’s best to take precautions.

Unfortunately, saying “Beetlejuice” three times can’t get rid of paranormal entities in real life. But there are some witch-approved tips and tricks you can use to feel more secure about your space (and maybe make it smell a little sweeter at the same time). First though, you’ll need to get versed on how to tell if there is a ghost nearby — which, to be clear, won’t entail any ouija boards. Below, learn which signs of a ghost can help prove you’ve got a resident Casper on your hands, as well as the tools you’ll need to rid your home of spectral roomies.

In this article, you’ll find:

What are ghosts?

Is There Scientific Proof of Ghosts?

Is My House Haunted? 10 Signs to Look For

Ghostbusting 101: How to Get Rid of Ghosts

Are Ghosts Bad?

Generally speaking, people use the term “ghost” to describe people who have passed on to an afterlife of some sort. Across cultures and generations, the definition can change in big ways. For example, some communities may call ghosts ancestral spirits and others will refer to them as angels. The one thing they have in common is that they are no longer living in the world that living, breathing humans are existing in. For a ghost to show up in our world, they have to cross some sort of threshold or boundary. (Ahead, you’ll learn more about how they can manifest.)

It’s commonly believed that ghosts frequent the places they were familiar with when they were living. It’s really no wonder one of the first questions on someone’s mind before a big move can often be “Is my house haunted?”

The truth of it is, there is no exact definition or explanation around what a ghost is or can be. But there is a difference between a ghost and the memory of a loved one who has passed. Death is a very intimate topic, and it’s easy to mix the two up as grief enters the scene. The presence of a loved one is more often than not a comforting physical feeling—it may be a smell or a visual that reminds you of the person. But with a ghost, the feeling could be more unsettling. Ghosts may stick around familiar people due to “unfinished business,” or unresolved trauma they experienced at the end of their life. In some cases, they may not even know that they’ve passed on.

There is no one study that proves the physical existence of ghosts—but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. It’s been a topic of conversation among experts for generations, some touting laws of physics that can’t possibly be broken and others finding the cracks in fact.

Here is something interesting: a British engineer named Vic Tandy made a discovery in the 1980s around infrasound. This describes low-frequency sound below the level humans can hear, hitting between 0.1 and 20 Hz. And while we may not be able to hear sounds at this plane, they do have an impact on the environments around us. These kinds of sounds can mess with our other senses and add to a feeling of unease or eerieness.

Remember to put it all in perspective: ghosts play into the belief of an afterlife, which is directly connected to so many different religious beliefs—and there isn’t always exact science behind many spiritual beliefs.

There are some signs of ghosts in a room. And those of us who believe in ghosts know not all poltergeists present as the kind of full-body apparitions we often see in horror movies. Meaning? If you suspect your house could be haunted and are wondering how to see a ghost, you may need to look for slightly more subtle proof instead. In order to claim that a ghost really is present in your living space, five or more of the following signs should ideally be crossed off your checklist. Keep in mind that for each of these otherworldly signs, there might very well be a simple, worldly explanation — which is why it’s a good idea to think critically about possible alternatives before jumping to paranormal conclusions.

People who believe they’ve experienced paranormal activity often note a sensation that someone is watching them while they sleep. Eek! Whether you’ve noticed the feeling of having eyes on you or simply get the sense you aren’t actually alone at home, both scenarios point toward haunted house vibes. That said, anxiety can definitely cloud our intuition here. If you live with your family or have roommates, try asking if anyone else is identifying a little too closely with the lyrics of Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me” — or if it’s possible you’ve watched one too many scary movies lately.

But just because you’re regularly, randomly smelling rotten eggs or perfume — and for your sake, we hope it’s the latter — doesn’t automatically mean you’ve got a stinky poltergeist afoot. There’s a medical term that doctors use for olfactory hallucinations, or smells that aren’t actually there, and it’s called Phantosmia. They can be caused by everything from an upper respiratory infection and inflamed sinuses to certain medications, aging and trauma, and in telling you this, our goal isn’t to send you to the actually scariest corner of the internet (WebMD). We just want to repeat the fact there are often multiple explanations for the things we think of as signs of a ghost. So be sure to rule out all possible causes!

A residual haunting is when a spirit replays and relives a past event over and over. In this scenario, your house is being haunted by the echoes of this event more so than by an entity itself. Many people believe that physical spaces can soak up and hang onto energy, whether that’s the energy of happy events or less-than pleasant ones. If you think your house could be residually haunted, you may want to do a quick Google search of your address to see what comes up, or you can try looking up your home in your local library’s newspaper archives.

Flickering or flashing lights, Stranger Things-style, could be signs your house is haunted (or that you really need to, you know, call an electrician). All jokes aside, people who believe in the paranormal often cite electricity as a means for ghosts to communicate, and lights that turn off and on seemingly of their own accord are worth paying attention to. That’s similarly true if you spot a flash of bright light that often occurs in a specific part of your home, something that the new owners of the house behind The Conjuring are familiar with.

This one’s been a classic among signs of ghosts for about as long as humans have been telling ghost stories. Both phenomena — centralized “cold spots” in a home as well as noticable temperature dips — are referenced frequently by people who believe they live in a haunted home. That said, it’s worth noting that our bodies’ physical responses to fear — which include goosebumps, body hairs standing on end, and clammy hands — mimic the way we respond to cold temperatures, so it’s totally possible this is a chicken-or-egg situation.

Similarly to lights that flash off and on, a ghost may also try to communicate with you through things like your physical electronics or batteries. Do you often find that your phone or laptop gets inexplicably zapped of energy, for instance, despite the fact you left it plugged in? Or does your remote not work for long no matter how many new batteries you’ve put in?

This is what it sounds like. A peripheral ghost sighting is a glimpse of a shadowy figure from the corners of your eyesight. People who believe in spirits think they tend to move fast, meaning they may appear to be dancing or look like a flickering shadow in the distance. Some ghosts, too, are thought to only ever appear in the form of a shadow, making a direct, full-on look at one less likely, and there’s actually a whole subset of paranormal internet-y folk who believe in entities called “shadow people.”

This one can be a slippery slope for the forgetful among us. While it’s usually safe to assume that you simply misplaced an item, if it’s found somewhere you would never think of leaving it, then that may be a sign of paranormal hijinks. Many ghosts are thought to be mischievous versus actually threatening in nature, which means that finding your phone in the microwave could be Casper’s idea of a good time. Try paying special attention to where you’ve left things, including by creating designated spots for items like your wallet and keys, so that you can potentially rule this one out.

No. Thank you. It’s no surprise that certain signs your house is haunted are detectable mostly at night, when we’re more naturally in a state to get spooked. Toss things like recurring nightmares into the mix, and that can be enough to get anyone apprehensive about bedtime — especially if you’re one of the roughly 8% of people who experience sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis is a very real neurological phenomenon that essentially traps you in a half-awake state, during which you’re all the more likely to see things like shadowy figures and experience flashes of panic. If you think this is something you struggle with, it’s worth asking your doctor about it before determining you’ve got ghostly visitors at your bedside.

Here’s the thing: Pets are just weird sometimes. For anyone who has a cat, you’ve likely seen them stare off into random corners of the ceiling with some degree of regularity. Even still, when it comes to the paranormal, Simba and Fido can be good indicators of what’s up. If your pet often and repeatedly acts alarmed in a certain area of your house for reasons you can’t account for, they might be seeing something you don’t see. (Or they might, once again, just be little weirdos! Because that’s totally a possibility here, too.)

If you believe your house is haunted by a ghost, here are a few magical ways to put an end to the spooky shenanigans.

1. Ghost them — literally. Tell the ghost to leave you alone or ignore them. If you stop giving the spirit attention, they will get bored and move on. Also, we said this earlier, but it bears repeating: Do not play with Ouija boards or have seances. Opening the gates to the spiritual world willingly invites energy into your home that you don’t want there.
2. Cleanse your living space. Burn lavender in every room, wash your floors with ammonia, and get fresh air circulating throughout the home. This will detox any residual ghoulish vibes (and can be a good excuse for a deep clean, too!)
3. Protect yourself. Place a black tourmaline stone in the corner of the room to ensure that you are out of harm's way. This stone will protect you from negativity — on both the spiritual and material plane.
4. Bring in positivity. While practicing fire safety, light white candles in the rooms you’ve sensed apparitions in to clear out the negative energies and purify the area.
5. Be salty. Pour black salt around your home and along the doorways. Make a circle of protection around your home with the salt to keep it secure from unwanted visitors.
6. Make your dreams sweeter. Before you go to sleep, cast a circle of protection with your finger in the air. This will help you enter and return from the astral realm safely. To further ensure that entities don’t mess with you while you’re asleep, place an amethyst crystal by your bed, or tuck a sachet of salt or lavender under your bed or in your pillowcase.
7. Get help from a professional. This can be having someone come and cleanse your space or communicate directly with any spirits in your home. Alternatively, you can have ghost hunters visit your home to help gather information about the spirits you’re cohabiting with.

So, you’re pretty sure there is indeed a ghost living rent-free in your home. It’s only natural that your next question would be: Can ghosts hurt you? We want to be clear here that, no, not all ghosts are evil! There are some malevolent poltergeists who are thirsty and want attention, and there are also some spirits just like Casper, the friendly ghost. Most ghosts are benevolent or at very least benign, and some are simply energetically trapped in areas they previously inhabited.

Historically, the concept of ghosts is rooted in the idea that a deceased person’s soul or spirit continues to exist after they die. In many cultures and societies around the world, believing in ghosts is a celebration of honoring deceased ancestors. If they are not given reverence, there’s a belief that the spirits will haunt the living as payback.

Although there is no real scientific evidence to support the theory of ghosts, as we tackled earlier, strange occurrences signify that they can exist. Whether or not you choose to believe is up to you. Generally, you can tell if a spirit living in your home is good or bad based on the feeling you have when you think that you’re in their presence. Ghosts engage all of the senses, so pay attention to any of the signs we covered earlier in the story (temperature changes, smells, the hair standing up on your arms). Sometimes, the spirit of a loved one can evoke a scent that reminds you of the person—and other times, ill-intending spirits can do the same to throw you off their path. In the end, a ghostly encounter can be entirely personal—feeling like a person you knew is still living alongside you—or like you’re co-existing with a complete (and not very personable) roommate. Whatever it may be, happy ghost hunting!

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