Ghost Stories

I've always been fascinated by stories about strange and unexplained; I remember a book I borrowed from somewhere once (some Reader's Digest anthology) which had a story about Springheel Jack, among other things. It was a deliciously creepy book, and I often found myself nervously looking around while I was reading it (late at night, of course). However, I never actually heard or saw anything spooky myself (I dreamt of my grandmother standing on top of the stairs the day after she died, but never actually saw anything); I've smelled flowers, but that could've been anything.

My parents, however, have told me that we've actually lived in a couple of haunted houses. A couple stick out:

* There was one house which we rented from one of my aunts. According to my folks they could hear the sound of a golf ball being bounced continuously against one of the walls. Our house was at the corner, and there was a big backyard between the house and the neighbor, so they never could explain what that was (rats, maybe?). Oh, and our housekeeper (who was also my sister's nanny for twelve years) began acting strangely in that house--she started carrying a knife, because she claimed "they" were out to get her. What might explain the strange goings-on in that house was a punso in the backyard, which in Filipino folklore was the residence of a duende, which is kinda like a dwarf (not like Gimli, though!) This dwarf is more like a spirit of the woods.

We lived there for a couple of years, but I never saw anything.

* Another house we lived in (also rented) was allegedly the scene of an armed robbery/murder. It was also a stone's throw away from our church, and was across the street from an abandoned pelota court. We actually lived there twice; the second time around, one of the security guards (it was a "gated" community, so to speak) told us that he was surprised that we were living there; apparently, one of the caretakers went insane while he was watching the house.

I never saw anything there either; not sure if my parents did.

Even my condo here in CA apparently had an old-timer ghost (probably the previous owner). My wife saw/heard him descend the steps; she thought it was my dad, who was visiting at the time, but he said he was asleep.

In a way, I'm happy that I haven't seen anything (the closest I've come was in Amsterdam, where my wife and I saw a figure hovering over my sister-in-law. We assumed it was her boyfriend; he said that he was beside her, sleeping, at that time). I don't know how I'd react. Scream like a little girl? Faint? Either way, it'll probably be embarrassing.