apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

At our house, it's always the cats. Even if I don't know where the noise is coming from, I tell myself its the cats and I go back to sleep. Works every time. So which clueless horror movie character does that make me?

When my beloved Basset Hound went to doggie heaven, I suddenly realized that all the sounds in the night, that I had been attributing to her, were NOT HER!! Eeeeeek!

My boxer determines what is a "normal" noise, and what needs to be investigated. Now, if the cats also act like something needs to be investigated I KNOW something's up!

When I was growing up, my wooden bedroom furniture would pop really loudly from time to time. It was usually in the middle of the night and always startled me awake. I never got used to it.

The royal we sounds very silly in this anecdote.

One night about 4am, I heard the TV on in the next room. I woke up my husband up and told him that someone was in our house watching TV. Well not being totally awake, my husband jumped out of bed, ran to the next room and found that there was no one there. He turned off the TV and checked all the locks in the house and came back to bed. Not even 15 mins later, the TV turned on again. Needless to say, we unplugged the TV and gave it to his brother the next day. Apparently the power plug junction was loose and it would randomly turn on. This is part of the reason why there is no TV on the second floor of our home anymore.

All other noises at nights are definitely the cats especially when my husband is out of town. You can't tell me otherwise.

Word up about the "royal we," Juliescript. "We picked out a sofa" is one thing (it at least allows me to pretend that the author is talking about multiple people) but "Our heart raced" is preposterous.

"It reminded me of how, growing up, the heat would rattle through the old pipes in the winter; my dad convinced my brother and I that Snow White's seven dwarves..."

Don't you mean "It reminded us of how growing up... our dad convinced our brother and us that..."?

I really think AT should rethink the "royal we" writing policy!

"our heart raced" is preposterous?

I had this great Hallowe'eny image of some sort of co-joined monsters tiptoeing around the house! Very scary.

Actually, ARC, the "royal we" editorial policy" is great because it encourages some of us to just glance at the photos and not bother reading. I only read the text if I'm interested enough in something to seek out the URL of a product or of the pilfered entry on another blog.

Knock-Knock

Who's there?

WE Are!

Has anyone seen Paranormal Activity yet? I did. Once in Boston, the first time, and then again in Warwick RI. After the first time I saw it I slept with the lights on for almost a week! The sound my heat makes when it's coming on is very similar to the sound the movie makers used to signify that something was about to happen.

That and there's a mouse who likes to frequent my kitchen at night and SCREAM. The little bastard literally screams. I think the plug in mouse deterrent thing must be getting the better of him. But damn, he is one terrifying sounding mouse. Sounds like he's possessed.

I have a watch-cat who investigates all noises.

And we think the royal we is nearly always a bit off-putting.

The ice maker!

I enjoy blaming noises on the cats.

The first time I stayed home alone while my parents went out, I heard the ice maker rattling in the next room. I had no idea what it was and I hid in my bedroom until they got home.

Luckily I'm a sound sleeper so not much bothers me in the middle of the night anymore.

This happened to me yesterday while taking a shower. The bathroom door closed on its own because of all the wind in LA recently. I had left my front door open (heavy duty screen door locked) and the pressure from the wind slammed the door shut. I have to tell you--it freaked me out!

I too have made it a habit of attributing all strange noises to the cats.

Think of it, I have no cats.

"That and there's a mouse who likes to frequent my kitchen at night and SCREAM...
...Sounds like he's possessed."

Mice scream?
Who knew?

Just want to add this.

Two times already, some burglars have entered the house while I was there with my boyfriend (two different dwellings, two different boyfriends). We were not harmed since in the two occurrences the thieves left as soon as their presence was discovered, but let me tell you that this is exTREmely scary. You never ever feel well in that place after that. Luckily those dwellings were rentals so it was easily solved.

The movie "Ils" (Them) captures the experience very well. But know that if you see that movie, you might be in for a couple of sleepless nights afterwards, especially if you live alone... or in the woods, like me, and your boyfreiend is often out of town.

Needless to say, I refuse to see "Funny Games" and all such films now.

My house doesn't make noise.

My cats make noise sometimes (I can always tell it's them because they wear bells), but nearly all of the strange noises I hear in the middle of the night (or, for that matter, any other time of day) are caused by inconsiderate neighbors.

God, I'm glad I'm moving.

Those darn mice! We had one the other night that climmed a broomstick up to the top shelf of our "open pantry"and knocked over a bottle of syrup loudly onto the floor. My husband darted out of bed and proceed to yell "who's there?" only to turn on the light in the kitchen and see the mouse sitting on the broom handle staring him straight in the face!

That's exactly what I was doing last night: snuggling up in bed with a cup of tea, a scary book, and the wind howling outside. Perfect! I hope it stays this way in SoCal for a bit longer.

I think if you are multiple creatures sharing one racing heart then unusual house noises may be more scared of you than you are of them

My house faces a wooded area in the back. There is wildlife such as deer, rabbits, owls, fox and the neighbor's cats that are always out roaming. It's very quiet at night but one time, I was awaken by the most unnerving sound of screams around 4am. It went on for about 5 minutes and sounded childlike...but it wasn't human. The poor animal (most likely a rabbit) sounded like it was being tortured. It was probably one of the cats or a fox that caught it. It shook me to the core.

We've only been in our house for a month, so I wake up almost every night to some new noise. I can tell when it's our cats, but the house seems to have very thin walls upstairs because I can hear every car door shutting throughout the night.

The first week we were in the house I heard a thumping noise coming from the back corner of the house. I thought it was someone breaking into the garage, but it turned out to be some animal trapped in the attic. My husband thought it was a rat or squirrel or something, but it sounded large like a cat! It has since found its way out of the attic, thank goodness.

THE TWILIGHT SERIES? REALLY???????

cassielynn's mouse story made me laugh out loud. hilarious!!

My current apartment is very quiet and I've never noticed strange noises.

Years ago, though, some squirrels got into the little crawlspace beneath the roof of the family house. They built a nest right above my room and would keep me awake for hours by running around--squirrel feet sound surprisingly human-like.

When I first moved into my house, there was no washer or dryer. After I got one, and put a tall metal rack next to it, the cats discovered they could get to the very top of the rack from the dryer...and back down. This happened in close proximity to a break-in...more than once, I came downstairs with a crowbar and 911 dialed into the phone...how could such tiny cats make such a racket?

i've not had a problem sleeping since my Doberman came to live with us. if the ghosts or thieves want dirty laundry or garden hose, fine. Nothing gets by my beastie boy!

I live on the top floor of an apartment building, alone (though, I am not one who is easily spooked... typically). One night, just as I was just about to slip off into slumber, I heard footsteps. Very loud footsteps- and they were getting closer. They paused, seemingly only a few feet from my bed. I had been frantically looking through the darkness for some idea of who was in my room, but I saw nothing. Then the footsteps continued- closer. It was when it sounded as though they were literally above me, that I remembered how enjoyable a midnight smoke is, up on the rooftop. After calming down for a second, I felt horrible, thinking of how many times I may have done this to someone else.

lol, the 3rd twilight book is a dud, just read the end & skip to the fourth.

No. I can't even stay alone in my house. When my boyfriend is out of town, the cats & I stay at a hotel. It's not the house, but I'm just paranoid and watch too many horror films (someone mentioned Funny Games *shiver*). I've come home to the back door being wide open (it's in an enclosed patio), and I went on an adrenaline-fueled rampage ready to attack anyone unlucky enough to be in my house and leave the door open with my cats inside. It was just wind and the cats were safe and sound in warm beds.