What Scares You?

One would think that as they become an adult, childhood fears would vanish. Oh no! Not for this girl! The boogie man still lives in my house along with all it's creepy cousins lurking in the corners and shadows. Maybe I need to quit watching scary movies and stop reading about supernatural beings? NOT. I love that thrill of being scared stupid or laugh at the crazy things they throw at you in the entertainment industry. These types of things have not given me nightmares in years. It's in between my movie marathons that I have nightmares of the things that really do scare me. Strange? My husband thinks so too. He actually banned me from watching and reading creepy stuff for a while, believing that was the cause of my fears. That is the time period when I had the most nightmares. Oops, starting to change the subject. Here are my fears:

The Dark

Not a fan of it. At least in a house. I have absolutely no problem taking my dog for a midnight walk. Most of the time. Add some wind and I'm headed back home in a less than lady like fashion. If I start thinking about that branch ahead, the same result occurs. At home, I still sleep with a light on occasionally. Having a bad dream following me to the real world is not my idea of fun.

The Thing Under The Bed

I wish it would just die already. No matter how much crap I shove under my bed, it still finds a crack to reach out through. I cannot handle having my feet or hands hanging off the edge of the bed. I did once. My soul almost left my body when my cat rubbed against my hand. I really hope it was the cat.

The Boogie Man & Company

He lingers in my closet. I actually leave the doors open so he doesn't do it for me. The downfall? His friends and family hang out in the doorway, on the dresser and wherever else they feel like being. It wouldn't be so bad if they would quit with the staring. But, if they actually did something else, that soul thing would happen.

Clowns

My fear doesn't come from the movies or circus or anything that simple. Growing up, I shared a bed with my little sister. Sometimes, when I would wake up in the middle of the night, she would be facing me. The moonlight and my bad eyes would play this horrible trick on me and make her look like a clown with an evil grin. I swear that face would just stare at me with thoughts of wrong doing. I didn't want to be it's late night snack. Strangely, Killer Klowns From Outer Space  is a favorite movie of mine.  

Dolls/Dummies

Let's be honest. Who isn't creeped out by these things. Especially if it has those unnatural mechanical eyes. My grandma had one of those dolls (used to be my mom's) for us to play with. One of the eyes always stuck and would just pop open whenever it felt it would be a good time to make me cry. I really did not like that doll. I believe the feeling was mutual.

My Cat

Sadi (aka Frankencat/Satan) is my tormentor. Maybe it's his revenge for giving him a female name (What? I was told he was a she) or because he's a black cat or because he can. My guess? All the above plus a few reasons I can't even fathom. His favorite tactic is to sit at the far end of the room and just stare. When I look away and look back, he is a bit closer and still staring. It's as if he never moved. He repeats this until he is at my feet, staring at me. It makes my hair stand on end because I never see him move. Jerk. What the heck is up with all the staring?! Arrrg! His best scare? I was watching a scary movie. In the dark. By myself. Right after a particularly scary part, I happened to turn around and look at the big window I was sitting in front of. What did I see? A pair of glowing eyes staring at me from the middle of the window. I believe this time, my soul did leave my body for a moment. It was my dear sweet kitty whom I forgot was outside. This is only a sample of his antics. He never tries to do things to my husband. Just me.

Yes, I have childish fears. I will be an old lady beating down the shadows with my cane.

Update

I meant to keep up with this better, but I have a chronic illness that is giving me issues lately. While I have been down and out, I have been thinking a lot about this blog. I originally planned to gather folk lore and urban myths of the supernatural kind and keep it at that, but it seems as soon as I started it, it took on a slightly different form. So I guess I'll just go with the flow and see what happens. I wanted to have fun with this and I will. I think. I hope. Oh boy... Ha ha. I better think harder on how I'm going to redescribe this blog. *bangs head on keyboard* I'm such a dork.

Hidden Treasure & Ghosts

It seems as though the people of Tigerton are fond of treasure stories. First is Al Capone's buried treasure, now is a story of a house with a treasure trove of cash hidden within. But this tale also has an element of the supernatural  added to it.

Just outside of Tigerton Wisconsin, sits a farm. The Victorian style house is nothing short of a small mansion. Built and owned by a prominent businessman of the tiny community. He and his wife had two children, a son and a daughter, one of which was disabled. At some point in his life, it is said that he hid his fortune somewhere within the structure of the house. The children continued to live there after their parents passed away, living together as a caretaker and invalid, neither marrying. People say that they still have not left the house to this day. After their passing, the house was sold and rented out, never keeping a tenant longer than a couple of months due to the odd disturbances happening. Eventually the house fell vacant and beccame a popular party spot with treasure hunting on the mind. Much of the beautiful inlay flooring and other structures were destroyed in the hunt. The money was never found.

With the permission of the current owner at the time, a friend, her nine year old son and I went to the house. Even in it's run down state, it was a sight to behold. The house never lost it's majesty. We were there for two reasons. One, because I love old houses and was a bit obsessed with touring it. Two, we wanted to see spooks. Her son was interested in the hidden money, but we didn't believe it. If it had been true, somebody should have found it already. The house itself was still surprisingly solid considering all the vandalism and neglect. It actually felt a little welcoming.

After looking through all the rooms on the two main floors, we headed up to the attic. Her son went off on his own (we were too weird for him). It was monstrous and in better shape than the rest of the house. The windows lit it up nicely except in the turret. At the moment we noticed it, we looked at each other and then ran. When we were out of the house, we found her son waiting for us and he was spooked badly and mad at us, "Where were you guys? I couldn't find you so I waited downstairs. I heard you coming down the (servants) stairs and didn't see anybody, so I went to the other stairs and still nobody. I ran out here and waited. There is no way I'm going back in that house".
We were up in the attic.
We then asked each other about what spooked us. Both us felt like we were being watched and that was why we looked at the corner.

I am guessing our imaginations took over since we were raring for it, but her son didn't believe in ghosts. He informed us they were lame. Not so much anymore, poor kid. No money was found, though we walked away with a good story to tell.

As of today, the house has new owners and it has been rebuilt to it's original state. I have heard no more rumors about it's ghostly inhabitants. Maybe they are happy that their home is fixed.  I wish I had brought a camera that day so I could have before and after pictures.

Buried Treasure

This story is not of the supernatural type, but it is a local legend. I was told this by a couple friends years ago.

Tigerton, Wisconsin
Outside this small town on an overgrown abandoned farm, Al Capone supposedly has treasure buried. If you are lucky enough to find the remains of this homestead, be wary of where you tread. Covered pits and other unknown booby traps are abundant.

According to the friend I had talked to about this, he had gone treasure hunting and thought he found the farm. He and his friend(s) had stumbled across several hidden pits that didn't appear to be normal for a farm. The only thing left to signify there had been one was an old silo.

It is possible that Al Capone has been there, or at least through Tigerton. In Maribel, there was a hotel that eventually started to cater to gangsters and bootleggers. If he did do business her or stayed there, that would put Tigerton very close to the path up to his retreat in Couderay. Whether it is true or not, it is still an interesting story.

In an attempt to map out where he has been in Wisconsin, I have come to the realization that I need to visit the library and and get copies of maps. The old maps I find online are not meant to be viewed properly without a cost (my eyes are mad at me now). Who knows what else I'll be able to turn up in my hometowns tiny library? Maybe a cursed book? I would find something like that, and not to my benefit in the least.

Black-Eyed Children

Since I brought this up in my last post, I thought it should at least be explained. It is easy to find all sorts of information on the internet about these creepy kids, but Mythbuster2009 did a good job of bringing the original published story to us. Instead of borrowing from him, I'll just send you his way. So, click on the link  below and enjoy!

Urban Legends, Folklore, Myths and Fairy Tales: Brian Bethel and Jon Northwood BEK Accounts

Scaring My Family

This is slightly off the subject, but I was just thinking about the mean stuff I have pulled on my family. Well, my older sister and my mom. My younger sister doesn't fall for my pranks very easily. I really need to leave my mom alone, she's too old to be scaring, but she's such an easy target.

Mom scare #1: A couple Halloweens ago, my husband and another couple dressed up to go out. Since I enjoy the horror genre, I ran with an idea. With the help of glue and make up (it's amazing what you can do with a few household items), I made myself up as a slasher victim. I have to admit, it turned out very nice (yup, I'm bragging). On our way to a bar, we made a pit stop at my poor unsuspecting mother's. Luckily, she never heard us pull in, so I got out and stood in front of her patio doors waiting for her to turn around while she was busy in the kitchen. Turn around, she did, and almost jumped into the sink. She still hasn't forgiven me for that.

Mom scare #2: That following spring we had a late heavy snowfall. Her house is just a tad bit off my path for work and I decided to stop in and say "Hi" on my way home. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't home. I made a cute little snowman that had red licorice eyes and a not so sweet looking smile thanks to the eyes. I set it on a little rocking horse she had on her patio and placed that in front on the patio doors. The next morning I received quite the earful about this evil little snowman staring at her as she was having her morning coffee.

Mom scare #3: Last year I had read about the Black-Eyed Children and thought it was interesting. This one is an unintentional scare. I told her about this story during a phone conversation. She wasn't thrilled about hearing it while she was home alone at night. Kinda creeped myself out also and I didn't even believe the story. Well, the next day I get yet another earful from her. She ended up closing all her curtains and locking the doors. When her boyfriend came home that night, she wouldn't even let him in right away. I received a pleasant "Thank you" from him also. Ha ha.

Mom scare #4: The other week, my always worrying mother (whom I love) was visiting and complaining about how I never lock my doors when I'm home alone and tried using scare tactics to get me to do so. "You never know if some weirdo will try getting in." Heh. I gave her something to think about on her way home. I told her to be careful if she sees somebody standing along the side of the road. Especially if they disappear when she gets close to them, because if they do and you look in the rear view mirror, you'll see them sitting in the back seat. About 10 minutes after she left, I get a phone call that turned into yet another earful. Apparently my story got to her. She told me drove about 80 all the way home.

The one big sister scare: This is the conversation that lead me to write this. I was talking to my older sister and told her about my latest mom scare. She thought it was funny. Mean, but funny. Then I reminded her of the time I scared our mom with the Black-Eyed Children and proceeded to read the story out loud off the internet. Yet another unhappy camper, especially since she is going to be home alone this weekend. I might add that she was never easy to scare when we were in school. She was the type that could watch a scary movie by herself and be fine. At some point that changed. I learned this during our conversation. This is not information I should have my hands on. But, since I do, she's fair game. To add fuel to the fire, I told her to watch out for that person on the side of the road. (What? It worked on my mom). After that, she wouldn't let me get another word out. Just kept telling me to shut it. This morning I asked her if she wanted to watch some movies this weekend. That was a no go. Wonder why? The temptation to mess with her is great...

Yes. I am an evil daughter and sister.

Barn Dance of Vernon County, WI

It is said that in Vernon County, you can occasionally hear music playing in the hills at night. It is mysterious and nobody can identify the source. If you ever find yourself lost on the back roads, be wary of where you stop for help.

There is a round barn with sounds of music and laughter of a lively barn dance. If you choose to go in, you will find everybody dressed in clothes of a bygone era. Be careful of what you say, otherwise they will reveal themselves as the dead. As you leave in fear, you will see the barn in a decrepit state. If they allow you to leave...