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| Art by STEVE DITKO, copyright MARVEL COMICS |
Seeing as how we're fast approaching Hallowe'en, I thought I'd share this true tale with you to put you in the mood. Are you alone? Are you sure you're alone? Perhaps you'd better check first before we proceed. Ready? Good, then I'll begin.
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Not long after my family had moved into our new house back in 1972, a curious thing happened. My brother came downstairs into the living-room one night and claimed he had just seen an elderly lady in white on the stairway outside his room. My parents pooh-poohed the notion, but, shortly after, my bed was moved from my front room on the grounds that it was damp (the room, not the bed) into my brother's room, which we then shared for a few months (again, the room, not the bed). I suspect it was more to do with my brother being scared to be alone than it was with the risk of me catching pneumonia, but I grant that it could've been a combination of both.
Some indeterminate time afterwards (a year or two perhaps), my brother again came into the living-room with a concerned look on his face and called us upstairs, saying that someone was walking around in the attic. We all trooped up to my brother's room and, sure enough, there was a sound of creaking boards - as though someone was walking from one end of the attic and back again. My father got out the stepladder and tentatively poked the top of his head a few inches into the hatch opening, but he was in no mad rush (nor were we) to more thoroughly explore the vast confines of its black interiors, so we put the noise down to some not entirely convincing 'rational' explanation and retired downstairs again.
Some years later, we moved house, and four years after that, we moved back again - with the exception of my brother, who had acquired his own flat in the meantime. Now, I don't believe in ghosts, but the couple with whom we exchanged houses in order to return to our former abode, told me that one night while lying in bed, a ghostly apparition had drifted through the wall from my brother's old room into theirs, then floated right over their bed and melted through the window on the other side. They were a young couple and a bit flaky, so I put their 'experience' down to having partaken of a combination of too much alcohol and weed.
But here's where it gets strange (as you doubtless anticipated). A few years after having moved back, I was lying in my bed one night in the small hours when I suddenly became aware of a wizened old woman in white shuffling towards my bedside. She stopped and stooped, lowering her crinkled face towards mine as if scrutinizing it intently. For a moment I was paralysed, but then, with a growl, I sat bolt upright in bed to confront the ancient figure, who immediately retreated (still facing me) into the far corner of the room before fading into nothingness.
I sat stunned for a moment, not quite sure what had happened. Had I seen a ghost, the very one my brother had claimed to have seen so many years before? Or had I only been dreaming and suddenly awoken - with the figure in my dream somehow still visible before me, like some swiftly-diminishing after-image?
Who can say for sure? I still don't believe in ghosts, but that was certainly a moment which gave me pause for thought. Anyone else got any similar experiences? Feel free to share.
Wow that was a scary one. Like yourself I'm not a believer in ghosts (more because if there is something after death I hope its not just haunting the gents at Glasgow central or a derelict house in Easterhouse etc). I had a personal experience though not as detailed as yours when I was about 14 years old on holiday in Blackpool around 1974. I was in my typically for the time very small B&B single room. One day after getting a bunch of US Sword and Sorcery and Horror B&W comics (Blackpool was amazing for US comics at this time) I went back to my room to read them, plus it was during a heatwave and it must have been over 80 degrees so I needed a rest as I had walked for miles. Anyway as I was reading the books I felt the room getting cooler (not freezing) and went to the window as I thought the weather had broken. It hadn't - and then I felt a presence in my room and turned to see a slight impression on my bed of a person sitting down. I high tailed it out the room and spoke to my mum and dad about it. They must have thought it was due to the heat and me reading horror comics, but being the nice parents my Mum and Dad were they agreed to sleep in my wee room that night. The next day at breakfast we spoke about it and I was excited to hear if anything happened. My Mum and Dad said something did around 1 am in the morning when they heard a noise at the door and then about 2 minutes later the door slowly creaked open, my mum bolted up and put the light on and there was no one there. However the door continued to open - but on looking down my mum saw a wee boy about 4 years old. He had gotten out the room at night and gotten lost - his parents got him a few minutes later. Anyway (this is the "oooooh" moment) later that night at dinner a lady who was staying in the hotel came over to our table and said to my mum and dad "'Im sorry my dad frightened your son yesterday in his room, he got lost." Thinking it was a mix-up similar to the wee boy, my mum said oh that's ok and stated I was worried it was a ghost, only to hear the lady then say "Oh yes it was a spirit - my dad died 5 years ago, but he is always with me." Dah! dah! dah! (I think she was a bit eccentric and overheard us talking about the ghost and in all probability to be honest, it was just my comics, the heat and a 14 year old's imagination.) Still, a lot of folk have similar stories including my mum's niece and a couple of friends (2 that took place in EK near one of the streets I read that you lived near). McScotty
ReplyDeleteKid,
ReplyDeleteThat was an engrossing story that had me looking behind my back. I may not be convinced about the existence of ghosts, but I would advise you make an appointment with Dr. Graves.....just in case...
Great story, McScotty. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that there are a few strange souls that haunt the Gents at Glasgow Central, but not necessarily ghosts. You're right about Blackpool in 1974 as far as comics go - I wonder if ever we passed each other, 'cos I was there on holiday in '73 & '74 as well. We could even have stayed in the same B&B 'cos I was given 'the small room' in '74. Magic times, eh?
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Nick, I'm going to make an appointment with your excellent blog, 'cos I noticed you're talking about supernatural comics in your latest post.
Two brilliant stories from you & McScotty, but how can you both still say you don't believe (Scully)?! Those 70' s B&W horror & S&S comics weren't available where I lived, so it's a branch I know very little about ( apart from TSSOC!), could either you or McScotty tell me some of the titles? Cheers, J (Mulder) P.
ReplyDeleteA few are: Monsters Unleashed, Dracula Lives, The Haunt of Horror, Vampire Tales, Tales of the Zombie, Masters of Terror and The Legion of Monsters. Monsters of the Movies and Monster Madness were another two, the former containing articles about horror movies, I believe - whereas the latter was a humour mag in which stills from old horror movies were given funny captions by Stan Lee.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that, Kid, - now I'll see if I can find some covers to look at!
ReplyDeleteBeen deliberating whether to put this on the internet or not, but anyway here goes - we moved here in '78 - a new square estate cut into a field, our house is the end of a terrace with an oak tree out the front -one of a long straight line of oak trees that run through our town going up to the next village which has a history of being an old village where an Anglo-Saxon king gathered his forces to fight the marauding Vikings. It was the early hours of one morning in early '79, the wife & me were lying there silently awake in a huff with each other after a lengthy petty argument when we heard the sound of a galloping horse in the distance getting closer and louder. Yet there was nowhere for a horse to come from or to! No roads, empty fields, nothing! As it got closer & reached our block it sounded as if it was galloping on the ROOF of our block! And as it thundered through our house it sounded like it was actually galloping THROUGH the roof! And what did I do? I closed my eyes tight and hid under the blankets, like a baby, where I foundthe missus similarly cowering! And when we surfaced we asked each other ," What the HE'LL was that?!" When we told her parents about that her Dad said it would have been the headless horseman, but I thought he was yanking our chain! But what WAS it? Any rational explanations welcome! And what would I do if it ever happened again? Exactly the bloody same! I don't want to potentialy SEE any hooves of a ghost rider going over my head! I'd be back under the duvet, where it's safe!
ReplyDeleteIt was a squirrel running over your roof with hobnailed boots on. JP. They're mischievous little rascals, so they are.
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