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i realize that this time of year, what with kids going back to school and the days getting shorter (and shorter and shorter, doesn't it seem...?), that it's easy to forget doing a little something fun for yourself--and for us! this is just my quiet little reminder to grab yourself a little "me time" and write up that short story or get the crayons out and do up that quick pin-up for our perhapanauts halloween contest! i have a few entries already and plan to start posting them next week for all to enjoy and admire! and maybe have nightmares over... so get on board the haunted hayride and show us whatcha got! it'll be fun!
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i'm still pretty beat from all the reunioning i've been doing these past few weeks and so i went over to YOUR TRUE TALES at about.com and borrowed this account of an old hag encounter.
for those of you not familiar, the old hag phenomenon--also known as the old hag syndrome--is one that has been recorded all over the world and usually involves the subject waking up in the middle of the night to find an old woman seated or standing beside the bed. sometimes there is a physical connection, most times not. the kick of it is, almost all reports describe this crone in exactly the same way; and ancient and dirty old woman, usually surrounded by a foul odor resembling death.
while most say that their encounters are terrifying and that the woman is sinister and menacing, some have claimed that she appears in order to assist or warn the subject of impending trouble.
anyway, here's scott's tale...
Old Hag Encounter
BY SCOTT D.
By Stephen Wagner, About.com
I have had several old hag encounters, and they continue to this day. My first encounter occurred when I was 21 years of age. I was staying the night at my then-girlfriend's house in Pemberton Near Wigan in Lancashire in the U.K. It was a warm June night in 1983 and I had just settled down on the couch. The house was a two-bedroom house and Sandra's parents were soundly asleep in the room opposite hers. Sandra had a mongrel dog called Trixie that slept on her bed.
As I said, it was a warm night and the humidity was high, making sleep difficult. About a half hour after everyone had settled, I heard footsteps padding down the carpeted stairs. My first thought was that it was Trixie and I waited with my eyes closed for her to lick my outstretched hand. As I waited, I felt the cushions of the settee depress as if someone was sitting beside me. I remember grinning, thinking that Sandra had sneaked down stairs and my luck was in. I waited for a moment for the customary caress of my cheek, but when it didn't come I opened my eyes.
From the light of the street lamp that shone through the curtains directly outside, I saw that I was alone. Then, an overwhelming sense of terror and danger swamped every fiber of my being. My limbs became instantly stiff and paralyzed, as did my throat and mouth. I couldn't even murmur, and yet all my senses -- sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste -- were fully alert. The most obnoxious stench of putrefaction filled the room, making me gag, as if something big and dead was rotting and decomposing beside me. A huge and deadly weight seemed to crush my chest, making it impossible for me to expand my lungs in order to draw breath. But all-pervading was that overwhelming sense of menace and evil.
The whole episode lasted only moments, but it felt like a lifetime. Then, as suddenly as it started, it was gone. I stayed awake all through that night and prayed for dawn. I have had other attacks like this since, but now, because I'm used to them, I can instill an inner calm within myself and the attacks are less severe because of this.
if you wanna check out other personal accounts of encounters with the weird, head on over to paranormal@about.com where stephen wagner puts up an awesome selection of scary stories each month from folks just like us!
anybody got a story they'd like to share...?
http://paranormal.about.com/od/trueghoststories/a/true_tales_09t.htm
gotta go~!
stuff to do!
smell ya later!
todd
