Don't Sell My House: From Ghost Stories at Americanfolklore.net

retold by

S.E. Schlosser

Life seemed perfect to Mark when the widower brought his new bride Lisa home to the lovely two-story cottage he had build for his deceased first wife. Things were very happy for about a year, and Mark was ecstatic when he learned Lisa was expecting twins. The house was rather small for a double addition to the family, so Mark and Lisa put the cottage up for sale and started searching for a bigger house. That’s when the problems began.

Suddenly, the cottage would be filled with the distinctive smell of expensive perfume. The first time Mark smelled it, he turned pale and told Lisa that it was the scent his dead wife had favored. Then furniture that Lisa had rearranged moved back to its original place. The books in Mark’s study were taken out of their categories and put in alphabetical order, the way his former wife had kept them. The ghost of Mark’s first wife had returned to the little cottage. But why now, a full year after he had remarried?

One afternoon, Lisa was down in the basement doing laundry while Mark was out front discussing the sale of the cottage with their attorney. They had just received a generous bid on the house and had decided to accept it. When Lisa finished emptying the washing machine, she turned to go back upstairs and saw a young woman floating a foot above the staircase.

“This is my house. Don’t sell my house!” the woman said. Her pretty face transformed with rage. She shook her fist at Lisa. Lisa shrieked, dropped the basket of wet laundry, and ran outside.
Slamming the basement door behind her, Lisa locked it and sat down on the lawn, gasping for breath. All at once, the basement door started shaking violently, as if someone were pushing against it.

“Don’t sell my house,” the phantom exclaimed again, shaking the door. “If you sell my house, something terrible will happen to your family! Don’t sell my house!” The roar of a car engine pierced the ghost’s words, as the attorney bade Mark goodbye and drove away. Immediately, the shaking and pounding ceased, as if the departure of the hated real-estate attorney had momentarily appeased the ghost.

When Lisa described the ghost, Mark recognized her as his dead wife. Until then, he had forgotten that he promised his first wife that he would never sell the cottage. Mark and Lisa tried to appease the ghost by bringing in a priest to pray over the cottage. But the house continued to be filled with the choking smell of expensive perfume. Lisa was afraid for her unborn babies, living in such a haunted atmosphere. After much discussion, Mark and Lisa decided to defy the phantom and sell the cottage.

On the night following the family’s move, Lisa was struck with a terrible pain in her abdomen. Mark rushed her to the hospital, where she gave birth to the twins, who were stillborn. On his way home from the hospital, Mark’s car was struck by a truck, and he was killed instantly. At the same moment, Lisa sat bolt upright in her hospital bed, staring at an empty corner of the room. She screamed once in terror at the sight of the phantom floating before her eyes, then she died instantly from a brain aneurism.

Read more ghost stories in Spooky Campfire Tales by S.E. Schlosser.

Comments

that ghost is not very nice?

Posted by: Q | October 11, 2010 03:52 PM

what about the twins

Posted by: cecelia | October 12, 2010 05:36 PM

Quite an exaggeration but has a lot of truth behind it. Ghosts are often getting upset when their beloved homes go under renovation, remodeling etc. Even a change in the layout of the furniture can trigger their displeasure. If the whole thing is against a given promise they received in life, it further adds to their anger.
But of course they are not killing people, not causing accidents and not scaring anyone to death. The miscarriage can be attributed to the stress the haunting caused to the woman and might be true, but if the accident had really happened and the woman died in the hospital these don't have nothing to do with the ghost. The guy was upset after hearing the babies are dead and was unwary while driving, and the woman had died of further complications or other medical issues like a massive heart attack after all of this had happened but their death were not directly caused by the ghost.
Most likely the ghost wasn't even able to speak so clearly and the couple themselves had found out that it's the dead wife behind the strange things going on.

Posted by: Herne the Hunter | October 13, 2010 04:35 PM

they were warned.

Posted by: Anonymous | October 13, 2010 11:26 PM

they were stillborn. Thats when babies born are to weak to survive.

Posted by: zack john | October 14, 2010 01:57 PM

yeah what about the twins what happens to them?! anyway I love this story but its kinda sad

Posted by: Charlotte | October 14, 2010 04:03 PM

they were stillborn, which is like a miscarriage..just only at a later or earlier term. it means they died.

Posted by: jaydee | October 15, 2010 08:07 AM

this scared the day light out of me will i be able to sleep tonight

Posted by: Anonymous | October 16, 2010 01:09 PM

I hate that stupid dead wife how could she kill so many people she should be tortured!

Posted by: Catherine | October 19, 2010 04:51 AM

A still birth means born dead

Posted by: Veronica | October 19, 2010 11:59 PM

the twins died when they were born. thats what stillborn means.

Posted by: becca | October 20, 2010 01:05 PM

This is the spooky story in my life

Posted by: Malik | October 21, 2010 10:24 AM

They were stillborn.

Posted by: Matt | October 21, 2010 10:52 AM

the twins were born dead.

Posted by: Anonymous | October 23, 2010 09:52 PM

The babies were born dead

Posted by: Dan | October 24, 2010 07:12 AM

ya, what about the twins?

Posted by: smoothie lover | October 24, 2010 12:09 PM

Aaahwww! This is such a sad story,yet i loved it!

Posted by: Skye | October 24, 2010 04:23 PM

it was ok but I'v read better ones.

Posted by: Anonymous | October 25, 2010 12:22 PM

Good grief! Yes they were warned but why did the babies have to die? That's not cool. Can ghosts be haunted? I hope so. I hope the twins haunt the first wife!

Posted by: Nichole | October 25, 2010 09:30 PM

:( dont see why the babies had to die 2

Posted by: Anonymous | October 26, 2010 06:31 AM

thats freaky.i wudve killed myself b4 that ghost couldve killed me lmao

Posted by: leandra | October 26, 2010 08:04 AM

WOOOOOOOOOW SCARRYYYYY, XXX

Posted by: Ishi | October 26, 2010 10:48 AM

Creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy

Posted by: Anonymous | October 26, 2010 04:29 PM

soooooo not scary!! but if it happened 2 me i would be quite scared!!

Posted by: coolgirl | October 27, 2010 05:27 AM

omg the babies were born died

Posted by: nicole | October 27, 2010 02:25 PM

Well that ghost wasn't very nice now was she?!

-november sankey

Posted by: Anonymous | October 27, 2010 03:14 PM

omg that gave me the chills!

Posted by: some 1 magical and full of wonder | October 27, 2010 04:41 PM

I liked it,but the author could have done better with the ending. :/

Posted by: Matthew | October 27, 2010 07:32 PM

creepy .

Posted by: hannabelle | October 27, 2010 08:35 PM

not such a bad story.....
but i liked the part where Lisa was attacked.....

Posted by: justme | October 28, 2010 09:01 AM

That was cold

Posted by: Anonymous | October 28, 2010 11:29 AM

this was just plane out weird!!!!! but i still enjoyed it!!!!!!!!!:)

Posted by: randi | October 29, 2010 02:09 PM

omg cool

Posted by: me | October 29, 2010 03:58 PM

Hey herne the hunter um did u happen 2 read wondrous strange by Lesley livingston?

Posted by: Julia | October 29, 2010 05:41 PM

what about the twins and i dont get how the lady died !

Posted by: tay | October 30, 2010 09:14 AM

I'm gonna use this story for my sleepover!

Posted by: Poppy | October 30, 2010 11:34 AM

y did the babies have 2 die they didnt do anything

Posted by: alice | October 30, 2010 01:05 PM

haha seriously they r confronted by a ghost and the wife is freaked out yet they still decide to sell the house

Posted by: Holly | October 30, 2010 03:33 PM

it would have been scarier if one baby lived and it had the spirit of the dead wife in it.. :o

Posted by: tay renee | October 30, 2010 03:44 PM

Bad things happen when you don't listen to a ghost.

Posted by: Mark | October 31, 2010 08:57 AM

but its too long

Posted by: i have a scarier story | October 31, 2010 10:01 AM

wow people thats weird so many people asked what happen to the twins well it said like 35 times duhh

Posted by: Anonymous | October 31, 2010 10:12 AM

This was the strangest story ever!!!

Posted by: whoever | October 31, 2010 10:19 AM

this story is frikin freaky but the same thing happened to me as i am the ghost of marks wife mwaahhahahahahahahahahaha all those who read this story will be put under a curse

Posted by: holly | October 31, 2010 10:45 AM

This would be a scary story if u told this to a man who has remarried and they both are going to have twins...lol,nice.

Posted by: Nick Sain | October 31, 2010 08:12 PM

weeeell it isn't that scary but it's kinda good! :)

Posted by: scary movie lover | November 1, 2010 06:31 AM

omg creepyyy

Posted by: Anonymous | November 1, 2010 07:55 PM

that was weird

Posted by: Anonymous | November 4, 2010 10:07 AM

ive heard many times that hauntings arent linked to a specific person but more like a location. so in my mind the chance of the ghost following either of them is unlikely.... but good story :)

Posted by: Buddro pedigo | November 4, 2010 01:41 PM

holy smokes scary

Posted by: Anonymous | November 6, 2010 06:43 AM

I feel bad the the twin babies. :(

Posted by: Anonymous | November 12, 2010 07:56 PM

It was a awesome story!

Posted by: spooks at dawn | November 15, 2010 03:14 PM

did she see the ghost of her husband or the husbands dead wife in the hospita?

Posted by: Anonymous | November 19, 2010 06:53 PM

sad :(( and scary

Posted by: kazoua | November 22, 2010 12:10 PM

The ghost is crule. Killing adults is one thing, but killing babbies before or during birth is another. If the ghost is that crule, she deserved to die.

Posted by: Joe | November 25, 2010 02:14 AM

awesome

Posted by: macy | December 12, 2010 05:10 PM

hahaha, this wasn't really scary but it will make a good ghost story on my next sleepover :)

Posted by: Fearless | December 13, 2010 12:49 PM

aww its so sad bout the babies :(

Posted by: Ailene+catherine | December 22, 2010 02:50 PM

awwwwwwwwwww how sad! What happened to the babies? mean old ghost! I HOPE SHE BURNS!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Spunky | December 26, 2010 06:13 PM

They ignored her, they should have listened. They underestimated her power... but why?

Posted by: Hi | January 10, 2011 03:32 PM

wow that ghost was very mad they shouldhave listened and rented it out to other people and if they did that then there babies and they would maybe still alive

Posted by: crystal dawn | January 12, 2011 12:16 AM

wat about da twins?

Posted by: jazmine | January 18, 2011 07:14 PM

It's hard to believe so many people do not know what stillborn means.

I'm reading this as a second wife contemplating a remodel of the first wife's house. Fortunately, she was a good woman.

Posted by: BB | January 22, 2011 11:03 AM

Ohhh that was scary. Poor twins. They were warned though.

Posted by: Anonymous | January 30, 2011 09:47 AM

spooky

Posted by: Sabrina | February 3, 2011 02:07 PM

boring! ghosts are not real

Posted by: Anonymous | February 4, 2011 05:11 PM

Wow. That is one sad story. I kinda knew it was coming though.

Posted by: Jessica | February 4, 2011 11:42 PM

no stillborn is when babys are born dead.it means they died inside the womb.

Posted by: none | February 7, 2011 05:39 PM

this story is dumb

Posted by: annie | February 8, 2011 03:09 PM

i like it.............

Posted by: aye chan maw | February 9, 2011 12:08 AM

yeah well what hapened to the twins????

Posted by: Anonymous | February 11, 2011 03:47 PM

they were half hers

Posted by: bbg | February 16, 2011 04:24 AM

Not so scary but a good ghost story

Posted by: Addie curfle | February 17, 2011 06:18 PM

I believe the ghost had every right to kill her ex husband, because when they were still together he made a promise to her, but the mother ad children didn't deserve to die at all.

Posted by: Rachael | February 18, 2011 05:19 PM

wow thatts wierd. I am I twin but my sister Cassandra was born dead and sometimes I feel like I know her. I feel like she is always with me and sometimes ppl even ask f I have a twin bc they see someone by me who looks like me. ppl call me Cassandra too bc my name is Cassidy and I go by Cassie.

Posted by: mychemicalromance | February 22, 2011 06:02 PM

D: aww poor babies! loved the story :D

Posted by: ... | February 26, 2011 08:53 PM

IT'S SO FUNNY ALOT OF PEOPLE DIE IT'S JUST A STORY HAHAHAHA

Posted by: TITI | March 2, 2011 02:47 PM

How come nobody understands the babies died.

Posted by: Anonymous | March 6, 2011 12:41 PM

that was so cool but creeeeeeeppppppy to

Posted by: Anonymous | March 10, 2011 03:43 PM

awsome story, but why couldn't the wife live in the end?

Posted by: Hannah Rouleau | March 16, 2011 03:34 PM

I live in north Carolina and have heard this story

Posted by: Mariana | March 20, 2011 01:14 PM

It seems even in death one cares for their belongs what a sad way to go.

Posted by: unknow | April 11, 2011 09:02 PM

That was the scrryiest story ever

Posted by: david | May 21, 2011 10:18 AM

it give me the creeps

Posted by: Anonymous | May 24, 2011 10:30 AM

He Warned them

Posted by: :P | June 3, 2011 01:23 PM

My grandpa died and then my grandma sold the house, but nothing happend to her. Then again, she didn't get re-married...

Posted by: Anonymous | June 4, 2011 01:14 PM

i liked it

Posted by: sam | June 6, 2011 06:06 PM

that is a little creepy

Posted by: Anonymous | June 7, 2011 08:44 AM

NICE STORY . BUT THEY WERE WARNED

Posted by: SASWATI | June 9, 2011 06:09 AM

it was scary,yet it was very nice

Posted by: anju | June 9, 2011 06:59 AM

well, ive read better than that but it did give me the chillies i found this story whene i was looking for a story ive never heard of called:
THE KNIGHT AND THE IRON DAGGER. ive read one at my local library called :
;TRUE GHOST STORIES. the chocolate ghost and a storie about vampires so im a freak over that kind of stuff.

Posted by: kailey | June 9, 2011 02:41 PM

Scary, but good kind of scary

Posted by: Anouynms | June 28, 2011 02:32 PM

Very scary!
What happened to the twins though??

Posted by: Rose | July 10, 2011 03:09 PM

wow

Posted by: Anonymous | July 10, 2011 03:13 PM

This is actually a pretty good story. It's kinda depressing though.. some reason it reminds me of Matilda(:

Posted by: Shannon | July 16, 2011 06:54 PM

hmm.. how 'bout the twin?? that's unfair,

Posted by: page | July 17, 2011 10:12 PM

Ok this story was verry sad but not real scary but it was still good.