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Stories to give you the chills

Need some fresh ghost stories to share this Halloween? Brian Boudreau shares some of his favourites

Folklore horrors

My mother once told me an eerie story about her childhood. She grew up in Buena Vista,a scattered village in Southwestern Honduras. In those days there was no electricity in the village, and once the sun went down citizens depended on candlelight. My family’s land was covered with mango trees, making the surroundings of the house even darker, with the dense branches blocking light from the moon. One night, the family was gathered around the battery-powered TV to watch a soap opera, when my grand father got up to use the bathroom. The bathroom was detached from the house, and he would have to cross through the dark yard to get to it. He was on his way back when he shouted through the doorway to my grandmother, “Emma, why is Daisy outside?”

My aunt Daisy was inside with the rest of the family and looked up, puzzled.
“What are you talking about, Vivian, she’s right here,” Emma said. Vivian returned with a blank stare on his face.

“I saw her outside,” he said horrified. “She was washing. I told her to come inside, but she wouldn’t. She would just look up at me and go back to washing.”

“Vivian, you saw la llorona!” Emma said.

The entire family trembled in fear and my mother immediately knew what she was talking about. Long before this she had heard the legend of Ia Ilorona or the crying lady. In her time she was a beautiful woman and was married to a handsome man. Together they had two children. But the man eventually left the family for another woman. Following his betrayal she was enraged and took her children down to the river to help her wash her clothes. In a rush of madness she drowned each of her children in the river, their screaming echoing through the woods. After realizing what she had done, she couldn’t bear it and killed herself. Now she walks the land in solitude, crying for her children, whom she cannot find.

My mother always thought twice about going to the bathroom at night from then on.

Contacting the other side

Matthew Cowle and his brother Mitchell got home from town one summer day. Cowle, a first-year graphic communications management student had purchased something he was always curious about – a Ouija board. They had both heard all about the stories of contacting spirits and demonic possessions coming through the board but they were too mature for that. They got the board just to have some fun. After wolfing down his dinner and hastily doing the dishes, Matt raced to the living room, eager to play the game. The rest of the family was already there.

“Can we play this?” Matt asked, signaling to the game’s box. The family gathered around the board. Briefly reading the instructions out loud, Matt was ready to play.

“Will I have to do the dishes tomorrow?” Matt asked the board. The cursor slowly moved to the left-hand side of the board, towards the word “Yes.”

Matt’s mom chuckled, and said, “Well, got the first one right.” They continued asking the board questions until late that night. It answered everything correctly.

That night, Matt was awoken by a loud crash of thunder. He went to the kitchen for some water. Travelling through the dark he felt like someone was following him, but he ignored it. When Matt got to the kitchen the room was still. Suddenly, the kitchen lights started violently flicking. Matt started to see shadows coming in and out of his view. Matt screamed and his parents rushed into the kitchen, but the lights remained on and calm. Matt decided not to tell his parents what he saw. But he knew something had happened that night. And Matt will never use the Ouija board again.

Damn crop circles

It was a Sunday night and Sharon was driving home from a great party. She’d met a boy she was interested in, but she would probably regret it the next morning.
“God, I hate living on a farm,” she said to herself.

The drive was long and she started to get drowsy. She turned on the radio to try and stay alert. She decided to take a shortcut and left the highway. Now if Sharon had been sober, she probably wouldn’t have worked up the courage to take that shortcut. There were stories about this road, it was known as the hang out for drug traffickers and sketchy folk. But she sped through the shortcut, ignoring the rumours.

The road wasn’t lit and other than a run down gas station every so often the road was stark. The radio started screeching and making strange noises but she ignored it. She kept on driving singing along to what she could still hear of the tunes on the radio. The noises became overbearing and she turned the radio off. She kept driving. The radio turned on again. “What?” she asked herself. She shrugged and turned it off. But the radio turned on again, louder than ever. “Fuck,” she jumped.

When she looked up from the radio she saw bright lights ahead. She stopped the car. Far in the distance she could see a bundle of lights floating in the air. She slowly accelerated towards the lights. As she got closer, the lights drifted away, keeping the same distance from the car. She stomped on the gas and started speeding, her curious and liquored mind wanting to know what she had encountered. Suddenly, the lights stopped moving, and Sharon kept advancing. Just when she got close the lights shot out of view. Sharon arrived home and couldn’t sleep that night. Most people try to convince her against it, but Sharon knows what she saw that night. She will forever be convinced that she had an encounter with an alien ship.

Photo: Lauren Strapagiel

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