Living in a small town, it’s tough for a teenager to keep secrets from his mother. This is especially true if your mother doesn’t need eyes to see what you’re doing.
Michael Fox grew up in Indiana in the 1960s the youngest (or second youngest – he has a twin sister) of four children. When his mother was home recovering from surgery in 1965, he and his twin were 11 years old, his others sisters 15 and 17.
“My mother had just undergone what at that time was a major surgery,” he said. “She had been home for two days from the hospital and was in and out of delirium. She was on pain meds and they kept her rather loopy.”
Michael’s parents were strict about dating and didn’t want the teenage girls out too late. It was fall, about a week before Halloween, when Michael’s 17-year-old sister Janet asked their father if she could go with her boyfriend and another couple to a local drive-in restaurant. She promised to be home by 11 p.m.
“I remember dad sitting there reading the newspaper,” Michael said. “He lowered the paper and looked at her. ‘Eleven p.m.? That’s a little late, make sure you’re on time,’ he told her.”
Janet agreed and, before she left, stopped into her mother’s room to give her a kiss. Janet’s mother was sleeping so she kissed her and left. What Janet didn’t know is that she wasn’t going to the restaurant.
“She had no idea she wasn’t really going for a Coke,” Michael said. “Her boyfriend and his buddy had already decided to take the girls to an old graveyard that was out in the sticks.”
The weather that October day had turned cold and, although Janet was dressed for a restaurant, she wasn’t dressed to walk around a graveyard.
“She told me later the weather was really unseasonably cold for Indiana at that time of the year,” Michael said. “She was wearing flats with no socks and blue jeans. Her jacket was not thick and she said she had a lightweight top on under her flimsy jacket.”
The boys took the girls about 15 miles from their hometown to a spot called New Palestine.
“In those days, New Palestine was nothing but old farms, corn fields, fence rows, barns and the occasional small family graveyard surrounded by an old iron fence with an iron gate,” Michael said.
Janet’s boyfriend, Dennis, pulled his car off the old country road and the four got out and headed to the graveyard. Dennis’ flashlight did little to light up the night that sat under a canopy of dark clouds.
“Janet was freezing and the wind was whipping pretty good; she estimated the temp had dropped into the low 40s,” Michael said. “She remembered that it started to drizzle but later turned into a steady sleet.”
As the teens wandered through the graveyard, they noticed age had all but erased the names and dates from the ancient gravestones. Most of the stones they could read dated to the mid-to-late 1800s; many were headstones for children.
Then they realized they were not alone.
“All of a sudden Janet heard the approach of someone on horseback,” Michael said. “All the kids stood motionless as a man on a horse came over the hill on the road and passed by them. He wore a long black rain slicker and a cowboy hat. Janet said the hat was tilted down and you could not see his face.”
Dennis said to the man, “Don’t mind us, we’re visiting my Aunt Alma.” The rider did not acknowledge them and rode off until he was out of sight.
“Janet said the rider creeped her girlfriend and her out to the point they both wanted to leave,” Michael said. “She said her feet were freezing and the sleet had turned to a wet snow and her shoes were now soaked.”
Because of the black rider, the dripping cold night, and the fact that it was after 11 p.m., the girls convinced their boyfriends to take them home.
“Janet knew she would be in trouble,” Michael said. “I remember when she walked in the door, she looked at Dad like she was really sorry but he was much more concerned with my mom than to notice she was late.”
Michael’s mother had spiked a fever and was incoherent. Janet went into the room to tell her mother goodnight, and came out with her face drawn from fear.
“She (was) white as a sheet,” Michael said. “She asked Dad, ‘who told you? Who called and told you where we were?’”
Michael’s father was confused.
“My dad said, ‘what are you talking about? Nobody told me anything,’” Michael said. “As it turns out when Janet went to say goodnight to Mom my mom was barely awake. There was a dimly lit table lamp next to mom’s bed. Janet kissed Mom and Mom sat up and grabbed her arm. She said, ‘Janet, what in the world were you doing in that graveyard and why didn’t you wear your boots?’”
The kids treaded lightly after that.
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, April 28, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Something at the Bedroom Door
Early one morning, Alicia heard a baby cry. Her fiancé, John, had already left for work, her eight-year-old daughter was not yet awake, and the baby … well, Alicia was feeding the baby.
Alicia and her family moved into a two-story, 70-year-old house in Belton, Mo., recently and were surprised to find they weren’t alone.
“I have heard a young child several times and it is usually very early in the morning when I am feeding my son or getting ready for work,” she said. “I know that sometimes I hear the child and it sounds like it is coming from my son’s room.”
Or, even more disturbing, she’s often heard the child crying out from a passageway that connects the baby’s room to the master bedroom. Whenever she opens the door to the passageway, it’s empty.
But the baby’s room is home to more than the sound of a crying child.
“He has a deck off of his room that has long sliding blinds and it has sounded before that someone has ran their hands across the blinds to have them clank together,” she said. “There is no venting close by that would even cause that.”
The noises escalated … then things got physical. While downstairs one morning, a loud bang brought Alicia to the staircase.
“There was a crash down the stairs and there was a (curtain) rod at the bottom of the stairs,” she said. It was a curtain rod from the baby’s room. “It sounded like someone had chucked it down the stairs.”
And Alicia has seen something in her house. While sitting in the living room, she often sees movement on the stairs.
“A lot of times out of the corner of my eye I will see something,” she said. “To me it looks black and I am expecting something to come down the stairs and when I turn to look there is nothing. There is light all the way up the stairs so it’s something that blocks the light.”
During the April 5 weekend, the activity in Alicia’s home escalated to the point of terror.
“Over the weekend my fiancé and I were asleep in bed and we both heard someone or something coming up the stairs and our bedroom door knob jiggled,” she said. “I sat straight up because it sounded like someone was in our house about to walk into our bedroom.”
That night, Alicia said, was the only time she has been afraid of her house.
“I was never scared until I heard those footsteps in the dark and the door knob jiggled,” she said. “I was OK with it when I was hearing the child, but now at night when I hear the footsteps I don’t get the same feeling.”
Doors Alicia knows were closed, are later found open, lights she knows were turned off are also found on. And, Alicia knows she’s not the only one experiencing these things. Her fiancé, her daughter, and her two dogs have all reacted to something heard, but not seen.
“My fiancé is never home in the mornings because he leaves so early for work, but this Monday he was home with our son and had put our son down for his morning nap and was very startled when he heard movement upstairs,” she said. “When he went up there to check on our son, he didn’t see anything out of norm.”
Cries in the night, footsteps, a black blob on the stairs, and a jiggled door handle have all made Alicia question her sanity, but not like the morning something spoke to her as she put her son in his car seat.
“My daughter is notorious for dragging her feet in the morning and I was stressing about being late because of that,” Alicia said.
As she buckled the baby in, her back turned to the open front door of the house, she heard a voice – and it wasn’t her daughter’s.
“I heard what I thought was her holler ‘Mom’ and it sounded like it was coming from the doorway in the house,” Alicia said. “I started to holler back because I thought she couldn’t find her shoes or coat and I was getting cranky because we were running behind and I hollered back ‘what?’”
Alicia was surprised to find her daughter standing next to her asking who she was speaking to. Alicia was also surprised to see the front door shut.
“I am still trying to decide if it’s my mind playing tricks on me or if I am really hearing and seeing something,” she said. “I try debunking things as they happen but I am running out of explanations.”
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.
Alicia and her family moved into a two-story, 70-year-old house in Belton, Mo., recently and were surprised to find they weren’t alone.
“I have heard a young child several times and it is usually very early in the morning when I am feeding my son or getting ready for work,” she said. “I know that sometimes I hear the child and it sounds like it is coming from my son’s room.”
Or, even more disturbing, she’s often heard the child crying out from a passageway that connects the baby’s room to the master bedroom. Whenever she opens the door to the passageway, it’s empty.
But the baby’s room is home to more than the sound of a crying child.
“He has a deck off of his room that has long sliding blinds and it has sounded before that someone has ran their hands across the blinds to have them clank together,” she said. “There is no venting close by that would even cause that.”
The noises escalated … then things got physical. While downstairs one morning, a loud bang brought Alicia to the staircase.
“There was a crash down the stairs and there was a (curtain) rod at the bottom of the stairs,” she said. It was a curtain rod from the baby’s room. “It sounded like someone had chucked it down the stairs.”
And Alicia has seen something in her house. While sitting in the living room, she often sees movement on the stairs.
“A lot of times out of the corner of my eye I will see something,” she said. “To me it looks black and I am expecting something to come down the stairs and when I turn to look there is nothing. There is light all the way up the stairs so it’s something that blocks the light.”
During the April 5 weekend, the activity in Alicia’s home escalated to the point of terror.
“Over the weekend my fiancé and I were asleep in bed and we both heard someone or something coming up the stairs and our bedroom door knob jiggled,” she said. “I sat straight up because it sounded like someone was in our house about to walk into our bedroom.”
That night, Alicia said, was the only time she has been afraid of her house.
“I was never scared until I heard those footsteps in the dark and the door knob jiggled,” she said. “I was OK with it when I was hearing the child, but now at night when I hear the footsteps I don’t get the same feeling.”
Doors Alicia knows were closed, are later found open, lights she knows were turned off are also found on. And, Alicia knows she’s not the only one experiencing these things. Her fiancé, her daughter, and her two dogs have all reacted to something heard, but not seen.
“My fiancé is never home in the mornings because he leaves so early for work, but this Monday he was home with our son and had put our son down for his morning nap and was very startled when he heard movement upstairs,” she said. “When he went up there to check on our son, he didn’t see anything out of norm.”
Cries in the night, footsteps, a black blob on the stairs, and a jiggled door handle have all made Alicia question her sanity, but not like the morning something spoke to her as she put her son in his car seat.
“My daughter is notorious for dragging her feet in the morning and I was stressing about being late because of that,” Alicia said.
As she buckled the baby in, her back turned to the open front door of the house, she heard a voice – and it wasn’t her daughter’s.
“I heard what I thought was her holler ‘Mom’ and it sounded like it was coming from the doorway in the house,” Alicia said. “I started to holler back because I thought she couldn’t find her shoes or coat and I was getting cranky because we were running behind and I hollered back ‘what?’”
Alicia was surprised to find her daughter standing next to her asking who she was speaking to. Alicia was also surprised to see the front door shut.
“I am still trying to decide if it’s my mind playing tricks on me or if I am really hearing and seeing something,” she said. “I try debunking things as they happen but I am running out of explanations.”
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.
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