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oro#1305
Hello <strong>the</strong>re, my fellow <strong>HAPE</strong>!<br />
I proudly br<strong>in</strong>g this e-book to you as my way of giv<strong>in</strong>g back<br />
to <strong>the</strong> community who has seen me through my entire journey <strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>HAPE</strong>BEASTS thus far.<br />
The stories you are about to f<strong>in</strong>d here are greatly <strong>in</strong>spired<br />
by our members who have shared with us <strong>the</strong>ir real<br />
experiences, stories and local legends.<br />
I've merely taken YOUR real stories and transformed <strong>the</strong>m <strong>in</strong>to<br />
a book that we all played a part <strong>in</strong> writ<strong>in</strong>g, of course, with<br />
my own little twists!<br />
Each story was written with love and care from each<br />
submitter, and we truly hope you enjoy <strong>the</strong>m!<br />
More <strong>in</strong>terest<strong>in</strong>g, longer stories and spiritul-related content<br />
will be made available for <strong>the</strong> curious :) Story submissions<br />
will also be frequently added to this book! So do keep <strong>the</strong>m<br />
com<strong>in</strong>g, sit back and wait for yours to be featured!<br />
Feel free to let me know what topics/stories you would be<br />
<strong>in</strong>terested to see here, and I will be more than glad to<br />
serve. Just a little note that <strong>the</strong>se are my renditions on <strong>the</strong><br />
stories and <strong>in</strong> NO WAY am I claim<strong>in</strong>g to be <strong>the</strong> best story<br />
teller out <strong>the</strong>re.<br />
Lots of love,<br />
roro
This is not a story of my own, but one told to me by a<br />
friend.<br />
You know how sometimes you can’t be 100% sure whe<strong>the</strong>r you’re<br />
dream<strong>in</strong>g or awake when someth<strong>in</strong>g happens to you <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> middle<br />
of <strong>the</strong> night? Someth<strong>in</strong>g like that happened to me once. Only,<br />
as <strong>the</strong> years go by, and I experience more of life, I cannot<br />
persuade myself that it was all a strange and co<strong>in</strong>cidental<br />
dream.<br />
It was years ago when this happened, when I was 13 or 14.<br />
One night, I was hav<strong>in</strong>g a fitful sleep when all of a sudden<br />
I awoke (or at that time thought that I had dreamt I had<br />
awakened), and stand<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong>re at <strong>the</strong> foot of <strong>the</strong> bed was my<br />
favourite aunty!<br />
She was say<strong>in</strong>g someth<strong>in</strong>g to me, I couldn’t quite make out at<br />
once what it was she was say<strong>in</strong>g, but I recognised an urgency<br />
<strong>in</strong> her voice.<br />
I can’t remember for sure, but I th<strong>in</strong>k I said someth<strong>in</strong>g like,<br />
“What is it, Auntie?”<br />
Her voice came clearer this time as she responded, “Come,<br />
come quickly! Please come!”<br />
I wanted to rise, but <strong>in</strong>stead I seemed to s<strong>in</strong>k deeper <strong>in</strong>to my<br />
bed every time I tried. Her voice became fa<strong>in</strong>ter too and soon<br />
her figure became <strong>in</strong>dist<strong>in</strong>ct. It was all very dreamy, I must<br />
say. I fell <strong>in</strong>to a deep drowsy state and sank <strong>in</strong>to a stupor,<br />
sleep<strong>in</strong>g aga<strong>in</strong> fitfully through <strong>the</strong> night, but not awaken<strong>in</strong>g<br />
aga<strong>in</strong>.<br />
The next day, my parents <strong>in</strong>formed me that Aunty had been<br />
return<strong>in</strong>g home from work late <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> night when her car<br />
overturned.<br />
When <strong>the</strong>y found her, she was dead.<br />
1
When I was <strong>in</strong> Primary Four, so… around 10 years old at that<br />
time, my classmate’s elder bro<strong>the</strong>r rushed to school and after<br />
ask<strong>in</strong>g our form teacher for permission, quickly packed my<br />
classmate’s belong<strong>in</strong>gs and brought her straight home. He had<br />
been <strong>in</strong> such a hurry when he had arrived to pick her up that<br />
naturally we were all curious to know what exactly had<br />
happened.<br />
When she returned, she told us this story:<br />
Her bro<strong>the</strong>r, who had dropped out of school and because he was<br />
still <strong>in</strong> his teens, had no job, had been play<strong>in</strong>g marbles with<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir younger bro<strong>the</strong>r <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> open area with<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> compound of<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir house that afternoon, while she was <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> school with<br />
us.<br />
The bro<strong>the</strong>r said that <strong>the</strong> younger bro<strong>the</strong>r looked up from <strong>the</strong><br />
marbles, po<strong>in</strong>ted to <strong>the</strong> stairs to <strong>the</strong>ir house and said, “Hey,<br />
<strong>the</strong>re goes Big Sister!”<br />
“That can’t be,” <strong>the</strong> elder bro<strong>the</strong>r said and turned to look.<br />
Sure enough, it looked like <strong>the</strong>ir sister was go<strong>in</strong>g up <strong>the</strong><br />
stairs, They both waved to her and called out. The elder<br />
bro<strong>the</strong>r shouted, “ Why are you home so early from school?”<br />
She just smiled and, carry<strong>in</strong>g a hairbrush, cont<strong>in</strong>ued up <strong>the</strong><br />
stairs. She stopped on <strong>the</strong> first floor, looked at <strong>the</strong> two<br />
bro<strong>the</strong>rs and started brush<strong>in</strong>g her hair.<br />
2
The bro<strong>the</strong>rs cont<strong>in</strong>ued with <strong>the</strong>ir game but <strong>the</strong> elder bro<strong>the</strong>r<br />
felt someth<strong>in</strong>g nagg<strong>in</strong>g at his thoughts. Then he realised what<br />
it was. They had seen her go<strong>in</strong>g up <strong>the</strong> stairs, presumably<br />
just back from school, but she was not <strong>in</strong> school uniform. He<br />
turned aga<strong>in</strong> and saw her <strong>the</strong>re, star<strong>in</strong>g at <strong>the</strong>m and brush<strong>in</strong>g<br />
her hair.<br />
His blood went cold.<br />
Ga<strong>the</strong>r<strong>in</strong>g up his courage, he ran towards her. When he made it<br />
to where she had been stand<strong>in</strong>g, she was nowhere <strong>in</strong> sight. He<br />
shouted to his younger bro<strong>the</strong>r, “Where is she?” but <strong>the</strong><br />
younger bro<strong>the</strong>r shouted back,<br />
She just disappeared!”<br />
That’s when <strong>the</strong> bro<strong>the</strong>rs got really frightened for his<br />
sister, shot off to school and quickly brought her home. They<br />
went straight back home, where she swore to him that she had<br />
not been out of school <strong>the</strong> whole time.<br />
Ever s<strong>in</strong>ce <strong>the</strong>n, <strong>the</strong> bro<strong>the</strong>r always came to pick up his<br />
sister. We could never figure out an explanation for what<br />
happened on that day.<br />
3
It was somewhere around midnight when this happened. My<br />
friend and I were cruis<strong>in</strong>g through <strong>the</strong> street, enjoy<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong><br />
feel<strong>in</strong>g of <strong>the</strong> cool breeze runn<strong>in</strong>g through our hair. We had<br />
been friends for a while now, but I couldn't get used to him<br />
driv<strong>in</strong>g way past <strong>the</strong> legal limit.<br />
But, it was late, and <strong>the</strong> road was practically empty for<br />
miles, so I let it slide.<br />
Now that I th<strong>in</strong>k of it, I can't remember exactly what we were<br />
talk<strong>in</strong>g about, but it did take most of my attention off <strong>the</strong><br />
road. I was look<strong>in</strong>g out of <strong>the</strong> w<strong>in</strong>dow, watch<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> s<strong>in</strong>gle<br />
file of trees zoom past me. I might have even dozed off for a<br />
little before I caught sight of someth<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> middle of<br />
<strong>the</strong> road up ahead.<br />
I squ<strong>in</strong>ted hard, try<strong>in</strong>g to make out <strong>the</strong> shape of what was<br />
before us. It looked... like an older man... with an oddly<br />
large bag. I could tell he was struggl<strong>in</strong>g as he barely moved<br />
an <strong>in</strong>ch as we headed towards him.<br />
"How odd," I thought to myself before realis<strong>in</strong>g what was<br />
about to happen. Travell<strong>in</strong>g at well over 100kmph, we were one<br />
hundred per cent go<strong>in</strong>g to send this man fly<strong>in</strong>g upon impact.<br />
4
I quickly grabbed my friend's hand, tell<strong>in</strong>g him to slow down<br />
and stop <strong>the</strong> car. Or that's what I thought I did. I guess my<br />
anxiety got ahead of me, turn<strong>in</strong>g me <strong>in</strong>to a fumbl<strong>in</strong>g and<br />
stutter<strong>in</strong>g mess. As we got closer and closer to <strong>the</strong> man on<br />
<strong>the</strong> road, my friend showed no signs of stopp<strong>in</strong>g. He was<br />
agitated by my sudden <strong>in</strong>terruption and asked me what was<br />
happen<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
I frantically po<strong>in</strong>ted to <strong>the</strong> middle of <strong>the</strong> road. The man was<br />
maybe 100 metres away from us now, and I braced myself for<br />
<strong>the</strong> impact. I shut my eyes as tightly as I could, wait<strong>in</strong>g for<br />
<strong>the</strong> collision to send us fly<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
But... <strong>the</strong> collision never happened.<br />
I was rendered speechless but f<strong>in</strong>ally managed to tell him<br />
what I saw. He said to me that <strong>the</strong>re was no man on <strong>the</strong> road<br />
and that he didn't see a bag of any sort ei<strong>the</strong>r.<br />
We were already far from where I last saw <strong>the</strong> man, but <strong>the</strong><br />
deep-seated chill he left beh<strong>in</strong>d was felt from miles away.<br />
5
It was a yearly affair for our family to visit our<br />
grandparents.<br />
That year, it was just a little bit different. It was ra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g<br />
cats and dogs, so I just gazed out <strong>the</strong> car seat w<strong>in</strong>dow,<br />
watch<strong>in</strong>g as <strong>the</strong> ra<strong>in</strong>drops raced aga<strong>in</strong>st each o<strong>the</strong>r. My<br />
parents kept silent <strong>the</strong> whole journey, which was odd but<br />
understandable.<br />
You see, my grandparents passed away a while ago, and what<br />
used to be annual visits to <strong>the</strong>ir home has now become visits<br />
to <strong>the</strong> cemetery <strong>the</strong>y are buried <strong>in</strong>. I let <strong>the</strong> cool breeze and<br />
<strong>the</strong> calm<strong>in</strong>g pitter-patter of <strong>the</strong> ra<strong>in</strong> lull me off to sleep as<br />
we cont<strong>in</strong>ued on our way to our dest<strong>in</strong>ation.<br />
I awoke to <strong>the</strong> sight of my relatives ga<strong>the</strong>red around <strong>the</strong><br />
headstones. The ra<strong>in</strong> had stopped, but <strong>the</strong> cool breeze hadn't.<br />
After tak<strong>in</strong>g turns to pay our respects, a couple of us<br />
decided to head to <strong>the</strong> bathroom before mak<strong>in</strong>g our way back<br />
home.<br />
We chatted as we trudged along <strong>the</strong> damp soil path, be<strong>in</strong>g<br />
extra careful not to trample over <strong>the</strong> offer<strong>in</strong>gs strewn across<br />
<strong>the</strong> ground. Didn't want to attract any unwanted "attention".<br />
It was nice, although sort of morbid, how we only came<br />
toge<strong>the</strong>r as a family once a year to catch up <strong>in</strong> a cemetery.<br />
Better than noth<strong>in</strong>g, right?<br />
6
Upon sett<strong>in</strong>g foot <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> toilet, a strange, heavy feel<strong>in</strong>g<br />
took place with<strong>in</strong> us. It was as if... <strong>the</strong> air was denser? "Is<br />
it just me, or is it gett<strong>in</strong>g a little harder to brea<strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong><br />
here" I wondered out loud. We agreed that someth<strong>in</strong>g WAS a<br />
little off <strong>in</strong> that isolated toilet, but we figured we'd have<br />
to make do s<strong>in</strong>ce <strong>the</strong>re wouldn't be ano<strong>the</strong>r one for miles.<br />
Whatever it was must have sensed our presence, as we heard a<br />
soft cry<strong>in</strong>g com<strong>in</strong>g from one of <strong>the</strong> cubicles. Was someone<br />
stuck <strong>in</strong> here?<br />
Curiosity got <strong>the</strong> best of me as I slowly checked each cubicle<br />
one by one, open<strong>in</strong>g each door just enough to take a peek<br />
<strong>in</strong>side.<br />
As I reached <strong>the</strong> cubicle <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> fur<strong>the</strong>st corner from <strong>the</strong><br />
exit, <strong>the</strong> soft cry<strong>in</strong>g grew <strong>in</strong>to wails. I said a silent prayer<br />
as I gently eased <strong>the</strong> door open, expect<strong>in</strong>g some resistance<br />
from <strong>the</strong> lock.<br />
Just as <strong>the</strong> door creaked open, <strong>the</strong> cry<strong>in</strong>g stopped. As if it<br />
was never <strong>the</strong>re. I turned towards my relatives <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> toilet<br />
with me and told <strong>the</strong>m to run. Whatever that was, made me<br />
forget my need to relieve myself. We quickly returned to <strong>the</strong><br />
rest of <strong>the</strong> family and never spoke of it to anyone else.<br />
7
When I was maybe 10-12 years old, I had trouble fall<strong>in</strong>g<br />
asleep one night. My bedroom comprised of <strong>the</strong> entire top<br />
floor of our house, with my bed placed on <strong>the</strong> left side and<br />
storage closets, and a play area on <strong>the</strong> right of <strong>the</strong> room.<br />
I was ly<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> bed when I heard a noise from <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r side<br />
of <strong>the</strong> room and saw my rock<strong>in</strong>g horse beg<strong>in</strong> to rock. It was<br />
sitt<strong>in</strong>g just outside one of <strong>the</strong> storage closet doors. It<br />
proceeded to wobble halfway across <strong>the</strong> room on it's own<br />
accord, before stopp<strong>in</strong>g dead under <strong>the</strong> ceil<strong>in</strong>g light.<br />
At this po<strong>in</strong>t, I was freak<strong>in</strong>g out and just buried my head<br />
under my blankets and never peeked out aga<strong>in</strong> until morn<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
The rock<strong>in</strong>g horse lay completely still, not mov<strong>in</strong>g ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
<strong>in</strong>ch after that.<br />
I rationalized that it was all not a dream because <strong>the</strong><br />
rock<strong>in</strong>g horse was still <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> middle of my room when I woke<br />
up. Obviously, my parents didn't believe me when I told <strong>the</strong>m<br />
<strong>the</strong> next morn<strong>in</strong>g. In addition, I was severely reprimanded by<br />
my parents for gett<strong>in</strong>g out of bed play<strong>in</strong>g with my toys long<br />
after bedtime.<br />
Their bedroom was directly below <strong>the</strong> storage/play area, and<br />
<strong>the</strong>y had heard <strong>the</strong> rock<strong>in</strong>g sound of a rock<strong>in</strong>g horse rock<strong>in</strong>g<br />
across <strong>the</strong> room.<br />
8
Long ago, <strong>the</strong>re was this young couple where <strong>the</strong> girl<br />
accidentally got pregnant.<br />
Obviously <strong>the</strong>y weren't prepared for <strong>the</strong> baby as <strong>the</strong>y were<br />
still quite young and unable to afford rais<strong>in</strong>g one. They<br />
thought about how this child would affect <strong>the</strong>ir plans for<br />
<strong>the</strong> future.<br />
A few months later, <strong>the</strong> baby was f<strong>in</strong>ally born.<br />
She wouldn't be alive for long, as her parents decided to<br />
drive to a nearby lake and drown <strong>the</strong> newborn baby girl<br />
Even after this <strong>in</strong>cident <strong>the</strong> couple stayed toge<strong>the</strong>r and even<br />
got married after a few years later and <strong>the</strong>y were ready to<br />
settled down and have a child<br />
After a few years, <strong>the</strong>y decided to have a family out<strong>in</strong>g with<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir daughter to <strong>the</strong> lake.<br />
They took out <strong>the</strong>ir small boat and rowed around <strong>the</strong> lake and<br />
<strong>the</strong>y had so much fun toge<strong>the</strong>r as a family.<br />
At some po<strong>in</strong>t <strong>the</strong> daughter was like “daddy I need to pee ''<br />
and he’s like “ oh we are too far from shore, but let me just<br />
hold you on <strong>the</strong> edge of <strong>the</strong> boat so you can pee <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> lake”.<br />
As he’s was do<strong>in</strong>g this, she turns to him and says "DON'T DROP<br />
ME THIS TIME"<br />
9
So this story happened <strong>in</strong> 2015.<br />
I stay <strong>in</strong> a landed property. Across my house, <strong>the</strong>re is this<br />
old, dilapidated house that looks abandoned. I suspect<br />
someone must have died <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>re prior to its abandonment.<br />
I've never seen anyone enter or leave <strong>the</strong> premises, and as<br />
odd as it sounds, I do catch myself "stand<strong>in</strong>g guard" as if I<br />
were just wait<strong>in</strong>g for someone to sneak <strong>in</strong> and out of <strong>the</strong><br />
gates.<br />
The biggest struggle of me return<strong>in</strong>g home late is <strong>the</strong><br />
difficulty to f<strong>in</strong>d good park<strong>in</strong>g lots near my house. I'd drive<br />
and drive <strong>in</strong> circles, hop<strong>in</strong>g to chance upon a convenient<br />
spot.<br />
After circl<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> area for maybe 15 m<strong>in</strong>utes, I gave up and<br />
drove back to my front gate. That's when <strong>the</strong> idea of park<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>in</strong> front of <strong>the</strong> abandoned house came to m<strong>in</strong>d. S<strong>in</strong>ce <strong>the</strong>re<br />
wasn't anyone liv<strong>in</strong>g here, I don't th<strong>in</strong>k <strong>the</strong>y would care for<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir lot anyway.<br />
Just as I was back<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> lot, I noticed <strong>the</strong> lights on<br />
<strong>the</strong> second floor of <strong>the</strong> house was on. That's weird. Haven't<br />
seen that happen before. I didn't th<strong>in</strong>k much of it and<br />
cont<strong>in</strong>ued to park <strong>in</strong> that lot a couple times after, look<strong>in</strong>g<br />
up to see <strong>the</strong> same room be<strong>in</strong>g lit up every time I did so.<br />
It was maybe 2-3am on this one day when I was gett<strong>in</strong>g ready<br />
to park when I felt like I was be<strong>in</strong>g watched. I looked at <strong>the</strong><br />
house to see if <strong>the</strong> lights were on, and sure enough, I saw<br />
someth<strong>in</strong>g move through <strong>the</strong> w<strong>in</strong>dows. I couldn't make out what<br />
it was s<strong>in</strong>ce it moved so fast, but I wasn't one to stick<br />
around to f<strong>in</strong>d out.<br />
I backed out of <strong>the</strong> lot and drove on because FUCK that.<br />
Until today, I've actively avoided that lot, and <strong>the</strong> lights<br />
have never come on s<strong>in</strong>ce <strong>the</strong>n. We still don't know if <strong>the</strong><br />
house is truly abandoned or if <strong>the</strong>re's someone liv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>re. The gate was always locked and has rema<strong>in</strong>ed so up till<br />
this day.<br />
10
My Ex Girlfriend has <strong>the</strong> ability to see spirits.<br />
Dur<strong>in</strong>g my university days, I had a bunch of friends who<br />
always loved to go ghost hunt<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
So we decided to play a game of hid<strong>in</strong>g and seek <strong>in</strong> an<br />
abandoned build<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
There were 2 seekers and 8 hiders. Only <strong>the</strong> seekers were<br />
allowed to use torch lights. A little under half an hour <strong>in</strong>to<br />
our game, my ex told all of us to leave <strong>the</strong> house and said<br />
that she was done and tired but <strong>in</strong> such a hurried way that I<br />
felt compelled to ask if she was ok.<br />
She brushed it off to be<strong>in</strong>g tired, and we left it at that. So<br />
we all sat <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> basketball court nearby, which was<br />
surrounded by woods. As usual, we sat <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> darkness to talk<br />
and slowly, <strong>the</strong> convo, as usual, moved to horror stories<br />
shar<strong>in</strong>g sessions. Yet aga<strong>in</strong>, she stopped us abruptly, and we<br />
just went to a closeby Mamak( Mamak is a restaurant that<br />
opens 24/7 <strong>in</strong> Malaysia).<br />
When we were <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> restaurant, she told us dur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> game,<br />
she saw a family of black figures stand<strong>in</strong>g and look<strong>in</strong>g at us<br />
and kept ask<strong>in</strong>g us to leave. As if it wasn't scary enough,<br />
she told us someth<strong>in</strong>g until today I will never forget.<br />
She said every time when u speak/discuss ghost horror<br />
stories, <strong>the</strong> entities will sit next to you to listen <strong>in</strong> on<br />
what you are say<strong>in</strong>g about <strong>the</strong>m. And that night on <strong>the</strong><br />
basketball court, she told us <strong>the</strong>re were more than 5 entities<br />
close to my o<strong>the</strong>r 3 friends and me and listen<strong>in</strong>g to our<br />
conversation.<br />
11
This happened to my friend a while ago.<br />
So just imag<strong>in</strong>e that his room is a rectangle, with his<br />
computer desk positioned between two walls with just a small<br />
space to walk <strong>in</strong> between to <strong>the</strong> toilet. Typical studio suite<br />
layout.<br />
One day, he gets out of bed and switches on his monitor,<br />
rubb<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> wear<strong>in</strong>ess away from his eyes.<br />
That's when he caught sight of someth<strong>in</strong>g on <strong>the</strong> screen. Maybe<br />
it was a trick of <strong>the</strong> light, but he saw swears he saw<br />
someth<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> pitch-black start<strong>in</strong>g screen of his desktop.<br />
He tells me that at that exact moment when <strong>the</strong> screen went<br />
dark, he saw someth<strong>in</strong>g stand<strong>in</strong>g just beh<strong>in</strong>d him with its<br />
hands on his shoulders.<br />
There was no way to rationalise this s<strong>in</strong>ce it was just <strong>the</strong><br />
same old pla<strong>in</strong> wall beh<strong>in</strong>d him.<br />
12
Maybe It's just me, but I've never been a fan of sleep<strong>in</strong>g<br />
with my limbs hang<strong>in</strong>g off my bed.<br />
It's not that I have a HUGE bed or anyth<strong>in</strong>g, <strong>in</strong> fact, I just<br />
sleep on a super s<strong>in</strong>gle toge<strong>the</strong>r with my soft toys. One day,<br />
I woke up feel<strong>in</strong>g this strange sensation of be<strong>in</strong>g watched. It<br />
was pretty early <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> morn<strong>in</strong>g too, so.. before sunrise.<br />
There wasn't anyone else <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> room which was odd, s<strong>in</strong>ce I<br />
slept with my helper and my grand dad. I thought noth<strong>in</strong>g of<br />
it and just went back to sleep. Only to be woken up a second<br />
time, sleep<strong>in</strong>g on my stomach <strong>in</strong>stead of my back this time, by<br />
a t<strong>in</strong>gl<strong>in</strong>g feel<strong>in</strong>g on my palm.<br />
Imag<strong>in</strong>e a long and sharp f<strong>in</strong>gernail dragg<strong>in</strong>g lightly across<br />
your hand. It was pretty dark and my vision was k<strong>in</strong>da hazy so<br />
I couldn't tell if <strong>the</strong>re was a figure or not. I just felt <strong>the</strong><br />
ticklish sensation of a f<strong>in</strong>gernail be<strong>in</strong>g dragged across my<br />
hand. I closed my hand and didn't th<strong>in</strong>k much of it, until I<br />
realised that whatever that was, was draw<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> shape of a<br />
cross onto my palm.<br />
Maybe it was a cross, or just a + sign, but it really scares<br />
me to th<strong>in</strong>k.. maybe it was an anti-cross? Who knows. I woke<br />
up a couple hours later and checked with my mom and<br />
grandmo<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>the</strong> only two who had long po<strong>in</strong>ty f<strong>in</strong>gernails <strong>in</strong><br />
my house, if <strong>the</strong>y had pranked me earlier <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> day, but <strong>the</strong>y<br />
were both out of <strong>the</strong> house at <strong>the</strong> wet market when this<br />
occurred.<br />
Which keeps me th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g.. what was it exactly that was<br />
watch<strong>in</strong>g and... touch<strong>in</strong>g me?<br />
13
I recently had a traumatic experience that completely<br />
vanquished my skepticism towards <strong>the</strong> paranormal. So, I came<br />
across this urban legend known as "The elevator ritual".<br />
If anyone is curious, feel free to check it out at this<br />
website: https://<strong>the</strong>ghost<strong>in</strong>mymach<strong>in</strong>e.com/2014/06/25/<strong>the</strong>-mostdangerous-games-elevator-to-ano<strong>the</strong>r-world/<br />
The idea of enter<strong>in</strong>g an "alternate dimension" sounded<br />
<strong>in</strong>trigu<strong>in</strong>g, and <strong>the</strong> ritual seemed simple enough – press <strong>the</strong><br />
lift buttons <strong>in</strong> a specific order – what could go wrong?<br />
I decided to perform <strong>the</strong> ritual one fateful Sunday even<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
Conveniently, <strong>the</strong>re were 11 floors on my campus' hostel, and<br />
my lazy ass couldn't be bo<strong>the</strong>red to look for ano<strong>the</strong>r build<strong>in</strong>g<br />
fitt<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> ritual's requirement. Despite popular advice, I<br />
decided to perform <strong>the</strong> ritual <strong>in</strong> my build<strong>in</strong>g, us<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong><br />
elevator I use daily. After all, <strong>the</strong>re is comfort <strong>in</strong> be<strong>in</strong>g<br />
close to home.<br />
I headed out of my room with a steely resolve. Someth<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong><br />
my m<strong>in</strong>d advised me aga<strong>in</strong>st what I was about to do, but<br />
skepticism got <strong>the</strong> better of me, and I stepped <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong><br />
elevator. As <strong>the</strong> elevator p<strong>in</strong>ged, <strong>in</strong>dicat<strong>in</strong>g that I reached<br />
<strong>the</strong> first floor, I went on with <strong>the</strong> 4-2-6-2-10-5-1 rout<strong>in</strong>e.<br />
Noth<strong>in</strong>g happened; my heart was <strong>in</strong> my mouth throughout <strong>the</strong><br />
entire ordeal. There was no woman on <strong>the</strong> 5th floor, and <strong>the</strong><br />
elevator didn't ascend to <strong>the</strong> 10th floor when I pressed <strong>the</strong><br />
button for <strong>the</strong> 1st floor. Case closed - ghosts do not exist.<br />
Feel<strong>in</strong>g victorious, I returned to my room us<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> same<br />
elevator.<br />
14
When I got back to my room, my roommate was <strong>the</strong>re with campus<br />
security. I had been gone for 4 hours! I lied and told <strong>the</strong>m I<br />
went to <strong>the</strong> bar for some dr<strong>in</strong>ks. As campus security went<br />
away, my roommate asked me what <strong>the</strong> real reason was, and<br />
obviously, I told him. But he didn't seem to believe me.<br />
I couldn't sleep <strong>the</strong> entire night; I kept hear<strong>in</strong>g loud<br />
scratch<strong>in</strong>g noises from where <strong>the</strong> front door was. Desperate,<br />
long scratches that audibly ripped away wood from <strong>the</strong> front<br />
door. It felt like <strong>the</strong> front door would crack anytime. But my<br />
roommate couldn't hear anyth<strong>in</strong>g. The scratch<strong>in</strong>g only stopped<br />
when my annoyed roommate opened <strong>the</strong> door to prove that<br />
noth<strong>in</strong>g was <strong>the</strong>re.<br />
The next day, my roommate and I bought some sage and cleansed<br />
<strong>the</strong> entire room. From <strong>the</strong>n on, I no longer hear scratch<strong>in</strong>g on<br />
our door. However, I constantly feel a presence observ<strong>in</strong>g me<br />
whenever I leave my room.<br />
Six months have passed, but I still cannot shake away this<br />
feel<strong>in</strong>g of paranoia – every time someth<strong>in</strong>g seems just<br />
slightly off, it petrifies me. I hope this phase will pass<br />
soon, but if <strong>the</strong>re's one th<strong>in</strong>g I could say about my whole<br />
experience, it would be this: <strong>the</strong> elevator ritual is not just<br />
an urban legend, and we should never trifle with <strong>the</strong><br />
supernatural.<br />
15
Ok, so, every day, a few of us will have to help out with<br />
"chores" that <strong>the</strong> sergeants demand us to do, like clean <strong>the</strong><br />
toilets, straightforward logistics and stuff like that.<br />
This <strong>in</strong>cident happened around 2 to 3 am when our Platoon got<br />
punished for not abid<strong>in</strong>g by our special orders.<br />
Everyone <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Platoon has done <strong>the</strong>ir part, and we are given<br />
a time limit to f<strong>in</strong>ish up <strong>the</strong> chores and report back to <strong>the</strong><br />
parade square for <strong>the</strong> last parade brief<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
A friend of m<strong>in</strong>e was <strong>in</strong> charge of clean<strong>in</strong>g up <strong>the</strong> toilets,<br />
and he had stayed to use <strong>the</strong> toilet cubicle to take a poop<br />
while <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs ga<strong>the</strong>red to report back.<br />
While he was <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> toilet, he heard someone open <strong>the</strong> door<br />
and thought that someone might wanna use <strong>the</strong> bathroom just<br />
like him.<br />
What he didn't expect to hear was a woman's voice ask<strong>in</strong>g, "Is<br />
anyone <strong>in</strong>side?" so he assumed maybe it was <strong>the</strong> cleaner that<br />
cleans <strong>the</strong>ir toilet dur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> day.<br />
S<strong>in</strong>ce we are <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Military base, <strong>the</strong>re are usually not many<br />
females besides <strong>the</strong> cleaners.<br />
He was at <strong>the</strong> last toilet cubicle do<strong>in</strong>g his bus<strong>in</strong>ess. At <strong>the</strong><br />
same time, he could hear "her" enter<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> first cubicle and<br />
said, "Oh, <strong>the</strong>re's no tissue paper."<br />
16
One by one, she knocked on <strong>the</strong> doors and asked, "Hi, anyone<br />
<strong>in</strong>side?".<br />
As soon as she reached near his cubicle, my friend saw that<br />
he had tissue paper but wanted to keep quiet because he was<br />
too lazy to deal with anyone at <strong>the</strong> moment.<br />
When she knocked on his door and asked, he kept quiet, hop<strong>in</strong>g<br />
she would go away. After what felt like forever, <strong>the</strong> sound of<br />
footsteps began to fade. He felt relieved and leaned aga<strong>in</strong>st<br />
<strong>the</strong> back of <strong>the</strong> toilet, feel<strong>in</strong>g a little more at ease. That<br />
was when he looked up to see a woman with a bloody face just<br />
star<strong>in</strong>g at him.<br />
She shook <strong>the</strong> entire cubicle as her scream resounded through<br />
<strong>the</strong> whole room and my friend was so horrified he screamed as<br />
if his head was about to pop off.<br />
He didn't even f<strong>in</strong>ish his bus<strong>in</strong>ess as he pulled up his pants<br />
and opened <strong>the</strong> door, ran all <strong>the</strong> way back to our bunk and<br />
woke me up.<br />
The next day, he reported sick and began pack<strong>in</strong>g up his<br />
belong<strong>in</strong>gs as if he was leav<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> base for good.<br />
From what I heard from my sergeant, The medical officer<br />
posted him out as he requested to change designation because<br />
he didn't want to be near this camp s<strong>in</strong>ce that night.<br />
17
This story that I'm about to share with you belongs to my<br />
mo<strong>the</strong>r who loves to share with us about her life experience<br />
back when she was young.<br />
Smartphones weren't a th<strong>in</strong>g and <strong>the</strong>y were us<strong>in</strong>g those huge<br />
ass cameras with flashes, back <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> old days. It happened<br />
when my mom was 24, she was <strong>in</strong> University. She doesn't dr<strong>in</strong>k<br />
or do anyth<strong>in</strong>g due to her religion, so she couldn’t have been<br />
under <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>fluence of alcohol.<br />
One day she and her o<strong>the</strong>r friend's name Jessis received a<br />
Birthday Party <strong>in</strong>vitation letter from <strong>the</strong>ir old friend named<br />
Sandra. They used to hang out often when <strong>the</strong>y were kids but<br />
Sandra had to move out due to some personal reasons.<br />
My mom and Jessica arrived at <strong>the</strong> front door of <strong>the</strong> house<br />
br<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g cake and gifts which <strong>the</strong>y rang <strong>the</strong> doorbell. Soon<br />
after Sandra opened <strong>the</strong> door for <strong>the</strong>m to come <strong>in</strong>, <strong>the</strong>y<br />
chatted for a while and soon after <strong>the</strong>y tried to take group<br />
pictures us<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> Polaroid camera.<br />
The girls waited excitedly for <strong>the</strong> pictures to develop, but<br />
every time <strong>the</strong>y tried to take a picture of Sandra, her face<br />
would be blurred out. And it was pretty spooky.<br />
18
They started to question whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> camera was broken and<br />
asked if Sandra had ano<strong>the</strong>r camera <strong>the</strong>y could use. But she<br />
just kept quiet, and suddenly <strong>the</strong> room went cold. They felt a<br />
chill run down <strong>the</strong>ir sp<strong>in</strong>e and knew <strong>the</strong>y had to get out of<br />
<strong>the</strong>re.<br />
Scared shitless, <strong>the</strong>y just ran out from <strong>the</strong> house without<br />
say<strong>in</strong>g goodbye to Sandra.<br />
Halfway through, my mom realised she had left someth<strong>in</strong>g over<br />
at Sandra’s place. She felt terrible for leav<strong>in</strong>g without<br />
say<strong>in</strong>g anyth<strong>in</strong>g, so <strong>the</strong>y both went back to <strong>the</strong> house and to<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir surprise, <strong>the</strong> house was abandoned as if no one had been<br />
<strong>the</strong>re for ages.<br />
They asked around and found out that Sandra was murdered on<br />
<strong>the</strong> day she was supposed to move out due to thief's break<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>in</strong> and s<strong>in</strong>ce <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> house was abandoned. Besides, my mom<br />
never found her favourite scrunchie.<br />
19
Ela<strong>in</strong>e was your typical S<strong>in</strong>gaporean girl. She was plann<strong>in</strong>g to<br />
get married very soon and decided to go for a jog, th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g<br />
that maybe she could get slimmer to look stunn<strong>in</strong>g on her<br />
wedd<strong>in</strong>g dress.<br />
Just for some context, S<strong>in</strong>gaporeans have a habit of jogg<strong>in</strong>g<br />
at night s<strong>in</strong>ce <strong>the</strong>y don't have time <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> day. The usual<br />
place where she used to jog was under construction, so she<br />
decided to change her route.She found an alternate route<br />
nearby but hesitated s<strong>in</strong>ce that road wasn't very well lit,<br />
with lamp posts scarcely placed along <strong>the</strong> route.<br />
After a little bit of consideration, she cont<strong>in</strong>ued on her<br />
jog, be<strong>in</strong>g extra careful of her surround<strong>in</strong>gs. Her<br />
surround<strong>in</strong>gs were dark and quiet. Almost as if she would be<br />
plunged <strong>in</strong>to complete silence if not for <strong>the</strong> rustl<strong>in</strong>g of <strong>the</strong><br />
trees <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> w<strong>in</strong>d.<br />
She began to feel a little tense. She wasn't used to be<strong>in</strong>g<br />
alone and never was a fan of <strong>the</strong> dark. In <strong>the</strong> corner of her<br />
eye, she spotted this guy, wear<strong>in</strong>g a helmet and dressed like<br />
a food delivery guy. He was jogg<strong>in</strong>g towards <strong>the</strong> same<br />
direction as Ela<strong>in</strong>e but at a faster pace, so he quickly<br />
overtook her.<br />
She noticed <strong>the</strong> sound his boots were mak<strong>in</strong>g as he ran.<br />
"Kong, Kong, Kong"<br />
Although it was a little peculiar for a food delivery man to<br />
be jogg<strong>in</strong>g to his dest<strong>in</strong>ation <strong>in</strong>stead of be<strong>in</strong>g on a<br />
motorcycle or bicycle at least, she felt relieved.<br />
"At least I'm not all alone here", she thought to herself,<br />
allow<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> tension <strong>in</strong> her heart to ease. The man<br />
disappeared <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> darkness quickly enough, leav<strong>in</strong>g Ela<strong>in</strong>e<br />
alone <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> dark aga<strong>in</strong>.<br />
20
A few moments later, ano<strong>the</strong>r guy passes by aga<strong>in</strong>, com<strong>in</strong>g up<br />
from beh<strong>in</strong>d her, jogg<strong>in</strong>g at more or less <strong>the</strong> same speed as<br />
that "food delivery guy". She thought noth<strong>in</strong>g of it when<br />
ano<strong>the</strong>r guy passed by......3rd time, 4th time and 5th time.<br />
"Isn't this <strong>the</strong> same guy from a while ago?" Ela<strong>in</strong>e stopped <strong>in</strong><br />
her tracks and mumbled to herself, barely stifl<strong>in</strong>g tears, as<br />
she realized her predicament.<br />
<strong>To</strong> her horror, <strong>the</strong> man stopped jogg<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
Frozen <strong>in</strong> fear, Ela<strong>in</strong>e watched as <strong>the</strong> man began runn<strong>in</strong>g full<br />
speed towards her, without turn<strong>in</strong>g his body an <strong>in</strong>ch. She had<br />
no time to rationalize how he was runn<strong>in</strong>g towards her while<br />
fac<strong>in</strong>g away from her at THAT speed.<br />
"KONG, KONG, KONG". The sound of his boots reverberated<br />
through <strong>the</strong> trees and shook her back to reality. She turned<br />
back towards where she came from and ran for her life. It's<br />
lucky she had good stam<strong>in</strong>a from all that track and field<br />
tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g when she was younger.<br />
She runs all <strong>the</strong> way back to her condom<strong>in</strong>ium, occasionally<br />
look<strong>in</strong>g over her shoulder to keep an eye on that man.<br />
Thankfully, <strong>the</strong> dark surround<strong>in</strong>gs quickly burst <strong>in</strong>to light as<br />
she returned to civilization. She heaved a sigh of relief as<br />
she lost sight of <strong>the</strong> odd man. Berat<strong>in</strong>g herself for go<strong>in</strong>g<br />
aga<strong>in</strong>st her <strong>in</strong>st<strong>in</strong>cts and wander<strong>in</strong>g off alone <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong><br />
darkness so late at night.<br />
She hits <strong>the</strong> elevator button, catch<strong>in</strong>g her breath as <strong>the</strong> old<br />
elevator carriage makes its way down to pick her up.<br />
The moment she looked <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> elevator........ He's <strong>the</strong>re!<br />
With his back fac<strong>in</strong>g her, still hear<strong>in</strong>g that same "Kong,<br />
Kong, Kong".<br />
21
I had 2 experiences, but this one was <strong>the</strong> scarier of <strong>the</strong> two.<br />
It was <strong>in</strong> university. We lived on some k<strong>in</strong>d of campus with<br />
rooms for students, 4 <strong>in</strong> each room. We had like double-level<br />
beds (bottom and top sleep<strong>in</strong>g places), you know? I always<br />
loved to sleep on top s<strong>in</strong>ce <strong>the</strong> ventilation was better.<br />
So that night, I went to bed late, while my friends were<br />
sleep<strong>in</strong>g already. I lay <strong>in</strong> bed and tried to fall asleep. I<br />
was sleep<strong>in</strong>g (sleep<strong>in</strong>g or not?) on my back before I felt like<br />
someth<strong>in</strong>g jumped on a bed between my legs, like a cat, you<br />
know.<br />
I opened my eyes but couldn't see anyth<strong>in</strong>g cause it was<br />
dark, s<strong>in</strong>ce <strong>the</strong> lights were all off. Then I bl<strong>in</strong>ked just<br />
once, and <strong>the</strong> second I opened my eyes, I saw <strong>the</strong> face of my<br />
friend (<strong>the</strong> one who usually sleeps on <strong>the</strong> bottom level). Her<br />
face was right <strong>in</strong> front of m<strong>in</strong>e. This couldn't be possible<br />
naturally because <strong>the</strong> bed was 2 meters tall.<br />
That's when she opened her mouth and began scream<strong>in</strong>g. With<br />
mouth open, scream<strong>in</strong>g with all <strong>the</strong> pa<strong>in</strong> and agony of someone<br />
who had been cut <strong>in</strong> 2 halves.<br />
Fam, I was shit scared to death. It was for like 5-7 seconds,<br />
but it felt like forever. It all ended when someone knocked<br />
on <strong>the</strong> door. Perhaps it was a time I woke up!<br />
22
This happened... maybe 2 years ago <strong>in</strong> my parent's bedroom. It<br />
was a crazy exhaust<strong>in</strong>g day for me, be<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> school from 7am-<br />
6pm with a measly 1 hour break at 1pm. It was near<strong>in</strong>g our<br />
national exams so... A student's gotta do what a student's<br />
gotta do. I came home and had d<strong>in</strong>ner before prepar<strong>in</strong>g myself<br />
for additional tutor<strong>in</strong>g at 8pm. The lesson went on and all,<br />
and I decided to take a quick nap on my parent's bed s<strong>in</strong>ce it<br />
was <strong>the</strong> most comfortable.<br />
So <strong>the</strong>re I was right, on my back, arms out and legs dangl<strong>in</strong>g<br />
off <strong>the</strong> bed, look<strong>in</strong>g at <strong>the</strong> white ceil<strong>in</strong>g as I fell asleep.<br />
Just that... I didn't exactly fall asleep? I opened my eyes<br />
to see this TINY black l<strong>in</strong>e at <strong>the</strong> corner of my mom's room<br />
out of <strong>the</strong> corner of my eye, before like fixat<strong>in</strong>g my vision<br />
on it entirely!<br />
Once I did fix my eyes on it though, it started to grow and<br />
spread across <strong>the</strong> ceil<strong>in</strong>g.. k<strong>in</strong>da like a spider web or a<br />
crack or someth<strong>in</strong>g. The parts of <strong>the</strong> ceil<strong>in</strong>g near <strong>the</strong> corners<br />
started to crumble and fall, reveal<strong>in</strong>g a pitch black abyss<br />
beh<strong>in</strong>d it. I don't remember much of it but I couldn't move my<br />
arms or legs for a long while after that! So I just lay<br />
<strong>the</strong>re, watch<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> ceil<strong>in</strong>g crumble around me. M<strong>in</strong>d you this<br />
was like 9pm so it was HELLA fk<strong>in</strong>g dark and I couldn't really<br />
make out any features or shapes as well.<br />
Eventually, I heard my mom call me from <strong>the</strong> liv<strong>in</strong>g room and I<br />
managed to move my head a little to break out of it. I shook<br />
my head and rubbed my eyes before look<strong>in</strong>g back up to see a<br />
perfect, white ceil<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
23
10 years ago, when I was attend<strong>in</strong>g a secondary school camp,<br />
my friend and I stayed <strong>in</strong> a dorm opposite our school dur<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>the</strong> camp. Late at night, we needed water, and we decided to<br />
go back to school to refill <strong>the</strong> bottles because we didn't<br />
want to boil water and had to wait for it to cool down.<br />
On our way back to school, we passed by our hall and saw a<br />
young boy star<strong>in</strong>g at <strong>the</strong> ceil<strong>in</strong>g, and we both found it really<br />
odd but, we just kept on walk<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
It was really dark, and both of us had chills but didn't<br />
speak about it out of fear. Once we walked past <strong>the</strong> kid, we<br />
mumbled and thought it was really strange. My friend told me<br />
with an urgency <strong>in</strong> her voice, "no matter what you do, do not<br />
look back". But... stubborn me, decided to turn back and my<br />
jaw dropped as my eyes widened <strong>in</strong> horror.<br />
The boy DISAPPEARED - my friend and I looked at each o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
and were <strong>in</strong> shock, <strong>the</strong>n we heard a whisper, jiejie (older<br />
sister).... want to play with me?...<br />
We let out an ear-pierc<strong>in</strong>g scream and ran out of <strong>the</strong> hall<br />
without our water. We managed to speak to some seniors from<br />
<strong>the</strong> camp and found out that this boy was actually "boys"<br />
because <strong>the</strong>re were stories of many people encounter<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong>se<br />
tw<strong>in</strong>s as <strong>the</strong>y were <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> some mishap years ago on this<br />
very campsite.<br />
24
This is a simple story that happened just awhile ago.<br />
It was pretty late that night. I was ly<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> my room play<strong>in</strong>g<br />
with my cellphone. I recall that <strong>the</strong>re was only me, my mo<strong>the</strong>r<br />
and my sister <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> house <strong>the</strong>n.<br />
It was around 1am when I heard my sister's voice call<strong>in</strong>g me,<br />
ask<strong>in</strong>g me to come out of my room. Her voice was not too loud,<br />
but still audible. This was odd, s<strong>in</strong>ce my sister was a very<br />
loudspoken woman. But I brushed it off, it was pretty late<br />
after all, maybe she didn't want to wake my mo<strong>the</strong>r up.<br />
I lazily got out of my comfortable position and shuffled<br />
towards <strong>the</strong> door.<br />
"What do you want-" I asked, stopp<strong>in</strong>g mid sentence.<br />
There was no one <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> hallway.<br />
I was a little confused, scann<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> ends of <strong>the</strong> hallway for<br />
any sight of my sister. I looked for my mo<strong>the</strong>r, who was <strong>in</strong><br />
her room, ask<strong>in</strong>g her where my sister went, tell<strong>in</strong>g her that I<br />
heard her call<strong>in</strong>g my name earlier.<br />
<strong>To</strong> my surprise, she responded promptly that my sister was not<br />
at home, and had gone out <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> afternoon and stayed at my<br />
grandmo<strong>the</strong>r's house.<br />
I still don’t know how to tell my family about what I heard<br />
till this day.<br />
25
It was back <strong>in</strong> 2003 when I was home alone with my mum<br />
(Background: my mum is a staunch catholic that is extremely<br />
faithful to her religion.)<br />
My dad wasn't home because he was work<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> graveyard shift<br />
and I was about to fall asleep <strong>in</strong> my room.<br />
It was between 10-11PM when I heard loud knock<strong>in</strong>g from my<br />
mum's room as if she were bang<strong>in</strong>g on <strong>the</strong> wall or her door. I<br />
got up to <strong>in</strong>vestigate, wander<strong>in</strong>g cautiously towards <strong>the</strong><br />
source of <strong>the</strong> sound.<br />
I caught sight of my mo<strong>the</strong>r. She seemed to be pray<strong>in</strong>g and was<br />
hold<strong>in</strong>g onto her cross but she was laugh<strong>in</strong>g and cry<strong>in</strong>g at <strong>the</strong><br />
same time. I tried speak<strong>in</strong>g to her but, she didn't respond to<br />
me at all.<br />
The next moment, she turned to me and stared directly <strong>in</strong>to my<br />
soul and <strong>in</strong> a deep voice said "I see <strong>the</strong> face of a devil<br />
fly<strong>in</strong>g around this room". She started us<strong>in</strong>g a pillow to hit<br />
an imag<strong>in</strong>ary target surround<strong>in</strong>g her. At this po<strong>in</strong>t I started<br />
panick<strong>in</strong>g and I was <strong>in</strong> absolute shock. She never acted this<br />
way before, and her voice was def<strong>in</strong>itely not her own. I ran<br />
to my telephone (landl<strong>in</strong>e) <strong>in</strong> ano<strong>the</strong>r room and started to<br />
call my dad, but to no avail.<br />
26
When I returned to <strong>the</strong> room, my mum started humm<strong>in</strong>g and<br />
s<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g London ....nnn ..nn bridg..e..... is....<br />
fa..lli<strong>in</strong>g.... down.... <strong>in</strong> an extremely deep voice non-stop<br />
while cry<strong>in</strong>g. She cont<strong>in</strong>ued bang<strong>in</strong>g on doors and <strong>the</strong> walls<br />
non stop even when I started cry<strong>in</strong>g with her, begg<strong>in</strong>g her to<br />
stop. This went on for hours until 3-4am (she kept on hold<strong>in</strong>g<br />
onto her cross and rosary). Then....<br />
She suddenly stopped, laughed and fa<strong>in</strong>ted. I ran to <strong>the</strong><br />
jo<strong>in</strong>ed toilet and took water to splash on my mum to wake her<br />
up. When she woke up, she told me she remembered what was<br />
happen<strong>in</strong>g but was unable to control what she was do<strong>in</strong>g. I<br />
cried myself to sleep and woke up because I felt like I was<br />
be<strong>in</strong>g strangled <strong>in</strong> my sleep.<br />
I have no idea what was go<strong>in</strong>g on that night but that was <strong>the</strong><br />
one that left me with <strong>the</strong> deepest impression. When we moved<br />
out (<strong>the</strong> entire family) concurred that we always felt like<br />
someth<strong>in</strong>g was <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> house... Shadows fly<strong>in</strong>g... But we didn't<br />
dare to speak about it. We just did our best to ignore <strong>the</strong>m.<br />
Not sure why that happened, but any of you faced a similar<br />
encounter?<br />
27
The grandmo<strong>the</strong>r of some friends was travel<strong>in</strong>g and asked us to<br />
check on her dog. A so-called affectionate German Shepherd<br />
who would jump for joy when he saw us arrive. We went <strong>the</strong>re<br />
and to our surprise <strong>the</strong>re was no dog that came to <strong>the</strong> door.<br />
We didn't th<strong>in</strong>k it was weird and we started look<strong>in</strong>g for it.<br />
We started call<strong>in</strong>g out to him, hear<strong>in</strong>g footsteps runn<strong>in</strong>g down<br />
<strong>the</strong> stairs.<br />
We thought that a relative might be <strong>the</strong>re and we called <strong>the</strong><br />
owner to make sure, but she said it was not possible. We<br />
heard more footsteps, this time go<strong>in</strong>g up <strong>the</strong> stairs and I<br />
suggested call<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> police <strong>in</strong> case <strong>the</strong>y were steal<strong>in</strong>g, but<br />
my friend told me we should check it first.<br />
As we were go<strong>in</strong>g up <strong>the</strong> stairs, we heard a k<strong>in</strong>d of bell, and<br />
my friend expla<strong>in</strong>ed that <strong>the</strong> dog had one and that it was<br />
probably him. We were scared but we ended up go<strong>in</strong>g up to <strong>the</strong><br />
second floor. There we found Jake <strong>the</strong> dog, who was shak<strong>in</strong>g<br />
and scared to death. We couldn't get him to move, he was just<br />
look<strong>in</strong>g at <strong>the</strong> stairs. We searched <strong>the</strong> entire house and <strong>the</strong>re<br />
was noth<strong>in</strong>g and no one.<br />
My friend's grandmo<strong>the</strong>r assures that her husband was deceased<br />
and that she listens to him many days walk<strong>in</strong>g around <strong>the</strong><br />
house.<br />
28
He's always been a fun man and also an a<strong>the</strong>ist. Never<br />
considered any religion and like that. So whenever he's been<br />
asked if he believes <strong>in</strong> God, he used to say: I don't believe<br />
<strong>in</strong> God, I believe <strong>in</strong> Satan.<br />
So <strong>the</strong>re was one night, he fell asleep and here is <strong>the</strong> dream:<br />
He sees himself sleep<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> his room. He has a door, <strong>the</strong> k<strong>in</strong>d<br />
made of half glass/half wood. The frosted glass doesn't allow<br />
you to see right through but let's just enough light through<br />
to make out <strong>the</strong> silhouette of whatever is on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r side.<br />
So <strong>the</strong>re it is: He sees himself sleep<strong>in</strong>g, and <strong>the</strong>n he looks<br />
at <strong>the</strong> door: <strong>the</strong>re is a red glow and black figures walk<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
At that po<strong>in</strong>t, he was very scared <strong>in</strong> his dream. He noticed a<br />
red glow and someone walk<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>to his house beh<strong>in</strong>d <strong>the</strong> door.<br />
The door opens, and his friend (<strong>the</strong>y are always toge<strong>the</strong>r)<br />
comes <strong>in</strong>side with a scary smile.<br />
He takes a chair and sits near <strong>the</strong> body which is sleep<strong>in</strong>g on<br />
a bed! "The Spirit" (let's call it like this) of my friend<br />
comes closer to his friend and his sleep<strong>in</strong>g body and says,<br />
like Wtf dude, what's go<strong>in</strong>g on?? His friend replied: I'm not<br />
your dude, boy. And cont<strong>in</strong>ue smil<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
He tried to question his friend, but he started laugh<strong>in</strong>g,<br />
stood up and left <strong>the</strong> room. Before clos<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> door, he<br />
says," It's because you don't believe <strong>in</strong> God and do believe<br />
<strong>in</strong> Me." He let out a menac<strong>in</strong>g laugh and left. This guy woke<br />
up after that and told me <strong>the</strong> story. He said he will never<br />
ever say, "I don't believe <strong>in</strong> God, I believe <strong>in</strong> Satan"<br />
anymore.<br />
29
In 2013 my wife and I divorced and we both moved <strong>in</strong>to<br />
separate homes. The divorce went well and we are still good<br />
friends to this day partly because we have a daughter<br />
toge<strong>the</strong>r. We agreed to split custody over our daughter and I<br />
rented an old house <strong>in</strong> a historic district <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> city where<br />
we live.<br />
It was a very pretty home, built <strong>in</strong> 1935 but kept up very<br />
well. I would have my daughter two weeks at a time and she<br />
had a bedroom <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> back of <strong>the</strong> house. She was three years<br />
old at <strong>the</strong> time and I kept notic<strong>in</strong>g her talk<strong>in</strong>g to her<br />
friend. One day I found her <strong>in</strong> a little closet talk<strong>in</strong>g to<br />
someone and I remember her say<strong>in</strong>g she was talk<strong>in</strong>g to ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
little girl named Betty.<br />
I have no idea where she heard <strong>the</strong> name “Betty” as she was<br />
only 3 years old, but I just chalked it all up to a child’s<br />
vivid imag<strong>in</strong>ation. Keep <strong>in</strong> m<strong>in</strong>d, I am a s<strong>in</strong>gle Dad to a<br />
little girl. I really have no idea what I’m do<strong>in</strong>g when it<br />
comes to dress<strong>in</strong>g, hair, or just little girl stuff <strong>in</strong><br />
general. Her mo<strong>the</strong>r is good at that stuff, but not me. I put<br />
my daughter to bed one night after her bath. I remember<br />
brush<strong>in</strong>g her hair that night but that was all I did.<br />
The very next morn<strong>in</strong>g, her Mom came to pick her up from my<br />
house and my daughter was just wak<strong>in</strong>g up. Her Mom went back<br />
to her bedroom to f<strong>in</strong>d my daughter's hair was fixed <strong>in</strong> two<br />
perfect French braids. Her Mom was really proud of me at<br />
first that I had done her hair so cute but I told her I<br />
didn’t and couldn’t do that. I can’t even braid her hair,<br />
much less do perfect French braids. We asked our daughter how<br />
her hair got fixed and she told us that Betty had done it<br />
dur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> night.<br />
I broke <strong>the</strong> contract on <strong>the</strong> rental agreement and moved out<br />
with<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> next month.<br />
30