Light from the television bathed the bedroom in a soft, white glow, the sound of Conan O’Brien’s monologue keeping Scott Donaldson company.
“It was in late August of 2003 on a average night,” Donaldson of Price, Utah said. His wife lie sleeping next to him, his children asleep in other rooms.
But the night slowly turned grim as Donaldson realized there was someone else in the room.
“I noticed in the corner shadows of the closet area something dark begin to move,” he said. “It did not scare me at first because I thought it may be a cat. But, as I looked more it was a tall shadow in the shape of a man with a hat.”
As the Shadow Man began to slowly snake its way toward the bed, the flickering TV betraying its presence, Donaldson felt not frightened, but curious.
“For the first few minutes it was like a game,” he said. “The presence was trying to move slowly. It was like as if he did not know if I was asleep or not.”
The entity’s steps brought it within inches of the bed, then Donaldson’s curiosity changed to fear.
“I was not scared until it came next to my bed and was looking over my wife,” he said. “She was sleeping. It would then look at me. It would move as if it did not want to be noticed.”
Even though the entity was so close, Donaldson couldn’t make out its face, only blackness and the hat.
“The angle of the hat gave me clues on which way it was looking,” he said. “It started to move to my side of the bed and I kinda of moved. My instinct was to grab the gun.”
Donaldson, a youth corrections officer, keeps a handgun next to his bed for safety.
“When I moved it was to position myself to be able to quickly grab and load the gun,” he said. “That is when it stopped and did not move for about 45 seconds. I stared hard at the Shadow Man but I could not see his eyes.”
Then the thing moved back toward the shadowy corner near the closet.
“For a moment I thought it was going to go back from where it came from, but it started to head towards my children’s room,” Donaldson said. “That is when my threshold could no longer give into the curiosity.”
He grabbed the gun, slapped in a loaded clip and leapt from the bed.
“It ran into the darkness before I could hit the bedroom lights,” Donaldson said. “It was like watching ‘Cops.’ I woke up my wife and checked the closet with my gun in raised.”
Donaldson’s wife screamed, asking what was happening, but he wasn’t ready to answer.
“I told her to grab the phone but not call 911 yet,” he said. “Nothing in the closet. I checked the kid's room and awoke them. I checked every inch of the house.”
All doors were locked, none of the movement-based security lights outside had been triggered and Donaldson could find no one in the house.
“My wife did not call 911,” he said. “I had to kind of lie to her and the kids about what had just happened because they were scared to death. I just told them that I thought someone was in the house but it was probably just a cat.”
But Donaldson knows it wasn’t a cat. Donaldson had seen a Shadow Person.
“Bottom line is that I did encounter what seems to be a Shadow Man,” he said. “I am open minded and observed what took place. I did not feel an evil presence or negativity. Just a curious figure who was looking interested in us.”
A few days later, Donaldson, also a musician, wrote and recorded a song about the experience. If you’re interested, you can hear Donaldson’s Shadow Man encounter set to music by e-mailing him at confusingadam@yahoo.com or going to www.myspace.com/confusingadam.
Copyright 2008 by Jason Offutt
Got a scary story? Ever played with a Ouija board, heard voices, seen a ghost, UFO or a creature you couldn’t identify? Let Jason know about it: Jason Offutt c/o The Examiner, 410 S. Liberty, Independence, Mo. 64050, or jasonoffutt@hotmail.com. Your story might make an upcoming installment of “From the Shadows.”
Jason’s book of ghost stories, “Haunted Missouri: A Ghostly Guide to Missouri’s Most Spirited Spots,” is here. Order online at: tsup.truman.edu, www.amazon.com, or visit Jason’s Web site at www.jasonoffutt.com.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Fishing With Grandpa -- One Last Time
Bennett Spring in south-central Missouri pours 100 million gallons of fresh water into the tree-lined Spring Branch each day on it’s way to the nearby Niangua River. Spring Branch is stocked with rainbow trout for the thousands of fly fishermen who visit the spring each year.
“It is absolutely breathtaking,” said hunter and fisherman Chris Black, of Park Hills, Mo. “The water comes straight out of the ground, boils up from the unknown depths below, and fills this magnificent spring full of water.”
But in 1998, something other than fishermen visited Bennett Spring – something otherworldly Black wants to believe is true.
Black fishes at the spring a couple of times a summer, picking a three-day weekend and “basically making a holiday out of it.”
“This one particular weekend was no different than the rest,” he said. “I called and made my reservations like I normally do, got to my room, dumped all my junk, and went fishing.”
At the spring, Black put on his waders and stood in front of one of his favorite fishing holes. After a while, he realized he wasn’t alone.
“While standing there, fishing but not catching, an elderly man walks up beside me,” Black said. “I really didn't think that much about it at the time because I rarely look around. I'm so focused on catching fish, that I don't care who's around me, I just do my own thing.”
But as the man stood next to him in complete silence, Black grew curious.
“As I fished, I kept looking a little further to my right and finally got a glimpse of the old guy next to me,” he said. “My knees buckled, and I almost went down in the water.”
The man standing next to Black was his grandfather, or at least looked like his grandfather – his late grandfather.
“He was the exact spitting image,” Black said. “I could not believe what I was seeing.”
“Are you OK?” the old man asked.
“I stammered for a moment, I guess with my jaw wide open,” Black said. “I murmured a ‘yes, I'm fine.’ Then we began to talk.”
Black asked the man about his family, where he was from, and what he had done in his life, but the old man didn’t answer – he just gave Black his name.
“I came up with nothing,” Black said. “The strange thing about this whole incident was that he said that his name was Walter Black.”
Black’s late grandfather’s name was Walter Black.
“That really threw me,” he said. “I went through the whole family routine, and he didn’t know anyone in the family.”
Eventually the old man just walked away, leaving Black to stand in the stream alone.
“At the start of this, I (felt) that it was a beautiful day, and what a day that I would love to spend with my grandpa,” Black said. “I guess maybe I had.”
Black walked back to his truck, silent tears washing his cheeks.
“I had to go sit in my truck for a minute and contemplate what the hell had just happened,” he said. “Had he visited me? I would like to think so.”
Got a scary story? Ever played with a Ouija board, heard voices, seen a ghost, UFO or a creature you couldn’t identify? Let Jason know about it: Jason Offutt c/o The Examiner, 410 S. Liberty, Independence, Mo. 64050, or jasonoffutt@hotmail.com. Your story might make an upcoming installment of “From the Shadows.”
Jason’s book of ghost stories, “Haunted Missouri: A Ghostly Guide to Missouri’s Most Spirited Spots,” is here. Order online at: tsup.truman.edu, www.amazon.com, or visit Jason’s Web site at www.jasonoffutt.com.
“It is absolutely breathtaking,” said hunter and fisherman Chris Black, of Park Hills, Mo. “The water comes straight out of the ground, boils up from the unknown depths below, and fills this magnificent spring full of water.”
But in 1998, something other than fishermen visited Bennett Spring – something otherworldly Black wants to believe is true.
Black fishes at the spring a couple of times a summer, picking a three-day weekend and “basically making a holiday out of it.”
“This one particular weekend was no different than the rest,” he said. “I called and made my reservations like I normally do, got to my room, dumped all my junk, and went fishing.”
At the spring, Black put on his waders and stood in front of one of his favorite fishing holes. After a while, he realized he wasn’t alone.
“While standing there, fishing but not catching, an elderly man walks up beside me,” Black said. “I really didn't think that much about it at the time because I rarely look around. I'm so focused on catching fish, that I don't care who's around me, I just do my own thing.”
But as the man stood next to him in complete silence, Black grew curious.
“As I fished, I kept looking a little further to my right and finally got a glimpse of the old guy next to me,” he said. “My knees buckled, and I almost went down in the water.”
The man standing next to Black was his grandfather, or at least looked like his grandfather – his late grandfather.
“He was the exact spitting image,” Black said. “I could not believe what I was seeing.”
“Are you OK?” the old man asked.
“I stammered for a moment, I guess with my jaw wide open,” Black said. “I murmured a ‘yes, I'm fine.’ Then we began to talk.”
Black asked the man about his family, where he was from, and what he had done in his life, but the old man didn’t answer – he just gave Black his name.
“I came up with nothing,” Black said. “The strange thing about this whole incident was that he said that his name was Walter Black.”
Black’s late grandfather’s name was Walter Black.
“That really threw me,” he said. “I went through the whole family routine, and he didn’t know anyone in the family.”
Eventually the old man just walked away, leaving Black to stand in the stream alone.
“At the start of this, I (felt) that it was a beautiful day, and what a day that I would love to spend with my grandpa,” Black said. “I guess maybe I had.”
Black walked back to his truck, silent tears washing his cheeks.
“I had to go sit in my truck for a minute and contemplate what the hell had just happened,” he said. “Had he visited me? I would like to think so.”
Got a scary story? Ever played with a Ouija board, heard voices, seen a ghost, UFO or a creature you couldn’t identify? Let Jason know about it: Jason Offutt c/o The Examiner, 410 S. Liberty, Independence, Mo. 64050, or jasonoffutt@hotmail.com. Your story might make an upcoming installment of “From the Shadows.”
Jason’s book of ghost stories, “Haunted Missouri: A Ghostly Guide to Missouri’s Most Spirited Spots,” is here. Order online at: tsup.truman.edu, www.amazon.com, or visit Jason’s Web site at www.jasonoffutt.com.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Voices in the Darkness
The air at the California ranch was calm the night Darren Hullstrunk took a group of friends to his family’s property near Fresno.
The calmness didn’t last.
“We’ve all heard, seen, felt something in this ranch house and heard all the stories from the parents and how scared they have gotten,” he said.
Darren and friends who’ve been at the ranch before – Brittany, Audrey, Mike, Mark, and Mike’s brother Richie – pulled down the drive and arrived at the ranch house on the evening of June 22. The night had started to cool, but the trip, to this point, was normal.
“Audrey, Richie and I went for a walk and we went the same route the walk always goes,” Darren said. “We got back to the house and we all stood outside because it was cooler then the house was.”
Richie sensed something was wrong, but nobody realized that – yet.
“Richie zoned out and stared at a large dog statue for almost a good five to 10 minutes,” Darren said. “It wasn’t ‘til Mark had moved the statue that Richie snapped out of it and looked behind him. He didn’t know what happened.”
Hungry, the group moved inside and discussed dinner. The women volunteered to go to the grocery store.
“As they left, Richie suddenly sprung up and pulled up a blind and just stared outside,” Darren said. “Mike moved his finger in the way and Richie just pulled it down.”
Darren ran outside and looked in the direction Richie was staring but saw nothing out of the ordinary. He could, however, still see Richie staring out the window.
“His head went to an angle as if he was following something, but nothing was there,” Darren said. He went back inside and everyone was now looking out the window. “Mike opened the blinds fully and we all looked out and saw nothing.”
Then Richie told what he’d seen.
“Richie said he saw a shadow that ran towards the car,” Darren said. “But didn’t know if it followed the (women) or went into the grape vineyard or the other side of the road.”
As the men sat around the living room, Richie “zoned out” again.
“This time as if he was trying to write out something with his finger,” Darren said. “He snapped out and didn’t remember a thing.”
They called Richie’s family to pick him up, but didn’t know the depth of Richie’s fear until he got on the telephone.
“As he was talking on the phone they told him to say a prayer over and over,” Darren said. “After the first time he said it, he got a headache and said he couldn’t say it again. He started crying and saying he has to get out of here, it’s going to get him.”
What it was, Richie didn’t say, but when they walked Richie outside to Mike’s car, he panicked.
“Richie started freaking out,” Darren said. “‘It’s out here, it’s going to get me,’ he went on.”
Darren looked around them, but saw nothing.
Mike took Richie home and as soon as they drove off the property, Richie felt better, but couldn’t remember anything that had happened. But, before he left, Richie told everyone about the voices.
“He said if he didn’t leave it was going to kill all of us and it didn’t want him or Mike there,” Darren said. “Richie told Mike he was hearing two voices, the evil one and another one telling him how to counter the evil. He made Mike promise to leave a light on.”
By the time Mike and Richie left, Audrey and Brittany had returned. After supper, Darren and Audrey went outside.
“We had noticed (earlier) there was no moon outside and no clouds with only a few stars,” he said. “When Mike got back there was a moon and it was blood red.”
Although, unnerved, Darren is fascinated by the encounter.
“I’m going to be checking the area for sightings for the next few weeks,” he said. “I want to see if I can find out what happened.”
Copyright 2008 by Jason Offutt
Got a scary story? Ever played with a Ouija board, heard voices, seen a ghost, UFO or a creature you couldn’t identify? Let Jason know about it: Jason Offutt c/o The Examiner, 410 S. Liberty, Independence, Mo. 64050, or jasonoffutt@hotmail.com. Your story might make an upcoming installment of “From the Shadows.”
Jason’s book of ghost stories, “Haunted Missouri: A Ghostly Guide to Missouri’s Most Spirited Spots,” is here. Order online at: tsup.truman.edu, www.amazon.com, or visit Jason’s Web site at www.jasonoffutt.com.
The calmness didn’t last.
“We’ve all heard, seen, felt something in this ranch house and heard all the stories from the parents and how scared they have gotten,” he said.
Darren and friends who’ve been at the ranch before – Brittany, Audrey, Mike, Mark, and Mike’s brother Richie – pulled down the drive and arrived at the ranch house on the evening of June 22. The night had started to cool, but the trip, to this point, was normal.
“Audrey, Richie and I went for a walk and we went the same route the walk always goes,” Darren said. “We got back to the house and we all stood outside because it was cooler then the house was.”
Richie sensed something was wrong, but nobody realized that – yet.
“Richie zoned out and stared at a large dog statue for almost a good five to 10 minutes,” Darren said. “It wasn’t ‘til Mark had moved the statue that Richie snapped out of it and looked behind him. He didn’t know what happened.”
Hungry, the group moved inside and discussed dinner. The women volunteered to go to the grocery store.
“As they left, Richie suddenly sprung up and pulled up a blind and just stared outside,” Darren said. “Mike moved his finger in the way and Richie just pulled it down.”
Darren ran outside and looked in the direction Richie was staring but saw nothing out of the ordinary. He could, however, still see Richie staring out the window.
“His head went to an angle as if he was following something, but nothing was there,” Darren said. He went back inside and everyone was now looking out the window. “Mike opened the blinds fully and we all looked out and saw nothing.”
Then Richie told what he’d seen.
“Richie said he saw a shadow that ran towards the car,” Darren said. “But didn’t know if it followed the (women) or went into the grape vineyard or the other side of the road.”
As the men sat around the living room, Richie “zoned out” again.
“This time as if he was trying to write out something with his finger,” Darren said. “He snapped out and didn’t remember a thing.”
They called Richie’s family to pick him up, but didn’t know the depth of Richie’s fear until he got on the telephone.
“As he was talking on the phone they told him to say a prayer over and over,” Darren said. “After the first time he said it, he got a headache and said he couldn’t say it again. He started crying and saying he has to get out of here, it’s going to get him.”
What it was, Richie didn’t say, but when they walked Richie outside to Mike’s car, he panicked.
“Richie started freaking out,” Darren said. “‘It’s out here, it’s going to get me,’ he went on.”
Darren looked around them, but saw nothing.
Mike took Richie home and as soon as they drove off the property, Richie felt better, but couldn’t remember anything that had happened. But, before he left, Richie told everyone about the voices.
“He said if he didn’t leave it was going to kill all of us and it didn’t want him or Mike there,” Darren said. “Richie told Mike he was hearing two voices, the evil one and another one telling him how to counter the evil. He made Mike promise to leave a light on.”
By the time Mike and Richie left, Audrey and Brittany had returned. After supper, Darren and Audrey went outside.
“We had noticed (earlier) there was no moon outside and no clouds with only a few stars,” he said. “When Mike got back there was a moon and it was blood red.”
Although, unnerved, Darren is fascinated by the encounter.
“I’m going to be checking the area for sightings for the next few weeks,” he said. “I want to see if I can find out what happened.”
Copyright 2008 by Jason Offutt
Got a scary story? Ever played with a Ouija board, heard voices, seen a ghost, UFO or a creature you couldn’t identify? Let Jason know about it: Jason Offutt c/o The Examiner, 410 S. Liberty, Independence, Mo. 64050, or jasonoffutt@hotmail.com. Your story might make an upcoming installment of “From the Shadows.”
Jason’s book of ghost stories, “Haunted Missouri: A Ghostly Guide to Missouri’s Most Spirited Spots,” is here. Order online at: tsup.truman.edu, www.amazon.com, or visit Jason’s Web site at www.jasonoffutt.com.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
The Haunting of Roberta Hall
The red brick sorority house, Roberta Hall, sits at the east edge of the Northwest Missouri State University campus in Maryville, a sea of well-trimmed grass stretching out under some of the 1,300 trees that shade the university.
Roberta Hall wasn’t always a sorority house, and it wasn’t always called Roberta. In the early days it was the only women’s residence hall on campus and was simply known as Residence Hall. That changed after the explosion.
Railroad tracks once ran behind the building and, on April 28, 1951, a gasoline storage tank on the tracks exploded, sending a steel beam crashing into the building and causing a fire. Thirty women were injured, four of them critically, including a student named Roberta Steele.
“Roberta was in the shower when the explosion hit,” Cathy Palmer, archivist at Northwest, said. “She wouldn’t come out for help because she was naked.”
Roberta died a year and a half later and, over the decades, her spirit is said to haunt the building.
Linda Beatty of Kansas City attended Northwest from 1984 to 1988 and lived in Roberta Hall in 1987.
“I was on the first floor,” Linda said. “(My roommate and I) were just lying there watching TV … and we heard the crickety old doorknob move. We thought someone was coming in.”
Linda even said, “come in,” but no one did – and the doorknob kept turning.
“I got frustrated and opened the door and there was no one there,” she said.
Then Linda turned the doorknob on the hallway side of the door. That doorknob moved. The doorknob inside the room did not.
“Somebody was moving the doorknob on the inside,” she said.
Jane Costello went to school with Roberta and thought the legend of the haunting was fitting.
“She was lots of fun,” Jane said in a summer 2000 interview for Northwest’s Oral History program. Jane died in 2005. “She’s being credited with the scaring – the haunting of Roberta Hall – and I had to laugh because you know if anybody’s going to do it, it would be Roberta. She had a really terrific sense of humor.”
Sarah Wayman, who graduated from Northwest in 2005, was a member of the Sigma Kappa sorority and lived in Roberta Hall from fall 2002 to spring 2003. Sarah said that although she only experienced flickering lights and strange noises while she lived there, Robert got the blame for anything out of the ordinary
“Anything wrong that happened was blamed on Roberta,” Sarah said. “We discovered one morning that, hey, we can’t get in our bathroom. We called each other saying ‘did you lock the door to the bathroom?’”
They couldn’t have, because the doors locked on the inside.
“We blamed it on Roberta.”
Towels fall off their racks in Robert Hall, pictures fall off the wall, stereos turn on and off, and drawers fly from dressers.
Amanda Root, former president of the Phi Mu sorority, lived in Roberta Hall for two years before graduating in 2006.
“I was looking in the mirror getting ready and I saw my roommate’s drawer shoot out of the dresser and it really kind of scared me,” she said. “I turned and was like ‘what the hell was that?’ I grabbed my bag and left.”
But the flying drawer wasn’t enough to prepare her for an unwelcome late-night visitor.
“I had gotten up because I’d heard someone walking around and I thought it was my roommate, but I looked over and she was in bed,” Amanda said. “I hadn’t encountered anything like that but when I heard somebody walking around, it really freaked me out. Our floor is really squeaky. I was really scared. I put the covers over my head.”
Although Roberta has never harmed anyone, many sorority sisters have tried many things to keep her out of their rooms to no avail. Robert continues to make herself known to residents of the hall that bears her name.
Copyright 2008 by Jason Offutt
Got a scary story? Ever played with a Ouija board, heard voices, seen a ghost, UFO or a creature you couldn’t identify? Let Jason know about it: Jason Offutt c/o The Examiner, 410 S. Liberty, Independence, Mo. 64050, or jasonoffutt@hotmail.com. Your story might make an upcoming installment of “From the Shadows.”
Jason’s book of ghost stories, “Haunted Missouri: A Ghostly Guide to Missouri’s Most Spirited Spots,” is here. Order online at: tsup.truman.edu, www.amazon.com, or visit Jason’s Web site at www.jasonoffutt.com.
Roberta Hall wasn’t always a sorority house, and it wasn’t always called Roberta. In the early days it was the only women’s residence hall on campus and was simply known as Residence Hall. That changed after the explosion.
Railroad tracks once ran behind the building and, on April 28, 1951, a gasoline storage tank on the tracks exploded, sending a steel beam crashing into the building and causing a fire. Thirty women were injured, four of them critically, including a student named Roberta Steele.
“Roberta was in the shower when the explosion hit,” Cathy Palmer, archivist at Northwest, said. “She wouldn’t come out for help because she was naked.”
Roberta died a year and a half later and, over the decades, her spirit is said to haunt the building.
Linda Beatty of Kansas City attended Northwest from 1984 to 1988 and lived in Roberta Hall in 1987.
“I was on the first floor,” Linda said. “(My roommate and I) were just lying there watching TV … and we heard the crickety old doorknob move. We thought someone was coming in.”
Linda even said, “come in,” but no one did – and the doorknob kept turning.
“I got frustrated and opened the door and there was no one there,” she said.
Then Linda turned the doorknob on the hallway side of the door. That doorknob moved. The doorknob inside the room did not.
“Somebody was moving the doorknob on the inside,” she said.
Jane Costello went to school with Roberta and thought the legend of the haunting was fitting.
“She was lots of fun,” Jane said in a summer 2000 interview for Northwest’s Oral History program. Jane died in 2005. “She’s being credited with the scaring – the haunting of Roberta Hall – and I had to laugh because you know if anybody’s going to do it, it would be Roberta. She had a really terrific sense of humor.”
Sarah Wayman, who graduated from Northwest in 2005, was a member of the Sigma Kappa sorority and lived in Roberta Hall from fall 2002 to spring 2003. Sarah said that although she only experienced flickering lights and strange noises while she lived there, Robert got the blame for anything out of the ordinary
“Anything wrong that happened was blamed on Roberta,” Sarah said. “We discovered one morning that, hey, we can’t get in our bathroom. We called each other saying ‘did you lock the door to the bathroom?’”
They couldn’t have, because the doors locked on the inside.
“We blamed it on Roberta.”
Towels fall off their racks in Robert Hall, pictures fall off the wall, stereos turn on and off, and drawers fly from dressers.
Amanda Root, former president of the Phi Mu sorority, lived in Roberta Hall for two years before graduating in 2006.
“I was looking in the mirror getting ready and I saw my roommate’s drawer shoot out of the dresser and it really kind of scared me,” she said. “I turned and was like ‘what the hell was that?’ I grabbed my bag and left.”
But the flying drawer wasn’t enough to prepare her for an unwelcome late-night visitor.
“I had gotten up because I’d heard someone walking around and I thought it was my roommate, but I looked over and she was in bed,” Amanda said. “I hadn’t encountered anything like that but when I heard somebody walking around, it really freaked me out. Our floor is really squeaky. I was really scared. I put the covers over my head.”
Although Roberta has never harmed anyone, many sorority sisters have tried many things to keep her out of their rooms to no avail. Robert continues to make herself known to residents of the hall that bears her name.
Copyright 2008 by Jason Offutt
Got a scary story? Ever played with a Ouija board, heard voices, seen a ghost, UFO or a creature you couldn’t identify? Let Jason know about it: Jason Offutt c/o The Examiner, 410 S. Liberty, Independence, Mo. 64050, or jasonoffutt@hotmail.com. Your story might make an upcoming installment of “From the Shadows.”
Jason’s book of ghost stories, “Haunted Missouri: A Ghostly Guide to Missouri’s Most Spirited Spots,” is here. Order online at: tsup.truman.edu, www.amazon.com, or visit Jason’s Web site at www.jasonoffutt.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
