My sister and I live across the ocean from one another and about 2 months back my sister was telling me on the phone about this creepy secret door at her house.
I'll give you a little background about it...
She rents her apartment which is basically just a big house divided into apartments. The house is relatively old. I am not sure of the exact date, around the 1900's.
Her 11 year old daughter was playing in the cellar during the summer since it was cooler down there. The daughter found a door in the wall which led into a crawlspace. Being a kid, she crawled in there and found another door inside. She tried to open it but it was sealed shut. She then went and told my sister what she found.
My sister asked the landlord if he knew about the crawlspace and the door inside. He said he knew about the crawlspace but had never been in there. So, my sister went inside for herself.
She says the crawlspace runs the whole length of the house, with only the one door in the cellar for access. There is no exit point. She doesn't know the reason why the house would have a crawlspace. It has enough room in it for an adult to crawl through. She says it is made out of wood and the "secret" door is made to blend in the floor of the crawlspace. But, she doesn't believe the door is wooden as it is a much harder material.
My sister and I discussed this mystery and she agreed that her curiousity about what is behind the door is getting to her. She decided she was going to ask her landlord if she could pry it open as long as she re-sealed it.
So..fast forward to a few weeks later..she asked her landlord and he agreed. She went down to the crawl space with a chisel and hammer. She tried her hardest but, the door wouldn't budge. There seemed to be some sort of laquer or glue keeping the door closed.
Now for the last week my sister has been using turpentine (she has been using a fan for ventilation as well!) to try and get the door unstuck. Today I got this e-mail from her:

Last night, John (her husband) was using the bathroom before bed, and while he sat there, the door kept swinging back and forth, so he did his business, and when he walked out the door, he said it was really cold at the threshhold, then he came to bed. When he got to the room, he told me about it, and I was creeped out. Soon after I got a punch in the right side of my back, in the kidney, I actually hollered out loud. John and I sat straight up in our bed, holding onto eachother, he said he felt the bed move when it kicked me. Then in the corner of our room on the ceiling we saw a black spot, almost as if someone lit a fire, and the smoke had charred the ceiling, we sat and watched it disappear into the ceiling, it was like it was seeping back into the ceiling. Once it left I didn't feel as scared, but my kidney was still sore. I then leapt from my bed to check on my babies, but they were snoring away. John was so creeped out, and so was I that we prayed before we went to sleep...still holding on to each other for dear life. We have been together for years now, and we have NEVER done that together, pray I mean. So, what do you think? Poltergeist, spirit, or our creeped out minds playing tricks. I know I got kicked, or punched, I have a welt to prove it.

My sister has never had anything paranormal happen before she started messing with this secret door. I also want to mention that she is not the type to over exaggerate or tell stories. So, now we need advice..
What do you think it is?
Do you think the secret door is connected to this in some way?
Should she continue working on opening the door?
Why do you think the door is there to begin with?
Is she in danger?
If this is a spirit is there anyway to make it go away?
Thank you in advance for any comments or suggestions. We could use some help!

Old large houses often do not have cellars that are as large as the foot print of the home...Crawlspace under the entire home however was needed for upkeep of the home, remember there was no Orkinman for termites back then, so inspection for, and removal of termite infested lumber, and a means to access it all was a must.

Also, I can about bet there is a furance, or once was one in the cellar. It is common to locate a "root cellar" away from the main cellar in the crawsplace for food storage to ensure a stable temp for their stores.

As far as her experience...Can't help you there.

ah man, that would be sooo exciting!!! i wish i could be there when she opened it...

I can't think of any plausible explanation for your sister actually feeling something physically attack her. If it was me I would have to open the door out of curiosity, that's just the way I am but from what I've read it would seem that people have often experienced what they think are paranormal disturbances very shortly after disturbing an area of their home by modifying it or changing something. I suppose it is a possibility that by trying to open the door she has disturbed something but then again it could be completely unlinked.
I really don't feel qualified to offer advice but if it was me I would investigate what lays behind the door and I'd just monitor how things go over time. Then if there were any more disturbances I'd try vocalising my wish for whatever was causing them to leave. Of course your sister is an adult and it is something she and her husband will have to decide for themselves but keep an eye on the forums and just see what help and advice other people can offer. Perhaps there are some who have dealt with similar events themselves?

Good luck to her and her husband, hope it all just blows over.

maybe she unknowingly disturbed a spirit ???
l'm not 100% sure though .

Seems like whatever kicked your sister is evil and wants her to stop investigating the secret door. sounds like a REALLY strong entity. I would probably open the secret door in the crawl space if it could get it open but perhaps the attack on your sister and her husband is a warning of the type of energy that is locked inside. I suggest you find anyone who is a paranormal investigator to be there when the door is opened for the first time. She shouldn't do it on her own. She's probably too afraid to do it alone after what she saw and what she felt. If I lived there I Would comand it to leave in the name of God.

Any psychic or ghost hunter in your her area would jump on the opportunity to be there. to investigate. I highly suggest her to find someone experienced with these sorts of forces.

I'd suggest having someone who knows something about antique bottles & jars on hand for when it gets opened...But that is just me.

Thank you! Thank you!

I don't know why I didn't think of getting someone in the paranormal field in. I guess it was because of my excitement over the whole situation.

You don't even know how much I wish I could be there with my sis to work on opening that door!!

I'm going to look online now to see if I can find any type of paranormal researchers in her area and then I will e-mail her with the info.

I will definitely keep you guys updated with any news!

Hasn't she seen Scary Movie ? DONT GO DOWN THE CELLARRRRRRR
Man if this isn't asking for trouble i dont know what is

u should let sleeping dogs lie and remember that curiosity killed the cat

THat door could be a root cellar, as that would most certaionly not be uncommon. Though, if it is a victorian era house (second half of the 1800s) there could be another explanation, which is every bit as likely. I grew up in an old victorian house, my grandfather owns a slightly younger house of english style construction from the early 1900s, and the house i own now is also from the turn of the twentieth century.

These old homes didn't have the efficient and small heating systems of the houses built today. Particularly in older victorian homes, the heating system included large tunnels and passages that acted as cold air returns to the furnace. In my grandfathers house, such passages exist, and even include several doors like the one you have described. These doors were intended as clean out points. Particularly in homes that burned coal or cordwood. A lot of soot and ash would build up.

Opening those doors can reveal some excellent treasures fr the treasure hunters out there. Exploring crawlspaces can excite anyone. They're dirty, they're gross, and in older houses they hold a lot of secrets. My parents held a moonshine operation. It's truly an adventure.

I currently live in a haunted house as well, but our 2 ghosts aren't physically violent. As far as trying to get rid of them, if you think prayer and blessings, etc., are going to work you are sadly mistaken. They don't, trust me.

It seems that there are certain things that get them riled up though, and this appears to possibly be what your sister did in messing with that little door. Maybe the spirit has something in there that belongs to him/her and doesn't want it to be taken and is trying to run her out of there.

But regardless of what this entity is doing, if it were me, I'd bust that damn door down and see what is in there. If the ghost didn't like it, tough. I'd just move away. In our house I like to purposely ignore the ghosts sometimes just to piss them off. They do things to get our attention but I think they are kinda frustrated because they are so weak that they can't do anything to us physically (well they can to an extent, just not cause pain).

So my advice is: break the door down, take whatever's in there (if there is anything), and stand your ground against the spirit. They will try to work you over if you let them. Be firm and be strong. Don't let them scare you or push you around. Eventually they will give up and leave you alone. If it gets to be a major issue, then just move away.

obviously, the door is not meant to be opened.don't do it.

The only problem with inviting a paranormal investigations group into the house is that they could just be a bunch of wackos who will find whatever they want to find and possibly scare your sister evenm more in the process. I'm not saying all paranormal investigators are wackos but there is that element out there. How exactly do you find a team who are professional, objective and who investigate from a neutral perspective? This is why I myself would be reluctant to involve anyone but perhaps someone on here knows of such a group?

What do you think it is?
Do you think the secret door is connected to this in some way?
Should she continue working on opening the door?
Why do you think the door is there to begin with?
Is she in danger?
If this is a spirit is there anyway to make it go away?
Thank you in advance for any comments or suggestions. We could use some help!
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Ok, I agree to some degree about the house having that space for maintenance. However, It depends on the location of the house, city, state, country, and of course a better time frame would be a great help. Also some people use to have an escape route like the japanese, a path that lead to safety away from the home if something would go wrong. However, I doubt that one to your door.

When I read your story, I quickly got an image of a man shape-like figure, medium built. The face hard to see. I sense and from your description it is a spirit. I won't say poltergeist, especially if this is the only incident, physically. I sensed that person was a guardian of some kind, and of course he is not alone. Cold spots or quick varying temperature in a home would be one sign of a presence. Be careful with the little ones, I would not advice letting them sleep alone. Children have a light that draws spirits to them and remember if you can see them, they can see you. You see them, look but don't stare. No need to draw necessary attention to yourself.

Do I think the door is connected to the incident? Yes. No, on continuing working on opening that door. If anything close the space entirely. You would also need to perform a cleansing for the house (wash the walls with amnonia, blessing of the place and those residing there, move and rearrange the furnitures to displace anything remotely reminding of a past to that spirit (do this every 6 months, also furniture being move lets them see that they are not in the right setting, and allows them to recognize that they are still in the living realm and need to cross over completely) and finally a banishing ceremony).

Is she in danger? It depends what she is dealing with.

Spirits talk to us every day. We being alive (in the flesh) possess a barrier that blocks us from them, but certain time that barrier is thin enough that we can interact. The barrier is always there to some degree. If there was no barrier, it would not be a pleasant living experience, I don't think anyone would really want to see how many 'beings' be them sentient or malicious living with them especially during our most intimate moments. Nonetheless, they talk to us, we are bombarded every day by all kinds of noise so its hard for our ears to tune in. But at night, near sleep you can hear them, feel them, you can sense them. During the day, it takes more effort. Try using EVP (small voice activated recorder) to communicate with the spirit, ask it what it wants, apologies for any offense and inform it that was not what was intended. If anything, you would ask it to guard your family. Make sure you get its name. With that you can perform a banishment if reasoning fails.

If you do a cleansing and it is still there, a few things can happen. 1. You pissed it off and so expect more poltergeist activity, forget your regular haunting and stuff, that punch is just the start. Especially with the kids, since they are dear to you. 2. You can move, however, if you unknowingly displaced something that tied to that place, it will follow you. 3. poltergeist activity increases. . . there are degrees of it, from 1 being least to a 10 being (get the **** out and forget the place and possessions). 4. If it is a guardian, find why it is there, ask it. (keep in mind some spirits are there to protect the home, like a love one crossed over, but in time of distress they return, and if you banish them, then they are sealed (hopefully moved to the light and find peace and rest for the next life's escapade); which might leave the home unguarded and something else malicious might move in.

Spirits can't cross over to us so easily less the living allows it. There must be some opening for them to come in, like negativity in a house can attract the wrong ones. A shocking life experience resulting in sudden death (especially young people). The spirit itself is holding to things, and thus can't cross over. Another thing, they were around us before we came to flesh, so give respect. If you do decide to move for whatever reason, perform a cleansing and blessing before you move your possessions in. Prayer works to some degree, depending on what you're dealing with.

I hope it turns out to be something minor, however, its always best to empower yourself for the worst. Hopefully, this provides you with some advice on what to do. And I hope I did not cause any ill effect to anyone on the site. I have had my share of experiences, and back then wished there was advice instead of finding out the hard way.

A few last things, the best monitoring device are the kids. Especially if they are young, pre pubescent, with speech, harder with a mute. If you uprooted something meant to be sealed, monitor your dreams, the scarier your dreams are like nightmares, then you'll know that its not something minute. And then take the necessary steps to cleansing, and or getting out of there. Good luck.

Wow, that is a lot of conflicting advice. Now I am back where I started from

Should she continue working on the door or not? I really don't know now.

I can give you some more information about the house though. It is in the New England area of the United states. Built somewhere between 1900 - 1911 I believe.

I am thinking the crawl space was either used in place of a cellar or as a root cellar (as people have mentioned before).

For all we know, the secret door could be nothing more than a door to service pipes (as another member mentioned as well).

My sister has had only this one paranormal event happen. I'm wondering if she should just keep working on the door and see if things escalate before calling anyone in?

I found a paranormal research team in New England called O.R.I.O.N (Otherside Research & Investigation Of New England). http://www.orionparanormal.com/index.html
They have been featured on "Ghost Hunters" and "Dead Famous".
According to their front page "We conduct and investigation and analyze each case on its own merit with an unbiased opinion so as not to skew the investigations outcome from data that we collect."

I think these may be the people to contact if things get out of hand.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I am going to e-mail her today and see how things are going

Sounds like something is mad at your sister for trying to open the door. Or maybe it wants you to open it? Perhaps it is a long dead body that needs to be found and put to rest, or a angry ghost that wants retribution for it's death? hmm... very strange indeed.

My first guess is letting their imaginations run wild over the weird door in the cellar. Be prepared to be disappointed. Door could be so old it's just corroded shut. Or not, hell, I can understand why you'd be curious about this whole thing. Who knows...

Yes.

I agree. My aunt is a ghost hunter and she is real, but she won't want me to give out her name on the internet. And she may not be in your area.

Damn, I'm dying to know what's behind this door now!

If I could spare the time and money for a flight I'd be glad to come over there and open the damn thing myself. Alas, my hectic and impoverished life as a student hinders me yet again.

I've heard similar stories like this and that if you were to open the door, you would find a person murdered behind there. But since the ghost is attackng, the person probably sealed him/her self inside and killed themselves and don't want to be disturbed. Just a theory but there has to be something behind that door that the spirit doesn't want you to go in to. If you are to open it somehow, you should be with a lot of people. Spirits seem less likely to attack with more people around. (Plus it's a hell of a lot less scarier!)

Open it today and report back with pics. You need pics. No pics = fake story.

Sounds like the Amityville house......just don't open the door at 3:15

If your sister really wants to open that door she could try a crow bar. If that doesn't work she could try a powerful, battery powered drill and drill through the door. Once through she could either use a hack, electric saw or any other sort of strog item and get through that door.

If she finds anything it should probably be put back.

All that was just my kind of idea, don't go ahead with it if it's too hard/dangerous whatever.

EDIT: Is there any chance of getting records from somewhere about when it was built, previous owners etc? If you got hold of them you could scan it and post it up.
Records can do a lot of help.

I think so too. I have never had an encounter with a ghost but I think you SHOULD have a lot of people with you at the time too. But just tell your sister to open it and if anything freaky happens, like you have bad spirits after you, you should have a priest come in and do what ever they do, to get the spirit out.

Just open the god damned door for hell's sake!!!

Well if you are really wanting to know what's behind the door, the only way you are EVER goin to find out is to open it. Just open the damn door. Chances are, things will be perfectly fine.