Ghost dog

 Ghost dog

Had a dog growing up, his name was Charlie.

Charlie was a mutt - pit and German Shepard mix and some other stuff. He was very willful, and prone to occasional violence with the other dog, Sam. But for the most part he was a good dog, even though he ate the arm off my dads recliner chair and just claimed it as his own.

This dog chewed everything. Shoes, couches, sticks, rocks.

He also loved to get out of the yard (a poorly fenced 1 acre woodland lot) but because of his aggression problems and his wanderlust, he wore a pretty heavy chain around his neck with a bell and reflectors attached.

Anyway, because he chewed everything, my mother bought a supposedly "unchewable" plastic bone thing for him.

First of all, fuck whatever company made that thing, because Charlie had no problem chewing through it and swallowing pieces of it.

A piece he swallowed ended up rupturing his intestine, and surgery would have been $6k at a predicted success rate of 20%. We didn't have that. Mom took him in and had him put down. Dad buried him in the yard.

Ten days later or so, it was me, my brother, and my dad, all up late. Just talking, not much going on.

Then we all heard it, and we all looked at each other. It was unmistakable. All at once we all heard the click clack of Charlie's claws on the deck, and the jingling of his chain, and the tiny little jingle bell. It just sounded 100% like Charlie was asking to come in.

Dad got up, went to the door, and opened it. Nothing was there on the porch. But dad just stood there with the door fully open for a good 10 seconds, standing off to the side as one would when letting a dog inside.

He saw that we were confused and said, "Just want to make sure Charlie got all the way back in."

And that was the end of it. Never heard him again. The only other thing of note here is my dad did not like dogs or cats until we got Charlie and Charlie promptly ate his very expensive chair. In some weird way, my dad respected that. Don't ask me why because I'd need to ask him, and sadly that's not possible.

Three people, myself included, all heard it at once and knew immediately what the sounds were. The closest neighboring house was a half mile away and our driveway was steep and long, so any noise was cause for alert. It was a very quiet place.

Anyway, that's the story of when Charlie came back inside for the last time.

From reddit user 

u/nutbastard

The Chase

The moon brushed the edges of the trees with silver. She ran swiftly, trying to make as little sound as possible. Foliage whipped her face and tangled in her hair; vines on the ground rose up and caught at her feet. Nature seemed to be trying its best to slow her down.

She could hear the man’s pounding footfalls nearby. So close. He was so close. She quickened her pace.

The footfalls stopped abruptly. She halted as well and listened intently. A night bird hooted. Crickets thrummed; bats squeaked above her in their drunken dance. The jungle was alive with noises, but she couldn’t hear him. Where was he?

A rustle so furtive she almost missed it. Dry leaves crackled. A pebble clicked against another. Her muscles tensed. She crept behind a tree and leaned against its gnarled bole, her body so still she might have been the tree’s shadow.

The undergrowth stirred. The leaves parted and the man’s head poked out, turning this way and that to try and spot her. She pressed even harder against the tree. Her limbs quivered with tension.

He was coming toward her. He was so close now she could smell him. His ragged breaths filled her ears. Adrenaline surged through her.

He saw her a split second before she leaped. His terrified yelp was silenced when she plunged her talon-like nails into his chest and ripped out his heart.

After feasting, she slunk back to her lair. She slept, dreaming about the next chase.

Yin Leong

For more terrifying short stories from from this amazing author check out her new new book

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A sceptics strange experience

 

I am a hardened sceptic; let's get that quite clear, cynicism is virtually a way of life. I am the first one to look for the correct scientific explanation for reports of UFOs, ghosts, cryptids and the like.

My wife, however, tends to believe in everything paranormal until proved otherwise, and we have had many loud, long and interesting arguments conversations about said subjects.

So that's us sorted, you know where we stand.

About twenty years ago, my wife and I, with our collie dog, Sally, were visiting a local picnic and beauty spot known as Burbage Common and Woods, which is only a short drive from where we live. The Borough Council had just opened a previously shut-off stretch of woodland, so deciding to explore; we walked down its length to a style that led to a field. Not wishing to go further, and as dusk was falling, we began making our way back to the car park. My wife was slightly ahead as I had stopped to put Sally back on her lead when I saw something strange.

A man ran between two trees a short distance away, framing him as he moved without a sound. He had not been there previously and did not reappear on the other side of the 'frame'. The manner of his dress was most surprising; the man sported a "pudding bowl" haircut and was wearing black clothing with a square cut white collar, and knowing my history as I do, I could not help but think he was dressed as a Puritan. I did not linger after seeing this strange fellow but carried straight on, as did the usually "barky" Sally without a murmur. Seeing the look on my face, my wife asked what was wrong, and I said I would tell her at the car.

Now, as I said, my wife loves a mystery and, possessing a library reader's ticket, went to the local library the very next day to check the Parish Records where she found an entry dating from the time of the Act of Conformity (1662). It told of the parish constable and his men breaking up a meeting of non-conformists before pursuing the tub man (who would preach to his congregation from an upturned pail, or similar) through Burbage Woods. Spooky stuff, especially since I had no idea of the Common's history.

We have been back there several times on our own and with other interested people and have seen nothing since.

Did I see the ghost of this poor preacher fleeing from the constable's men, and if so, did he meet an untimely end at their hands?

Was it the recording of a dramatic event as per the Stone Tape Theory?

Was it just a magpie startled by Sally, my imagination making me see a running figure?

I remain sceptical but accept I cannot explain the sighting or the remarkable connection to the parish records.

Kyt Wright.

Tattoo

 

Yes,  I believe in reincarnation. I was a sailor at least two times in my past lives. I would have these vivid dreams about two different sinking ships, one wooden and the other metal. However, when I got my anchor tattoo I stopped having those dreams.

Sailors get an anchor tattoo when they cross the Atlantic successfully. I think I was having those dreams because I was missing my anchor tattoo. When I close my eyes I can still see what I dreamed.

Ann M Rawlins 

@rawlins_ann

Mimicking Sounds

 

Have you ever been in a house that just creeps the absolute shit out of you?

My boss is an awesome guy, but holy shit his house scares the shit out of me and that takes a lot to do! I travel to haunted places, go into caves and work in confined spaces, but his house...

Everytime I go into his living room I get the feeling of being watched.

I'm chilling with his brother one night and we are talking about this strange feeling we get and how sometimes his brother will see shadows when no one is home. His wife walks in and asks whats up and we tell her what were talking about and she just naturally says, "oh yeah the ghost that lives in the hallway and stairs". I laugh this off and head out. As I get in my car I cant help but feeling there's something near and the whole drive home I keep looking in my rear view mirror.

Fast forward a few month and my boss asks me to watch his dog while the whole family is gone. I say sure why not. Now, to get to where he keeps the dog I have to go through the front foyer and past the hallway and stairs leading up to it. The dog is absolutely adorable always runs up to me when I walk in, but this time she doesn't move and keeps looking around. I think its weird but I try and take her for a walk and she doesn't move but keeps looking at the stairs. I've seen enough horror movies to know where this is going. I tell myself stay calm. You know she's anxious cause no ones home. I say come here girl and make a clicking sound with my teeth calling her to me. She doesn't move and keeps looking around and to the stairs. I click one more time, then silence, then mockingly I hear come here girl and the clicking sound I just made. I just stood up from my crouch said bye to the dog and walked out.

Burrito 

Reddit user u/bob_burrito

Dad's Doppelganger.

 Creepy story about seeing my dad's doppelganger.

This happened when I was 8 years old. I saw my dad in the bathroom wiping himself off after a shower, but the problem is that he was supposed to be at his office at that time. I asked him, "Dad when did you come home?" He didn't say anything. I asked again and he closed the bathroom door in my face, and I went to the other room and didn't think much of it.

20 minutes later mom fixed me and my little brother lunch. So my mom, my brother and I all sat down to eat. I asked my mom, "Why aren't we waiting for dad?" She laughed and said, "Why would we? He won't be home until later tonight."

"But dad is home!" I exclaimed, and explained to her what happened in the bathroom.

We searched the entire house but couldn't find him anywhere. Creepy, right?

After dinner my little brother and I fell asleep. Mom stayed awake to watch TV, and I woke to moms scream. I rushed to look for her and found her at the bathroom door. She hugged me and wasn't able to speak. I looked at the bathroom, and it was empty.

 I asked her what happened, and she said she saw my dad, that he was there. "Why did you appear out of nowhere?" She asked him when he got home, and she explained that she saw something that looked like him, until it made a utterly perturbing face, and she screamed, and that in no time I was there with her. When I was finally there, it disappeared.

Later that night dad came home and we told him everything that happened. I don't remember what we did after that but we moved out soon afterward.

Reddit user u/HeeMewLew

Permission granted to publish.

Our Son

 Our son

"A while after my son had went missing, I got a call from a dozen different states saying they had found him. And they had."

It all started about a month after our son had gone missing when the first call had come in.

 

As the owners of a large muti million dollar corporation, one of our greatest fears is that our son would get kidnapped and held for ransom. These fears eventually subsided as he grew up and joined the family business. 

But then one day he was gone without a trace. No words, he was just gone. We were frantic, none of his friends or even his fiancee had seen or heard from him.

So we contacted the local authorities who in turn contacted the FBI. We submitted pictures, his finger prints, and his DNA map. "We each had our prints taken and our DNA mapped for just such event" 

So as I said a month later came the first call. 

We live in Wisconsin and the first call was from Ohio. It was from the Zanesville PD. They notified us that they had found the body of a young man that matched the description of our son, and he had his ID on him. Needless to say, we were devastated. Our only son was dead. 

Three days later the prints and DNA confirmed it was our son. The next week was the hardest time in our lives making the arrangements to bury him and trying to get through the whole process. 

Our son had a lot of friends, so the funeral was large. They were all in shock and disbelief that he had gone so young. "He was only 23!" His poor fiancée was inconsolable. But we made it through the whole ordeal as best we could. Throughout the next week we struggled to get back to some semblance of normalcy.

But then came the 2nd call. 

This time it was the Essex County Sheriffs department in Vermont, informing us that they had found the body of a young man they believed to be our son. In shock and disbelief, I told them there had to be a mistake, our son had already been found and we had just buried hin. They were insistent that they were correct with the identity of the young man, the prints matched, the DNA matched and they had found his ID in his pocket. They went on to give me the details of the young man they had found. He was found wearing red and white Nike Air Jordan's, Calvin Klein jeans, and a Lawrence University tee shirt. Also the cause of death was not able to be determined. I almost dropped the phone, these were all things our son owned. What our son was wearing when he was found and the same mysterious unknown cause of death. 

How could this be is this some sort of cruel joke someone is playing? If this is our son than who did we bury last week, had that been our son? The FBI assured us that it was, but the fact that the circumstances of this young mans death were identical to the young man we just buried was to say the least very creepy. Even with that, the FBI once again verified the identity of the body. With no one else to claim the body, we agreed to make the arrangements to bring him back and bury him. This time it was a very small service consisting of mainly family and a few close friends who were trying to be supportive, but like us didn’t understand what was going on. The FBI was still trying to sort out this whole mess and had rerun their testing numerous times on both boys, and they kept coming up with the same conclusion they were both the same person. This was very stressful on the whole family, we wanted answers, but no one had them. 

However when we thought it couldn't get any worse, the 3rd call came in this time it was from the Richmond Virginia PD telling us that they had found what they believed was the body of our son. Just like before the results were verified by the FBI, and like before the body was found wearing the same clothes as the others and had the same ID. The same unknown cause of death. As before we had agreed to take the body, but this time there was no funeral we just had the body cremated and placed in a simple urn.

This was just too much. We couldn't take anymore. We hired an answering service to take all are calls. The local authorities and the FBI created a task force to try to get to the bottom of this nightmare. But it seemed like it would never end, like clock work. The phone would ring and it would be another city with another body just like before. This went on for six months for a total of twelve cities in twelve different states. 

Ohio, Vermont. Virginia,  Georgia,  Arkansas,  

New Mexico, California, Washington State,  

Wyoming, Colorado, South Dakota and finally Iowa.

The task force along with the funeral home I had contracted to cremate the bodies handled everything. We were numb. We just couldn't do it anymore. My wife was nearly catatonic and stayed in her room all day, I could barely function myself. We had to hire help just to take care of our day to day needs. I had to turn over the operations of the company to my vice president. 

Finally the most shocking thing of all happened. Our son came home. How could this be? Is this really our son? Is he even real? Were we hallucinating? Through it all, he was real. At least he claimed to be. We didn't interrupt him, his first little rant to us. First thing he said to us when he stepped through that door was,

"I'm sorry to have taken off like that without letting you know. I'm sure you were worried sick, but I just had to get way for a while, I haven't told you but. . . I've been struggling for quite some time with some stuff. I had to get away and try to find myself and work it all out, so I traveled. I went to a different city and state, each place I chose a different demon in my head to battle with until I had defeated them all. Each time I won, I felt like I shed I piece of my soul."

Original story By Danny L. Garvin