Friday Night Frights: The Haunting At 17th Street

By Randy Trevino | Local Happenings

On an ordinary Portsmouth street sits a house built in the early 1900’s. From an outsider’s view the house looks no different than any of the other homes on 17th street, but this house is said to be much different than its neighbors.

Some would say this house has permanent residents of the spooky kind.

The Harris family moved into the spacious home a number of years ago. With a growing family, they had finally found the house they had been waiting for; one they could make a home.

The new home jitters were quickly replaced with an ominous feeling that they were not alone. The family said that an entity with evil intentions made his presence known soon after they had moved in.

The top of the staircase became the first place of activity. Family members reported feeling pushed backwards once they reached the top of the stairs. This became so frequent that the children were not allowed on the steps alone out of fear from the force they were often met with.

The children were said to often encounter more friendly spirits, or “shadow people,” as the kids referred to them. One frequent visitor of the children was a boy and his dog.

Ms. Harris recounted her strangest occurrence. “When I was in my room doing my makeup, you would hear my bed creak, and a corner of the bed would be slightly tilted down, as if someone were sitting there watching me.

Then at night sometimes, you could hear what sounded like a conversation between a few people. But it was always hushed, I could never pick out discernible words.”

Once while the children were playing with a kitten, it suddenly appeared to be sliding backward. Then the cat tried to run, but it was as if something was holding its tail. Ms. Harris believes she heard a separate voice giggle when the cat finally got away.

Shortly after the fifth child was born, the eldest son reported seeing a tall shadow man watching the mother and infant sleep. The son reported seeing the shadow man pick up the baby.

Fear began to grow at the house and the children refused to sleep upstairs. Eerie footsteps drummed the ceiling from above, even when the upstairs was empty. Humming and music echoed down the stairs.

After five long years in the house on 17th Street, the family was excited to move on to what was hopefully something more pleasant and not so sinister.

The next family was said to have moved in and out with haste.

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