John Cook and his family live in a two-story semi-Victorian home in Manvel, Texas.

Manvel is a city in Brazoria County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,046 at the 2000 census. It was originally named Pomona; however, because there was already a town in West Texas called Pomona or Pamona, the name was changed to Manvel, after a man who became president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The first group of settlers in the region was the family of W. R. Booth. They settled on Chocolate Bayou in July 1857. In 1877 the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway built through the area on its way from Galveston to Arcola. A townsite was formed in 1890 at the railroad crossing, and businesses began to be established there. In 1892 the community had a post office and by 1895 a population of 350, a grocer, a general store, a real estate agent, a physician, and two telegraph and express agents. Snow in 1895, a tornado in 1899, and a storm in 1900 destroyed local orchards and crops. In 1906 Manvel had a school, a teacher, and twenty-nine students. During the early and middle 1900s the town stayed roughly the same in size and population. On September 8, 1931, the Texas Oil Company struck oil on property in Manvel, and it became a rich oil-producing community. In 1936 local rice production began. In 1975 Manvel had twelve businesses and 110 inhabitants. It had fifty-seven businesses and a population of 3,549 in 1985; in 1988 it reported a population of 4,441 and sixty-eight businesses. In 1990 its population was 3,733.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: James A. Creighton, A Narrative History of Brazoria County (Angleton, Texas: Brazoria County Historical Commission, 1975). Kathleen E. and Clifton R. St. Clair, eds., Little Towns of Texas (Jacksonville, Texas: Jayroe Graphic Arts, 1982).

They been in this house for over five years now. To their knowledge..no one has died
in this house. They only know that the original owner fell from the roof and
broke many bones, but as far as I know..he didn't die.

Here is his Ghost story in his own words.

When I moved into this house a little over 5 years ago, I knew that it was built in 1985 or thereabout. I knew the story of the owner falling from the two-near three story steep roof and landing on his back. The original owners built this house as a " show " house. They threw lavish parties and guests from all over the neighborhood would come and go. I actually met a few of the neighbors that knew the house quite well, they said nothing about a death. Since the original owners left (as far as I know... they just moved away)...the house has been the home of many despised people. This has lead the neighbors on this quiet country street to dislike the owners of this house almost as a tradition.

The most notorious was a big shot attorney from Houston. He was said to be a very foul and corrupt man. He was actually a renter, not an owner. He stole a few things such as the tractor from the barn, etc. when he moved out. The last owner was a chinese OR vietnamese lady with a son that came from New York who was into a cult and ran the streets. When he came knocking on her door one day, she let him in as family and let him stay at the house. They did quite a few strange things.

When I moved in, the room that was his, it had strange ("almost bizarre") poems written all over the walls. The room was painted blue and bright white..as if it was the sky. They had built a hot tub into the downstairs guest bathroom that wasn't meant to large enough for a tub. They constructed a half ass and very poorly built bar room behind the house. We of course, bulldozed that heap. It was creepy enough as it was. So like always and being from a Catholic background ("not that I really am") we had the house blessed by a friend who had close ties with the church. She left holy water in a vase on the mantle. That is long since gone now.

The first week we were in the house I was alone in the house (during broad daylight) while my wife was at work and family was coming and going with things from the old house. I had all of the windows open and the wind was blowing throughout the house to get the musty smell out of it. I was downstairs when I heard a door slam. I went upstairs to find that the door to the room with the strange poems on the wall was slammed shut. I thought...ahh, its nothing it was a draft. Then I saw the second bedroom door slam shut while I was standing there...I nearly shit my pants. Naturally....I ran. When I got outside I realized what a pussy I was being , so I went back in and opened up the bedroom doors...I hadn't opened any windows upstairs and the doors shut from the inside out. They had to have been closed from within the rooms. The AC wasn't\'t on and there was no draft or breeze upstairs at all.

Over the first year of being in the house, nothing out of the ordinary really happened. During the second year my wife saw a dark clothed figure ( like the preacher in Poltergeist II and III). That kind of figure walking through the office and later on the stairs. This figure was seen by my wife; as well as myself.

Then nothing again, until this year. The dogs (we have 2 chihuahuas) would periodically bark at the staircase for no damn reason at all. I fell asleep on the couch one night and awoke to see my dog standing on the ottoman staring at the staircase. He wasn't barking or anything, just staring. I peeled myself away from the couch to look at whatever he was looking at and thought for sure I saw something white floating next to the stairs.

Over the past few weeks I've been awaken in the middle of the night
with whispering in my ear ( usually my name ) A few nights ago ( about a
week ) I heard a two syllable word, but couldn't make out what it was.
About a week prior to that, my wife had stayed home from work and was
upstairs watching tv and laying in bed. She said she saw the upper torso
of someone coming toward her from the sitting room. She said it was
wearing a white shirt and that it was a man.

Until this morning...I had thought nothing of these things.

My wife just had surgery last Friday and I was able to take this week
off to be with her. She has been having trouble sleeping at night
without reason. Could be the meds, but she is only taking over the counter
headache medication. Anyway, I fell asleep about 1 in the morning. She
did not, because when I awoke she was downstairs asleep on the couch.

I was having a dream about something completely crazy...had something
to do with Leatherface and his mother. I had just escaped my own house
and was headed to the main street where stores were to call the police.
Leather was waiting for me by a fence...anyway...I awoke. I looked to my right and my wife wasn't there and then something scared the shit out of me....

I had turned my head to the left towards the clock that was sitting on top of the satellite receiver above the tv and something was standing in the way. I blinked my eyes and looked closer to see it was the head of a person. The hair was reddish, brown and what I was looking at appeared to be the back of the head at second glance. Notice I said...second glance. As I looked harder I noticed the white..almost silk shirt ( like a nightgown ) It started to fade from the bottom up as I reached for the hanging chain of the ceiling fan light above my head. Of course, when I pulled the chain...it was gone.

I came downstairs to find my wife fast asleep on the couch with the tv on. I haven't woke her up yet, instead..I took the dog outside for a minute and then sat in this chair to get online to get this shit out of my head. It isn't working....I feel a cold shiver down my spine.

So for the non-ghost believers, there could possibly be a simple and scientific explanation for this sighting, I rule out nothing.

But yeah....if I wasn't a believer before....I am definately one now. Nothing could've gotten any more real than that for me. The head in front of the television set was actually " blocking " the light from the clock behind it. That is what still gets me when I think about it.

JOHN COOK

Born in Houston, Texas on April 10th, 1973. 33 years old and married. He has 2 step sons and his mother lives in guest house on the back of our 2.5 acre property in the heart of Manvel, Texas. He work in the oilfield business based out of Houston.

Also see A Haunting in Jackson, California

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