From creaky floorboards to strange squeaks, the number of scary sounds that a house – new or old – can make can be a little unsettling. Especially during this spooky time of year, with Halloween right around the corner, those bumps in the night can often lead our imagination down roads darker and more twisted than anything Hollywood comes up with.

Thankfully, almost all of the noises that your home might make when no one else is around are totally harmless. These benign sounds can even be beneficial, because once you know what’s causing them, you can identify potential problems before they get too big to handle on your own. With that in mind, today we’ve put together a guide to the ghastly racket your house might be making to help put your mind at ease.

The HVAC Goes Thump In The Night

A clanky HVAC system isn’t necessarily haunted – in fact, more likely than not, the system may just be operating normally. A low hum is pretty normal and means that your HVAC is probably working the way it’s intended to. But if you start hearing clanking noises, it may be time to get things checked out – by an HVAC technician, not an exorcist. It could be as simple as a belt or screw needing tightening, but if that doesn’t solve the problem, calling in a pro is the best way to banish those spooky sounds.

It’s In The Attic

Attics and crawlspaces are notorious for being a little eerier than most spots in your house, but most of those sounds aren’t a cause for concern. Squeaks and creaks are pretty common as the wood in your attic expands and contracts due to fluctuations in temperature and moisture levels. If you hear a big crack or bang, that could indicate a problem, but it’s probably still not a ghost – more likely, it’s just a board that was under too much strain as the house shifts and settles over time. These problems can be serious and should be addressed immediately – but they’re still not supernatural.

And skittering of tiny feet across the floor may not mean you’ve got an attic full of little ghosts – it probably just means you have a home invader of the avian or small mammalian variety. Poking around with a flashlight might turn up nothing, but if you spot signs of animal droppings, you may want to have a professional come in and make sure your attic is tightly sealed against small intruders.

Wailing Water

If you can’t stand the sound of dripping water, you’ve come to the right place. Those drips and drops can be infuriating, but they aren’t really an indication of something spooky – more likely than not, they’re just the product of a small leak. If the drips are constant, it’s probably a sign that one of your pipes has a small leak; whereas, if they drips only occur when a faucet is turned on or a toilet is flushed, they may point to a leak in a water valve or drain instead. Either way, you don’t need to call the Ghostbusters – a plumber should do just fine.