gothic histories

In the footsteps of Edgar Allan Poe

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Les élèves de 1G6 LLCE

It was so cold out there, the sky was crying such huge drops that it made a horrific sound in this enormous forest. I remember it was during the night-time, around 3 a.m, I was so petrified, as cold as ice. A simple crack frightened me, it might just be usual in a forest you would tell me, but all that had nothing common. Some gigantic black forms were just moving around in the dark, they looked like branches moving around as if they were alive… And sometimes I could hear those creatures sneering with a malicious look, certainly to frighten me and unfortunately it worked... You are surely wondering why I am in this huge forest? Well, I still don’t know why! Three or two hours before this tragedy I was calmly on the couch with my mother, but I fell asleep. I found myself in this macabre forest where the trees were so high that I couldn’t see the moon, with nobody around, not a single person, not even a form of life, no one to save me!! I still don’t know how and why and I just want to see my family... At least one more time to kiss them goodbye... But I think it’s too late for that. I missed my mother so much; I was tired, shivering like a frightened little beast, because of the terror and the cold of the night. I just had one wish, to come back home on this couch with my mother. One or two hours after I arrived in this enormous forest. I felt the sneer so close to me, as if this thing was behind me. What was that? What did it want from me? Was it alive? As an answer to my questions I now felt some gasp behind my back ! It was so cold, even frosty. I think that I will always remember this gasp because it signed the night of my death. After feeling this gasp, all my skin became frosty. I was paralyzed but after a few long seconds I decided to just run, as fast as I could, but deep down in my heart I knew that it was the end and that I couldn’t escape from that terrible death. It was my destiny! While I was running away from those atrocious monsters, other creatures joined the first and I could finally see them. They were awful, some globular eyes injected with blood, legs and arms as slim and long as branches, they had very sharp teeth ready to attack… They ran so fast! I knew that I had no chance. I stumbled on a little branch that went in my way and soon those creatures came and surrounded me. Then they devoured me without any pity. Since that terrible night, I have wandered in this gigantic forest, without knowing why and how we found ourselves there. Those creatures keep tracking other children, as if they feared nothing… What I find sad is that my mother and all the parents of the missing children still haven’t found us, as if this was a sort of curse... It’s very creepy! I can’t find out what happened to us… I hope that one day they will find us.

As every morning since 1874, around 10am, Mr. Shelby takes his bike and goes for a ride to the village nearby. And as every morning for more than 10 years, he starts by crossing the forest, continues on a small path before reaching "Minnie", the famous local bakery where he stops to buy a scone with orange splinters. He greets the owner, talks about the weather and gets back on his bike. As he does every morning, he continues his route towards the bridge, crosses it and rides along the river. However, for the first time in 10 years, he stops on the bridge. He stands still, petrified as if a superior force compelled him to look over the bridge. He doesn’t want to, but he can’t resist. He gets closer and looks, his eyes widen out with terror. After 10 long minutes, he rushes to his bike and starts cycling hurriedly to the police station. That was the last time Mr. Shelby rode his bicycle. The following day, two inspectors - Mr Luis and Mr Erwin - were told about Mr Shelby’s discovery. They arrived in the village and found a very special atmosphere. There were already a few locals gossiping around the bridge, but the inspectors noticed that they were not looking at the crime scene but at each other as if they were more intrigued by the reactions of their neighbours. Yet, in the bright sun of this hot summer day, a woman's body was lying below the bridge. Inspector Erwin proceeded to a rapid analysis of the body and came to very surprising conclusions : the woman was in her twenties, her head which was in the shade of the bridge, presented a bad injury with two wounds on her neck and, most astonishing, the rest of her body was totally burnt. The victim was quickly identified as Suzanne Hill, but no one had reported her missing. Mr. Erwin, more down-to-earth, decided to interview her family while Luis, more observant, suggested to investigate in the village and question its inhabitants. Erwin knocked on the door of a small house and a woman, surely Suzanne’s mother, barely opened the door. As soon as the inspector asked her a question about her missing daughter she started to scream, calling Satan, mentioning an old curse responsible for the kidnapping of her daughter. She also mentioned a ruined castle above the village which appeared to frighten her a lot. Erwin found it hard to have a meaningful discussion with her and left. Back in the street, he came across the coroner who had more precise information about the causes of her death. The hematoma on the head was due to a violent impact on a rock, probably due to the fall from the bridge. But most unexpected, the wounds on the neck were definitely two little holes caused by very sharp teeth… Erwin and Luis shared their discoveries. Of course, the villagers hadn’t seen or heard anything. However, Luis had met a very old lady, considered as a witch by the villagers, who told him to go to the castle to find the answers to all his questions. Erwin told Luis about the two bites on the neck but none of them was ready to accept the unconceivable : the signature of a vampire ! Erwin and Luis understood that it was high time they went to the castle on the hill and paid a visit to its so-called ghostly host. Night was beginning to fall, and Luis wondered why they always visited creepy places at dusk and never at noon. It was a large, most unwelcoming castle. They went inside and shouted to see if anyone lived there. Nobody answered. They explored the gloomy rooms without coming across a living soul. Night had now set in. Suddenly, they heard a door squeaking upstairs, soon followed by regular footsteps going down the stairs towards them. The two terrified men hid behind a piece of furniture and saw a tall and skinny man, as pale as the moon, disappearing in the dark corridors of the castle. They left the creepy place as quick as possible and headed back to the old lady’s house. She knew much more than they believed she did. In fact, she seemed relieved to see them again. She asked them to sit down, offered them a cup of tea and told them the whole story : “when I was a child, a stranger arrived in the village. He was tall, handsome and educated. He fell in love with Daphne, the prettiest girl ever who was coveted by all the young men in the village. They decided to run away together to escape jealousy and threats. Unfortunately, the villagers heard of their plan and killed both of them brutally. Before dying, the stranger, swore to seek revenge and cursed all the villagers. Shortly after, young girls from the village started to disappear and the villagers understood that the curse was effective. They went to the castle to sign a pact with the creature who had become a vampire. Every month, they would have to provide him with a young lady to calm down his anger and avoid more kidnappings. All the villagers participated in Daphne’s murder and they were all badly punished. I can’t remember a family who didn’t sacrifice a daughter, a sister or even a fiancé in that bleak machination. Now let me tell you about Suzanne, she was certainly one of the most witted and rebellious girl in our village. She didn’t want to be sacrificed but had no other choice. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that she managed to run away from the castle. The vampire must have chased her, and she fell from the bridge. Unfortunately, she had already been bitten and, with the sun coming out, she started to burn to ashes, except the head which was in the shade of the bridge.” The two inspectors were determined to stop this hellish curse. The next morning, they ran to the castle, found the vampire’s coffin, took it outside in full light, opened it and contemplated the pale body going back to ashes with relief…

It sometimes happens to me. To dream about another life where boredom doesn't exist. To have the simple life of a car factory worker living in a comfortable home in London. This is the normal and best life every worker dreams about. Everytime I dream about it, I feel joy taking hold of me. The lightness of the dream takes me away, to another universe. It helps me to bear the hard reality of life. The daily routine, this annoying work at the factory, all the machines cutting, shredding, mingling pieces, crushing materials with their teeth. I work in a factory located next to a cemetery where I like to go and walk in. One day, while I was walking in the cemetery as usual, I suddenly heard some footsteps. At the beginning I thought it was just my imagination, I was alone and it didn't make sense. But behind me I felt that something was wrong. I told myself it had to be someone paying respect to a deceased relative. It was in a cemetery after all ! But there was not anyone, it was in the middle of the night it would have been weird. The more I thought about it the more I was scared. The footsteps got louder and louder, like a regular pulse. I do not now why but my steps led me to the church next to the cemetery. It was an abandonned and isolated church, just ruins eaten away by mould, ready to collapse. Its high, dark bell tower was scary. As I looked at it, I felt devoured by fear until suddenly, the bell started to ring. It was 11:30pm. The sky turned very bright because of the moonlight but also very threatening so I decided to go inside the dark and sinister church. Old portraits and religious objects were exposed on the ground. The bell tower was visible from a hole in the roof which is why I noticed the storm on its way. Shivering with fear, I moved on. Every single noise drove me more scared. The footsteps that were still on my back made me tremble with fright. I noticed there were some stairs that led to the bell tower. Too scared to look back, I ran away to the stairs. Suddenly, I heard such a scary noise, some metal noise as if... A metal knife had fallen down on the ground. Panic-stricken, I started to run as far as possible, as fast as I could. I don't know where I found the energy to run so fast. At least, I reached the top of the bell tower. The view was such a scary one. The moonlight in the sky was so bright that thunder seemed to illuminate the cemetery. I was right, someone was behind me. I was facing him, alone. By gathering all the courage I had left, I turned back to see who was there. In front of me was a man, all dressed in black, who looked pretty tall and very impressive. I could not see his face because of the dark night. I wanted to ask him who he was and what he wanted but I could not say anything. No sound came out of my throat . Before I could realize it, he jumped on me as if he wanted to devour me. He blocked me on the ground and in a flash of lightening, he raised a kind of knife... I could not see what he was holding but he stabbed me. Surprisingly I felt no pain. Was I dead ? Was it real ?... What I know is that I woke up in a start. I was at home, in bed, it was time to go to work ! I went to the kitchen and took a knife, I was in a state of shock and felt that I was no longer safe. I kept repeating to myself that I would be alright, I needed to be reassured. I was walking to the factory when suddenly I experienced something terrible. I had a horrible vision, the red eyes of the machines stared at me angrily. It yelled louder and louder, crushed and shredded more and more. Their eyes followed me and waited for the opportunity to eat my soul, shred my pulpit and gobble my organs. But there was something else. A familiar sound like... Footsteps ! I knew it, I heard him again, he was there, he had come back to kill me. He controlled the machines and wanted to eat me. I couldn't escape from them. I felt fright invading me, I needed to go far away from there. I took my knife and rushed towards him. I recognized him, I took out my knife and stabbed him as many times as possible. He had to die. If he died I would be recover. He haunted me every night, he was there to end my life. I had to react. I pounced on him. « DIE, DIE you crazy monster !! I will not let you kill me ! » I shouted as loud as possible. I brandished my knife and stabbed him again and again. A feeling of satisfaction grew inside me. I had won this time , I had won the fight, he was dead now. But there was something strange. Everyone was looking at me with disappointment, they looked scared and shocked, they could not stop staring at me. But why ? They should have been thankful, I had saved their lives. Time has passed but I still don't understand their reaction.

Today in our "Creepy Stories" section, the focus is on the incredible story of a British family. We have managed to get some testimonies and the family agreed to share their story with you. It happened in 2014, in a small London borough. One of the houses was inhabited by the X family who witnessed strange events. This borough was the perfect place to live. There were very few inhabitants, who almost knew everyone, creating a warm atmosphere, as friendly as that in Christmas movies… Too good to be true you will tell me, won’t you ? Surely, you’re not wrong… The Wilson family had lived there for more than a month. They were happy to move from an apartment in the city center to a house. The former owners had lived in there until the father died. The widow wanted to start afresh in another place, overwhelmed with memories. After their arrival, the X family got close to a couple of neighbours to whom they had spoken about the strange things that were happening in their home and that occurred more and more often. The unsolved mysteries were accumulating, like objects changing place from one day to the next without anyone remembering having removed them, doors being slammed, strange noises being heard during the night without anyone in the family causing them... Here is what the father, Eddy, told us : « I remember one day I woke up in the middle of the night, having had a nightmare about my own death under the worst circumstances. I felt really bad and scared as if this nightmare had not ended, with the feeling of being where my life ended a few seconds earlier in my sleep. I decided to get up and have a glass of water without turning on the lights not to wake anyone up. The more I moved into the house, the more I felt that something was following me and watching me. I felt that I heard people whispering all at once. But I had no idea what those whispers meant, I didn’t understand a single word. After drinking, I decided to go back to bed quickly. These terrifying whispers continued to spin in my head, they were similar to those coming straight out of a horror movie mumbling religious songs... I decided to turn on a small light in the room and saw my wife beside me sleeping peacefully, the whispers had vanished in an instant. There was no more noise, everything had returned to normal… However, I still felt something strange. To be honest, I had felt this strange atmosphere for a few nights, and every night I could feel it growing and keeping me awake longer.» The rest of the day passed slowly for Eddy, he kept thinking about it. But what he didn’t know was that his son, Jason, was also going to live a terrifying event the same day. And likewise, one after the other, Eddy, his wife Jane and their two children Jason and Ashley, all experienced an inexplicable event like this. Moreover, we have been fortunate enough to interview their neighbours. They shared their views on the last event that took place in the home of the X family which made them aware that something wrong was going on. This is what Mary told us : « It was 4:00 AM. I woke up in a start after hearing a scary scream coming from the house of our neighbours. I thought it was Ashley screaming, their daughter. My husband and I worried sick, we left and knocked on their door. Ashley was in bed, she kept shouting while her parents were asking her what had happened. In a moment of total panic she told us everything she had experienced... While she was telling us about her nightmare, the shutters of her room opened, the outside world looked exactly like the one she had described in her nightmare, but worse. A storm was raging, it was extremely cold in the room the temperature dropped sharply, the clouds were threatening... All that noise led to the awakening of all the inhabitants of the housing estate. At that time, everyone saw that something terrible was happening. The clouds began to form letters, we could soon read: This house does not belong to you, You've had many warnings, all of you, one after the other... The X family, my husband and I understood then. Indeed, they had all been through strange things since they had moved in, done on purpose for them to leave the house. This evil spirit wanted them out and was ready for anything to reach this aim, even to lead them to their own loss. It had to be taken seriously. This was what the owner of this cursed house wished for them and for us to understand ! In a fit of panic my husband grabbed my hand to force me out of this curshed house. I felt guilty and still feel guilty about abandoning them that way... » The end of the story seems incredible to us, hardly understandable... Unfortunately, Mary only explained to us that she didn't know how the X family managed to escape. Neither the parents nor their children wanted to explain to us what really happened and how they succeeded in fleeing safely... However, we do know that they have moved to another borough away from there and are still in contact with the retired couple who lives in an old people's home. Noone has moved into the house ever since and the borough has become a ghost borough ! The mystery will remain...

Have you ever heard about Little Paradise ? If the answer is positive, I hope you’re not dead. You might think that I’m crazy but I’m not. The story that I am going to tell you is more than crazy. Five years ago, my best friends and I stayed in a guest house in the north of England just below Sunderland. We had decided to spend two days there. But we didn’t expect what would happen. We left on a Friday evening. Before we arrived, we drove near a cemetery, the atmosphere was bleak, ravens were flying all over the car. After the cemetery, we arrived at the house. The house was huge, like a tiny castle. We were pretty scared but we decided to stay. The host was a young woman called Megan, her attitude was quite old-fashioned. She spoke like an old woman and she was dressed as a person who lived in the 19th century.When we first met her, she had a big smile on her face and was excited to meet us. We weren’t suspicious at all because she was nice to us. Some strange things happened on the first night. We were all going to sleep when we heard the host talking to herself. We first thought that it wasn’t that strange but now we have changed our mind. When midnight came we heard a loud noise coming from the first floor. So, with Mark, one of my best friends, we decided to see what was happening. Our blood ran cold when we saw Megan slamming the door many times and laughing. I told Mark that the next day we had to get out of there. After witnessing that event we tried to sleep. Mark succeeded but I didn’t, I was too scared. We waited until morning to tell everybody about what had happened during the night. When we told them about it, they started to laugh at us as if it was normal to them to hear a door being slammed in the middle of the night. We started arguing because Mark and I wanted to leave but the others didn’t believe our story and wanted to stay longer. Finally, we decided to stay there just one more night because we had already paid for it. This was the first major stupid choice that I ever made in my entire life. When night came, Mark said to me that he wanted to leave. I tried with all my might to stop him but he didn’t want to stay in the house one more night. So, I let him go and it was the second major stupid choice that I made in my entire life. When we woke up we tried to reach Mark on the phone but he never answered. We all started to stress out. So, we finally decided to drive back home. We were packing when we heard a strange noise upstairs. Megan said to us that the third floor was forbidden but we decided to go anyway. Another stupid choice of mine ! When we arrived upstairs we saw an opened door. We went closer to this door as slowly as we could because we didn’t want to make a single noise. As we took a look in the room what we saw was absolute abomination. Megan was holding Mark’s bleeding head hanging from a big rusty hook. She started to laugh and to dance like a witch. We were all shocked. My best friend Mary started to cry, Lola threw up, we all blemished. I made a tiny scream and Megan just looked at us and smiled in the scariest way. She laughed louder and louder and started to chase us. We ran to the stairs and tried to open the door, it was locked !! The creepy host couldn’t stop laughing. I started to cry. Suddenly the phone rang. Megan moved slowly to the phone. She picked it up and gently said: “Little Paradise, can I help you?”. That was our chance. I gave a big kick on the door, and the door opened. It was really dark outside, the pale moon was the only source of light. We ran as fast as we could through the woods. In the cemetery, we tried to hide beneath the graves. Mary called the cops to tell them what had happened in this cursed house. The cops started laughing and said that the house had been empty for years and that no one lived there. Still shocked but feeling safe, I tried to catch my breath. I sat on a cold grave. Just in front of me, a tombstone caught my eye. It read : “MEGAN & MARK TOGETHER BEYOND DEATH”

The Sun had been shining all day, it was great. I stayed a bit longer at work. Night had fallen on London when I started to walk back home. It was not that late, by 7pm I was on my way on the same streets as usual, it’s just that it was cold and dark, since it was winter. Anyway, I was going back home as everyday, but that night I felt that I was followed. I turned back each time I heard something, but I never saw anything. I would turn around again and again until the specific moment when I felt its presence, right in front of me. When I faced it, I was paralysed, looking at his bloody red eyes. I thought this thing would kill me, but in fact it was very friendly. It didn’t have the usual appearance. It was just a floating head. There were no features because it didn’t have any face. There were just red eyes on some form that was not a real face. It didn’t have any skin either, it was like some dark smoke, floating in the air. I spoke with it for 20 minutes, it became my best friend. People passing by looked at me as if I was an animal, but I was just speaking to the thing. It told me that I had a knife in my pocket, that was so funny because I didn’t remember taking it. It told me to kill the man who was passing by with my knife, which I did ! What a funny game ! And all the people around screamed as if they had witnessed a murder, but it was just a game ! I did everything it told me to do, it was a very fun time. It was so much fun that I don't remember anything, but I remember when it was not fun anymore. When these weird humans started following me, screaming “Stop or I shoot” or “You are under arrest”. I ran away from them, playing hide and seek in London. My friend did the same thing, but it didn’t even have to hide, the weird humans didn't see him. Anyway, while I was running away because they had found me, I heard this very loud sound. I fell asleep ! I woke up in this cool white room, where some humans give me some food from time to time. The food is really delicious, these white or blue and red things make me feel good but I’m getting bored here, especially since my friend isn’t with me anymore ...

The Violinist This story happened during the Autumn of 1824. Twenty years later I'm still frightened when I tell it. I was young, it traumatized me so open your eyes wide if you want to have goose bumps !! It took place in Auvergne, the creepiest region in France ; A lot of murders have been committed in the mountains and elderly people tell stories involving torture in castles to scare children. For 8 years I didn't return to Auvergne, 8 years without seeing my parents. When I arrived in Murol, the town where I grew up, I was full of nostalgia. The good old time with my friends, the long walks we used to take with my family were so distant in my memory that I vaguely remembered them. After settling down in my old room, I decided to go for a walk to have some exercise. « I'm going for a walk, see you later ! » « See you » my father replied cheerfully. I wore a raincoat and some boots, you never know with the weather. My parents' mansion was located in the outskirt of a huge forest, with nothing around. « Ignorance is bliss » people used to say when refering to the property. The owner of the mansion passed away after a long illness but rumors spread that he was assassinated by a villager of Murol, a music teacher, because his wife cheated on him with this man... The murderer vanished like smoke and we didn't hear of him anymore. When I was little, we often walked in the forest with my parents. I remembered a walk on a winding path we used to take and I would always run with our dog. So I followed this path, excited to discover my « childhood's garden » again. After walking for an hour, I decided to take a break and sat on a rock to eat some cookies. The sun was slowly starting to go down. While enjoying my snack, I had the impression of hearing a violin, a soft melody was ticking in my ear. « Is someone playing or am I crazy ? » I thought. To get sure, I decided to get closer to the sound, I was curious and intrigued at the same time. Who could be playing the violin in the middle of a forest ? I mustered all my courage and decided to go closer. I ran through the forest for almost 20 minutes and when I finally thought I was close enough, I looked at the horizon and suddenly saw a silhouette with a violin, at the top of a giant rock. The silhouette seemed to dance, a sort of waltz, while playing the melody I had heard before. So I decided to take out my binoculars to see the violin player better, but, as I took my eyes off the person, the violin stopped. I lifted my head up to watch the silhouette I caught sight of it on this rock and indeed the silhouette wasn't playing anymore, not dancing anymore, totally motionless while looking my way. We spent 10 seconds looking at each other when I suddenly decided to stop because it was getting really weird...This strange situation still gives me the goosebumps. I took my bundle and began to walk back home. I was frightened by what I had just seen. After walking fast for 30 minutes, I was breathless when I reached home. Days went by as I investigated the mysterious violin player but nothing, no music school, nothing that could lead to what I saw on the day I arrived. I just heard about a strange murder that had happened in Murol twenty years before. A crime story that was never solved and forgotten by the residents of the village. On the fourth night, as I was having a nightmare, I woke up and decided to go to the kitchen to drink some water to change my mind. While going back to my room, I saw two little lights by the window, like car lights. I didn't know what it was. I was afraid after such a nightmare but my curiosity told me to check, so I went closer. I almost put my nose against the window to stare at those two little lights without understanding what it was when I suddenly realized that those were not little lights but a pair of eyes, one meter away from me, watching me through the window. I was so scared that I was paralized with fear. While lying down on the floor, I heard someone playing the violin. I suddenly realized that it was the person I saw four days earlier in the forest, standing there, on the other side of the wall, in the dark, playing the same music I heard in the woods louder and faster. I was totally frightened. I started panicking, what did this person want ? Why was he there ? I tried to keep my self-control and ran away to my parents' bedroom but when I opened the door, there was no one… I was helpless, the crazy musician still playing outside, in front of the door. So I decided to hide in a wardrobe full of old wedding dresses that belonged to my whole family. There was plenty of dust, I couldn't breathe well. Few minutes later, the sound of music stopped. I wished the creepy musician had vanished as well. While I was just about to leave, I heard a door creaking. I almost had a heart attack ! I wondered who it was. I wished it was my parents but there was no sound, no voice to call me. I suddenly got into a fit of stress, my whole body was shivering, I was as hot as hell, I had the impression that the wardrobe was overturned… “He wakes up, look !“my dad said. When I opened my eyes, I saw my parents and two police officers, I was lying on my parents' bed. The sun was shining through the window. I was still shocked, I perfectly remembered what happened the night before... And now I realized that I fainted in the wardrobe, the rest of the night was a blank. «What happened then ? Where was the violinist ?» I asked my parents. « He left when your mother and I came back from church, we were so afraid when we saw him in front of the mansion's door that Mum insisted on informing the police for help. » he replied anxiously. «But who is this man ? I already saw him when I walked in the woods the other day, he was playing the violin, the same melody as yesterday. He was so strange » I enquired. Suddenly, one of the two police officers took part in the discussion and told us what he knew. « This man is a serial killer » he asserted boldly. There was a minute of silence in the room, as if we were at a funeral. My Mum had a lump in the throat, she couldn't say anything, her face was like a wet weekend. My father gave me a hug and began to cry. « Well...for almost 20 years the police has searched after him but he always escapes » the other officer told. « He always plays the violin before killing his victims, as simple as that». « Oh my goodness, but why does he murder people ?! If we had come back later from church, my daughter would be...dead » she said, bursting into tears again. « We know that a long time ago, he was deeply affected when his wife was unfaithful with him so we suppose that he killed the poor lover and then began to kill other people who sometimes had no link with him. » « Oh ! He probably killed the former owner of the mansion ! Mr. Laurent was killed like that... » I told suddenly. « Yes, probably. This man deserves the death penalty, but now he is as free as a bird so we have to carry on investigating to find him. » Up to this day, we know that he has killed 49 people, mostly teenagers. He is supposedly the most dangerous man in France. He was arrested in 1830. Six years ago, he was in front of my door, playing a waltz,with the intention of killing me in cold blood.

I grew up in Ohio in the 1970s. My childhood friend Joe and I were outside all the time. Joe lived on a farm that boarded a pretty big forest and my parents would drop me off on Saturday morning and we would stay in the woods all week-end, these woods must have loved us as their own shoots. Basically we would only come out for school, we loved pretending we were frontiersmen. We would build shelters, traps, practice making fire with sticks, not aware of how dangerous it was. When we reached high school we would play Stand by me by Ben E. King, which was part of the soundtrack of the movie it was named after. It had just come out and we loved it. The idea was to walk along the railroad tracks in the country but instead of looking for a dead body, we had planned to stop at cool bridges to fish from and camp around. Of course we knew this was dangerous and we were likely to be in trouble but we were kids, we had a lot of fun, we did find beautiful rivers, we discovered brigdes no one went to, we fished, we hid from trains at night, we camped in woods just near the tracks and made small hidden fires. Nothing bad ever happened, it was just perfect. It was so much fun that we did it many times and we never had a problem. After high school, Joe and I went separate ways, we both left home but we always kept in touch and tried to plan visits so that we would see each other occasionally. During the Summer 1995, we happened to be in town the same week. We would spend time with our families in the day ans hang out at night, have drinks at the bar or sit outside Joe’s house around the fire and talk about the good old days like two elderly people… One night, we took memory road and recalled our Stand by me trips, nostalgia and beer are a good mix and soon we decided to take a day out and walk along the tracks, sleep over and walk back home. The day came and we started out early in the morning. My wife dropped us in the old spot where we used to start, right outside of town. She thought this was absolutely crazy and warned us against going. When she pulled away, Joe suggested that instead of walking the usual route, we could take the opposite direction just to be adventurous. We knew the land well and we had a map so off we went. The day went well, it was fun and a little sad but in a positive way, we found a bridge, sat on the edge, smoke a cigarette and moved on. We had no fishing gear but we brought some canned food and other stuff. Before night started to set in, we picked a spot to camp. It was a thick forested area with trees on every side of the train tracks so it felt like being in a tunnel. We had brought small hammocks to sleep on but before we set them up, we decided to go scouting around. This is what we used to do in the old days too, we would walk the area around a bit just to make sure that nobody lived there and that we were not actually camping in their yard. We walked maybe a hundred feet into the woods and up a small hill. We figured that if we didn’t see anything from the top, we would be fine but when we reached the top, we saw an old building about a hundred yards down into the woods. It was barely visible. We meditated over what to do. We both assumed it was some old sugar shack or something like that because no real road led to it. From where we were, it semed to us that the place was deserted, all very quiet. No movement could be seen, no light. We decided to walk a little closer just to make sure. We walked down the hill very slowly and as we neared the building we saw it wasn’t a sugar shack at all. It was an old church, it seemed that it had been abandoned for years... It was the squat sagging building whose wooden planks were almost black from years of moss rot. A cross still stood on top of the place also weathered black, non of the windows had glass and there were no doors, just open doorways. We went close enough to see inside, there were rows of benches and a built up section for a preacher to stand. We didn’t go all the way in, I mean we didn’t want to. Beyond all that, there was no sign of anyone else, no footprints, no paths, no roads, it was an abandoned church. We left immediatley and went back up the hill to our spot, where we had decided to spend the night. Having a hill between us and the church made us feel better but we were still a little uneasy due to the natural creepiness that seeing a church in the middle of the woods caused. At this point, it was dusk and we decided to rig up our hammocks , go to sleep and move on early in the morning. Night set in and as we lay in our hammocks, we began to hear some noise coming from the church. We sat up... Our conversation about it went a little like this : « Did you hear that ? » I said. « What the hell is that ? It Sounds like people singing… » Joe replied. And it did sound just like singing. We both slid right out of our hammocks and hunkered down, straining to hear more. We listened for a minute or two but it wasn’t getting louder. Finally we decided to creep back up the hill and see if we could spy and hear where the sound was coming from. We could still move very quietly in the woods, as in the good old days, I mean it was second nature to us. The moon was barely out but it provided enough light so we wouldn’t walk right into a tree but it was near pitch black. We didn’t use flashlight as we crept slowly up the hill and we didn’t talk when we were at the top. We saw some light in the distance, it was coming from the church and singing was coming from inside. At that moment, Joe and I were very close to one another and a hushed conversation started, it boiled down to : « Can you believe this ? » The light looked like candle light from the way it flickered, and although we tried hard, we couldn’t make out what was being sung. It sounded like church music but in another language. We sat and watched for a while , trying to see who was in there but we only saw occasional shadows, we had no intention of getting closer either. We had about a football pitch length between us and we wanted to keep it that way. The singing continued for a bit, then it just stopped. After that, a very loud male voice began to chant. I was already frightened but this voice thoroughly scared the hell out of me, it sounded like some old testament preacher you see in movies but again it was as if he was speaking a different language because we couldn’t understand a single word. Eventually, the preacher shouted something and then a bunch of voices answered and it went on like that. It lasted for a while and then they all broke into this long sustained whale that just kept getting louder. It got so loud and so disturbing that I covered my ears then it stopped. At this point, Joe put a hand on my shoulder and hissed : « They are coming out !» We were too far to make them out really well but what we could see was a line of figures walking out the open doorway, all holding hands in a single line. We could see that some of them had flashlights, they began to sing again and the lights from the flashlights began to move towards us and the hill. We backed to our campsite, grabbed our things and ran to the tracks. Once there, we ran down the tracks toward we had started out. A little while later, we stopped and looked back, we saw some light coming down the hill, they were moving erratically as if whoever was holding them was shaking them. We continued to run as fast as we could and eventually stopped seeing the lights and reached a road. We knew that a small town was about 15 minutes away and we walked there until we reached a 24-hour gas station. We called my wife to come and fetch us. My wife and other friends heard loud voices in the background and thought there were some kids messing around but I heard those voices and they sure didn’t sound like kids to me… I’m not sure who those people were but it is definitely the creepiest thing that has ever happened to me out in the woods !

September 14th 1892 : A 45 year old watchmaker named Tom River opens his clockmaker's shop named About time like everyday. His workshop was on the ground floor of his apartment which was stuck between two other apartments in a small district of London. It was very untidy and there were lots of clocks on the walls. One day, A young woman called Milie Girman showed at his store. She wanted to fix her pocket watch, the hands were no longer rotating. She gave him three weeks to fix it, but in the afternoon the shopkeeper had already fixed it. The next day, when Tom took the pocket watch, the hands turned counter clockwise. Troughout the week, Mr River tried to fix it but every morning the clock’s hands turned counter clockwise. During the night he wasn’t able to sleep because of an oppressing sensation. Tom was shivering too but could not find why. Around midnight, he heard a very loud noise, like the sound of a church bell. It was a regular sound, like the ticking of a clock. The following week, the same phenomenon occured again and this time he walked downstairs to see what was going on in the workshop. There, Mr. River found a letter on the table. The paper looked old and it was closed with a blood red seal. On the envelope he could read ''you will not succeed '', the letter was signed “MG''. The next day, several clocks turned counter clockwise and through the week the phenomenon spread like a virus, every night more and more clocks were contaminated and like the small pocket watch, they could not be repaired … At the end of almost two weeks of useless manipulations and fixes, the watchmaker did not know what to do. Hopeless, he decided to ask an old friend, James McNick, for help. James was an antique dealer and he would know what to do. The shopkeeper knew that he could rely on James. When Tom paid a call on his friend, there was no one. The atmosphere was bleak,strange. Suddenly, he heard a big noise and saw James on the floor surrounded by books. He helped the antique dealer stand up and put the books away. “It has been a long time since we last met! How are you? Do you still work as a clockmaker ?” James said cheerfully. “I am fine and I am still busy repairing clocks ! What about you ? How is your business ?” Tom asked. “Absolutely fine ! I have been invited to a great auction ! Next week, I will be in Manchester!” James replied joyfully. “Fantastic ! I have an incredible story to tell you, would you like to listen to it ?”Tom questioned. “A new mystery for James McNick ! I am up to the Challenge !” His friend replied excitedly. A few minutes later, after the watchmaker showed the watch and told his friend the story , the antique dealer certified that the pocket watch dated back to the last century, and asked him if he could keep it for two days for studying it. Therefore, the shopkeeper's following days passed peacefuly without any strange event to be noticed. It seemed that the absence of the watch eased the other clocks. Two days later, Tom was back to his friend's shop. This time he saw the antique dealer instantly when he entered the shop. "Good morning James!” Tom cried out. “Good morning Tom! I have got some news about your weird watch ! But I have to pack my things because tomorrow I am leaving for Manchester! I hope it doesn’t bother you” Mr McNick said. “It’s all fine ! Tell me everything about that mysterious watch, please.” Mr River answered. While packing, James explained to Tom that the watch really belonged to the 18th century and asked him if he was really sure of the name "Milie Girman". The watchmaker confirmed. James revealed to his friend that Milie Girman died in 1754! They assumed that the person who gave it to him had a false identity. After this disturbing discussion, a customer arrived and Tom decided to walk home. He had the watch back and a mystery to solve. On his way home, the watchmaker’s attention was caught by a newspaper seller shouting : “Purchase the newspaper of the day! Some great news today! Big Ben is turning counter clockwise !” The most famous clock of the United Kingdom was turning counter clockwise! The shopkeeper could not believe it. He hastily bought a newspaper and after reading the headline decided to go home as fast as possible. When Tom arrived in his apartment, he realized that all the clocks turned counter clockwise. That could not be a coincidence... He had the strange feeling that a countdown had ended. A whif of panic gripped him and he stood still for a moment, observing the clocks before running away to his bedroom. Tom River did not get a wink of sleep that night. At 3pm, he heard the sound of bells. It was even more terrifying than the previous time, the sound was so terribly strong that he thought that his apartment would collapse. He ran to his workshop and heard some voices in the street. Tom was terrified and went outside to search for some help but when he opened his front door, he saw a crowd of strange people who looked transluscent. He knew that they were not alive. Suddenly all the "people" were surrounding him and the ghost of Milie Girman appeared and told him : "You are like all the others, you have not succeeded". The next morning the body of Tom River was discovered, lying on the pavement. He was holding his heart, stabbed by twelve clocks' hands, in his hands.

Have you ever had a traumatic event ? A day in your life that is carved in your memory forever ? Something that will haunt you every day and every night ? Well, the story I am about to tell you is this type of scary event. Are you ready ? I am pretty sure you are not… But… Let the story begin ! My name is Olivia. I am the kind of girl who can do everything for her friends. My two best friends, Laurel and James are really important and close to me. We have a common passion : basketball. We all play in the same team. So we need to keep fit and running is perfect for that. And why run alone, when you can do it with your friends ? That is why, every Sunday, we are used to running, just the three of us. We all live in the same tiny town, next to London. Our city is known for the huge forest that is located in the north. Only a little part of it is fitted for joggers and passers-by. Hardly anyone dares to tread really far away and get deep into the forest. Particularly since the day when a 7 year old girl disappeared while playing with her friends a bit too far among the trees 30 years ago. But we try not to talk about it : it is a tabooed topic because the reason of her disappearance is still unknown. Indeed, a police investigation was carried out but it was inconclusive : no body has ever been found after searching all over the forest and surroundings. And since that day, the legend goes that every girl who walks alone in this forest will be captured by a serial killer. But we all know that this rumor has been invented by our parents to prevent young people from walking alone at night in these woods. That Sunday I was on my way to meet James and Laurel at the edge of the forest. It is every Sunday the same. Same place, same time with the same friends. But while I was on my way to join them, James texted me that he was sick so he wouldn’t join us that day. Then, when I joined the meeting place, only Laurel was there, full of energy as usual and we started warming. The sun was setting. The weather was rather bad : I felt that the rain would come soon and the clouds barely let the remain sunlight through. I started to run and wander into the forest with my best friend. It feels good to run. It really frees my mind. Suddenly, Laurel screamed : « Olivia ! The lights ! » After 30 minutes, the few streetlights that gave light the forest started to turn off one by one. It had never happened before. We stopped running and looked everywhere around us. Nobody. Nobody was there. Usually, there are not many people in the forest when we jog but we meet some passers-by or other joggers from time to time. It was already dark so we took our phone-lights to light up the place. We were so scared and already quite deep into the forest. At first, we thought it was a failure so I caught Laurel’s hand and we started to walk to leave the forest in order not to fall because the light on our phones was quite low, so we couldn’t see well where we were walking. The wind was blowing so hard that it made the tree branches move around us. They looked like some huge people moving their arms. It was terrifying. A sudden crack of thunder broke the silence of the forest. The atmosphere was becoming increasingly strange and frightening. A few minutes later, we heard a strange sound behind us… The noise of a dry branch cracking and then, some whispers. It seemed like a child’s voice : “Get away from here!” We both turned around. We saw her. The girl. The little girl who disappeared 30 years ago in this forest. We recognized her because there is a memorial showing a picture of her at the edge of the woods. She still looked like a little girl. After 30 years. Wearing the same pink dress that she wore when she disappeared. And she was alive. At least we thought she was… And she was creepy : she was staring at us. Her eyes were wide-open, fairly large, dark, glassy and protruding. Laurel uttered a cry : « RUN ! » Without a second thought, Laurel and I started to run, as fast as we could. Without looking behind us. But, after a few meters, she appeared again. Right in front of us. We stopped running and stood still. Laurel was holding my hand tight. The girl was a dozen meters away from us and she started to cry. The tears were streaming down both of her cheeks. My entire body was shivering and a feeling of fear overwhelmed me. Suddenly, I felt my friend let go of my hand and, without saying anything, Laurel started moving toward the girl. I couldn’t follow her : it seemed like my legs were anchored to the ground. I said : “come back Laurel, she could be dangerous” but Laurel didn’t seem to hear me. She looked absorbed by the little girl. When she arrived next to her, she asked her why she was crying and, suddenly, the little girl stopped crying and started to laugh. It was a creepy laugh, which resonated throughout the forest. “RUN !” – I screamed – and this time, Laurel listened to me and we ran, as fast as we could, until we left the forest for good ! We decided to go home, in case the little girl would follow us and went to my place, which is close to the forest. Once we arrived at home, we burst into tears and told the terrifying story which had just happened to us to my parents. But of course, they didn’t believe a word and they tried to ease that fear, explaining to us that it was impossible, that what we just saw was not real… Now, the only thing I can tell you is that the story I have just told you is real, and that I have to live with the feeling of fear that overwhelmed me that day, every single day of my life…

Come on and take a seat, I’m not going to eat you, I will just tell you a story ! I think it was in December. I was walking in London streets, looking for a place where I could sleep, it was in the middle of the afternoon. After being rejected from a lot of hostels, a man in the street came to me and said : “Hello, I've heard your conversation with the hostels' owner and I heard you were looking for a room for tonight. I’m a butler for someone who lives in a big mansion and there are some spare rooms. So, if you want, Mr Willson and I will be happy to welcome you for this night and maybe the following nights”. “Really ? It would be really nice but I don’t think I can afford a night in a mansion”. “You don’t have to worry, money is not a problem for us” the butler said. Therefore, I decided to follow this man because I really needed a place to sleep. It took one hour for the car to reach the mansion. The butler came to open my door and then I saw the mansion... It was not just a mansion, it was as huge as a castle ! And when I came out of the car, I also saw why it took such a long time to come because it was a very remote place with no neighbours. The butler invited me to follow him and to enter this big mansion. “I’m going to show you your room, and the master of the house will introduce himself soon”. “Is there any other people ?” I asked. “No, you are the only one here, you should consider that as a privilege”! So, he showed me my room and I started to unpack my clothes and place them in the wardrobes. My room was also very big . I decided to read the book which was explaining all the rules of the mansion, I was a little bit intrigued because the text read: FOLLOW THE RULES AND YOU ARE GOING TO STAY SAFE Rule n°1 : Don’t go out of your room during the night, on any account Rule n°2 : If you hear strange noises don’t panic, the mansion is old and sometimes the walls make some sound Rule n°3 : Don’t go to the top floors if you want to stay alive Rule n°4 : The room is free and you can stay as long as you want Rule n°5 : Breakfast time starts at 7.00 a.m. It was a little bit strange but I thought that it was ok, every institution has their own rules and it would be easy to follow them. A few minutes after that, another butler came and said to me: “Mr Willson is here, he wants to know if you can meet him for a little talk with him” ? “Yes of course, It would be an honor to meet the owner of this big house”! “So, let me take you to the living-room”. We walked through a lot of corridors and finally arrived in the living room where the owner was already sitting. At first, I was surprised by the absence of lights in this room. Of course, there were chandeliers and lamps but all the curtains were closed. It seemed that I was the only one to be disturbed by these things so I didn’t say anything about it. I couldn’t see the owner of the castle because he didn’t face me. But then, he turned toward me and said: “Hello and welcome to my humble residence, I hope you will have a good stay!” But I didn’t answer. I was puzzled by the man’s look. I don’t even know if words can describe how he was. Firstly, he looked very young but in his eyes I think we could see the whole History of the Earth. His body corresponded to every standard of beauty and his face! HIS FACE! I’ve never seen such a beautiful face since that night. It was a white face ! I’ve never seen such an immaculate color like that. He was charismatic and had a beautiful but mysterious aura so that I think no one could disagree on anything he would say. But after five minutes of mental paralysis, I was able to talk again and I said : “Hello and thank you for taking care of me. I’m sorry but I had no place to stay and your butler suggested that I should sleep here”. “You are welcome, you don’t have to be sorry. I’m so happy to have someone else here, but I wonder, had you read the rules? “Of course, I answered, I promise I will follow them perfectly, you don’t have to worry”! “Thank you, you already know them but I have to say that the rules are to be strictly respected. If you don’t, you’re going to be in trouble”. “Yes sir”! And then we talked a lot about my life, what I worked as, where I was from… I must have forgotten a lot of things because I was so absorbed with the look of Warren, this is his name. And then, he told me to go to sleep because it would soon be night-time. So, I went to my room with peaceful mind and felt relaxed. At 3 a.m, I heard some noise which seemed very strange and sometimes scary. I thought I had heard someone cry and I thought I had to call someone but then I remembered about the rules and did nothing. At 8 in the morning, the butler came and woke me up for breakfast. He asked me to be ready in ten minutes to meet Mr Willson in the same living room as the day before. When I arrived, I said : “Thank you for hosting me but I heard some kind of cries last night, did you hear them too? “Yes, this is written in the rules, isn’t it”? “Yes of course, I was just wondering”. “Don’t worry about last night, this may happen again, don’t worry at all” he said. “But I am not staying tonight, I just stayed for one night”! “Oh, I am sad to hear that you are leaving so fast, can't you stay one more night?” What was I supposed to answer ? He was staring at me with such a beautiful look! I naturally accepted to stay one more night. But I heard the same cries again at 3 a.m. but I had a blind trust in the man so I didn’t move and just fell asleep. The next morning was like the previous one, I just talked with this incredible man and told him that this time I would really leave the mansion but he kept asking me : “Stay with us one more night please!” And I accepted the suggestion because as I told you a few minutes ago, when he looked at me in the eyes, I forgot everything about the world outside. I stayed for a month or two, but I didn’t realize it because this was so natural for me to eat with Warren, and then go to bed. I didn’t hear the strange sounds anymore... I was used to them. But one night, the sounds were louder than the other days. For the first time, I decided not to stick to to the rules because I considered myself as part of the mansion. So I assumed that I didn’t have to follow the rules as other guests had to, did I ? So, I walked up the stairs and heard the cries louder and louder. I decided to enter a room where the cries seemed to come from. When I opened the door, a strange scene was taking place… First, I didn’t understand what was happening at all, but when I looked at Warren, I understood everything. He was above a woman who was crying. And when he faced me, there was blood flowing from his mouth . He looked at me but he was not the same man … As before, with some kindness and benevolence. Now, he was someone else... Like a predator, with a very scary look. I started to understand what had occurred so far, why the curtains were always closed, why he had this immaculate white skin color… I UNDERSTOOD EVERYTHING! And after this revelation, I got panic striken . I wasn’t able to move, I wondered what would happen to me next. Mr.Willson was staring at me, there were the two of us , the woman seemed obviously dead. With blood on his clothes, he said to me : “You should never have seen that… Now it’s late. I have two choices, either you don’t resist and I kill you, or you resist and I kill you . But I’m sad about killing you, I used to like you so much... I am not going to kill you but share my punishment with you!!! He jumped on me and drunk my blood and made me drink his blood, the ritual was over and I became a vampire like him. I would stay in this mansion for the rest of my immortal life. So this is the end of my story. You may see some common points with today. And you’re right, because following your curiosity and standing there behind me was not a good idea, but I’m not going to let you safe as Warren did… I’M GONNA KILL YOU...