Beware of Wet Footprints

It’s Halloween, a time for remembering and repeating stories to scare ourselves or others. It’s a time to laugh at being frightened. But I no longer like to be frightened. Because it wasn’t a story. I was well and truly terrified. Beware of Wet Footprints in the night. They’ll terrify you, too. And you’ll never know if they’re from an uninvited guest, a dream, or a household spirit.

Beware of wet footprints in the night. You'll never know if they're from an uninvited visitor, a dream, or a household spirit. (read more)

On My Own

When I graduated from nursing school, I shared an apartment with a classmate. It was a standard two bedroom place with a private outdoor entrance.

Our first jobs, if I recall correctly, required that we each rotate night and evening shifts. (I know I did.) Day shift jobs were awarded to those with seniority at the facility. Our rotations were opposite so it was as if we each lived on our own. I frequently spent evenings alone in our apartment. Having had three siblings and after an all-women dorm for three years, it was my piece of heaven.

A Mystery

One night while my roommate was at work, something startled me awake. It was raining and blowing outside. Thunder or lightning had probably awakened me. I got up to use the bathroom and noticed a light coming from the living room. Figuring I must have forgotten to turn off the lamp, I trundled into the living room. Halfway across the living room, I realized it wasn’t the lamp that was on. The front door stood open. The outdoor light above the door cast a yellow glow, illuminating rain whipped by the wind. Who had opened the door? I whirled around but there was no one else I could see. Laughing nervously at myself, I told myself that I must not have closed and latched the door. Though I typically double- and triple-checked that door before I went to bed.

The Mystery Deepens

So there I was, in my pajamas and bare feet. I hurried forward to close the door, careful to lock it this time. The floor at the entrance was quite damp so I knelt and ran my hand over the carpet. Fortunately, it was only damp and only the first foot or so of the carpet. I stood. That’s when I saw it. On the carpet, a too-long-for-my-legs stride from the doorway was a perfectly-shaped, wet footprint. Adrenaline whooshed through my veins, kicked my pulse up over two hundred at least. Another long stride forward there was a second wet footprint. I couldn’t move.

It took two attempts before I could call my roommate’s name out loud. No answer.

I walked toward the footprint, making certain not to disturb it. The shoe that made that footprint was larger than mine—larger than my roommate’s. The second footprint, the left foot, was also the last wet footprint.

I crept back down the hall. No one was in the kitchen, the bathroom, or my roommate’s bedroom. My bedroom was vacant as well.

A Dark & Frightening Night

I spent the rest of the night on the sofa in the living room, holding the phone on my lap, and trying to convince myself that my roommate had come home briefly. But why only two footprints? And how could she, who was as short as I, take such a long stride?

Very soon the storm blew out and the night grew quiet. Nothing stirred in the apartment—except my still racing heartbeat. It was a long, dark, fright-filled night.

The next day, there was no trace of the footprints. No mud, no impression, no dampness. I asked my roommate if she’d come back to our place after dark. She said no. I didn’t tell her about the footprints. She wouldn’t have believed me anyway.

Kikimora

I’ve carried that incident in my memory trying to convince myself that I must have had a vivid dream or that I had imagined the footprints. But while looking for photographs to illustrate this post, I came across the story of Kikimora.

Kikimora is a female household spirit whose presence is always made known with wet footprints. She came from Slavic mythology. She can be a beneficial spirit if you keep your house well. If you don’t she’ll whistle and break things.

Read more about the Kikimora and her spouse here or here.

Uninvited Visitor, Dream, or Spirit?

What do you think? Was I visited by a household spirit, a human being, or was it all a dream? I’ll enjoy reading your answers, but I’ll still warn you, Beware of Wet Footprints in the night.

5 comments

  1. Terrifying! I find it more frightening if it was not a spirit. What caused them to come? What caused them to leave?

    As a young girl, I walked home from school with a neighbor. We went into her house to hang out but before we could go up to her room, we heard noises upstairs. She wanted to investigate, but I’m a coward. We went to my house and called the police. They arrested some dangerous robbers in the house.

    I’ve been nervous about noises in an empty house since then.

    1. Oh, my gosh, Deleyna! How terrifying for you. So glad you were smart (NOT a coward) and called the police. Sheesh. I’d be nervous about noises in my house ALL the time!

  2. Your comment is awaiting moderation. This is a preview, your comment will be visible after it has been approved.
    Hi Lynnette 👋 My name’s Charleigh & I have came across this post via Google & I have had a similar experience just a couple of day’s ago. I woke up early hour’s of the morning needing to go to the toilet, & on my way downstairs to the bathroom I noticed a footprint on the living room carpet/floor, but it was just 1 footprint and it was wet! I have took a couple of picture’s of the footprint 👣 I am baffled as to what it has came from and how it got there and why’s there just the 1 footprint & why’s it wet?! I believe that it’s got to be something that is paranormal related & I have been experiencing a lot of other paranormal related thing’s more frequently just lately, if you can give me some advice about this then I would really appreciate it please 😊 x
    {If you want to send me your email address I will forward you the picture’s of the footprint if you like}

    1. Thank you for sharing your experience, Charleigh. I’m afraid I have no advice to give. Good luck with finding an answer.

  3. I found your website because I believe my Slovakian great grandmother came to visit me. I am dealing with cancer and was inside the shower. I felt energy around me. I always towel off before I step out of the shower, always careful not to leave a footprint on the bathroom mat.

    I step out only to see a sopping wet footprint like someone was walking into the shower, just one TINY footprint. I wear a large size 9.5 and my foot doubled this sopping wet footprint on the bath mat. I took a photo. I believe it is my Zsa Zsa visiting.

    Thanks for confirming this as I was a little scared then okay with it. I keep my house clean! We were talking about how dirty my brother’s house was so I kindly asked it to go pester him instead!

    Thanks for sharing your story!

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