There are different types of hauntings.
Residual Hauntings:
This is the most common type of haunting. It is believed that emotions are energy and the wood and stone absorb this energy and play it back like a recording. High stress situations such as a battle will leave such an imprint on the area and from time to time play it back like a recording. Some times a person will hear someone open the front door and walk up the stairs. Sometimes you can pick up EVPs with such a haunting. Unless there are other things associated with this sound it is residual. I have heard of a person so bothered with such a sound that they had their house torn down and put up a new one, only to have the sound come back to their new home.
Intelligent Ghosts:
This is a true haunting. It is rare, but it also can be very unnerving for the living.
These are people who had either decided to stay behind for some reason, or are lost and cannot find their way to the light. They are aware of you and will interact with you to get your attention. Here too you will hear footsteps, but it is usually in more then one location. Objects will disappear and reappear in different locations. A person has a feeling of being watched, will experience cold spots, animals will react as though they are watching someone. A person may hear disembodied voices, feel as though they are being touched, there may be strange smells, doors may open or close at will, lights may turn on and off, as well as radio or tv. A person may see an apparition, either as smoke or ball of light or as an image of a person.
Poltergeist
Poltergeist means noisy ghost, typical disturbances include strange noises and knockings, and objects moving about as if under their own power. Objects have been reported to fly about in bizarre trajectories, to crash to the floor and break, to break or shatter in place, and to disappear and reappear, sometimes in different locations. Beds are sometimes reported to shake and furniture to rearrange it self. Water droplets or bursts might come from nowhere or stones have pelted homes.
Visitations
This type of haunting may be a relative coming to visit you, or a spirit of someone who may have lived in your home or land before. Not long lasting. May stay of one day to a few months. You may smell a strange aroma, hear doors open and close, or foot steps, may even see shadows.
