Just my luck.....

[Acies]

TRUST ME, if I could come to a logical conclusion, I would. Believe me. But I can not to this day and I don't think I ever will...

Main thesis:
Moonshine, old friend, moonshine (I'm guessing that is the correct term for the swedish word "hembränt").

Logical guesses:
1) The door was left slightly open. Due to heat differences in the air between basement and upper floor the wooden boards of the staircase started expanding and creaking. You imagined this as someone coming up the stairs. Frightened, your senses sharpened, which in turn led you to believe someone was pulling down the handle just as the door opened (opening due to the exchange between cold and hot air - like a vague wind).
2) A burglar had been down in the cellar, who then tried to leave as he heard someone stirring in the house.
3) Hallucinations/schizophrenia, in which everything transpired in your mind. Caused by (?), uh.. Insuffient information to keep on guessing here :> On a sidenote it is believed for example that the hallucinations of "the oracles" were caused by leakings of poisonous gas.

If above guesses are discarded refer back to "Main thesis".