Back in 1990, I stayed in a hostel in the college campus. The girls hostel was a multistory building with a high boundary wall that faced the main highway in the front and had a gate on the side that was kept locked at night. Behind the hostel, on the extreme right, was the morgue of the medical college and hospital surrounded by a thick jungle. There was no one living around in a radius of one kilometer. The area behind was generally dimly lit or at times even devoid of light altogether. “Rumor” had it that the hostel building was built on top of an old cemetery, which had been dug up during the construction process, causing the spirits to become homeless and restless - haunting the place.

The day was like any other day, sunny and bright. I went to college, as usual and everything went smoothly till lunchtime. It was during lunch that I noticed an air of excitement amongst my classmates. Curious to know what was going on, I interrupted my friend, Sandra and asked her, “Hey, what’s everyone getting so excited about, what’s happening?”
Sandra said, “ We (meaning the girls who were all day-scholars) have all planned to stay in the hostel tonight.”
I said, “Oh, and what’s the occasion?”
Sandra replied, “Well, we were talking about calling spirits with the planchette and somebody said, why not do it in the hostel. It would be exciting!”
“And you agreed?” I asked.
“Yes, I have been doing it at home too.” She replied
“Aren’t you scared? What if something went wrong?” I asked, with some concern. After all I was the one who stayed there every night.

To this she replied very confidently that nothing could go wrong if everyone in the room was a true believer. And that was the reason they had not invited me. Well, it was true that I did not believe in all this and anyway preferred to stay out of it. So, I said, “Oh, don’t mind me, you can go right ahead without me.”

And so it happened that night that the girls got together (minus me) in the room, which happened to be right below mine.

After an early dinner I went up to my room. Not having anything else to do, I decided to go to sleep, as I was quite tired. I climbed into bed and closed my eyes, trying to relax, when suddenly I remembered about the whole planchette thing that was happening right then just below my room. At that moment, I wasn’t particularly concerned, but just wondered, if they had started or not. Then, I decided that it was better if I locked myself in and made sure that I was thoroughly secure, before going to sleep…Just in case!

I got up and closed the window, which had a broken glass on one frame and I doubted it would keep anything out, least of all, lost spirits? I then drew the curtain, which also had a huge gaping hole right in the center, from the wear and tear through the years. Well, never mind, “something” was better than nothing. Then I locked the door of my room and put the mosquito net, to add to my security. Now, I was sure, nothing could get through. But, could you ever be sure with spirits? Weren’t they notoriously capable of getting anywhere, through any medium or material? Not a very comforting thought!

I switched off the lights, jumped into my bed and secured the net tight. Grabbing the blanket, I covered myself and got ready to sleep, finally! I soon drifted off with not very pleasant thoughts of lost, wandering spirits and haunted hostels. I don’t know for how long I'd slept, when suddenly I had a creepy feeling that somebody was looking, NO, “staring” at me from the window. Although I was not facing the window, I could positively “feel” that there was something or someone out there that was staring at me. I had goose pimples all over and felt cold with fear. Was I dreaming? I moved my hand ever so slightly and touched my fingers to each other to make sure. It was not a dream. I lay there on the bed unmoving, building up enough courage to turn and face the window.

After what seemed like an eternity, very slowly, I turned towards the window - a grotesque and shapeless face with huge red eyes was staring at me. I got a start. My heart jumped to my mouth and I stopped breathing. I closed my eyes for a second and then looked again at the window to be certain that I was not dreaming. But, this time there was nothing there.

My heart racing loudly now, I lay on my bed under the covers, sweating, and shaking with fear. It was dark in the room with shadows dancing in every nook and corner of it. To add to the misery I realized that the electric supply had failed. Not a sound was to be heard in the stillness of the night. Did I really see something or someone at the window? I couldn’t say for sure! But, I remembered the face very clearly. What was happening in the room below? What was the time? I had no idea.

I was just recovering my breath when, all of a sudden, there was a loud knock at my door. I nearly jumped out of my skin! Now, who could that be at this ungodly hour? I gathered my wits telling myself not to be silly, went to open the door. Just to reassure myself, I said loudly, “who’s there?” No answer. Now, I wondered, if it was wise to open the door. What if that same face was outside the door? Well, if I didn’t open the door, I would never know. So, praying under my breath, I opened the door slowly and peeked out. I was greeted by complete darkness in the corridor outside, nobody there. I looked again, all around to be sure, no, not a soul anywhere. All was quiet. Too quiet.

Was I turning into a nut case or what? I was positive that there had been a knock on the door. Just one Knock. But loud enough to have made me get up and look. So, what was happening? By this time, I was shaking like a leaf all over. I jumped back into my bed and tucked myself all over, trying to relax and get my senses back.

No sooner had I got my breath back to normal rhythm, I noticed a “tap, tap, tap” sound at the window. This time it was not loud, but very soft.

My heart flew out of my chest, and I jumped the roof. I did not dare to look at the window, but, closed my eyes tight and kept still. I prayed to God fervently and hoped that the lights would come back and the night would end soon. I didn’t want spirits floating around in my room! Now, I could hear the wind blowing outside making a wailing noise, like a banshee! The curtain in the room swayed with the breeze and a cold draft came in making me shiver with goose pimples all over my body.

The “tapping” sound stopped just as suddenly as it had started. Again, silence all around, except for the sound of the wind. But that was wind. I was sure. I couldn’t hear any other sounds, except for my loud breathing and heartbeat. I opened my eyes cautiously and looked around. My eyes went to the ceiling and there I saw a shapeless being (there’s no way to describe it) with a transparent body like jelly, looking down at me. It was glowing in the dark, that’s how I could see it. We stayed that way for a few seconds, not moving, looking at each other silently, as if weighing our options. And then, I screamed……..

Till date my friends keep asking me why I had screamed so loudly that night. I tell them, but no one believes me.