Do you believe in ghosts?

Interesting discussion and some spooky tales here.

It was sometime around 11PM and I was laying on the couch watching a tape of Simpsons episodes. The family dog was asleep on the floor next to the couch. My back was to the stairs. When I first heard the noise, a creaking sound - ever so slight, I thought nothing of it. After all, this was a very old house that creaked more often than not. When Fred (the dog) startled and ran to the bottom of the steps, staring to the top, I took notice. By this point, I could hear each step creak as someone or something made their way down the steps. I had not yet turned to look, nearly frozen with fear. Then Fred started barking, not a bark of aggression, but the bark he did when he was happy to see a friend. I slowly turned, fully expecting to see a young woman descending the stair, but saw nothing. I thought briefly that my mind was playing tricks on me, that I was imagining the whole thing. I turned and resumed watching the television, and the footsteps continued. I counted, one footstep for each of the thirteen steps. I could not turn, would not turn to face whatever it was that was now no more than four feet from me. Then, I counted thirteen more footsteps, back up the stairs. I did not sleep much that night, nor for many nights after that.

Hat tip to the White Trash Poet.