Ghostly Adventures - The Duck Man

When I was about 5 years old we lived for a short time in an old house in a small town. Strange things happened in this house to more than just myself. We blamed those strange things on the Duck Man.

No, he wasn't half-man, half-duck. He was a man who lived in the attic (unbeknownst to the adults in the household). I never saw him, but one of my young aunts claimed that he watched over the house and everything that "belonged to it". That included a black baby duck that my sister and I found wandering in the side yard one hot afternoon.

We were playing outside and saw this small black bird wandering in a sunny spot near the side of the house. It was small and cute and so of course we thought we should play with it. My aunt, just a few years older but much more in-the-know than the two of us came upon us before we could lay hands on the duck (as if we actually could have), and warned us to leave it alone. She said it belonged to the man who lived in the attic.

My sister and I looked up at the house and to this day I remember seeing the curtains over the attic window fall back into place, as if someone had been peering out at us.From that day on I could swear I heard footsteps in the attic of that old house although no one else would admit to hearing them. The baby duck, of course, vanished without a trace. So did other things now and then. For the rest of our time living there, we blamed the Duck Man for such disappearances

Ghostly Adventures - The Duck Man

When I was about 5 years old we lived for a short time in an old house in a small town. Strange things happened in this house to more than just myself. We blamed those strange things on the Duck Man.

No, he wasn't half-man, half-duck. He was a man who lived in the attic (unbeknownst to the adults in the household). I never saw him, but one of my young aunts claimed that he watched over the house and everything that "belonged to it". That included a black baby duck that my sister and I found wandering in the side yard one hot afternoon.

We were playing outside and saw this small black bird wandering in a sunny spot near the side of the house. It was small and cute and so of course we thought we should play with it. My aunt, just a few years older but much more in-the-know than the two of us came upon us before we could lay hands on the duck (as if we actually could have), and warned us to leave it alone. She said it belonged to the man who lived in the attic.

My sister and I looked up at the house and to this day I remember seeing the curtains over the attic window fall back into place, as if someone had been peering out at us.From that day on I could swear I heard footsteps in the attic of that old house although no one else would admit to hearing them. The baby duck, of course, vanished without a trace. So did other things now and then. For the rest of our time living there, we blamed the Duck Man for such disappearances

Ghostly Adventures - The Glaring Ghost

You know that sensation that occasionally occurs, convincing you that someone is watching you? You look over your shoulder but no one is there and a shiver tickles up your spine. Imagine waking in the middle of the night with that sensation. It happened to me at my sister’s house once.

I woke from where I’d gone to sleep on the couch but I didn’t open my eyes. I had the distinct feeling that someone was standing over me, glaring at me. I felt that it was a woman and I just knew that I’d see her if I opened my eyes. But I was terrified at the prospect and could not bring myself to open my eyes. I wanted to call out to my husband who slept nearby with the kids on a mattress on the floor. But my throat locked up as an unpleasant chill gripped me. Anger flowed from the unseen entity, frightening me more and more. Finally, I was able to shout out my husband’s name. Instantly, the sensation vanished. I opened my eyes and saw. . .no one. Believe me when I say that I had trouble sleeping for the rest of the night.

When I asked my sister the next morning if she’d ever experienced any supernatural events in her house, she looked at me with guilty surprise for a moment before admitting that the house was indeed haunted. The husband and wife who’d lived there most of their married life had both died in the house. My sister and her husband occasionally saw the spirits of both, leaning over their beds at night or passing across the far end of the hallway from one bedroom to another. She said that the woman especially seemed angry and would glare at my sister or her husband as if she didn’t want them in her house.

My sister did some research on the family that had lived in the house and discovered that the woman had hated cats. This explained why my sister’s cat lived in an almost constant state of skittishness, often leaping into the air and bolting from a room for no obvious reason. It was almost as if someone malicious had yanked on the poor pet’s tail or ear. The cat settled into a much calmer state after my sister’s family moved from that house and continues to be a calm pet today.

Have you ever had a similar experience? Feel free to share it here. And if you send me an email at t_thackston@yahoo.com that contains the name of any of the reviewers in the links below, I’ll enter your name into a drawing that I will hold July 5 for a $20 Barnes and Noble gift card. Review site links: http://www.theromancestudio.com/reviews/reviews/finalwordsthackston.htm “I was on the edge of my seat for much of the story…” http://www.paranormalromance.org/reviews/review.php?id=27963 “This is a great mystery with a spooky twist.”
http://www.theromancereadersconnection.com/reviews2/thackstonteri1508.html “The story is guaranteed to keep you engrossed from the very first page.” For a spooky, sensuous read, I hope you’ll check out FINAL WORDS at http://www.cerridwenpress.com/productpage.asp?ISBN=9781419915246

Cheers and shivers,
Teri
www.terithackston.com

Ghostly Adventures - Spirit Footsteps

I must have been twelve or thirteen years old when I heard the footsteps. Mom and Dad were in the front yard visiting with some neighbors one late afternoon while my sisters rode their bicycles up and down the sidewalk. I had gone inside to get a sweater which was, of all places, under my bed. I know that I was alone in the house.

On my knees on the far side of the bed from the bedroom door, I dug through toys and books and just plain old kid junk, looking for the sweater. But for the sounds I was making, the house was dead quiet.

Someone walked into the bedroom. You know that soft stealthy sound that occurs when someone walks across a low-pile carpet. It can’t be mistaken for anything else.

I rose on my knees to see who was coming into the room. There was no one. The steps continued slowly, rhythmically, moving down the far side of the bed.

Now this was a fairly new house. We were the first owners. It was late afternoon and sunlight was pouring through the window. There was no way I couldn’t have seen someone walking on the other side of the bed in my small room.

Cold gripped me but did it come from my own fear or from some external force? All I know now is that I was alone in my bedroom and yet I wasn’t. I sat back against the wall, drew up my knees and covered my face with my hands.

The footsteps moved around the bed and along the end. I remember focusing intently on the sound as whatever was in my room moved nearer. The cold intensified and I was unable to call out. The steps rounded the end of the bed and moved toward me.

Whatever had entered my bedroom stopped right in front of me. I pressed my fingers tight against my eyes, terrified. But I needed to see. I needed to know who—or what—stood before me.

I relaxed my fingers, parted them, peered through them. Nothing stood in front of me. The room felt expectantly silent. And then the cold lifted and I was alone. I never heard those footsteps again.

What do you think it was? Share your theories and stories.

And if you send me an email at t_thackston@yahoo.com that contains the name of any of the reviewers in the links below, I’ll enter your name into a drawing that I will hold July 5 for a $20 Barnes and Noble gift card. Review site links: http://www.theromancestudio.com/reviews/reviews/finalwordsthackston.htm “I was on the edge of my seat for much of the story…” http://www.paranormalromance.org/reviews/review.php?id=27963 “This is a great mystery with a spooky twist.” http://www.theromancereadersconnection.com/reviews2/thackstonteri1508.html “The story is guaranteed to keep you engrossed from the very first page.” For a spooky, sensuous read, I hope you’ll check out FINAL WORDS at http://www.cerridwenpress.com/productpage.asp?ISBN=9781419915246 Teri