Ah, Halloween. Time to break out the skeleteons, ghosts, and witches hats and gorge on candy. Halloween is hands-down my favorite holiday of the year, and one of the best things about it? A great excuse to scare yourself senseless!
Allow me, for a moment, to take a brief detour. Halloween has it’s roots in the ancient Celtic holiday of Samhain (pronounced sow-in), which was principally a harvest festival. Samhain is, however, also a festival of the dead and considered to be a time when the veil between the world’s is at it’s thinnest, a time when the spirits of ancestors and other spiritual beings to walk among us mere mortals…
Which, if you ask me, also makes it a really great time for ghost stories. I’m gonna let y’all in on a little secret: I love ghost stories. The creepier the better–the kind that make you get that chill down your spine, when you want to spin around real quick to catch whoever (or whatever) it is you can feel watching you.
In the spirit of Halloween (and Samhain) I want to hear your ghost stories! We’ve had a few creep up on Current–some of my favorites include this look at the haunted Moss Beach Distillery in Half Moon Bay (alas, I didn’t see any ghosts when I was there) or this possible video of a ghost from my own alma matter, Asheville High School. (Which was, as far as I could tell, was not haunted while I was a student. Shame, really, it would have made things far more interesting.)
You might also want to check out this video on the haunted Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky for inspiration:
But enough from me–what about you? Have you had any brushes with ghosts or other supernatural entities? Leave a webcam or a comment, and we’ll post the spookiest responses on the Current.com blog!
Steph
November 1st, 2009 at 5:41 am
It involves a dark night, a crazy monster and a fight for our lives. A story told in only the way the old horror b-movies of the 50’s and 60’s could do justice. With theremin music for added depth and spookiness!
Relive the horror THAT CAME FROM THE POND!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BPnupgBJJA
November 2nd, 2009 at 6:22 am
Suddenly there is a flash of light and I find myself lying on a tombstone in a cemetery as a terrible storm begins .
I see a church on a hill in the middle of the cemetery. People are going inside and one stands outside the front door and turns toward me . I am too far to make out his face but he waves me over as to signal me to hurry and get inside as another flash of lightning silhouettes the church .
The closer I get , the harder it rains . It seams as if the rain is speaking to me . I can hear a faint ’shhh..’ as a low rumble caresses the uneven muddy ground. The earth is like pitch , sticking to me and slowing my progress .
I can see that it is a priest that is waiting for me. An old frail little man . He greets me with an odd statement , ” We haven’t had a visitor in a long time. Come quickly.” As he reaches for my hand another flash of lightning reveals that he seams to be suffering from severe cataracts . For his eyes were milky white .
I hesitate for a moment and grab his hand . It was cold , like a wet clam . But as I squeezed his hand it turned to stone . It wasn’t squeezing my hand , I just couldn’t release my grip .
There was something about that tiny little stone church on the hill that disturbed me to the bone . I didn’t know if it was the cold rain or outright fear that had me shaking as I crossed the threshold of the dimly lit church .
The little priest ushers me to a seat way in the back of the church . I look at him to say thank you and notice that his eyes are now a bright green and he seams to have gotten younger . Instead of saying a word I sit with my mouth open for a moment stupefied by what is happening .
The priest looks away and as I feel his hand turn back to flesh but pulsating with flashes of heat . The little church seams to be rumbling from the raging storm outside but it becomes clear that the sound was emanating from the little man sitting next to me , the priest !
I pull my hand away and asked him, “what type of church is this.” The rumbling stops and the priest stands up and walks toward the front .
I look around at the other people sitting up front and notice that they are all wearing the clothes of other religious figures from all the religions I have studied in my youth . They stand and nod as the little man passes them.
The lightning gets more severe and as it flashes I can see that the priest is growing in stature and the color of his clothes is changing from ,black to white to red .
I look at the people again and notice a stripe of either black , red or white on the different figures . Their colors don’t change but Their clothes begin to form into robes with large hoods .
They are chanting something . I can barely make it out . I decide that I have to get closer to hear what they are saying . I look down to make my way to the isle and see that the ground has changed also . Faces . Faces of people praying but they have no mouths..Their eyes are sewn shut and others are cutting away the ears.?!
I feel dread and an overwhelming sense of inadequacy . I look up at the priest and now he is an eight foot tall swirling mass of dark matter and his face is changing so fast that all I can make out is a blur .
I hear them faintly but it’s not like they are chanting out loud because I hear them in my head ….ignorance , conditioning , devotion . Over and over .
The church rumbles and ‘it’ speaks . Not with the voice of a man but with the voice of a stadium . “I am the first and the last question that will never be forgiven .”
The people respond in unison ,’Who are we?’.
I wake?