A 'True Haunted House' in Woodstock

After 12 years serving the City of Woodstock this time of year always brings back the memory of my younger years as a Patrol Officer and my involvement with what I can only describe as a true haunted house. For the protection and privacy of those involved I will not reveal any names or locations, but I will tell you that there is currently a family living in this home.

There are a few locations in the city that Officers know just by the address, and the problems that come with each call at that location. This particular home was occupied by an older woman and her daughter, both of whom were admitted marijuana users. At the time I attributed most of the problems reported to be a direct result of their marijuana usage and never gave much thought to anything beyond drug induced paranoia and hallucinations.

Each call would be dispatched as a burglary in progress, a prowler call or suspicious person /activity. After a countless number of responses by me and other Officers the issues at the home were well known and each call was handled as more of a courtesy than an actual Police issue. The story was always the same with a few variations but with the same basic elements.

The reports were that someone had opened the back door, despite it being locked, and come in to the kitchen and went through the cupboards and refrigerator.  In the course of this occurring the person doing this made lots of noise, banging pots and pans together and rummaging through the kitchen. At no time during my responses to this home did I ever observe anything out of the ordinary or out of place. Despite pointing this out both women were adamant that it had occurred and had awoken both of them. The older woman soon became convinced that her deceased husband was trying to send her a message but it was scaring her and she wanted it to stop  As you can imagine when the possibility of this being caused by her deceased husband came to light I was convinced that their marijuana usage had reached new levels.

The calls continued, sometimes multiple calls on the same night. I’m sorry to say at one point we actually arrested both women as a direct result of their calls. Not for calling of course but for drug and intoxication related charges, even this did not stop the calls or their complaints. I would like to say that eventually the calls did stop and the issue was handled but unfortunately resolution only came with the passing of the mother and her daughter moving out of the house.

While unfortunate it was an ending to the story, or so I thought...