Can ghosts follow you home?

When you leave the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney, you hear a voice saying “watch out for hitchhiking ghosts!” The voice continues, letting you know a ghost might follow you home. But that’s just fiction, right?

I used to think so, too, until I started hearing first-hand accounts of ghosts following my friends home. It’s a rather frightening prospect, isn’t it? Read on to see if any of these stories we’ve collected make you shiver!

If you believe these stories, you’ll believe ghosts can follow you home, too

D.C. O’Rourke’s miniature poltergeist

On February 1, 2021, we interviewed acclaimed storyteller and paranormal investigator D.C. O’Rourke of Hauntingly Yours: A Podcast for the Paranormal. D.C. told us a spooky story about a child ghost who followed him home from an abandoned building that had served as a school for troubled boys. He knew he wasn’t imagining things when his Mom called him one day at work, saying she had just seen the ghost kill his pet bunny!

Frantz, the Ghost Whisperer

The next story we heard came from my personal friend, Frantz. I’ve known him for years—he’s a down-to-earth Atlanta guy who happens to have “The Gift.” And if you don’t know what that is, I encourage you to watch the 2000 Cate Blanchett movie The Gift—after all, it’s a damn good movie on its own.

Frantz went on the ever-popular and terrifying Roswell Ghost Tour, which, by the way, happens to walk right by my haunted office building. While on the tour, he started talking to a young woman that he thought was on the tour. Turns out, this particular woman had died 150 years ago. Frantz was a little shaken, but brushed the experience off—these sorts of things happened to him. However, when he woke up the next morning, the ghost woman was sitting in his living room. Apparently, she was so excited he could see her that she wanted to be friends. If you want to know what happened next, listen to the full spooky podcast episode.

Brittany, keeping it in the family

Want to hear another story of that suggests ghosts can follow you home? As a child, my cousin Brittany had a very strange encounter with a girl in a white dress. Brittany was in bed in her attic bedroom when she saw a light approaching her from the stairway below. As the light grew closer, Brittany realized the light came from a small, glowing girl in a white dress and bonnet. My cousin closed her eyes tightly, hoping the apparition would go away, but it continued to stare at her and circle around her for hours.

The next weekend, Brittany stayed with her other parent in a house on the other side of town. And around midnight, she saw a light approaching the room she was staying in from the hallway outside. Rounding the corner, the light appeared in her room, and it was the same little girl! If you want to know how she got rid of the ghost, you’ll have to listen to the full ghost story on our podcast.

Why would ghosts follow you home?

We’ve heard all sorts of explanations as to why ghosts can follow you home. Perhaps, as in Frantz’ case, the ghost is lonely and wants a friend. This is one reason to avoid abandoned places if you tend to pick up ghosts! Or maybe the ghost is someone close to you and they are trying to look out for you. Finally, it could be ghosts aren’t following you home at all—you’re just noticing ghosts everywhere you go, making it look like they’re following you when they’re really just going about their ghostly business.

If it’s part of a ghost’s metaphysical nature to be attached to something, that thing doesn’t necessarily have to be a location. We also have heard stories of haunted objects. If it’s part of a ghost’s metaphysical nature to be attached to something, that thing doesn’t necessarily have to be a location. Brittany, for instance, made her husband dispose of an antique sword after the sword’s victim kept taunting her in her sleep. For me personally, I’ve been seeing a lot of activity ever since I brought my family’s ancient china cabinet into my house.

There are so many speculations and theories, but the bottom line is we may never know the answer—at least while we’re still alive. So, in the meantime, watch your back and be wary when you wander into a haunted space. Because, yes, ghosts can follow you home.

Photo by Šimom Caban on Unsplash