Is your house hauntedor just in need of a tune-up? Before you grab garlic, sage, and a priest on speed dial, let’s do what a good Family Handyman reader would do: troubleshoot like a pro. Many “paranormal” moments have very normal rootselectrical quirks, airflow and temperature swings, sound and vibration oddities, even sleep phenomena. This guide breaks down haunted house signs you might notice, the practical fixes to try first, and when to call a licensed professional (or, if you still insist, a ghostbuster).

Quick-Glance: Classic “Haunted” Signs (and the Real-World Usual Suspects)

• Flickering lights → Loose bulbs, failing dimmers, voltage fluctuations, or wiring issues.
• Cold spots and drafts → Air leaks, stack effect, or HVAC balance problems.
• Footsteps, knocks, and whispers → Expansion/contraction of wood, plumbing “water hammer,” rodents, or distant low-frequency noise.
• Phantom smells → Mold/mildew, gas or exhaust leaks, dead critters, or drain issues.
• Shadows and “figures” at night → Poor lighting contrast, reflective glass, or sleep-related hallucinations.
• Feeling watched or uneasy → Infrasound, EMF from appliances, or simple pattern-matching by your brain.

Flickering Lights: Specter or Socket?

Flickers are the jump-scares of homeownership. Start small: tighten the bulb (when cool), try a brand-name replacement, and check whether the fixture is on a dimmer that isn’t LED-compatible. If multiple rooms dim or flicker when big appliances kick on, you may have a circuit-load or service-connection issue. Persistent whole-house flicker, warm outlets, buzzing, or a burning smell are not ghost signsthey’re red-alert electrical problems. Call a licensed electrician.

Pro move: Test GFCI/AFCI where appropriate, keep smoke alarms and CO alarms in working order, and note any correlation between weather (windy nights) and flickerservice drop connections can misbehave in storms.

Cold Spots and Drafts: Poltergeist or Physics?

“Cold spots” often trace to the stack effect (warm air rising and escaping high; cold air pulled in low), leaky weatherstripping, gaps around recessed lights, or unbalanced HVAC. Walk the zone with the back of your hand: feel for airflow at baseboards, outlets on exterior walls, and around windows. A simple smoke pencil or even incense can reveal hidden leaks. Seal with weatherstripping, caulk, or gaskets, then reassess. Bonus: your utility bill will drop and the “ghosts” will leave in search of a draftier rental.

Strange Noises: The House That Talks Back

Houses pop, crack, and sigh as temperatures change. Joists and subfloors shift; ducts oil-can; copper pipes expand and “tick.” A rapid banging when a valve closes is likely water hammerinstall arrestors or adjust pressure. Rodents in the walls produce scratching or pattering. (Pro tip: set talc or flour near suspected entry points to spot tracks.) If you notice a low hum around midnight, it could be distant industrial equipment, transformers, or even wind across roof vents. Low-frequency sound (infrasound) can feel eerieyour body senses it even when your ears don’t.

Phantom Smells: What Your Nose Knows

Unexplained odors are hugely diagnostic. A musty, earthy note hints at mold and chronic moisture. Rotten-egg odor could indicate a natural gas issue (leave and call the gas utility immediately). Exhaust or “garage” smells suggest backdrafting from appliances or a door-seal problem. If headaches, dizziness, or “flu-like” symptoms cluster with a faint exhaust smell, treat it as a potential carbon monoxide situation: ventilate, get outside, and contact emergency services.

Shadows, Figures, and Nighttime “Visitors”

At 3 a.m., your brain is running firmware version “Sleepy & Suggestible.” Headlights sweeping across mini-blinds can throw moving silhouettes that look human. Mirrors across from windows multiply movement. Try layering light: a small night light or motion light in hallways smooths contrast and kills the “shadow person” effect. If you wake up unable to move, feel pressure on your chest, or see a figure at the foot of the bed, that terrifying experience may be sleep paralysiscommon, and treatable with sleep-habit changes.

Feeling Watched: Why Your Brain Loves a Good Haunting

Humans are pattern-hungry. In dim light with ambiguous cues, we connect the dots into faces and figures (pareidolia). Add infrasound (think sub-20 Hz rumbles from fans or distant machinery) and you get a recipe for tingles and dread. Your body registers the vibration as unease, while your mind supplies a story. Address the environmentquiet a rattly fan, isolate a washing machine with pads, or relocate a resonating bookshelfand the “presence” often fades.

Health Red Flags That Masquerade as Hauntings

Carbon Monoxide (CO)

Headaches, dizziness, nausea, confusion, and “flu-like” malaise, especially when everyone feels worse at home and better outdoors, are classic CO clues. Install UL-listed CO alarms on every level and near sleeping areas, test monthly, and replace per the manufacturer’s date. If an alarm sounds, get everyone outside and call for help. Have fuel-burning appliances inspected annually.

Mold & Indoor Air Quality

Chronic dampness supports mold, which can trigger sneezing, watery eyes, wheezing, skin irritation, and that “haunted basement” smell. Fix the moisture first (leaks, humidity, drainage), then remediate. Keep indoor RH between 30–50% with ventilation and dehumidification. Use PPE when cleaning small areas; call pros for widespread growth.

Sleep Phenomena

Sleep paralysis can include vivid visual or auditory hallucinations. Good sleep hygiene, consistent bed/wake times, and addressing apnea or narcolepsy with a clinician can reduce episodes dramatically. Remember: a scary experience can be real to you without being supernatural.

Room-by-Room “Is My House Haunted?” Checklist

Attic

• Look for daylight through roof sheathing, loose vents, or disconnected bath-fan ducts (moisture + noise).
• Check insulation coverage; exposed tops of joists signal thin spots that create cold rooms beneath.

Bedrooms

• Install CO alarms near sleeping areas; test the alarm button monthly.
• Reduce reflective surfaces facing windows; add soft night lighting to combat shadow illusions.

Kitchen & Laundry

• Confirm gas ranges vent outdoors; check for backdrafting and keep combustible clearances.
• Vibration pads under washers/dryers reduce low-frequency “thumps” that travel through framing.

Basement & Crawlspace

• Track humidity; run a dehumidifier if RH exceeds ~50% for long periods.
• Seal sill plates and rim joists to stop the creepy “cold ankle” drafts.

DIY Tests That Bust “Ghosts”

1. CO & Smoke Alarm Drill: Press to test; replace batteries on schedule; note the replace-by date.
2. Draft Hunt: Use incense or a smoke pencil on a windy day along windows, doors, and outlets.
3. Noise Log: Keep a time-stamped note of knocks/humsdo they line up with wind gusts, HVAC cycles, or nearby trains?
4. Light Isolation: Shut off circuits to see if flicker is localized; swap one fixture at a time from a dimmer.
5. Moisture Patrol: Hygrometer in suspect rooms; tape plastic to slab walls overnight to check for condensation.

When to Call a Pro (and Which One)

• Electrician: Warm outlets/switches, recurring multi-room flicker, buzzing panels, tripping breakers, or burning odor.
• HVAC Tech: Persistent cold spots, pressure imbalances, backdrafting, or heavy condensation on ducts.
• Home Inspector / Building Scientist: Complex moisture, attic ventilation design, mysterious structural noises.
• Medical Professional: Recurrent headaches, dizziness, sleep paralysis episodes, or respiratory irritationespecially if symptoms abate when you’re away from home.

Top “Haunted House” MythsDebunked

• Myth: Flickering = ghost.
  Likely: Dimmer/LED mismatch, loose neutral, or utility drop issues.
• Myth: Cold spots = spirit portal.
  Likely: Leaky window seals or attic bypasses.
• Myth: Whispering vents = voices.
  Likely: Return-air turbulence or duct expansion.
• Myth: Feeling watched = presence.
  Likely: Low-frequency vibration + darkness + expectation.

Safe, Sane, and Slightly Supernatural: A Handy Action Plan

1. Install and regularly test smoke and CO alarms on each level; replace units per manufacturer guidance.
2. Weather-seal doors/windows; insulate attic bypasses; balance HVAC and verify proper ventilation.
3. Upgrade lighting to LED bulbs compatible with your dimmers; replace worn switches/outlets.
4. Chase noises logicallyplumbing, ducts, and framing first; then consider pests; only then entertain the metaphysical.
5. Improve sleep hygiene and lighting design to reduce night frights and shadow illusions.

Conclusion

If your home has “haunted house signs,” treat them like any mystery: hypothesize, test, fix, and retest. You’ll reclaim comfort, boost safety, andif you still want chillssave your scares for movie night. Should the odd edge case defy science? Well, you’ll be dealing with it in a well-sealed, well-lit, code-compliant fortress. Even ghosts respect good maintenance.

sapo: Are you spotting flickering lights, sudden cold spots, or whispers in the walls? Before blaming ghosts, use this Family Handyman–style field guide to investigate like a pro. From carbon monoxide and drafty “portals,” to infrasound, mold, and mischievous dimmers, we translate spooky symptoms into practical fixesplus a room-by-room checklist, DIY tests, and when to call electricians, HVAC techs, or inspectors. Scare factor down, safety up.

of Real-World Experiences & Takeaways

The Attic Groan That Wasn’t a Ghost: A homeowner swore the attic “moaned” each night around 1 a.m. The pattern was clockwork. We logged furnace cycles and found the blower reaching max during setback recovery; a long, unsupported duct branch flexed and “sang” as static pressure peaked. Two saddle hangers and a short section of lined duct later, the “voice” fell silent.

The Basement Footsteps Mystery: Another case had honest-to-goodness “footsteps” above a finished basement. The culprit? A combo of copper supply lines fastened tight to joists. When hot water flushed through after dishwashing, the pipes expanded and slid across the wood in short, creaky burstseerily step-like. Nylon isolators and a bit of slack in the runs fixed it.

Cold Spot in the Hall: A narrow hallway had a noticeable temperature drop that “followed” occupants. Infrared showed a stripe of cold above the baseboards. An exterior outlet without a foam gasket was acting like a tiny wind tunnel; the cavity connected to an unsealed rim joist. We sealed the rim with rigid foam and canned foam, added outlet gaskets, and balanced a nearby supply register. The ghost packed bags.

Flicker Nightmares: In a 1960s ranch, new LED retrofits flickered whenever the fridge kicked on. The main panel neutrals were loose enough to allow small voltage swings across circuits. A licensed electrician torqued terminations to spec, replaced a suspect breaker, and recommended an LED-rated dimmer on the living room circuit. Not one “spirit light” since.

“Woman in the Doorway” Sightings: This one was dramatic: multiple family members reported a dark figure in the bedroom doorway around 4 a.m. We checked the street: a bus route turned the corner, headlights grazing through slatted blinds to throw a human-height silhouette. A top-down/bottom-up shade and a low-watt night light behind the door eliminated the shadow. The family sleepsand so, presumably, does the lady.

That “Old House Smell”: A musty, “old library” aroma haunted a den, strongest after rain. A damp-stained downspout had separated behind shrubs; water splashed the foundation and wicked up through a hairline crack. Redirecting the downspout, sealing the crack, and running a dehumidifier to keep RH near 45% cleared both smell and the lurking mold risk.

Lessons Learned: Always start with safety (CO and smoke alarms), then airflow (find and seal leaks), then electricity (dimers, neutrals, fixture compatibility), then moisture (drainage, humidity), then sound (duct/piping isolation). Keep a simple log: date, time, weather, HVAC state, and what you heard/smelled/saw. Patterns beat poltergeists. When in doubt, call the right pro. If you still want a spooky vibe, a fog machine and a motion-sensor cackle will do the trickno haunting required.