Did a Garage Sale Trunk Bring Something Unwelcome Into My Home?

Dear Abby,

I’m writing because something strange has been happening in my home, and I don’t know whether to laugh it off, worry about it, or start packing my bags.

My family and I have lived in our house for five years without any problems at all. It’s always felt comfortable and normal. But over the last few weeks, things have started happening that I can’t explain. I’ll hear footsteps moving down the hallway late at night when everyone else is asleep. Doors that I’m sure I closed will be open in the morning. A couple of times the lights in the living room have flickered on and off even though no one touched the switch.

The creepiest moment happened last week when I heard what sounded like something sliding across the floor in the room where we keep our storage furniture. When I went to check, nothing had moved except the lid of an old trunk we keep in there, which was slightly open.

That trunk might be part of the reason I’m writing to you. A few months ago I bought it at a garage sale because it looked like a great piece of furniture for our home. When I brought it home and opened it, I discovered it still had some old items inside: a wooden Ouija board, several worn candles, and a few other strange things that looked like they belonged to some kind of ritual or game. I threw most of it away because it seemed creepy, but now I can’t stop wondering if bringing that trunk into the house somehow brought something else along with it.

I’m not someone who normally believes in haunted houses, but the timing makes me wonder. After five peaceful years here, these strange things only started after that trunk arrived.

So Abby, am I letting my imagination get the best of me, or is it possible I invited something unwelcome into my home? What would you do in my situation?

-Troubled by the Trunk