Hysterical Laughing at 3AM

My boyfriend and I were staying with another couple in a rented house while visiting friends. The house was pleasant enough, but it had an unsettling atmosphere. When I put our belongings in the bedroom, I opened the closet and found nothing inside except a small child’s chair facing the bed. There were no hangers, linens, or other supplies, just the chair in the empty closet.

We went out for the evening and returned to the house after everyone had been drinking. I usually sleep heavily after drinking, but I woke to a quiet giggle. At first I thought my boyfriend was laughing in his sleep. The sound grew louder and seemed to come from outside the bedroom window, which was behind the bed and above our heads.

I quietly looked toward the window but could not see anyone. The giggling stopped. Just as I was about to lie down again, it started up. This time I knew it was not my boyfriend or the other couple. The sound grew from soft giggles into full, hysterical laughter directly outside the window.

My boyfriend was awake too. He clenched my hand and asked whether I could see anyone outside. I told him I could not. We stayed together and listened as the laughter continued. It finally stopped after what felt like a long time. We remained awake for hours, watching the window and waiting to see whether it would return.

The next morning, we asked the other couple whether they had heard anything. They had not and thought we might have dreamed it. That explanation did not make sense to me because my boyfriend and I had both heard the same laughter, coming from the same place.

I still do not know whether someone was standing directly below the window, hidden from view, or whether the sound came from inside the house. I only know that a stranger laughed outside our bedroom for a long time and then disappeared without making a sound. We left the house afterward, and I have never forgotten the empty closet, the child’s chair, or the laughter in the dark.