My house is only about thirty years old, but it was built on the grounds of a former plantation here in Louisiana. It wasn't a slave plantation, but I think that the normal everyday bustle of the plantation may have left a residual haunting on the grounds. The activity mainly happens around the area of the stairs, upstairs bathroom, upstairs hallway, and my bedroom (which is right next to the top of the stairs).

I often hear regular footsteps on the stairs or in the hallway, and sometimes running footsteps on the stairs, and I almost always have a bad, nervous feeling when I go up or down the stairs. Most of what happens seems residual. However, a few things that have happened have made me think otherwise. Just today, a cup from inside the bathroom (which was at the back of the counter behind other objects and couldn't have rolled off the counter) ended up in the hallway far from the bathroom door. Going up the stairs once, I heard what sounded like the voice of a little girl saying my name, and when I asked my parents if they'd said anything, they told me no. I don't have any siblings living at home. A cardboard picture flew from my mirror frame and hit my guitar violently from the opposite wall, several feet away, and the AC vent isn't pointed at the mirror.

Is this a residual or active haunting? Do I have more than one? Is my ghost malevolent? Help!

First of all let me shoot down the residual theory. In theory, that type of haunting is a moment of the past simply replaying itself. If your house would have been built back in that time, you might be experiencing something like that as those spirits would have had activity in that environment. Seeing that your house is a brand new environment compared to the plantation, a residual haunting can't really replay in your bathroom or upstairs. That aside, I want to state I don't believe in "residual" hauntings at all anyway. You yourself said this spirit is already actively manifesting in YOUR environment... making it quite aware and intelligent. Now, do you have more than one spirit there? Not many people can tell you that... that would possibly take some time by someone on the property... and it is time that is not necessary at all to deal with the spirits. Now you want to know if it is malevolent? This I can 99% of the time say YES to. There is more than just physical harm at stake here... and more imporantly it is spiritual harm. If we would learn to gauge these spiritual activities according to what God has revealed to mankind in the Bible, we would not have NEAR as many of these problems as we do. So, short answer is YES, if you do INDEED have a haunting in your home, it is demonic (no matter how nice or harmless it seems). I might suggest that you not get a lot of info from all the different ghost hunting shows on TV. Now of course this is not a view I can or will force on you. If you want to know more, I'm here... if not, that's your choice to make.

The haunting being demonic really does seem like a very plausible theory, based on what you've told me. Is the spirit's physical manifestation in my house what classifies it as demonic? And how do I deal with a spirit like this? So far, it has not harmed anyone in my home physically, and as far as I can tell, it hasn't harmed me spiritually, either. Is it something I should let be, or do I need to seek help for it?

Well, no, it is not HOW a spirit manifests that makes it a demon... it is simply what they are. Now there is a lot of secular demonology and superstition that likes to classify demons and spirits by how they manifest. That is really not correct... and demon is a demon and quite frankly can manifest in just about anyway you can imagine... and they vary in power and wickedness. But just because one is stronger than another does not mean they are not still both demons. Does that make sense? As for your question, no I would not just let this be or ignore it. When I refer to spiritual harm... I am more specifically speaking of false doctrines that can be learned from their manifestations and influences. A good example of this would be that the Bible teaches us in Hebrews 9:27 that mankind has ONE life and will then be delivered for judgement... now what a demon will do is influence a person in a way either directly or through a medium to think that they may have lived a past life or are experiencing reincarnation. Now you see no physical harm was done to this individual, but by believing the lie of havng a past life they have stripped the Bible of all foundation and truth. Does that make sense? So, again, no I would never in a million years allow a spirit to reside in my home. You deal with a spirit like this in authority. The bible is clear who has this authority and the best advice would be for you to find a ministry near your home that has experience and more importantly UNDERSTANDING in the area of demonic confrontation.