drinkswiththeunknown

It was only a few days after the Ouija board was brought out when the homeowner's noticed strange things were happening. It was inconspicuous at first. Became noticeable once they made themselves visible. Two children. Full-body apparitions. Playful. But annoying. Doors began to slam then quickly following were the cabinets. Lights left on. Cats running from room to room. It never stopped. The door was open and it was only a matter of time before the children were not the only ones to walk into our world. He followed too. It took me some time to get down to writing this. The Ouija board is synonymous with evil. My second-hand experience is different than what my relatives went through. Kind of. You see, my brother and I were in the same house that night my family used the board. First off, I have some backstory to tell first. My grandmother died when I was 6. Jump forward less than a decade later and my relatives still were grieving, including my mom. Two cousins, a grea...

Another average late afternoon on the porch was passing the older couple by. Nothing out of the ordinary was going on. As usual. Birds chirping, cars driving by, and the occasional walking neighboring on the sidewalk. The man was known by all the dogs in the neighborhood for his generosity to animals. A stray was almost guaranteed to find scraps at their house. So, when the black, raggedy mutt showed up from the side of the house it was nothing out of the ordinary. At this point, it was routine to find a dog lurking around looking for handouts. However, this was the one time the routine was disrupted. Its walk was peculiar. It walked as though it had been run over by a car - multiple times. Or, walking on four legs didn't come naturally to it. It made its way to the steps of the porch and stared at the couple sitting on the bench swing. Before they could say anything, the animal spoke. "Hello." The word unnaturally creaked out of its mouth and was at first to understa...

Time to time hikers stumble upon the cabin in the woods located off the marked trails in Cedar Hill. The cabin only appears if the apparition of a young girl decides you are worthy of being a victim to the witch of the woods. Some say it's the witch herself disguised as a young girl in distress.  Doesn't matter what form she takes, as long as you don't follow her into the cabin. If you do make it inside the cabin, then don't expect to come out. No one does. Agatha lived a life of solitude in the woods. Her husband left her for another woman after many failed attempts at having children. She was alone up until the neighboring townsfolk took it upon themselves to burn down her home with her still inside. People feared her. For no reason other than she let herself go because of the loss of her husband. Rumors spread she was a witch after many of the newborns in town began to die unexpectedly. It was easier to blame the hermit who could not have children for the ...

"I don't know if we should be here. It's dark and I can't see a thing. Plus, what if the stories are true?" "If they are true, then we'll be the first to capture it on film." The Sun was setting but Jason and Rebecca pushed on deeper into the woods surrounding Lake Worth. The tall tales of a humanoid half-goat, half-reptile were running rampant through town and Jason planned on being the first to capture the creature on film. At all costs. Rebecca wasn't too thrilled to be out in the woods but if Jason was there, so was she. "Can we go? If we hurry back, we could still have some alone time in the car." "What was that?" The couple was nearing Greer Island, the supposed report of the creature's home when they could hear the sound of brush being smashed under the weight of something heavy. Then heavy breathing filled the air. Jason held Rebecca close to his side trying to keep her quiet. He knew as well her they ...

"Hold your breath when you pass a cemetery, or you'll breathe in a spirit and take it home with you." "What? I never heard that before." "My cousin was a jerk to me when I was a kid and told me that and I've always done it. I'm not going to risk it." "Ok, well, this cemetery is long, and we have to take this road. It's a shortcut to the apartment." "I can do it." I held my breath as long as I could. Fifty yards before the end of Hall Street and my lungs were on fire. Lightheadedness kicked in. My eyes became watery. That large gasp of air was a relief from the pain I felt in my chest. That large gasp of air was exactly what the spirit from Greenwood cemetery needed to get inside of me. I was the vessel it needed to escape the cemetery and make its way to their new home.  Our home. Cemetery superstitions The first part of that story has some truth. When I was growing up, I had some unpleasant times with...

The year is 1989. Harold is finishing up another late night in his office on the thirteenth floor located off Blackburn and Oak Lawn near Turtle Creek. Work is never done when you are skimming off the top of cooked books for shady business owners. Harold played a prominent role for many of his clients. Some he never met face to face. There's always a third-party when dealing with Harold. He was careful. He was meticulous. Above all else, he was smart. Harold knew if he was ever caught, he would have to make a smooth getaway. Only a few people see his face. And none of them, as far as he knew, were ever the ones paying him. After fifteen years of cooking books and no one catching on, he felt invincible. This could be what led him to take on more clients that asked for more than adding a zero here and there.  When he was leaving his office this night, he was approached by a man he had not met before. But this man knew Harold. Normally when working a job Harold meets with the s...

My cousins and I have only met a handful of times. Yet, we all shared a common interest, the darker side of things in life. My grandpa and uncles have a knack for telling horror stories good enough to keep us up at night. That might explain why although my cousins and I didn't spend much time together we still had something to bond over.  All six of us were upstairs while the rest of the family reunion went on downstairs. I couldn't tell you whose idea it was to play, but I know my cousin Michael wasn't a willing participant without some coercion. Big brothers have that effect on younger siblings. Michael laid down in the center of the bedroom while the rest of us circled. Sarah hit the lights and then kneeled down by his head. She began rubbing his temples with two fingers on each side. The rest of us put our index and pointer fingers under Michael's body. Sarah said out loud: You are walking through a dark alley late at night. You are the only one there. The ...

It was around three a.m. when we heard the whistles coming from the backyard. My cousin's room was in the back of the house and his large bedroom window faced the backyard. It stood around three feet with completely blacked-out piercing eyes. Perched on the back fence, it continued to whistle at us. Calling us out. Begging us to come outside. We froze in fear. It was just a story; or, at least it was only a story until we heard and saw the lechuza. It had to have been a minute or two stuck in a trance staring into those black eyes until the back-porch lightbulb burned out. Moonlight only made the creature appear more sinister. The sudden burst within the bulb is what broke the trance. A couple of moments passed, and the whistling stopped. No one believed us the next day. We wouldn't either have we not seen and heard the calls of the lechuza.  What happened that night As two thirteen-old teens are to do, we talked about everything unknown that night. The conver...

Nothing could stop the train barreling towards the school bus trapped on the tracks. The driver's eyes stayed glued on the three thousand-ton freight train making its presence known the closer it came into sight. Rumbling was felt throughout the bus as the train kept getting closer. Each second felt like an eternity for the fourteen children frozen in fear. Screams were muffled by the overbearing sound of the train horn warning the school bus and its passengers collision was imminent. Over and over the driver continued to turn his key in the ignition. Sweat beaded on his forehead while he prayed to every God he knew. Two children survived the crash. They were found huddled together under a seat behind the driver. Ten years after the accident one of the survivors took their life on the tracks. Survivors guilt was too much for them to bear. The other child continued to search for answers until their death. It didn't make sense for the bus to come to a complete stop as th...

"It's not far. Just keep walking," Jason said. Max wasn't sure if it was worth the walk all the way out in the middle of the park. Reluctantly he kept following Jason further into the park. "Shhhh...You hear that?" The air in the park was crisp and light enough to carry a faint sound that was nearly inaudible but familiar. Chills went up Max's back. He attempted to pretend he wasn't scared. The pale look on his face said otherwise. "We're close." Jason pulled at Max's jacket sleeve with force as he dragged him closer to a secluded part of the park near the edge of a drainage ditch. Electricity could be felt in the air. River Legacy Park may be surrounded by busy streets and busy shopping centers, but here in the middle of the park Jason and Max felt they were the last two people on Earth. "You got the straw? Please tell me you didn't forget it. That was the whole point. We bring the straw to set it on fire and see what...

It's always at night. Not every night though. If you listen carefully, you'll hear creaking from the hallway near the balcony overlooking the living room. Almost sounds like a wooden door blowing back and forth like a  cliché  from a horror film. My family won't admit to what we hear. Or on the rarer occasion feel. The air around the balcony is heavy. A draft can be felt as though it passes through you. Something tells me whatever it was we experienced in that home may have been what drove Licker to what he did. How could anyone decide their only option is to have someone killed? The original owner of the home hung himself from that balcony in 1962. Coincidence Licker had people murdered a little over 20 years later? Maybe. I believe the spirit that haunted that home possessed Licker to commit such a heinous crime. He hired those men with the intent to murder. Not just send a message. Money and drugs might nudge men to do crazy things; but, a spirit is a push. White ...

I may have only been three or four, but the memory is still vivid twenty-five years later. Out of nowhere, one to three black masses appeared on the walls while I laid on the bed alone. First, they looked like clouds of smoke. After my eyes adjusted to get a better look, I could see the figures begin to take shape. Tall. Short. Thin. Wide. Always a different shape, but always appearing when I was alone. Watching. Then walking into the corners of the wall disappearing back to wherever it was they came from. Those shadows appeared enough times to become normal. My parents moved, I followed of course, but that wouldn't be the last encounter with them. They never believed me and passed them off as shadows from the people walking on the streets with passing car headlights on them. That wouldn't explain the shadows I saw on the walls with no windows opposite of them. They are shadow people and they have followed me all my life. Those memories are what inspired this blog. All m...