RedHead Confetti

It was a dark and stormy night... Once upon a time... Back in the day... Do you remember when... These are fairly cliched ways to start a story. We've used them so much, that some have become memes, and the people sharing them don't even know where they started. But, and this is the funny thing, how many of the stories we heard growing up, whether stories about our families, or about the city we lived in, started that way. "Back when I was a kid..." or "We all knew about So-and-So's house". I've written about my old farm house, and the whispering door , the shadow people and BEK's , creepy haunted clown dolls , and Satanic Panic . If you've read my work, you know I love scary stories. Especially the ones that seem plausible-- the ones that make you think for a second, look behind your shoulder when you're walking at night, or watch the rear-view mirror when you're driving. October, being the month of Hallowe'en is rife ...

Trigger Warning: This is part two. Part one was yesterday. Just like yesterday, for the sake of simplicity I lump all stories of the paranormal/natural together as a ghost story. This includes faeries, demons, ghosts and everything else. It's just easier that way for me. I wrote about lizard-men, shadow people and black-eyed kids. These are weird things that don't have an explanation that I know of, that explains them in their entirety. If you can't handle scary stories, then skip this one, too. These are more creepy things, but I don't want to set off anyone's anxiety. I do try to be rational. I read these stories with a 50 pound bag of salt; rarely do I take them at face value. I know there are things that I don't know, and don't understand-- but I also know that sleep paralysis is not caused by a hag sitting on you, and that you're not being sexually molested by an incubus if you have a sexy dream at night. That doesn't chang...

Trigger Warning: This one meanders a bit and is long. I found myself meandering much longer than I initially expected as I let myself think "aloud" about these things. For the sake of simplicity I lump all stories of the paranormal/natural together as a ghost story. This includes faeries, demons, ghosts and everything else. It's just easier that way for me. I discuss my thoughts on ghost story comments, similarities in stories and then share a couple short experiences I've had. There is mockery as well as sarcasm. There is a little thoughtful exposition and a lot of "hmmm". If you can't handle scary stories, then skip this one. I know some people don't like them, and I don't want to cause nightmares. This is part one. Part Two, tomorrow. I've said it before, I love a good ghost story. Every where I've lived I've sought out the stories that happened "just over there, in that building". I love hearing people's exp...

I've always been fascinated by the paranormal. I like ghost stories, and oddities, strange stories and hints of “otherness”. I never have pretended to know what the reality of those stories is, what is real and what is not, what's hysteria and what's drugs. I can't know, even the things I've seen or experiences, because knowing is impossible. There are too many variables, too many unknowns. As long as I don't know, then I can't postulate. That doesn't stop my from enjoying the goose-bumpy, shivery goodness of a ghost story, or a tale of the “black eyed children”. It doesn't mean that I don't love hearing and sharing these vignettes. I wrote about the clown-doll already; that experience made me curious about the how of the world. I wanted to know more and understand how in this universe something like that doll could exist. It didn't fit into the knowledge that I had been given about God, and the world, and religion. Later, I ...

I wrote this for a paranormal site; they were collecting stories, thing that their readers had experienced. I posted this with them for awhile, and I share it here with you. First, yes, this happened, exactly as I wrote it; I wish I could say I exaggerated, but I didn't. This was my experience. I can't explain it, and I am not going to try. Just read it like a good ghost story, if you wish, that won't hurt my feelings at all. Secondly, I was a good little christian at the time, and honestly believed in Satanic possession. Hence my reaction being what it was. If I were to experience such a thing today, I'd react much differently. Thirdly, this was not the first time I'd experienced something really fucking weird. It wasn't the last, either. I had an ex who told me I was a magnet for weird shit. I enjoy weird shit, but I don't go out looking for it, nor do I expect everything that I don't quite understand to be "from the Other Side!". Black-e...