“I Thought the House Was Haunted”
Lesedi “Murna” Murna Selepe recently moved into her new, pre-owned home. Within a week, she says she began hearing odd noises from the ceiling above her kitchen. In a TikTok video, she can be seen tapping on the cornice (she’d referred to it as skirting) and hearing a hollow echo in response. Her first reaction? Fear. She admitted she thought the house might be haunted.
She posted, “The first night we slept in, we were so scared because I thought the house was haunted. Please give me advice, guys. I don’t know what to do.”
Community Steps In with Theories and Advice
Once the clip hit TikTok, South Africans resonated. Comments poured in from people with similar experiences. Some suggested pests, rats, birds, and bats. Others urged her to contact pest control or to talk to the previous owner or estate agent about disclosing issues.
One user said they too had similar night noises and had solved it “with rat poison and peanut butter sandwiches.” Another warned that birds might nest in roof spaces and that what sounds slow and dragging might not be human footprints at all.
Some even advised that she still had a window to cancel the transfer if the seller hadn’t disclosed latent defects. Murna jokingly replied that she would, except she had nowhere else to go.
@murnaleeI’ve been brainstorming everyday deciding what to do. I don’t have the budget right now to completely replace the skatings. I don’t even know how they got up there. Help me😫
Homes, Repairs, and Hidden Flaws
Murna’s dilemma is not unusual in South Africa’s housing market. Many buyers of resale homes find hidden problems, leaky roofs, termite damage, poor insulation, or old wiring long after moving in. What seems supernatural often has a logical cause.
In homes, ceilings and cornices are weak spots. Expansion and contraction, rodent movement, birds behind eaves, and shifting wiring all can produce creaks, taps, squeaks, or hollow sounds. Especially in older houses where maintenance has been neglected.
What This Story Tells Us
This episode taps into deep nerves, fear of the unseen, uncertainty in a property purchase, and the vulnerability of home as a safe space. Murna’s willingness to share the story invited empathy. It also shows how social media becomes an instant support group for strange house problems.
More than speculation, her post reminds us: always inspect before transfer. Insist on pest checks. Ask sellers about prior issues with ceilings, roof cavities, or animals. Use professional inspectors.
At the end of the day, the noise in the ceiling probably isn’t a ghost. But it’s a signal; something needs attention, something hidden. And that’s a conversation worth having, especially in homes bought secondhand.
Source: Briefly News
Featured Image: Verywell Mind
