it's true! it's true!

okay...

hope y'all had a great weekend!
despite the fact that most oif you have today off--happy martin luther kind day everyone!--i have deadlines spinning all around me and didn't have much time to prepare a post for today and so, as i have in the past, i've gone to my fall-back position and posted a couple of great Your True Tales from over at paranormal at about.com.

http://paranormal.about.com/od/trueghoststories/a/true_tales_10t.htm

every month stephen wagner compiles a great assortment of stories sent in by readers from all over the country--all over the world--of some of the strange incidents or adventures they've experienced.
here are two that i read last week and stuck with me...


The WITCH'S BASEMENT
by S.J.

I was reading the story Phantom Basement from December and remembered a similar story told to me about my grandfather. When he was a young man living in rural Kentucky in the 1940s, his family would go and see the local "witch" whenever something went wrong. When my aunt had croupe, she was taken to the witch and passed through a horse's bridle seven times and got better immediately.

At one time, my grandfather and some other men went to her house for some reason (I cannot remember why), and she took them down to her basement, which was a huge dug-out room beneath the house. It was filled with bottles and shelves and all sorts of things she used for her spells. Not long after this, the old woman died, and my grandfather went back to her house, but there was no basement anywhere! The house was just sitting on the ground. Nothing dug out, no door, nothing. The old house was the same, just no basement. The house wasn't moved or anything, and there was no evidence of any digging or filling in. Very strange.



The WOODS HELPER
by Rick T.

I am in a hurry to write something about a thing I saw in plain daylight on Friday, November 20, 2009 in rural Banks County, Georgia a short ways off of State Route 51 and about two miles north of the tiny village of Mount Pleasant, Georgia. What I saw up there in the woods was strange enough to write you here about it. The details are very fresh in my mind.

My job is to sell low-cost homeowner's insurance in rural counties. Usually, these customers only have rough cabins with wood fire heating (which runs up insurance costs) and cannot be insured by the major companies. My own company takes up this slack.

I arrived on a sunny morning at a very modest cabin in Banks County. It was at the end of a dirt road behind a small stand of trees. Much of the area is forested. I was greeted by a very old woman who told me that she lived alone, but would like to take out a policy on her cabin. I needed to inspect the place and take some pictures, as is routine before offering a contract.

I was walking around to the shed outside when I saw a totally hairy and muscular biped of some sort stacking wood. This thing wore no clothes, but had very long hair covering its entire body. It had a black nose and very large eyes and a mouth very much like a human being, but not quite. It was hard at work stacking wood and did not seem to notice me. I should also mention that it was no bigger than around 3-foot, 5-inches tall, if even that. It was, however, very plump and wide. It made a grunting sound as it worked. It seemed very strong.

I asked the lady what on earth it was, and she casually replied that it was a "woods helper" and that many of the county's old-timer residents had one from time to time to help them with tasks that they were too old to handle. These "woods helpers" only asked for food and some drink. The woman also explained to me that they drank only beer and never seemed to be drunk or disorderly. She said they had been a blessing since long ago to many of the older people in the area. She did not know what species they were. In fact, she did not even understand the word "species," which is not unusual for rural people like her. She said that everybody knew about them, but that not many people liked to talk about them.

I got one more look at the thing before I drove off. It was moving rocks into a runoff ditch this time. It looked like something from a sci-fi magazine or even a comic book. But it was real.

if you liked those, head on over to your true tales at

http://paranormal.about.com/od/trueghoststories/a/true_tales_10t.htm

and check out some of the others! you'll be glad you did!


whether you're working or have the day off,
have a great day!
smell ya later~!
todd