Strange stairwell sounds

     Things seem to be picking up. Tonight as I sat at the computer I heard, very distinctly, the sound of someone or something heavy ascending the rear staircase. My wife was not home yet and my dog is neither heavy nor tall enough to reach the handrailing. Many years ago, when this house was a rest home, the owners installed handrails on both sides of the rear stairs to the second floor. These handrails were not installed very well; if anyone has problems climbing stairs and has to use the handrails for support they creak and groan in a very characteristic manner. This is what I heard as I sat at the computer , in the library, tonight. My dog heard the sound as well and went into a barking fit. His reaction gave me cause to check out this intruder. The doors were locked and no one was to be seen anywhere. My dog settled down as soon as we returned to the library. I never have the recorder recording in the right places.

Muted voices heard

     This occurred last friday. I've been rather involved and hadn't a chance to enter it. Last friday my wife was in town, I was alone in the house with my dog. I first noticed the sound of voices in the upstairs bath. As this house is almost soundproof to anything but very loud noises (when the doors and windows are shut) I figured it must be persons very near the house. The voices were very muted, I could tell it was more than one person but I could not make out what was being said. I looked out the eastern window of the bath which shows most of the side and backyard; there was no one evident. I checked out the western side which has a clear view of the garage, storage building next door, garden area and part of the backyard, again no one was there. But the sound of voices continued. I went from room to room upstairs and the voices continued neither louder nor lower. I went downstairs, they were still evident. It made no sense to me that whoever they were they sounded the same in every room of the house. I stepped outside to determine if a group of people were looking over the town. This is not uncommon in the warmer months, but it would be a first during such a cold period. There was no one in sight up or down the street. The voices were not heard while I was outside; but were auditable again as soon as I came back inside. Frustration began to set in. I went to our 3 TV sets and made sure they were off; they were. We have one radio set to pick up weather and closings, but it was not on. By this time the voices just seemed to get ever fainter until they were gone. Thinking back on it, I would say there were both male and female voices. The voices being so low sounded a bit like the babble that goes on at a party or general gathering of people. There was nothing of the kind in the area. Unfortunately I lacked the presence of mind of getting my recorder and attempting to tape the voices. Its just that , at first, I was sure I'd find where they were originating from. But the hubbub was pretty much the same in any room of the house.

Dog again uneasy about upstairs hall

     Not really a big deal, but as I report all unusual occurrances, this was a bit unusual. Actually it happened three or four nights ago. I just couldn't decide whether to enter it in the journal or not. We had turned in a little early for us, no real reason for it. I hadn't even started my nightly play with our dog. He was standing at the foot of the bed when he suddenly turned from facing me to facing down our long dark upstairs hall. He issued several low growls. "Hey ,I said, whats with you?" Not even turning to me he kept staring into the hall. He was so intent I did not even try to distract him with play. He growled those low gutteral warning type growls that dogs use when they are warning you or someone away. After a couple of minutes he relaxed and then was ready to romp before going to bed. What he thought he heard or sensed, I have no idea. Luckily he doesn't behave in this fashion often.