The Distant Drummer

Here is a story from my book "Farm House Hauntings." This one takes place at a farm located on Fraternity Church Road in Winston-Salem.
Brandon wanted a set of drums and plagued his parents with consent requests for a set. They knew Brandon had drifted through the harmonica, keyboard, bass, and finally the guitar stage and thought a set of drums would not be a wise investment. Finally they agreed on a compromise. They would purchase Brandon a snare drum and after he mastered playing it they would give him a full set of drums.

He had only had the drum for a few weeks and as his parents anticipated his interest disappeared. He moved the drum downstairs into the recreation room. Late one night his mother was awakened by a faint drumming sound. She looked at the clock on the nightstand beside the bed and saw that it was 3:00 am. What in the world was Brandon doing she thought. After a short while the drumming stopped.

The next morning, when she questioned Brandon about his early morning drumming he claimed he was sound asleep at 3:00 am. A couple of days later the same thing happened. This time Brandon’s mother decided to catch him in the act and went downstairs. As she opened the door the drumming stopped. She let out a small gasp when she saw the drum sitting in the corner. She ran back upstairs woke up her husband and told him what had happened. He told her she was more than likely dreaming and to go back to sleep. A few nights later the drumming started again and this time Brandon heard it. He jumped out of bed and ran to his parent’s room. He woke them both up and they all three heard the faint sound of drumming. As they descended the stairs the drumming suddenly stopped. Brandon’s father checked the doors and they were all locked.

The next day Brandon decided to take and hide the drumsticks. A few days went by and nothing happened. The third night the drumming started up again and Brandon ran downstairs. He opened the door and saw the drumsticks on the floor next to the drum.

This activity went on for weeks and the family decided to investigate the history of the farmhouse they had purchased. They were shocked to learn that a young 14-fourteen year old boy named Alan had committed suicide in the basement. In fact he had died in the very room that they had turned into a rec room. After talking with Alan’s surviving relatives they were surprised to find out that he owned a drum set and would spend hours in the basement practicing. They said that he was always depressed and that the only time he really seemed happy was when he was playing the drums.

The drum playing went on for several weeks and then stopped. Although the family does not hear the drums they claim that often they find the drumsticks placed on top of or near the snare drum. Brandon thinks its “kind of cool,” but is a little disappointed that the phantom drummer is a lot better drummer than he is.