when was i the most scared???

two way tie between the time my son Nick disappeared at an outdoor event when he was about 2

and the time Colin disappeared in Wal-Mart again around the age of 2.

if you mean something that i cant explain it would be the

time i heard someone (something /unsure.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> ) knock on

the 2nd floor window of the room i was in. i was frozen

in fear. when i could finally move and looked out the

window of coures no one or nothing was there.

(it was winter, the window overlooked the porch,

the snow on the roof was untouched)

Heidi, that reminds me of a time I was staying at the World Trade Center (Marriott), way way up… near the top – 20th floor or so. I woke up in the middle of the night decided to look out the window at the NYC streets below. I looked out the window, and there was a face staring back at me. Startled the crap out of me. It was my reflection. Not the scariest thing that ever happened, but sure gave me a momentary (and extreme) shock.

Most scary thing ever: the manta ray shadow thing on my ceiling. There are no words to describe how horrible that thing felt: it emitted a completely malignant feeling. I never believed in demons but if such things do exist I am sure that was one.

Next scariest thing: It was spring break, and my college roommate and I were on our way back to her parents house near Philadelphia after hitting the casinos in Atlantic City. We were in the middle of nowhere, I think it must have been the pine barrens but I'm not completely sure. There were trees all around us on both sides and it was literally as dark as the inside of a cow. She had the bright lights on which lit up the road far ahead of the car, but that was the only thing we could see. There were no other cars around – the road was completely deserted.

We were on a straight stretch of road when suddenly a man was standing in the road not 10 feet in front of the car. Seriously, he wasn't there and then he was. It was literally like he had just risen up out of the road or just appeared there. My friend didn't even have time to slow the car, much less stop in time. We braced for impact.

There was no bump, no impact at all, but there was absolutely no way we could have avoided hitting him. My friend was so freaked out that she didn't want to stop the car, but I insisted that she let me check the road as I was certain that we had hit someone despite the lack of impact.

There was no body in the road or on either side of the road and there were no marks on the car. I looked all around, certain that there had to be a body but when I couldn't find him I got really freaked out myself and jumped back in the car. There was the eeriest feeling in the air. There were no night sounds at all, which made it even creepier.

My roommate hit the gas as soon as my butt hit the seat. I didn't even have time to shut the door before she took off. We broke every law known to mankind until we got back to civilization. We kept looking into the back seat the whole way because we both felt very strongly that someone was sitting back there. That was the longest car ride of my life. It was absolutely terrifying. I still get chills when I think about it.

As soon as we hit an area with lights, I made her let me get out to examine the car for any indication that we had hit something, but there was nothing. We checked again as soon as it was daylight but could find nothing.

I know it sounds ridiculous and it may well have been my imagination, but I could have sworn that he was wearing a cloak or cape of some kind. He appeared to be dark-skinned, but I also thought he had a reddish cast or glow. I only saw him for a few seconds, but I could draw him now, it made that much of an impact on me. I should tell you that he didn't react to the danger at all, with a look or motion. He was completely still.

The oddest part of this is that my eminently level-headed friend was convinced from the moment he appeared that he wasn't "real", at least not a real man. There is absolutely no way a mortal person could have escaped being hit and if hit at that speed, he certainly would not have been able to run or even crawl away. I'm the one who sees ghosts but until he disappeared I had no thought that he wasn't real. My friend, on the other hand, Miss Practical Logical, was certain from the beginning that we had seen something paranormal. The woman was ordinarily fearless, but that night she was terrified, almost to the point of hysteria. I never saw her like that before or since. I think she thought we had seen the Devil himself.

She was shaken for days. I was upset too, but maybe I was a little calmer because it wasn't my first brush with the paranormal. Up to that point, she'd only seen things related to our family ghost.

I still have no explanation for what happened. There were no reports in the paper of a hit and run. We told her family about it and even debated going to the police but since there was no body to offer up as proof and we wouldn't even have been able to tell them exactly where it happened, we didn't. If I had believed we had hit a human being, I certainly would have gone to the police. I was then and am now a total goody two-shoes. I would never leave an accident site, especially if there was a real possibility that we had hit someone. There were no car phones then, much less cell phones. I couldn't have made my friend stay at the site anyway. I think she would have driven off without me if I had delayed getting back in the car one second longer. Like I said, she was terrified beyond reason.

The whole experience haunts me to this day. It obviously wasn't a human being, but what was it? It did not "feel" like a ghost to me at the time but I have no other explanation for it.

Third scariest thing: When I was in high school, my best friend and I were in my room listening to a cassette tape. She had just recorded a copy of an album for me at her house and we had taken the cassette to my house and we were listing to it while we talked. When the songs ran out, we didn't turn it off because we were talking about something important to us, probably a boy. Suddenly, the tape started playing chanting of some kind. It was the weirdest, creepiest thing I ever heard, so much so that we were both frozen, just staring at each other. When the voices started chanting, "God is dead, praise Satan… God is Dead, praise Satan" she managed to break the spell and jumped up to turn it off. We just looked at each other in disbelief.

She had opened a brand new cassette tape to make the recording – I watched her do it. The weirdest part of this story is that when we tried to play it again, nothing was there. After the recorded music ended, there was nothing but white noise. That part of the tape was completely blank. I have no explanation for it and I would have thought I imagined the whole thing if she hadn't heard it too. We were both completely freaked out by the whole experience and we unwound the cassette and threw it away. Another experience that still creeps me out.

Holy macaroni KK, that is some scary shite! Have you shared the manta ray story in the personal experiences thread, I would like to read that from the beginning. The man on the road had to have been paranormal, I just don't think both of you could have imagined the same thing. You were very brave to get out and look around. When you said it probably happened in the Pine Barrens I just had to smile because that is my favorite episode from the Sopranos ever. Pauly Walnuts goes nuts in that one!

I did share my manta ray story. The post and responses are floating around somewhere on this site.

I wasn't brave at all – I really thought we had hit someone and I was desperate to find him. If I'd realized he wasn't human and then got out of the car, THAT would be brave.

We definitely did not imagine him. He was there. We both saw him clearly. I just don't know what "he" was.

BTW, I'm surprised you didn't hit the boyfriend with a bat just for scaring you so badly. Seriously.

My experience would have to have happened when I was young, I was asleep in my bed and from the window next to me I heard a voice I could only describe as satanic ans snake like that said my name. I am religious and at the time I was a blasphemous little punk so i attribute it to that, but really have no explination.

Next scariest thing: It was spring break, and my college roommate and I were on our way back to her parents house near Philadelphia after hitting the casinos in Atlantic City. We were in the middle of nowhere, I think it must have been the pine barrens but I'm not completely sure. There were trees all around us on both sides and it was literally as dark as the inside of a cow.

The road out of Atlantic City towards Philly does indeed go through the Pine Barrens. There is a long history of odd things going on in there, certainly the most famous of which would be the Jersey Devil. There are tons of local little legends and things you hear from time to time. All I can tell you about that particular area of Barrens is that it's very old and still contains large areas that have never truly been mapped thanks in large part to MASSIVE deposits of pig iron that cause compasses to behave oddly(strong magnetic fields). During colonial times the area was a haven for Revolutionary forces hiding out from the Redcoats. The pig iron (which is an inferior grade iron)was mined to make weapons to support the rebel army, so there were lots of illegal forges hidden there. Privateers and Pirates roamed the Atlantic and i'm fairly certain that the wooded area extended closer to the coastline in those days, so there's no limit to the mayhem that transpired there. It's also widely believed to be a dumping ground for the Mob as there's enough wild life to eat the remains etc. So I don't doubt for a second that you had a paranormal experience out there.

Thanks for the info, Norcalmonkey. I am not surprised to hear that there are lots of stories about that area since it was very creepy indeed, even before our encounter with whatever it was. I would not be keen on driving that road again, especially at night.

I could believe we saw the Jersey Devil or a Mothman if he hadn't had a human head and face. No big red eyes, although what I saw as a cloak or cape could easily have been long wings folded around his body. The head and face were definitely human, though, other than the reddish glow. Perhaps the ghost was lit by a candle or other firelight? Or perhaps the glow was just my imagination.

With out having seen it myself, I couldn't say. The Jersey Devil is usually described as an odd hybrid of animals that fall somewhere between a horse and a crane w/leathery bat wings. The only humanoid aspect of the Devil is it's apparent ability to walk on two feet. What I'm thinking is perhaps a revolutionary war era solider who perished in the cold out there in the woods. Because part of the winter wear some of the soliders would have access to (if they could afford them, certainly not standard issue)would be a cloak or tunic they could wear outside of the uniform (not unlike a poncho), that may look like a cape. There are many artistic renderings of Washington wearing something along the lines of what you're describing. As I said, there's a lot of local stories. I dated a girl who used to tell the story about a child who was accidently killed by teenagers drag racing ford mustangs on that road. The story apparently goes that if you traverse the road where the kid was killed in a mustang and flash the lights a few times then leave them on….you'll see a ball bounce across the road in front of you followed a few seconds later by the image of a small boy chasing after it. She claimed she'd even seen it during the day. We didn't go out there, which I wanted to do as she actually had a 'stang. Oh well, squandered opportunity, but NOT a wasted evening….nudge nudge wink wink.