It’s the most wonderful time of the year- Halloween season! That means us “murderinos” (coined from My Favorite Murderthe podcast) have an excuse to talk about all the dark, creepy things we want and it’s not considered wholly unnatural. Some of my favorite spooky past time activities include telling ghost stories with my cousins during sleepovers and exploring the local creepy abandoned buildings in the woods. Many of the stories I heard sound a lot like ones you’ve probably heard growing up- a ghost lady on the water who can be heard crying, a hooked man attacking a couple making out in their car by the lake, a car stopped over some train tracks with fatal consequences. You get the idea. Have you ever experienced something paranormal? People from different cultures and backgrounds all over the world have claimed to experience paranormal phenomena, as is evident from the countless number of television shows and documentaries involving personal accounts from people all over the globe (Paranormal Witness, A Haunting, Ghost Hunters International, etc.).
Paranormal (adjective) – denoting events or phenomena such as telekinesis or clairvoyance that are beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding (Google, 2018)
Spooky Stories: The Ghost that Haunts the Empty Lot
My cousin, Rachael, and I became very close friends when we were both in junior high. She was in seventh grade and I was in sixth grade when we found ourselves staying the night at each other’s house just about every weekend and creating tons of fun memories. She lived with her grandparents in the middle of the woods in our small East Texas hometown, and her grandmother’s brother and his family lived next door. His stepson, Wesley, was my age and had just moved to our school. We had gone over to Wesley’s to hang out with him and his half-brother, Colt, as I had a crush on Wesley and Colt always doted on Rachael. We played basketball together until dark, and then we decided we’d head home to have dinner – and not be so available for the boys’ egotistical needs.
On our way back, we talked about our afternoon with our friends and how excited we were for how fun the fall semester would be. After finally making it down their long driveway, we rounded the corner onto Rachael’s bumpy driveway and it suddenly felt very dark and cold over the moist dirt. I don’t remember what we were talking about when I saw it, but I suddenly saw the figure of a girl around my age walking on the path toward us. There was a single streetlight down the path, but leafy branches obscured the direct light. Rachael and I both stared in silence as we continued walking to the right of the figure as it started passing. The girl had long hair and was looking down so I couldn’t see her face. Rachael was closer to the stranger; I was to her right, peering past her hungrily staring at the girl as she turned her head toward us. Rachael’s face suddenly came into focus and she cut off my view of the stranger. “Adrienne?” She said, trepidation in her voice. “Run!” I screamed in urgency. We took off running, and I’ve never felt more fearful in my life than at that moment. So much was racing through my mind, and we were still quite a distance from the house— from safety. I remember feeling as if someone was right on our heels, and even though it was dark behind us, and I knew it would slow me down, I just had to look behind me to gauge what I need to do next to survive. She wasn’t there. We finally frantically made it to the steps, through the closed wooden gate at the landing, through the front door, and into the kitchen to grab my great aunt in a desperate attempt to feel safe again.
After I tried to explain to my aunt whatever it was that we had seen, Rachael suddenly seemed confused. She hadn’t seen a girl at all, but a floating ball of light in the form of a shadowy figure (contradictory, it seems, but that’s the paranormal for you). Incredibly, my aunt was notsurprised by our story. She explained that multiple family members, including my mother and her husband, had seen the same girl I had described over the years in the area by their house and around their long dirt driveway. She never touched anyone, but her presence alone was chilling enough to make each person who saw her flee the area as quickly as possible. The next time we saw Wesley at school, we told him the story. He then made the snap decision to not play outside too late or venture off alone. (A wise decision, young Wesley.)
Stay sexy and don’t let the spoopies get you, friends.