Traces
One lady was alone in her room. The window had bars, and her door was right outside my office. No one visited her all evening. I heard her shout, "My arm, no, it hurts!" but when I checked, she was just lying there, breathing quietly. The next morning, I noticed a handprint on her arm, bruised purple. I asked who it was, and she said, "Péter, my husband. I poisoned him because he hurt the children, and now he’s waiting for me on the other side."
The Shaman
An elderly lady claimed to be a shaman and looked the part. One day she said she would leave that night because it was time to cross into the next dimension of existence. My colleague and I heard noises from her room at night and went in. We saw a blinding purple light leaving her body. When the light faded, she was gone. We knew what we saw but never spoke about it.
Teleport
A gentleman had been paralyzed from the neck down for a year, unable to move or feel anything. After a completely calm night, we found him dead in a storage room, grotesquely curled up with a painful grimace on his face. How he got there remains a mystery.
In Threes
I’d heard the myth that the elderly pass away in threes but never believed it—yet it’s true. Usually, two expected deaths happen alongside one unexpected one. If a fourth person died the same day, our stomachs tightened because it meant two more would go the next day.
The Red Ball
I had just started working at the home when a lady told me she saw a little girl in the hallway holding a red ball. I thought it was a visiting grandchild. The lady died a week later. Two months after, a gentleman asked if I’d also seen the little girl with the red ball. I still thought it was a visitor’s child. The gentleman died a few days later.
I mentioned this coincidence to a colleague, who shrugged and said that anyone who sees the little girl with the red ball usually dies within a week. I just stared at him—he said it so matter-of-factly, as if it was common knowledge at the home. He was surprised no one told me when I started. A few years later, I was the one warning new staff: if a resident talks about the little girl with the red ball, notify their family because time is short. I’ve never seen the girl myself. (And I don’t want to.)
The Bell
An elderly gentleman spent years in the home and rang a bell twice daily—always at the same times—to be wheeled outside to smoke a cigarette. The bell kept ringing years after he passed, at the usual times. We called technicians multiple times, and they replaced the device, but the ringing never stopped.
The Witch
Mrs. Ofélia warned Mr. Patrik not to tease her because she wasn’t in the mood for jokes and if he kept annoying her, she’d kill him in his sleep. Two days later, I found him dead at night. His eyes were wide open, and his face still showed terror. We reviewed hallway footage—Mrs. Ofélia didn’t leave her room all evening.
Márta
A dying gentleman had only hours left. I held his hand as he lay in bed. He opened his eyes, stared at the corner, and whispered "Márta," then dozed off. Minutes later, he woke again, said "Márta" louder, and I felt a breeze on my hand. A shiver ran down my spine—I sensed a presence. Then he sighed deeply and took his last breath. The next day, I asked his daughter who Márta was. She said it was his wife. I’m glad he was waiting for her on the other side.
The Woman
A dementia patient always complained that a black-haired woman never left her alone in the break room. No one with black hair lived or worked there. Then, during one night shift, I saw her exactly as described. My feet felt rooted to the floor, and I wanted to scream when she slowly turned her head toward me—but then she vanished. I never went into the break room alone at night again.
Ghosts
The spirits of many deceased residents haunt the building. This is so well-known and accepted that no staff finds it strange. The TV regularly turns on and off at dawn. We hear footsteps in the hall. Doors open and slam—just the usual things.
Cover photo: South_agency/istockphoto.com
