The Hacksaw

Okay so this one isn't supernatural, even though I've no idea what on earth possessed him to do this, but definitely falls under very very creepy. And nice and recent. One thing that gets me is that so many horror films all happen quite a while ago. Suspiciously before camera phones were everywhere...

This story is about a man called Barrie Hepburn and starts in 2000 after he was shot by his neighbor three times following an argument over a dog at his holiday home in the South of France. He survived the injuries but was left in a wheelchair.

Barrie drove a Jaguar XJ that he had modified but had trouble getting in and out of the car due to his legs.

The next part of the story is in 2011. After years of struggling with his injuries he started to consider getting his legs amputated, he beleived that they served little use anymore but after discussing this with Doctors it was dismissed. But here's where it gets real creepy.

On the 29th August the emergency services reveived a call from a man saying that he was suffering from heavy bleeding, but before the paramedics could reach him the line went dead and the worst was feared.

A few minutes later the paramedics arrived to find Mr Hepburn sat on the floor using a hacksaw to cut off his own legs using a plastic bag as a makeshift tourniquet, figuring that if he got so far they would have no other choice than to remove the rest for him.

The coroners verdict was death by misadventure.

Mirrors

If you've read my posts before you'll know that I enjoy stories with mirrors in. I love (or should that be hate) stories where the mirror is a portal to another dimension, or a window into the soul. This one is only short but I love it, it has everything a short story needs in such a few lines.

'I woke up to hear knocking on glass. At first, I though it was the window until I heard it come from the mirror again.'

For more short creepy stories check http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1iwylh/what_is_the_best_horror_story_you_can_come_up.

This one was written by therealhatman and I take no credit for it whatsoever. Even if I wish I could.

Another on the same topic;

'I try and start every morning as positively as possible. I know it's lame but twelve years of therapy and a Mother who's read every single magazine article under the sun about positive thinking kinda molds you, whether you want it to or not. Anyway I'm getting off track. I try to start everyday by looking at myself in the mirror and smiling. Only this morning...I didn't smile back.'

Spooky stuff.

Knock. The Worlds Shortest Horror Story.

Knock was written by Fredrick Brown and published in 1948. It goes as follows:

'The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door.'

Even though the first line is by far the most famous the story actually comprises of a lot more where the first lines are fleshed out into more of a story. I won't spoil anything because it really is a great tale and worth reading.

I like this story so much as it tells the reader what it needs to know and leaves the rest of the plot to the imagination. It gives me shivers like no other story consisting of 17 words has ever managed, nor ever will.

At first I did believe this was an original story, however after a little research it appears that it was a play on another story written by Thomas Bailey Aldrich in 1870, which was based on even earlier versions of the same idea.

 "A woman is sitting alone in a house. She knows she is alone in the whole world; every other living thing is dead. The doorbell rings."

Despite this I prefer Brown's version as it's much simpler and more concise. No superfluity words just storytelling at its best.

The Legend of Herobrine

So today's post might be supernatural, but more than likely is just made up. Either way when you read all the accounts and add in the various youtube videos its funny how far people are willing to go to be part of a legend. The Legend Of Herobrine.

So Minecraft is a game where you're on an island and use blocks to build and explore your little paradise. It's much more complicated in that but this isn't a games review now is it, even though i would highly recommend checking it out. The legend started when one player created a new single player map. Everything was going fine at first as he did the usual exploring and building, however While chasing a cow into thick fog, that means your pc doesnt have to render the rest of the world, he saw something a little strange, another person looking back at him. After a quick check to make sure they weren't in multiplayer mode the other player ran off into the fog before he could get near him.

After increasing the view distance things started to get even stranger, pyramids of sand in the ocean, trees with all their leaves cut off and tunnels and passages that couldn't have been created naturally.

Now if you've ever played Minecraft before you do come across caverns underground and the occasional cave of overhang, but nothing that would really constitute as an actual passage, at least none anywhere near as neat as these.

The story continues with the player posting on the forum only to find the post was constantly deleted, and after a while the user got a pm off a user simply saying 'Stop.' The user? Of course it was Herobrine. So not only does he go into peoples games but he also pm's them from an account that takes them to a 404'd page.

With no luck and about to give up the user received an email off of another player, claiming the mods read and deleted forum posts but that there were a small number of other players who had seen him as well in worlds that contained clearly man-made structures.

After contacting some of the other players and with a little research they found out that the name was used by a Swedish gamer, the brother of the games creator Notch. They emailed Notch and asked him whether he had a brother called Herobrine and received this response...

'I did but he is no longer with us.'


Some legends are based on the fact that they are believed, that the more people who give credence to the idea the stronger it gets until it comes into existence. But does Herobrine actually exist? After some digging and some hardcore googling I found out that Notch had no Brother, Herobrine isn't supposed to be part of the game and the instances where he's been seen in game have apparently been as a re-textured painting or door. But if he is real as some still claim then why has no one ever approached him? So many videos have the player noticing and screaming for their life. But why? So far I haven't seen any story or hints that Herobrine can influence anything outside the game yet they act like he's going to jump out the screen and peel their skin off. I'm not convinced one bit.

Overall Herobrine is an interesting story that is quite creepy. We've all played a game where we would swear that someone was watching us, or that items had been moved ever so slightly from where we left them. Even if fake it's still amusing enough to be worthwhile, and well if he is real? There is a slight chance that a fault in the games code went unnoticed and spawned another creature like a cow or a chicken that had the same characteristics as the player, but is an incredibly rare event. Or maybe Herobrine does exist, just most of the time he's too busy watching you to build anything.

Happy gaming!

Robert the Doll

Dolls often appear in horror stories and films alike and have featured in many nightmares over the years. They sit in that uncanny valley of being inanimate objects that look human, yet aren't. Stories of possessed dolls are everywhere and as with any superstition it gains a certain amount of credibility when there are several accounts. The fact that many childrens dolls were made with the childs own hair and sometimes even teeth does little to make them less frightening. Today's post is about Robert the Doll, an old doll that caught my attention originally because the Chucky films are rumoured to have been based on him.

Robert was made in around 1900 and is dressed as an American Naval officer, hat and all. He was given to a young Eugene Otto in 1906 by the families Bahemian servant who was skilled in black magic and voodoo. Black magic and voodoo is something that crops up in many possessed dolls stories, with a 'soul stone' or 'soul crystal' being placed inside the doll to give it a soul of its own and some intelligence.

It soon became clear that something was amiss. Eugenes parents often heard him talking to the doll, and the doll talking back. At first they thought he was just pretending and putting on a different voice to reply with, but over time even they came to believe that the doll was speaking of its own accord.

Robert was often spotted running from room to room, or hovering in the corners of peoples vision only to vanish when they looked. Footsteps were heard as well as a sinister giggling from no discernible source. Neighbours reported seeing him in the windows of the house, moving from room to room to appear in different windows when they looked away.

Often in the night Eugene's parents would wake to hear him screaming and would find furniture tipped over and items scattered around the room with Eugene swearing Robert did it. By the time Eugene died some say that Robert's face had become more expressive, especially the eyes, and guests reported his face sometimes changing before their very eyes.

After his death in 1974 the house remained empty for some time until a new family moved in, and their ten year old daughter took Robert for her own. The mysterious happenings didn't stop however and it didn't take long before the girl woke in the night to find Robert moving objects. On several occasions she even swore that he'd attacked her when she'd tried to raise the alarm, something she held to for the rest of her life.

After being moved from the house Robert is kept at the East Marcello Museum. Since Robert arrived museum Staff have reported strange noises, and  visitors have witnessed his expression turn to a menacing smirk and his toy lion moving places while they look away. One time a visitor fled the museum, swearing he heard giggling coming from the doll.

Camera malfunctions seem to also be a common occurrence, photos coming out blurred or distorted or even simply being blacked out. Digital cameras have had files corrupted and had troubles turning on or off, again due to the electromagnetism possibly related to the haunting.

It is believed that if you wish to take Robert's photo you need to ask politely, and if he tilts his head to one side it means no. If you still persist and take a photo then bad luck will follow you, as might Robert...


Spooky stuff...

The Midnight Game

                                                             The Midnight Game



There are rules to the Midnight Game that MUST be followed precisely for the ritual to work. These Rules are as follows:

Materials required: 1 candle per person (at least), matches, salt,a pen and paper to write your names on, a wooden door to attach your name to and finally a drop of your own blood.

Step 1: Write your full name on a piece of paper and put at least one drop of blood on it. Allow it to soak into the paper.

Step 2: Turn off all the lights in the house. Go to your wooden door (It has to be wooden) and place the paper with your name on it. Now take the candle and light it.

Step 3: Knock on the door 22 times (the hour must be 12:00 AM upon the final knock), then open the door, blow out the candle, and close the door. You have just allowed the “Midnight Man” to enter your house.

Step 4: Immediately relight your candle.

This is where the game begins. You must now lurk around your now completely dark house with the lit candle in your hand. Your goal is to avoid the Midnight Man at all costs until 3:33 AM. Should your candle ever go out, that means the Midnight Man is near you. You must relight your candle in the next 10 seconds. If you are not successful in doing this, you must then immediately surround yourself with a circle of salt. If you are unsuccessful in both of your actions, the Midnight Man will create a hallucination of your greatest fear, and rip your organs out one by one. You will feel it, but be unable to react. If you are successful in relighting the candle, you may proceed. If you are successful in creating the circle of salt, you must remain in there until 3:33 AM. You must continue to 3:33 AM without being attacked by the Midnight Man, or being trapped inside the circle of salt to win the Midnight Game. The Midnight Man will then leave your house at 3:33 AM and you will be safe to proceed with your morning.

Indications that you are near the Midnight Man include sudden drop in temperature, seeing a pure black, humanoid figure through the darkness, and very soft whispering coming from an indiscernible source. If you experience any of these, it is advised that you leave the area to avoid the Midnight Man.

DO NOT turn on any lights during the Midnight Game

DO NOT use a flashlight during the Midnight Game

DO NOT go to sleep during the Midnight Game

DO NOT attempt to use another person’s blood on your name

DO NOT use a lighter as a substitute for a candle. It will not work.

AND DEFINITELY DO NOT attempt to provoke the Midnight Man in ANY WAY
Even when the game is over, he will always be watching you…

Good Luck, you’re going to need it.


The rules of the Midnight Game are easy to find, and stories of people doing it are just as as common. The game has even drawn enough attention to warrant a film based around it that airs in 2013. But where did it come from? Is it real? The origins of the game are harder to track down. Some hint that it was an old pagan game to punish rule breakers, that this was a forfeit to teach them a lesson, while others suggest it's entirely fiction.

Searches on google reveal how popular the game has become however, with 49,500 searches per month globally. What is more interesting however is that the midnight game is already on google trends when it started in 2004, which means it was already popular by that point. Paired with the fact that the midnight game was only made popular 2009 onwards it does suggest the game is older than most sites give it credit for. But again this doesn't even come close to proving it's real.

Even if fake the piece does contain some features that are common in a lot of supernatural lore, the most obvious being the salt in a circle keeping the midnight man at bay. These themes along with various tales of shadowy figures and shadow men  again don't prove anything, but it does prove that if fake it's one hell of an effort. With blood being added to the paper some would argue it would be enough to attract the attention of a wandering spirit looking for a home, the equivalent of leaving your front door open and handing your address out on craigslist. It's dam creepy. The only way to prove whether this is real or not would be to try it, and honestly it does sound fun. However anything with a blood ritual involved is not child play Let me know if you try it and if you do, seriously, good luck.

The oldest recorded human voice

Although not entirely supernatural the clip is reportedly the oldest recording of a human voice, and will certainly send shivers up your spine. The track is dated 17th August 1857 and was created by Leon Scott, entitled "Jeune Jouvencelle". Even though I believe it's all but impossible to prove that it's a human voice the effect is very, very creepy.

The sound is paired with the oldest film recording from 1865, a revolving portrait of Felix Nadar the French journalist, photographer and baloonist. When it was released the video caused some controversy, linked to the belief that photographs held pieces of your soul, so a series of them would hold more. The belief seems to stem from the superstition about mirrors, that they reflect the soul. After a person died the mirrors in their house were covered up, to ensure that the soul didn't get stuck in a mirror instead of passing over.

Urban Legends-The Clown Statue

We've all heard the stories, those ones that happened to a friend of a friends cousin who knows this guy who heard that this happened, but what about when the story is true

 A girl in her teens was babysitting for a family in Newport Beach, Ca. The family were wealthy and had a very large house, the sort with many more rooms than people. The parents were going out for a late dinner/movie, and told her that once the children had gone to bed she could watch whatever she wanted, perk of the job. Shortly after the parents had left the babysitter put the kids to bed, and made her way to the front room to watch Tv there. As she sits down something in the corner of the room caught her eye, a clown statue. Trying to ignore it she carried on watching, only moving when the phone rang. She answered it in a flash, finding the kids Father on the line,  calling to make sure the kids were behaving. She reassured him with a smile, glad everything was fine, but before he hung up however she had one simple request.

"The kids are in bed, they've been fine. Mind if I move rooms though?"

"Of course, why?"

"That clown statues really freaking me out."

"Get out of the house, I'm calling the police."

"What? Why?"

"We don't have a clown statue..."

 Creepy right? The story goes on that the children had been complaining a clown had been watching them sleep, but the parents put it down to their imagination, yet when the babysitter saw it they knew something was wrong. The clown had been living in the house for months, hiding in the spare room and coming out when no one was there, but he couldn't resist watching the babysitter.

 So next time you're looking at a statue watch out, it might just be looking back.

Horror Podcasts and Audiobooks. For free!

So it's been a while since my last posts, not that I'm sure many of you noticed. I just didn't feel the need to post things here anymore, when I could just read them and go about my business. I had a few problems with Blogger so I have several posts that are written to be posted, but I'm not sure whether to carry on. But fuck it.Here's a post.


Recently I've started listening to podcasts on the train to work, more specifically horror podcasts. These range from bloody to bizarre, morbid to mediocre, yet all of these have given me chills at one point or other.

Note: If you're listening to these on public transport, maybe try not to jump like I did. It seems to get you one hell of a lot of looks.


Crescent Station-  Phillip Rossi-https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/crescent-a-free-audiobook/id260405301?ign-mpt=uo%3D6

So this first one is not something what I was expecting to like. At the moment everything seems to be about zombies, and I'm okay with that, yet this little gem was something from years ago I managed to miss. A lot of these stories I've been listening to on a night as I drift off, but not this. This is far too engaging to sleep over. It reminds me of Dead Space, if Dead Space cared more about itself instead of making money. 
  One of my favourite things about this audiobook is how Rossi really does seem to care about his work. With a lot of books I find that the author is merely going through the process of writing, writing for the sake of it, mentioning no names Stephen King. As well as writing this piece Rossi also narrates the audio for it as well, and this is one of my favourite parts. Being the writer and the narrator gives you a fantastic insight into your own work, so you know where to build tension, where to pause for effect and how each part is played. This is a pet peeve of mine with some authors/narrators, how something can be lost in translation to lose any sense of drama or tension it once had.
 Crescent Station is my pick of the list, and is enjoyable to have as a backing track to your life. I'd definitely recommend at least trying it, you won't regret it.




 Unkillable-Patrick E Mclean-https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/unkillable/id407417916

Next up is one a little different from the rest of the selections, in the sens I'm not sure whether to class it as horror or not. It is in a vague sense of the word, deffinitely supernatural, but whether it is scary or not like everything is subjective. The story is between sweet and creepy, a darker version of the film/book The Lovely Bones but kind of zombified, which is by no means a bad thing. Give it a go, you'll thank me.


Unkillable is the story of a young man who is cruelly murdered then brought back from the dead to revenge himself. The kicker is: He’s not really alive. He can be hurt, he just can’t be killed.

It’s dark and funny and sad and beautiful and violent and magical -- if it could be summed up with just a few words, there would have been no point in writing a novel.

Unkillable. Life sucks. Death blows. In between is worse. 



Fried Green Zombies -John Allen- http://podiobooks.com/title/fried-green-zombies/


 Zombie books, films and podcasts seem to be becoming more and more common by the day, that being said it's also something I've tried my hand at, albeit unsuccessfully. Sometimes everything seems a little samey, like the lines between books are blurring so they could all be set in the same mundane zombie strewn landscape. Every now and then however you do come across something so different it renews your entire outlook on Zombie films.
 Odd from the start Fried Green Zombies seems a play on the classic (in some circles) title Fried Green Tomatoes, yet couldn't be much different. Here's the blurb, see for yourself.

Chett and Harry are two recently unemployed construction workers on their way to a weekend of beer, Southern Comfort, and frog gigging at their musty-rusted 1970's RV parked at their favourite hunting camp when they stumble on Bob, the mysterious, busty, burqa-clad, non-English speaking beauty just standing in the middle of nowhere on the side of dusty Nine Mile Cutoff in rural Bovina, Mississippi.

Then all hell breaks loose. Their favourite pond is missing. They're being chased by truck driving zombies, dirty cops, UFOs and other ne'er-do-wells. Someone stole Chett's jacked up Scottsdale four-by-four. Zombies are traipsing around their trailer, and crazy Uncle Crank is trying to feed them zombie chicken for dinner.

Why is their pond missing, and why did the Dodge of Death spring from the muddy crater left in its centre? Who is Bob and why is she so good with shotguns? Why are they being chased by two really skinny, pale, bald, goatee-clad wierdos? What is the dirty county sheriff hiding? And will Chett and Harry ever make it out alive?


See what I mean? Not that this takes anything away from the genre, as at times it's still gripping stuff, but truck driving zombies don't really seem to scare me as much as a faceless horde mithering its way towards you. I guess it's like that film about that car that chases people, the one whose name I never bothered to remember, for good reason. Despite the lack of jumps and jolts it's a lighthearted twist on the classic zombie survival with more than a pinch of Bill and Ted to stir things up a little. Easy to get in to,hard to put down.


 Honorable mention

Dead Mech: http://podiobooks.com/title/dead-mech/

'After the zombie apocalypse decimates the world, human civilization tries to put itself back together again. Their secret weapon: the Mechs. But what happens when a mech pilot dies in his mech and becomes a zombie? Hell on earth is unleashed...'

I wasn't sure what to think of this at first, and from reading the blurb it's easy to see why. With trepidation I started the first chapter only to find it was actually compelling. It's so refreshing to find someone who actually cares about what they're writing, and it clearly shows this is more an idea of love than money. The premise, although unusual, really works to bring a new twist to the Zombie survival, and without spoiling anything I can honestly say I enjoyed it, and that it made the cold, long bus journey on a morning that little bit different.

 

The following website is one I found that contains a number of links for a large amount of podcasts. Some are good, others less so, but I'll leave it for you to figure out for yourself.

http://theaudiodramadirectory.com/horror/

Voices

 

 

"You know that ringing sound that you will perceive when you are in a very quiet area? Some people say this is an auditory-illusion brought about the ear’s inability to detect frequencies below the threshold of the human senses. This is completely wrong. That ringing covers up something else altogether. If you are quick, patient, and maybe a little lucky, you will be able to hear past the ringing. What you will hear are voices whispering to each other. They will silence themselves quickly but with practice, you will become more adept at catching and interpreting what they are saying. You will hear things of the past, the present, and the future. However, you must be careful. Because there is no such thing as a voice without a body.

And when you start noticing them, they will start noticing you."-Unknown

T.T

I wasn't planning on sleeping tonight anyway...

One man hide and seek

For my first post I've decided to look at a game made popular by Japanese school children. The aim of the game is not to hide, but NOT to be found. I remember reading this on a site years ago, and the thought and the fear still stays with me. If you do feel the need to try this then be careful, not everything in this world can be explained.

Ingredients:

~A stuffed doll you don't mind un-stuffing
~Rice- To fill the doll with-represents the innards
~A needle with some red thread, to represent blood
~A knife/scissors to cut the doll
~A cup of Salt-Natural or rock salt is best
~A place to hide~Most important of all~
~Incense (Optional but recommended)

Some believe our world is full of wandering spirits, looking for a place to stay. The aim of this game is to offer the spirit the doll as a temporary vessel. Before I give the rest of the instructions if you try this there are several things to keep in mind. The incense is to cleanse the room. Put it in the hiding place and in theory it keeps away evil spirits. If you must try this then see it through to the end. DO NOT stop this ritual half way through, once you've started see it through to the end, no matter how much you may want it to end. When you're done hiding make sure to keep the salt-water in your mouth at all times as it will apparently protect you.

Prepping the stage:

~Firstly cut the doll open, removing the stuffing from within.
~Replace the stuffing from inside the doll with the rice.
~This next step is the most varied through the ones I've seen. Some people say you need clippings of your nails, where others say you need locks of your hair.
~When you've finished sew up the doll with the red thread.
~Finally, light the incense in your hiding place and put a cup of salt water there  too.

So you're ready?

~Name the doll. This can be anything apart from your own name.
~When the clock hits either midnight or 3am, again this is another variation in the act, say to your doll "(Your own name) is the first it." three times.
~After you've done that put the doll in a bath or basen of water.
~Go to the hiding place and turn on the tv and or radio. Spirits supposedly interupt signals and will give you an idea whether anythings happening.
~Count to ten with your eyes closed in the hiding place, then go back to the bathroom and stab the doll with a blade, saying to the doll "I found you (Dolls name)" three times.
~Next comes the fun part.
~Say to the doll "You are the it (Doll's name)" three times, then put the doll back in it's place.
~As soon as you put the doll down, quickly go back to the hiding place.

I can't believe you're doing this.

~To finish the game: after ten seconds pour half the cup of salt water into your mouth, but don't drink it or spit it out, no mater how bad it tastes.
~Leave the hiding place and start looking for the doll. Remember though, it might not be in the place you left it.
~Whatever you do while searching, do not spit out the salt water.
~Find the doll and pour the rest of the salt water from the cup over it before spitting the salt water in your mouth over the doll as well.
~Next announce "I win!" three times.
~After you've done all this, supposedly the ritual is over. Just incase make sure to dry the doll, then burn it and discard it.

Creepy huh? I've never tried it, nor will I ever, but it makes for a good read. In some accounts I've read, people claim they find the doll between their hiding place and where they left it, like it was on it's way to find them. It's not advised to play this game for very long , and remember that if other people are in the house make sure they're aware of what's going on.

I don't know about you, but it gives me chills just reading this...

An Introduction

Human's have always been afraid of the dark, of darting eyes, flashing lights, creeping shadows that inch ever closer. Scientists say that fear of the dark is perfectly reasonable, a throwback to an era where the dark contained predators who were more than a match for the humans poor eyesight. Darkness meant danger, possible even death, yet this is hard to imaging as I sit in my comfy cottage sipping tea in rural middle-England, where the only thing we have to fear are stray dogs, burglers and the internet being turned off for the night.

This blog is to gather creepy stories in one place, to look at urban legends from around the world, as well as unexplained events closer to home.

So stay with us tucked under that sheet, wondering what that sound is under your bed, why the you in the mirror looks a little off today, journey with us into uncanny valley as we explore the recesses of the mind.

Remember though dear readers, don't turn out the lights.