The question might surprise a lot of people but how do you know when you live in a haunted house?

In my case, my parents moved out the country so that my Dad could try to curtail come of my mother’s extramarital activities when I was 6. 

The house has been built in 1886 and came with a selection of barns, garages, and outbuildings and all that went with them including tractors, orchards and weird ass neighbors. The house was two storied with two bedrooms and a large entry hall for all six of us to live in.

The kitchen was large but dark and seemed to smell like something burned in there when you walked in. Old cabinets smelled like mice when you opened them and the mice made sure you knew they existed by running out the back door as a just in case. The floor creaked just from being looked at.

And, walking in the kitchen, it felt as though you weren’t alone. Nothing was immediately visible or active but you just somehow knew you weren’t alone. Of course, it didn’t help that my mother was a terrible cook so the kitchen was not exactly welcoming anyway.

You think I am exaggerating?

Try this: My mother could literally burn water. I honestly saw her accidentally set a pot of boiling pasta on fire that she had put a little corn oil in to stop the noodles from sticking together.

So Imagine that you are doing your homework in the kitchen when your mother screams at the top of her voice “FIRE!”

At that moment, the boiling water is overflowing the pot and the oil is burning it’s way across the stove top.

Most people would run screaming and I admit that I tried but I could not get out the door. You see, the door had slammed the moment she screamed and would not opened even though the handle was turning.

When I swiveled to look at the kitchen, the lights started to flicker and brighten and then darkens in a wave across the room and the cabinets started to slowly open and close.

The fire may have been scary but the self-motivated cabinets were even scarier!

When my sister Leann threw a blanket over the pop and put out the fire, everything STOPPED!

The quiet was even more frightening…

So should I add a recipe for pasta?