That Awkward Moment When You See a Ghost

SCARY SHIT #1: In this series, I will spotlight stuff that, well … scares the shit out of me.

Zombies may be all the rage on television and in books, but at the end of the day, a zombie apocalypse is (probably) not very likely. So you can rest easy. However, the very real reality that you may run into a ghost, a spirit, a demon, or some kind of paranormal entity — those odds are a little more likely. Even some of the most hardened skeptics have been swayed, so it’s not outside the realm of reason that you may, at some point in your life, encounter a haunted spirit or some kind of mysterious, strange, impossible-to-explain occurrence that might just be paranormal in nature.

So here’s something that’s pretty freaking terrifying:

Here’s the story behind this video: This video was submitted to us by the hotel security manager who was standing watch on September 14, 2003 at a WINGATE HOTEL in Illinois. His voice can be heard in the background of the recording.

According to him, people staying at the hotel began calling in noise complaints to the front desk with reports of loud screaming coming from the 2nd floor–particularly room #209. There is no known history to the room according to our investigation. However, upon further review, we found that over the years, multiple complaints of “strange noises” were reported to be coming from the room. This is the only known recording of it.

Note to (Youtube) comments:
It’s funny how people think this video is edited/fake. The audio is a mix down between the security camera audio and a separate recording from inside the office (which is specifically there to record in case of robbery to the hotel). People will always come to there own conclusions why a video is fake (like cameras pointed at the door). What they don’t realized is that there are about 80 cameras in the hallways around the hotel, all pointing at doors and hallways.

I’m not a skeptic, but yeah … this video is fake. The setup is vague. The camera angles seem too perfect, and they’re presented in HD 16×9, not bad for 2003. The execution is also a bit too flawless. All the right foley, the dialogue is tight, and that little electrical flare at the end is too obvious. That said, the idea scared the shit out of me so I thought I’d share it with you, dear readers. And fear not (or fear yes), even if this video is fake, I have other videos I’ll be sharing in future installments of Scary Shit.

If you had to ask me, I would suggest that demons, and ghosts for that matter, are actually not spirits, at least not in a Biblical sense. Rather, their existence is perhaps more scientifically rooted than we would like to admit. There’s a lot we don’t understand about other dimensions (there are said to be 10 dimensions) that surround us, and if I had to venture a true explanation of what paranormal activity is in our realm, I’d suggest it’s fourth dimensional beings that have punched through, into our own world.

Some of these entities can only manifest as cold gusts of air or as electrical interference, possibly even orbs in photos. While others are capable of moving, shaking and disturbing our dimensional realm. Some might even have the ability to manifest themselves, manifest other things, or to possess a three-dimensional entity (such as yourself) for its own nefarious (or possibly scientific) purposes.

You are welcome to discredit all of that if you would like. I love skeptics, so go right ahead and explain away. But there’s a logic to ghosts, demons and other apparitions being fourth dimensional entities. And it’s also entirely possible that the very concepts of God and religion were both the manifestation of these creatures, hence their devotion to one side or the other. The fact remains that we have no damn clue what ghosts are, or why they exist, if they exist at all.

But just ask nearly any person, in any region of our great planet, and they have at least one story to tell.

Here’s one of my own true ghost stories: I was eight years old and playing an innocent game of hide and seek with my sister. I chose to hide behind my parents’ living room table, just in front of the backyard bay window. As I sat there, I had a strong urge to look out the window. It was late (relatively speaking for an 8-year-old), probably 10 or 11PM. Either way, it was dark outside. I peered through the window and saw a woman running. She was wearing a wedding dress and appeared absolutely terrified. What was even stranger was that in the absolute black of the backyard, she almost seemed to glow, as though a heavenly light were shining down on her.

I ducked my head back down and waited for a few seconds, scared and shaken. Finally, I gathered the courage to pop my head back up, and there she was again. This time, however, there was a man roughly twenty feet behind her, wearing a tuxedo and a menacing grimace. Like her, he seemed to glow a greenish hue, similar to the ghosts from Ghostbusters. This frightening man charged after her, chasing her with what looked like a knife. I stared on in utter horror, my mouth wide open. I vividly recall locking eyes with the woman, who turned and started to run toward the house.

Panicked, I ducked down again. At this point, my sister found me. She joined me on the floor … probably to endlessly annoy and tickle me, as was the case when you found someone in our game of hide and seek. I tried to explain what I saw, but my young mind couldn’t comprehend it. She peered out through the window and quickly shot back down. She refused to look out the window again.

I managed to muster the confidence to look one more time. As I did, I saw the woman run toward our house again, almost as though no time had taken place in between the images. In other words, the scene seemed to pause when I wasn’t looking.

The woman was running toward our house, but there was an obstacle in her way … our neighbor’s metal fence. She ran, holding her dress in her arms. The angry man in the tuxedo followed behind, his knife in the air. He looked at me for a brief moment, and smiled. The very thought of his expression now sends chills down my spine, as though he is still with me. He was enjoying having a voyeur. It seemed to empower him.

I assumed the woman would stop and turn as she approached the fence, but she didn’t. She kept running and running, barreling toward the fence at ramming speed. I gasped and nearly screamed when the woman traveled straight through the fence, followed by the vile man chasing her. They both came about ten feet from the house, but banked away and trailed past a large tree in the backyard. As they did, they disapparated right before my eyes.

I have no idea what happened that night. I could argue that it was just kids in our neighborhood giving me and my sister a fright, but that doesn’t explain their disappearance, or how they got through the fence. That scene has stuck with me over the years. Not one day goes by where I don’t spend at least a good minute thinking about it. Who was the man in the tuxedo? Who was the woman in the wedding dress? Were they scorned lovers? Or was the man a demon chasing an innocent spirit. What happened to me when they looked into my eyes? Was the man not as evil as I perceived? Maybe he was justified in his attempts to kill the woman. Perhaps she is the evil spirit, who has forever trapped the man. It’s impossible to know, and I’ve never seen her (or him) again (yet). This isn’t the only strange event I’ve had over the years, though, and somehow I feel as though all those bizarre occurrences connect to this one day.

Perhaps I’ll never know what happened. Maybe that’s for the best. But, from that day on, I have been terrified of ghosts, ghouls, demons and the like. They may not be out to get me or you or anyone, but I feel they are there … whatever “they” may be.

Have you seen any ghosts, demons or freaky shit? Share your story in the comments below!

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