During the month of November, we'll be accepting real life spooky stories from anyone who'd like to enter. At the end of the month, Cassie and I will choose our favorites and the winners will receive an awesome prize package.
In the meantime everyone can enjoy the creepy stories and maybe get some ideas for their next gaming session. If this goes well, we plan to make it an annual event.
How To Enter
If you're reading this, you're eligible.
Submit a real life spooky experience you've had to the comments section below. This could be anything from a ghostly encounter to a UFO sighting to something just plain weird that you have no explanation for. It doesn't even have to be something that happened to you personally. If it's spooky and it's real, we'll take it. I'll put up a new post each week so that the comments section doesn't get too long. Non-entry comments and discussions of the entries are also welcome.
How to Win
At the end of the month, Cassie and I will choose our three favorite entries as the winners. The best entries will be both highly credible and bone-chillingly spooky. We're both pretty skeptical about the paranormal (I think I'm the more skeptical of the two), but we love a good yarn that has the ring of authenticity.
The Prizes
All three winners will receive an awesome prize package that includes the following:
- Print + PDF copies of Don't Walk in Winter Wood
- Print + PDF copies of Hell 4 Leather by Joe Prince
- PDF copies of Pulp-Fu and Wyrd-Fu by Daniel Bayn
- PDF copy of Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple by Daniel Solis
- PDF copy of Pickets & Blinds by Kevin Allen Jr.
- PDF copy of The Blue Wasp by Nash High
- PDF copies of Annalise and Be Ashamed, Young Prince by Nathan Paoletta
The contest starts right now. Have fun!
When I was young and into smoking pot a friend and I had an experience I will never forget. One night we were in search of some bud and were running into dead ends left and right. Before long, he had an idea. You see, he used to live in an apartment complex near an old quarry. There were trails all round the place, and one he found someone's plants just off the path. He convinced me that he knew exactly where they were, and that it would be nothing to snag some. It was mid August, so it was warm, and there was a full moon.
ReplyDeleteI knew the herb would be sweet after so much work, so I was game. We headed out to the old apartments and, with the help of a lucky tune (Gimmie Shelter by the Stones), we were pumped up for our late night hike through the forest surrounding the quarry.
He parked the car, and we looked at each other, confirming that we were both still game. When we got out of the car, something felt wrong. Maybe it was the simple timing of Merry Clayton heart wrenching scream during the bridge of the song, or maybe it was the odd August fog in the full moon. We both hesitated, but pressed on.
About 200 yards down the path, something happened I will never forget. My friend said "We are almost there," which was followed by the sound of a chainsaw start cable being pulled. We froze in position. Naturally we were terrified that we stumbled on some dealers during their harvest, or some other horrible act. Another tug and the saw started. It wasn't too close, but in our own quiet we could tell it was coming our direction. We turned and ran. I heard it take our chase and chose not to waste time looking back.
Out of breath and running on pure adrenaline I heard my friend yell "They are right next to me!" I looked and saw nothing but heard the saw as if it were in my own ears. The last few yards were the worst and we collapsed on the grass near an apartment patio. We turned, ready to dodge an attack, but there was no one there. Not a person, not a ghost, not even a sound.
From that moment forward, we swore to not go back to Crystal Lake apartments (and yes, that is the real name).
I grew up in a small town in rural Mississippi, and spent the summers of my teenage years working odd jobs to earn money and spending three or four days at a time hanging out at friends' and relatives' houses. Most of our houses had been built during the construction boom after World War II, and were pretty small by modern standards. They also didn't have central air conditioning. Most families could afford a window air conditioner with which to fight the sweltering summer heat and humidity, but they almost always placed them in the master bedroom - leaving us kids to deal with the oppressive heat at night.
ReplyDeleteSince our rooms quickly became unbearably warm and humid without the benefit of an air conditioner or at least a fan, we often slept outside. We especially enjoyed sleeping at my cousins' farmhouse because they had a screened-in front porch, which kept the mosquitoes from eating us alive, and an electric fan that helped us all keep cool.
It was late Autumn but still unseasonably warm when this story took place, so my cousins, a couple of friends, and I were sleeping out on the front porch. I was awakened by the loud squeal of the rusty catch on the front gate being eased opened, and think the rest of the boys were too. Trying to not move too much, I rolled over enough to see who had made the torturous racket. My heart froze in my chest. Something with bright glowing green eyes the color of summer grass stood at the gate.
Vividly recalling the many ghost stories my older cousins had told that centered around the nearby woods, I watched with growing horror as the thing took a single hesitant step, then another, and another. I heard my best friend's breath catch in his throat as it stepped onto the first cinderblock stair leading up to the front porch. We were all terrified, but my youngest cousin's nerve broke first. He screamed the moment he heard the thing start scrabbling at the screen door's simple catch, and bolted inside the house.
I am not proud to admit that we all followed suit. Their father, my uncle, had been woken by the racket and angrily demanded to know what was going on. He listened with obvious disbelief as my cousins stumbled over themselves and one another to warn him that a monster was trying to get into the house. I don't think he believed them, but I couldn't help but notice his eyes flicker toward the door leading out onto the front porch more than once anyway.
My uncle grabbed a revolver from the gun cabinet and a cheap plastic flashlight from the kitchen, and then went out to investigate. We were startled and then confused when we heard his bellowing laughter a few seconds later. Smiling broadly, he insisted that we all come out onto the front porch to see our 'monster'. It was the neighbor's pet weimaraner, a tall breed of dog well-known for its ability to open gates and doors, that had escaped its yard - probably using the same trick that had scared us all half to death - and decided to pay us a visit.
When I was in Boy Scouts, our Troop went camping up in the Rocky Mountains. The first evening we all went to bed, we were woken up very early in the morning by our Scout Leaders in a rush. A forest fire had a started and was close enough to fill the air with smoke.
ReplyDeleteAs one of the four oldest Scouts, we were tasked to lead the Troop and help the younger Scouts out.
After quickly breaking down camp and stuffing all our gear in backpacks, we lead the very upset and scared Scouts down to the cars through the smoke filled woods. We had a trail, but it was a dark night and made even darker with the the smoke.
Our flashlight beams dissolved and scattered in the smoke casting strange shadows. The sounds in the air was also strange. With the forest all around us, and the smoke in the air, everything was oddly quiet and the echoes played tricks on you in regards to where sounds were coming from.
Only about 1/2 mile into our mile long hike to the cars, my friend and I saw "something" run about 25 yards out in front of our path, the dark shadow stopped, appeared to stand up in a hunched like posture and stand perfectly still. Obviously, we stopped, too.
We slowly moved forward, shinnig our lights and shouting, "who's there?" as it looked a little like a person. We knew better when we were close enough for our flashlights to bounce of the eyes of whatever it was. Two perfectly red orbs reflected the light back at us. My friend and obeyed our instincts, screamed bloody murder and ran back the 20 or so feet to the Troop who was moving slower than us.
We then moved on as a group, but whatever was in the middle of the trail had vanish.
To this day, I have no idea what it was that we saw, but it stood hunched over on two legs, was thin, and looked to be at least 4 feet tall. I get the shivers even now thinking about what that creature was, running through the smoke filled night, and wonder if it was as scared as us. I honestly doubt it was, however, because the cold red reflection coming from those eyes showed no fear or concern - only quiet acknowledgement the we saw it and it saw us.
Great stories, guys. Looks like this is going to be hard to judge.
ReplyDeleteHey there,
ReplyDeleteIts Mick Reddick as a backer of your project DWiWW, and the guy thats going to demo your game here in the UK i thought i would share a couple of spooky things that have happened to me for real, and i never ever used to believe in ghosts and stuff
Story One - As a young boy (maybe 13) growing up in rural Wiltshire close to Stonehenge in England, i lived in a small village with a few eccentric character one of these was a man called Fred Phillamore he was a typical english gentleman always wearing a tweed jacket and a matching hat with a phesant feather in it (we all knew that he was a game poacher). Anyway early one morning (approx 2 am) i was in bed when i woke, it was dark outside, i looked out of the window and in front of my house was Fred walking his dog, though nothing of thid as he was never far from his gundog.... anyway next morning i awoke and was eating breakfast when i told my mum what i had seen early in the morning, within 10 mins the phone rang and my mum answered...she came back looking pale and informed me that Mr Phillamore had past away at 8 pm the previous evening!!! Four hours prior to me seeing him walking his dog...... frightened the bejesus out of me
Story Two - About six years ago whilst on leave from my job in the Royal Navy, a friend told me a company called Dark Encounters was conducting a ghost hunt in Southsea Castle (built by Henry VIII to defend Portsmouth harbour). A few hours into the hun myself and 3 girls went into one of the castles rooms with an electronic dictaphone and i asked if someone was going to call out of of the girls asked if there were any spirits or astral beings present and we continued for about 5 mins with no luck.... However about 20 mins later when we listened back just after the girls asked if any beings were present as god is my witness and on my daughters life a deep gravelly voice was on the recorder saying as clear as day 'I've been to hell and back' this voice did not come through in the room..... suffice to say i have never attended another ghost hunt since
regards
Mick
This is going to sound pretty cliché but bear with me.
ReplyDeleteI used to live in Coeur d'Alene, ID and worked for an internet provider in the area. I didn't have a car at the time (in 2001) so I walked to and from work more often than not. It wasn't a bad walk, only taking about 20 minutes or so, and CdA wasn't really known for the bad parts of town at that time, even though that area was starting to see meth on the rise.
I walked along Lincoln Way. Lincoln wasn't a very busy street, either. Most people traveled Northwest Blvd. or Government Way. For me it was just the most direct route to get home. If anyone reading this has been there before you might remember the two cemeteries (one on either side) of the street between Hubbard and Harrison. For those of you not familiar, here's a Google Maps picture of the path I'd walk:
http://www.thevigilant.net/thewalk/the.walk.jpg
Between Summit and Hubbard on that photo there is a large patch of green grass on the left side of the blue line. That's Riverview Cemetery. You can see it a little better here:
http://www.thevigilant.net/thewalk/cemetary.jpg
Each of those little white dots is a large headstone. There are several in the ground that you can't really make out from the satellite view. Anyways, like all cities in the Great NorthWest, Coeur d'Alene got dark pretty early once fall was on the way out and winter started rolling in. As I said, I didn't have a car so I kept walking during this time. The cold wasn't too bad, more wet than anything else, and if it got to where I couldn't handle it I could always call a friend for a ride. I just hated bothering people. Besides, it was a weekend so my shift was only 11am-7pm.
So it's dark, I'm walking home after work and I pass by Riverview Cemetery on my left, just like usual. I'm one of those guys who is easily distracted by motion, and something in the cemetery moved. When I looked over to see what it was I would have sworn on anything you put in front of me that it was some guy waving at me. It was kind of creepy, just how he was hanging out in Riverview after dark waving at the one guy walking down Lincoln Way. Just so you get an idea, it wasn't like this guy was real far away or anything. He was pretty close to the fence, standing near one of the larger headstones:
http://www.thevigilant.net/thewalk/cemetary.close.jpg
Like I said, meth was starting to become the new thing in CdA so I just looked at my feet and kept walking, thinking the guy might be a tweaker. He was dressed way too light for the weather and just kept on waving like he didn’t have a care in the world. I only got a few steps before I looked back to make sure he wasn’t following me.
There was no one there. Instead, there was a plastic bag hooked on the headstone.
I laughed it off, made it home and was waiting for some friends to show up for game. John was first to arrive and as soon as he stepped inside he says “Saw some meth-head on Lincoln. In the cemetery there was this guy just waving at me.” He vented for a while about the areas off Lincoln going downhill.
I didn’t say a damn thing.
Hello!
ReplyDeleteAny word yet concerning who are the three winners of this contest?
I'm certain I'm not the only one waiting with baited breath to see if we've won copies of these cool, cool games.
Thanks, and here's hoping y'all have a great day!