© Michael L. Emery
2600 BC
Chisisi was a curious Egyptian boy.
Not only curious in his wonder about things but also in the sense that few people understood him.
His mother was the only person he would speak to without having to be spoken to first, and he greatly feared his abusive father, who called him names and never expressed an ounce of love toward Chisisi.
He rarely played with other children, preferring instead to have animals and insects as playmates.
Chisisi would sit for hours sometimes and simply watch with fascination at flies around a decaying animal, or watch lambs graizing, or observe the flight patterns of birds.
One day, while sitting on a rock and watching two scorpions fight, a dragonfly landed upon his shoulder. It caused him no fear at all...in fact, he reached up and held out his finger for the dragonfly to climb onto, so he could see it more clearly. He marveled at it's greenish-blue body, and how the wings looked like an infinity symbol. Chisisi had never seen a dragonfly this closely before, so his delight was beyond description. It stayed with him for several hours, until he had to go home.
That night, he dreampt about the dragonfly and going on greaty adventures together. It was the first time in as long as he could remember that he had such a nice dream.
That next morning he told his mother about the dream, and she told him how beautiful it sounded. His father however made fun of him, saying he was being a dumb little boy who should be doing things that would make him a man.
"Why do you hate what makes me happy, Father?" Chisisi asked.
His father replied with a slap across Chisisi's face and telling him to never disrespect him again.
Chisisi ran away, crying, and headed far away from home.
He stopped at a large rock and sat upon it, the tears not quite gone.
Suddenly, he felt something upon his knee. It was the dragonfly!
A feeling of calm came over Chisisi. It was as if all of his pain, all of his fear...simply vanished.
He talked to the dragonfly, explaining what his father had said and how mean his father is to him. The dragonfly of course was not able to speak, though it did seem to Chisisi that it understood him.
For the next few hours, he and the dragonfly sat upon that rock; Chisisi talking and the dragonfly listening.
Then, he heard his father's angry voice calling him. Panic filled Chisisi's body, surely he was in very big trouble. Though he did not want to, he climbed down from the rock and walked to where he heard his father's voice.
Chisisi's father told him to get home and that it was time to put an end to these daydreams and little child behaviors.
Chisisi did as he was told and walked back with his father. As they walked, he glanced back to look at the dragonfly...but it was gone. Chisisi felt completely alone and very scared.
When they returned home, his father grabbed his arm and pulled him to Chisisi's room.
Tears filled Chisisi's eyes; his father only came into his room when he was punishing him.
Cowering upon his bed, Chisisi saw over his father's shoulder, and there was the dragonfly, sitting at his window.
"Help me!" Chisisi said inside his mind, hoping the dragonfly could hear him.
Then his eyes widen in fear, as he saw his father raise his hand to strike.
However, his father just stood there, hand raised back, and looking over at Chisisi's shoulder with a mix of anger and confusion.
His father tried to speak...yet no words would come out. Then his father's hand came down.
Chisisi stared at his father, wondering what was happening. Then he stared at his shoulder, where his father had focused his attention, and saw the dragonfly sitting there.
Without another word, Chisisi's father turned away and left the room.
His father never again brought pain to Chisisi's life.
Depending on who you ask, the story of why the sight of the dragonfly made Chisisi's father behave as he did, varies from "it was a sign that the gods disapproved" to "the dragonfly had mystic properties, which caused Chisisi's father to feel the pain he was causing and he became 'transformed'" to "The dragonfly was death, and had gavin Chisisi's father a glimpse of his own demise inside of his mind."
Throughtout the many tellings of the story though, one thing has remained the same; a dragonfly upon the shoulder of a person in pain, is an omen of change.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
The Immortal Valentine
© Michael L. Emery
When Valentine's Day comes, people either look upon it with romantic thoughts, irritation, or depression.
On Friday, February 14th 1969, a woman named Janet Harrison experienced all of these.
It looked as though her boyfriend, Todd, would avoid being drafted into the war, and Janet had managed to get a nice job at a local department store. Life seemed to be going quite nicely for this perky 23 year old, so she expected this Valentine's Day to be no different.
Janet shared an apartment with her childhood friend, Gina, who was single. Gina had behaved like to the day did not bother her, but Janet still refrained from talking much about her and Todd's plans for that night.
As Janet left for work, she found a red envelope placed under the wiper of her 1963 Ford Fairlane. It was obviously a Valentine's Day card, and from Todd, she reasoned, so Janet's mind danced with many romantic images as she got into the car.
At first she just sat there and held the envelope in her hand, smiling wider than her mouth could probably sustain for very long. Should she open it now, or wait until she and Todd had dinner that night?
She started her car, and as it idled, she debated.
Finally, her curiosity and excitement got the better of her and she opened the envelope.
Inside was a folded piece of red stationary, very high quality by the feel of it. She unfolded the stationary and it had one simple sentance handwritten inside:
Always Yours, My Immortal Valentine.
Todd
Janet felt all warm and fuzzy inside, the statement was so powerful to her despite so few words.
When she got to work, Janet showed it to all of her co-workers. The women melted and many of the men just teased and made fun of it.
The hours seemed to drag along so slowly, as her mind never stopped thinking about seeing Todd that night.
She wanted to call him at work and thank him for the card, and just to hear hias voice. If she had the nerve, she would just leave work and go see Todd and show him her appreciation on top of one of the cars in the repair shop he worked at. She did neither, she just did her job and entertained thoughts of all the ways the night might go when she saw him.
Five O'Clock finally came, and Janet wasted no time going home and getting ready for dinner. Todd had promised to take her to that fancy Italian restaurant she had been dying to try. He had told her yesterday that he would be by to pick her up at 6 o'clock, so she kept one ear focused on hearing his car honking, as she did her make-up.
Six O'Clock...no Todd.
Janet waited another five minutes, then called his home. No answer. She figured he was probably just stuck in traffic or had run late at work, which had happened a couple of times.
Six-Thirty...still no Todd.
Janet was becoming irritated, though also quite worried. If he were just running late, surely he would have called to say so. Her mind filled with many uncomfortable thoughts...
Did he get into an accident?
Did the shop get robbed again and he was hurt?
Is he dead?
Janet grabbed her car keys and her purse.
She almost knocked Gina over, who was just coming in through the front door. Janet only offered a simple, "Sorry about that. I'm going to find Todd." as she went out the door and to her car.
As Janet headed out toward Todd's house, she frantically glanced around, looking for any possible sign of Todd's car. Soon her worry began to turn to irritation. If Todd was alright, why hadn't he called? If he was hurt, why hadn't anyone tried to reach her? Was he having second thoughts about the relationship and was avoiding her? Did he meet someone else and was too much of a coward to say so? Why did he write those beautiful words in the card if he didn't mean them?
Her face became wet with tears. She felt a wave of depression come over her, a feeling that her whole world was coming apart.
As she drove, she fumbled in her purse for something to wipe her eyes. Her focus was off the road for a moment, so she did not see the truck pulling out onto the road until it was too late.
She swerved her car to the right, trying to avoid the truck...unfortunately there was a bridge up ahead and she plummeted almost sixty feet down and into the water below.
Two months later her car was discovered. When they pulled her body from the vehicle, they found that she was clutching the card that Todd had left on her wiper.
Sadly, just minutes after Janet had raced out of her home that fateful night, Todd had called. When Gina answered, Todd had explained that he was calling from a pay phone at a gas station. His tire had gone flat and he had forgot to replace the spare, so it had taken him over an hour to call because he had been walking.
Distraught upon being told Janet's body was found, Todd got very drunk. He did not want to live without his beloved Janet...so he drove his car off of the same bridge where Janet had perished.
It is said that their spirits appear every Valentine's Day...and since their spirits are "lost" they show up in various parts of the country...searching for each other...unable to rest until they finally reunite.
When Valentine's Day comes, people either look upon it with romantic thoughts, irritation, or depression.
On Friday, February 14th 1969, a woman named Janet Harrison experienced all of these.
It looked as though her boyfriend, Todd, would avoid being drafted into the war, and Janet had managed to get a nice job at a local department store. Life seemed to be going quite nicely for this perky 23 year old, so she expected this Valentine's Day to be no different.
Janet shared an apartment with her childhood friend, Gina, who was single. Gina had behaved like to the day did not bother her, but Janet still refrained from talking much about her and Todd's plans for that night.
As Janet left for work, she found a red envelope placed under the wiper of her 1963 Ford Fairlane. It was obviously a Valentine's Day card, and from Todd, she reasoned, so Janet's mind danced with many romantic images as she got into the car.
At first she just sat there and held the envelope in her hand, smiling wider than her mouth could probably sustain for very long. Should she open it now, or wait until she and Todd had dinner that night?
She started her car, and as it idled, she debated.
Finally, her curiosity and excitement got the better of her and she opened the envelope.
Inside was a folded piece of red stationary, very high quality by the feel of it. She unfolded the stationary and it had one simple sentance handwritten inside:
Always Yours, My Immortal Valentine.
Todd
Janet felt all warm and fuzzy inside, the statement was so powerful to her despite so few words.
When she got to work, Janet showed it to all of her co-workers. The women melted and many of the men just teased and made fun of it.
The hours seemed to drag along so slowly, as her mind never stopped thinking about seeing Todd that night.
She wanted to call him at work and thank him for the card, and just to hear hias voice. If she had the nerve, she would just leave work and go see Todd and show him her appreciation on top of one of the cars in the repair shop he worked at. She did neither, she just did her job and entertained thoughts of all the ways the night might go when she saw him.
Five O'Clock finally came, and Janet wasted no time going home and getting ready for dinner. Todd had promised to take her to that fancy Italian restaurant she had been dying to try. He had told her yesterday that he would be by to pick her up at 6 o'clock, so she kept one ear focused on hearing his car honking, as she did her make-up.
Six O'Clock...no Todd.
Janet waited another five minutes, then called his home. No answer. She figured he was probably just stuck in traffic or had run late at work, which had happened a couple of times.
Six-Thirty...still no Todd.
Janet was becoming irritated, though also quite worried. If he were just running late, surely he would have called to say so. Her mind filled with many uncomfortable thoughts...
Did he get into an accident?
Did the shop get robbed again and he was hurt?
Is he dead?
Janet grabbed her car keys and her purse.
She almost knocked Gina over, who was just coming in through the front door. Janet only offered a simple, "Sorry about that. I'm going to find Todd." as she went out the door and to her car.
As Janet headed out toward Todd's house, she frantically glanced around, looking for any possible sign of Todd's car. Soon her worry began to turn to irritation. If Todd was alright, why hadn't he called? If he was hurt, why hadn't anyone tried to reach her? Was he having second thoughts about the relationship and was avoiding her? Did he meet someone else and was too much of a coward to say so? Why did he write those beautiful words in the card if he didn't mean them?
Her face became wet with tears. She felt a wave of depression come over her, a feeling that her whole world was coming apart.
As she drove, she fumbled in her purse for something to wipe her eyes. Her focus was off the road for a moment, so she did not see the truck pulling out onto the road until it was too late.
She swerved her car to the right, trying to avoid the truck...unfortunately there was a bridge up ahead and she plummeted almost sixty feet down and into the water below.
Two months later her car was discovered. When they pulled her body from the vehicle, they found that she was clutching the card that Todd had left on her wiper.
Sadly, just minutes after Janet had raced out of her home that fateful night, Todd had called. When Gina answered, Todd had explained that he was calling from a pay phone at a gas station. His tire had gone flat and he had forgot to replace the spare, so it had taken him over an hour to call because he had been walking.
Distraught upon being told Janet's body was found, Todd got very drunk. He did not want to live without his beloved Janet...so he drove his car off of the same bridge where Janet had perished.
It is said that their spirits appear every Valentine's Day...and since their spirits are "lost" they show up in various parts of the country...searching for each other...unable to rest until they finally reunite.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Friend Request
© Michael L. Emery
Have you ever logged onto your favorite online social network site, and recieved a friend request from someone you have never seen nor heard of in your life?
If you have, did you accept their request?
Be warned, there is a very dangerous spirit haunting the internet, looking for people to unknowingly let them into the mortal world.
It is uncertain if the spirit was a man in life, or a woman...you see, it likes to pretend to be either, and no one knows why it picks the gender that is does at different times.
The first report of this spirit dates back to the late 1990's, and at that time it used email to snare victims. A person would get an email with a subject heading that got them curious enough to open it. Once opened, this somehow allowed the spirit to have access to the computer...and then somehow enter into the person. Once inside the person, it began to cause all manner of chaos...making the person behave in ways that resulted in severed friendships, fistfights with strangers, and getting the person fired from their job....among other things.
As the years went on, people became wise to spam email and filters became more proficient at stopping unsolicited email, so the spirit was forced to find a new way to trap victims.
With the rise in popularity of social networking sites, the spirit quickly realized that sending a friend request seemed to be as effective as emails used to be. And with many people on these sites trying to establish status by having several hundred or even thousands of friends, the spirit was having great success once again.
In a possible related story, there seems to be a strange increase in recent months, in the number of suicides by people with a high number of friends on their social network page. This may be the result of this same spirit, or an as yet unknown other internet entity....or simply just a coincidence.
Little is known about the entity...or entities. In addition to the unknown gender, it is also unknown how it became trapped in the internet to begin with. Since not all of it's victims have perished, it's unknown how or why it seems forced back into the internet and requiring a new body to inhabit.
The next time you get a friend request from an unknown person...be cautious....very...very...cautious!
Have you ever logged onto your favorite online social network site, and recieved a friend request from someone you have never seen nor heard of in your life?
If you have, did you accept their request?
Be warned, there is a very dangerous spirit haunting the internet, looking for people to unknowingly let them into the mortal world.
It is uncertain if the spirit was a man in life, or a woman...you see, it likes to pretend to be either, and no one knows why it picks the gender that is does at different times.
The first report of this spirit dates back to the late 1990's, and at that time it used email to snare victims. A person would get an email with a subject heading that got them curious enough to open it. Once opened, this somehow allowed the spirit to have access to the computer...and then somehow enter into the person. Once inside the person, it began to cause all manner of chaos...making the person behave in ways that resulted in severed friendships, fistfights with strangers, and getting the person fired from their job....among other things.
As the years went on, people became wise to spam email and filters became more proficient at stopping unsolicited email, so the spirit was forced to find a new way to trap victims.
With the rise in popularity of social networking sites, the spirit quickly realized that sending a friend request seemed to be as effective as emails used to be. And with many people on these sites trying to establish status by having several hundred or even thousands of friends, the spirit was having great success once again.
In a possible related story, there seems to be a strange increase in recent months, in the number of suicides by people with a high number of friends on their social network page. This may be the result of this same spirit, or an as yet unknown other internet entity....or simply just a coincidence.
Little is known about the entity...or entities. In addition to the unknown gender, it is also unknown how it became trapped in the internet to begin with. Since not all of it's victims have perished, it's unknown how or why it seems forced back into the internet and requiring a new body to inhabit.
The next time you get a friend request from an unknown person...be cautious....very...very...cautious!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Roofie Ruthie
© Michael L. Emery
Ruth was a simple girl....a good girl.
She did her homework before watching television, made sure her chores were done every night, and never gave her parents any headaches.
During the summer after graduating High School, Ruth did her first "naughty" thing: She went to a party.
Not some "wild keger" or anything like that, it was rather tame by most people's opinion; about ten people, domestic beers, and listening to top 40 music as they played board games. Ruth had a sip of beer from one of her girlfriend's bottle and that was the extent of her crazy antics. Her parents however were very strict non-drinkers, so to Ruth that one little sip was being a bad girl...well, that and lying to her parents about alcohol being served. She was so worried that her parents would smell the micro-scent of alcohol that she went to the bathroom and gargled before leaving.
It wasn't until her second year in college before Ruth ever drank another drop of alcohol.
The party was being thrown by her sororiety, and though it took some peer pressure, Ruth finally broke down and had a beer. She hated the taste but didn't want to look like a baby in from of her "sisters." During the party she was given a colorful shot and told to try it. It had a pretty color, and after taking a very tiny sip she noticed it was a little sweet. Sweet was better to her than the "blech" taste of beer. After having two, she felt a nice warming feeling and was getting buzzed. She liked that feeling and wondered why her parents made drinking sound so evil. She didn't want to go too crazy though, so she figured one beer and two "whatever those were called" was enough. She was getting tired anyway, so she snuck away and went to bed.
The next morning she had a bad stomach cramp. Her girlfriend told her it was probably because she mixed beer with hard liquor. In that case, Ruth decided, no more mixing like that.
She did not want to become a party girl, so Ruth limited herself to one party a month...one party where she did any drinking, anyway. She found that she liked mixed drinks and flavored shots best, though she could only handle a few before she felt too buzzed and tired to party anymore.
And then came the month that she missed her period. She wasn't all that worried, since she was still a virgin. Though she had broken a few promises to her parents by this time, she honored her promise to not have sex until she was married.
Three days went by, no period...then five. Now a little concerned, she went to a doctor.
The result: She was pregnant.
How could this be possible? Was immaculate conception actually, truly, a real thing? She wondered if it was at all possible if she had been hand-picked by God to Mother the second coming of Christ. Until she could make sense of it, she was not going to tell her parents.
Ruth told no one, not even her bestest BFF, Katie.
Then one night, Ruth had a strange dream. It was a hazy dream, splinters of images and sounds. Some of the images seemed to be from that party she went to during her second semester of college. And then as if a curtain had been pulled back, she saw a flood of images...images of some strange guy having sex with her.
"My morning stomach cramp!" she said to herself, as she bolted awake. "I was raped!"
That memory seemed to have unlocked a sea of other memories...memories of every party she had consumed a drink...and in every single one, she recalls a different guy having sex with her.
In her head she tried to count how many parties that was, how many times she had obviously been raped.
She burst into tears...it had happened 11 times!
She quickly called her best friend, Katie, and told her all about it. Katie told her it sounded like she had consumed drinks with roofies in them. Ruth had never heard of those, so Katie explained what they were and what affect they had. Ruth felt so very stupid. She could not believe that this could happen to her, and happen so many times!
Distraught and confused, Ruth hung up and went for a walk to calm down.
She did not know how long she had been walking, she only knew that she had to end her pain.
So she returned to her dorm room...went to the bathroom and drew a bath....then took a bottle of her roomate's sleeping pills from the cabinet, and a razor blade. She then layed down in the bath...took the whole bottle of pills...then cut her wrists, and went to sleep.
Rumor has it that her spirit is so enraged and so filled with pain, that she haunts parties and nightclubs, seeking out people who try to drug unsuspecting women.
Apparently in Chicago, someone claims they saw a female spirit with bloodied wrists walk right through a wall, and later it turned out a guy in that room had died from blood loss after having his..."equipment"...cut off.
A similar story in Las Vegas claims that a few people saw the same kind of spirit moments before some guy jumped off the balcony of a club atop one of the casinos.
In the UK, someone claims to have seen a ghostly figure following behind a guy with a very intoxicated woman leaving a pub, and the guy ended up found in a ditch with his head turned backwards.
Then there's the story in Mosmon, Australia, where two people swear they saw a ghost, who had blood dripping from the wrists, at a party, which followed a guy into the bathroom, and the guy apparently slipped and cracked his skull wide open on the toilet.
Is Roofie Ruthie real?
If she is, it seems obvious why she's only killing males.
Ruth was a simple girl....a good girl.
She did her homework before watching television, made sure her chores were done every night, and never gave her parents any headaches.
During the summer after graduating High School, Ruth did her first "naughty" thing: She went to a party.
Not some "wild keger" or anything like that, it was rather tame by most people's opinion; about ten people, domestic beers, and listening to top 40 music as they played board games. Ruth had a sip of beer from one of her girlfriend's bottle and that was the extent of her crazy antics. Her parents however were very strict non-drinkers, so to Ruth that one little sip was being a bad girl...well, that and lying to her parents about alcohol being served. She was so worried that her parents would smell the micro-scent of alcohol that she went to the bathroom and gargled before leaving.
It wasn't until her second year in college before Ruth ever drank another drop of alcohol.
The party was being thrown by her sororiety, and though it took some peer pressure, Ruth finally broke down and had a beer. She hated the taste but didn't want to look like a baby in from of her "sisters." During the party she was given a colorful shot and told to try it. It had a pretty color, and after taking a very tiny sip she noticed it was a little sweet. Sweet was better to her than the "blech" taste of beer. After having two, she felt a nice warming feeling and was getting buzzed. She liked that feeling and wondered why her parents made drinking sound so evil. She didn't want to go too crazy though, so she figured one beer and two "whatever those were called" was enough. She was getting tired anyway, so she snuck away and went to bed.
The next morning she had a bad stomach cramp. Her girlfriend told her it was probably because she mixed beer with hard liquor. In that case, Ruth decided, no more mixing like that.
She did not want to become a party girl, so Ruth limited herself to one party a month...one party where she did any drinking, anyway. She found that she liked mixed drinks and flavored shots best, though she could only handle a few before she felt too buzzed and tired to party anymore.
And then came the month that she missed her period. She wasn't all that worried, since she was still a virgin. Though she had broken a few promises to her parents by this time, she honored her promise to not have sex until she was married.
Three days went by, no period...then five. Now a little concerned, she went to a doctor.
The result: She was pregnant.
How could this be possible? Was immaculate conception actually, truly, a real thing? She wondered if it was at all possible if she had been hand-picked by God to Mother the second coming of Christ. Until she could make sense of it, she was not going to tell her parents.
Ruth told no one, not even her bestest BFF, Katie.
Then one night, Ruth had a strange dream. It was a hazy dream, splinters of images and sounds. Some of the images seemed to be from that party she went to during her second semester of college. And then as if a curtain had been pulled back, she saw a flood of images...images of some strange guy having sex with her.
"My morning stomach cramp!" she said to herself, as she bolted awake. "I was raped!"
That memory seemed to have unlocked a sea of other memories...memories of every party she had consumed a drink...and in every single one, she recalls a different guy having sex with her.
In her head she tried to count how many parties that was, how many times she had obviously been raped.
She burst into tears...it had happened 11 times!
She quickly called her best friend, Katie, and told her all about it. Katie told her it sounded like she had consumed drinks with roofies in them. Ruth had never heard of those, so Katie explained what they were and what affect they had. Ruth felt so very stupid. She could not believe that this could happen to her, and happen so many times!
Distraught and confused, Ruth hung up and went for a walk to calm down.
She did not know how long she had been walking, she only knew that she had to end her pain.
So she returned to her dorm room...went to the bathroom and drew a bath....then took a bottle of her roomate's sleeping pills from the cabinet, and a razor blade. She then layed down in the bath...took the whole bottle of pills...then cut her wrists, and went to sleep.
Rumor has it that her spirit is so enraged and so filled with pain, that she haunts parties and nightclubs, seeking out people who try to drug unsuspecting women.
Apparently in Chicago, someone claims they saw a female spirit with bloodied wrists walk right through a wall, and later it turned out a guy in that room had died from blood loss after having his..."equipment"...cut off.
A similar story in Las Vegas claims that a few people saw the same kind of spirit moments before some guy jumped off the balcony of a club atop one of the casinos.
In the UK, someone claims to have seen a ghostly figure following behind a guy with a very intoxicated woman leaving a pub, and the guy ended up found in a ditch with his head turned backwards.
Then there's the story in Mosmon, Australia, where two people swear they saw a ghost, who had blood dripping from the wrists, at a party, which followed a guy into the bathroom, and the guy apparently slipped and cracked his skull wide open on the toilet.
Is Roofie Ruthie real?
If she is, it seems obvious why she's only killing males.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
The Phantom Knocker
© Michael L. Emery
In the town of Godfrey, Illinois, there was a man named Simon McDennis.
He was reportedly a very mean man. He hated kids for some reason...a lot! Never married and as far as anyone in town knew he had never been in a relationship. He kept no friends that anyone knew about, and no one could recall ever hearing him say much to anyone outside of a few unkind words now and again.
It was said that for fun he would shoot his .22 at dogs and cats just to watch them spasm in pain, and he would film them as they died so he could enjoy it again later.
When local women started to go missing every month or so for awhile, some folks thought Simon was to blame. They suspected he had kidnapped the women and kept them in his basement for his own sick pleasures and twisted tortures. Without any real evidence to support it though, the police were unable to get a warrent to search his property.
Once a month, Simon would be seen at the local market. He never talked to anyone, and as far as anyone could tell he never bought much more than canned goods and toilet paper. Locals claimed he had this look on his face that could drain the blood from your face, so folks just avoided making eye contact with him.
Then one night, a farmer named Walter Ross heard his chickens going crazy and assumed it must be a fox or some other scavanger. Grabbing his shotgun, Ross headed toward the coop. He saw a man running away, a chicken in each hand, and the farmer was certain that it looked like Simon McDennis.
Fearing the police would question his sight...he did wear some pretty thick glasses, after all...Walter Ross contacted a few neighbors and convinced them to form a posse and go after McDennis.
An hour later, the police got a report of gunfire out by Simon McDennis' place. When they arrived they found four men dead along the property and the Dennis house ablaze.
Despite a three day investigation at the residence, no trace of Simon or his body were found. They did eventually find close to a dozen shallow graves in the basement however, which most concluded held the bodies of the local women who had gone missing...and probably the bodies of hitchhikers or unreported missing women from other towns over the years. After identifying Walter Ross' body and speaking to his widow and learning about the chicken theft, police concluded that Ross and his posse likely tried to charge Simon McDennis' house and were killed in the obvious gunfight that followed. The fire, they assumed, was probably an attempt to flush McDennis out of his home.
For several weeks, there had been no reported sightings of Simon McDennis...it was as if he had just simply vanished. Rumors began to spread that McDennis had used Walter Ross' chickens for some kind of black magic ritual, and that the missing women were probably used for the same thing when he was done using them as sex slaves. Black magic, they said, was how McDennis got away that night Walter Ross and his friends tried to attack.
Then exactly three months, to the day, after the incident, an elderly woman called the local police and said an evil spirit was in her home and had killed her cats. She swore that she saw the evil spirit...and that it looked exactly like Simon McDennis!
The police were skeptical, especially since just one day earlier she had called police claiming some "undisaplined snot-nosed brats" had knocked on her door and then taken off before she answered. Still, an officer was dispatched. The elderly woman was dead when the officer arrived; it was ruled a heart attack.
The following night, Walter Ross' widow called a neighbor and told them someone had just knocked on her door and apparently took off, and wanted to know if it was their son playing a prank. The neighbor told the boy had been sitting with them for the last hour watching television. The following night, Mrs. Ross allegedly hung herself.
Within a month, there had been a number of reports that someone was knocking on doors but gone when the resident opened the door, followed by a sudden death or series of deaths in the house that same night or the next.
In one home, the owner's golden retriever was found dead, shot in the eye, and the two owners had apparently died as a result of a murder/suicide.
In another home, the owner apparently drown while taking a bath.
In still another home, the elderly woman was found dead with her parakeet lodged in her throat, and her Grandson had allegedly died as a result of slipping on some water in the kitchen and hitting his head on the edge of the stove.
The authorities felt that these deaths were the result of a serial killer. However, a rumor quickly circulated that this was the work of Simon McDennis. Soon people all over town were saying things like, "He hated animals, and look at how brutal the animals in them homes died!" and "That man hated everyone in this town, and his spirit is taking vengence!" and "I always knew he did black magic, this just proves it!"
The rumor got the attention of a television psychic, who visited the town to shoot a nighttime special. A medium was brought along, to speak to the spirit, to confirm if it was in fact Simon McDennis or some other spirit. Unfortunately, due to apparent equipment issues and the medium coming down with a rather severe bout of diarrhea, the special had to be postponed and was ultimately never rescheduled.
After that night, the strange deaths seemed to just stop.
Some people think the killings just started back up in a new town, like some spirit on a road trip adventure from Hell. Many sudden and strange deaths have certainly occured since then...though it's hard to know for sure if any of them were preceeded by a knock at the door by someone who isn't there.
Through the years, the rumor turned into a campfire story, and named "The Phantom Knocker."
The story goes that Simon McDennis was so deeply involved with the dark arts that his spirit is drawn to homes of negative or violent energy. Some claim his spirit can be drawn to something as "low negative energy" as a couple fighting, to being drawn toward homes where violence has occured.
One thing no one seems to be able to answer though is...what really happened to Simon McDennis the night Walter Ross and his posse paid him a visit? Did he die that night? Did he conjure a demon and make a deal for his spirit? And where is his body???
Speculate all you want, no one seems to know for sure.
So, if you get a knock at your door but are not expecting anyone...you my not want to answer it. After all, if you open the door and no one is there...you might have just let him in.
In the town of Godfrey, Illinois, there was a man named Simon McDennis.
He was reportedly a very mean man. He hated kids for some reason...a lot! Never married and as far as anyone in town knew he had never been in a relationship. He kept no friends that anyone knew about, and no one could recall ever hearing him say much to anyone outside of a few unkind words now and again.
It was said that for fun he would shoot his .22 at dogs and cats just to watch them spasm in pain, and he would film them as they died so he could enjoy it again later.
When local women started to go missing every month or so for awhile, some folks thought Simon was to blame. They suspected he had kidnapped the women and kept them in his basement for his own sick pleasures and twisted tortures. Without any real evidence to support it though, the police were unable to get a warrent to search his property.
Once a month, Simon would be seen at the local market. He never talked to anyone, and as far as anyone could tell he never bought much more than canned goods and toilet paper. Locals claimed he had this look on his face that could drain the blood from your face, so folks just avoided making eye contact with him.
Then one night, a farmer named Walter Ross heard his chickens going crazy and assumed it must be a fox or some other scavanger. Grabbing his shotgun, Ross headed toward the coop. He saw a man running away, a chicken in each hand, and the farmer was certain that it looked like Simon McDennis.
Fearing the police would question his sight...he did wear some pretty thick glasses, after all...Walter Ross contacted a few neighbors and convinced them to form a posse and go after McDennis.
An hour later, the police got a report of gunfire out by Simon McDennis' place. When they arrived they found four men dead along the property and the Dennis house ablaze.
Despite a three day investigation at the residence, no trace of Simon or his body were found. They did eventually find close to a dozen shallow graves in the basement however, which most concluded held the bodies of the local women who had gone missing...and probably the bodies of hitchhikers or unreported missing women from other towns over the years. After identifying Walter Ross' body and speaking to his widow and learning about the chicken theft, police concluded that Ross and his posse likely tried to charge Simon McDennis' house and were killed in the obvious gunfight that followed. The fire, they assumed, was probably an attempt to flush McDennis out of his home.
For several weeks, there had been no reported sightings of Simon McDennis...it was as if he had just simply vanished. Rumors began to spread that McDennis had used Walter Ross' chickens for some kind of black magic ritual, and that the missing women were probably used for the same thing when he was done using them as sex slaves. Black magic, they said, was how McDennis got away that night Walter Ross and his friends tried to attack.
Then exactly three months, to the day, after the incident, an elderly woman called the local police and said an evil spirit was in her home and had killed her cats. She swore that she saw the evil spirit...and that it looked exactly like Simon McDennis!
The police were skeptical, especially since just one day earlier she had called police claiming some "undisaplined snot-nosed brats" had knocked on her door and then taken off before she answered. Still, an officer was dispatched. The elderly woman was dead when the officer arrived; it was ruled a heart attack.
The following night, Walter Ross' widow called a neighbor and told them someone had just knocked on her door and apparently took off, and wanted to know if it was their son playing a prank. The neighbor told the boy had been sitting with them for the last hour watching television. The following night, Mrs. Ross allegedly hung herself.
Within a month, there had been a number of reports that someone was knocking on doors but gone when the resident opened the door, followed by a sudden death or series of deaths in the house that same night or the next.
In one home, the owner's golden retriever was found dead, shot in the eye, and the two owners had apparently died as a result of a murder/suicide.
In another home, the owner apparently drown while taking a bath.
In still another home, the elderly woman was found dead with her parakeet lodged in her throat, and her Grandson had allegedly died as a result of slipping on some water in the kitchen and hitting his head on the edge of the stove.
The authorities felt that these deaths were the result of a serial killer. However, a rumor quickly circulated that this was the work of Simon McDennis. Soon people all over town were saying things like, "He hated animals, and look at how brutal the animals in them homes died!" and "That man hated everyone in this town, and his spirit is taking vengence!" and "I always knew he did black magic, this just proves it!"
The rumor got the attention of a television psychic, who visited the town to shoot a nighttime special. A medium was brought along, to speak to the spirit, to confirm if it was in fact Simon McDennis or some other spirit. Unfortunately, due to apparent equipment issues and the medium coming down with a rather severe bout of diarrhea, the special had to be postponed and was ultimately never rescheduled.
After that night, the strange deaths seemed to just stop.
Some people think the killings just started back up in a new town, like some spirit on a road trip adventure from Hell. Many sudden and strange deaths have certainly occured since then...though it's hard to know for sure if any of them were preceeded by a knock at the door by someone who isn't there.
Through the years, the rumor turned into a campfire story, and named "The Phantom Knocker."
The story goes that Simon McDennis was so deeply involved with the dark arts that his spirit is drawn to homes of negative or violent energy. Some claim his spirit can be drawn to something as "low negative energy" as a couple fighting, to being drawn toward homes where violence has occured.
One thing no one seems to be able to answer though is...what really happened to Simon McDennis the night Walter Ross and his posse paid him a visit? Did he die that night? Did he conjure a demon and make a deal for his spirit? And where is his body???
Speculate all you want, no one seems to know for sure.
So, if you get a knock at your door but are not expecting anyone...you my not want to answer it. After all, if you open the door and no one is there...you might have just let him in.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
The Widowed Bride
© Michael L. Emery
A woman named Lisa had accepted a marriage proposal, even though she was not sure she really loved the guy enough to be his wife.
She did it because she thought if she declined, she would never find someone else who would want to marry her. It wasn't that she thought she was ugly, she was actually very pretty; she was just insecure.
The night before the wedding, Lisa paced in her room. Part of her felt it was wrong to enter into marriage with someone she was not fully in love with, and part of her felt desperate to cling to the security of being someone'e wife. She worried that God would punish her for tainting the purity of matrimony, yet worried that being alone would be far more painful.
Despite being very unsure if she were doing the right thing, Lisa decided to go ahead with the wedding.
The next day, though Lisa was still visibly worried about what she was about to do, everyone just assumed it was nervous jitters and the ceremony took place without a problem. The reception went fine, and with each passing moment Lisa accepted that she had to honor having gone through with the wedding.
The time came for Lisa and her new Husband to leave for the airport to begin the Honeymoon. As she said her "thank you's" to everyone and headed toward the car, she approached one of her Bridesmaids and said in an ominous voice, "I have accepted what must be done." And then left, before the Bridesmaid could respond.
About ten miles on route to the airport, a vehicle coming from the opposite direction blew a tire, swerved into oncoming traffic, and it hit Lisa's and her Huband's car head-on. He died instantly. Lisa, in her wedding dress now covered in blood, lingered just long enough for Paramedics to arrive.
As they fought to stabalize her, Lisa uttered, "I have accepted what must be done" and then died.
Ever since then...in places all around the country...women have reported being visited by a spirit in a bloodied wedding dress.
Some have said they were trying on their wedding dress and saw the spirit in the mirror.
Some claim the spirit stood at the foot of their bed, waking them from sleep.
Some claim she appears in the shower, as they get ready for the ceremony.
And some have sworn they saw the spirit in her bloddied wedding dress standing in the back, behind all the guests during the ceremony. Strangely, this one has always been followed by a far more graphic death than the other alleged sightings.
Sadly, the reports have come from Bridesmaids of the women...you see, the women themselves have all died...in various ways...just hours after getting married. First the Husband perishes, then the woman not long after. And according to the Bridemaids, the spirit in the bloodied wedding dress tells all the Brides the exact same thing:
"Accept what I must do."
All of the Brides that have seen her have been of various nationalities, various ages, and various religions. The one thing they all seem to share in common is, they all went through with a wedding to a man they were not fully in love with.
Makes you wonder...who will she visit next?
A woman named Lisa had accepted a marriage proposal, even though she was not sure she really loved the guy enough to be his wife.
She did it because she thought if she declined, she would never find someone else who would want to marry her. It wasn't that she thought she was ugly, she was actually very pretty; she was just insecure.
The night before the wedding, Lisa paced in her room. Part of her felt it was wrong to enter into marriage with someone she was not fully in love with, and part of her felt desperate to cling to the security of being someone'e wife. She worried that God would punish her for tainting the purity of matrimony, yet worried that being alone would be far more painful.
Despite being very unsure if she were doing the right thing, Lisa decided to go ahead with the wedding.
The next day, though Lisa was still visibly worried about what she was about to do, everyone just assumed it was nervous jitters and the ceremony took place without a problem. The reception went fine, and with each passing moment Lisa accepted that she had to honor having gone through with the wedding.
The time came for Lisa and her new Husband to leave for the airport to begin the Honeymoon. As she said her "thank you's" to everyone and headed toward the car, she approached one of her Bridesmaids and said in an ominous voice, "I have accepted what must be done." And then left, before the Bridesmaid could respond.
About ten miles on route to the airport, a vehicle coming from the opposite direction blew a tire, swerved into oncoming traffic, and it hit Lisa's and her Huband's car head-on. He died instantly. Lisa, in her wedding dress now covered in blood, lingered just long enough for Paramedics to arrive.
As they fought to stabalize her, Lisa uttered, "I have accepted what must be done" and then died.
Ever since then...in places all around the country...women have reported being visited by a spirit in a bloodied wedding dress.
Some have said they were trying on their wedding dress and saw the spirit in the mirror.
Some claim the spirit stood at the foot of their bed, waking them from sleep.
Some claim she appears in the shower, as they get ready for the ceremony.
And some have sworn they saw the spirit in her bloddied wedding dress standing in the back, behind all the guests during the ceremony. Strangely, this one has always been followed by a far more graphic death than the other alleged sightings.
Sadly, the reports have come from Bridesmaids of the women...you see, the women themselves have all died...in various ways...just hours after getting married. First the Husband perishes, then the woman not long after. And according to the Bridemaids, the spirit in the bloodied wedding dress tells all the Brides the exact same thing:
"Accept what I must do."
All of the Brides that have seen her have been of various nationalities, various ages, and various religions. The one thing they all seem to share in common is, they all went through with a wedding to a man they were not fully in love with.
Makes you wonder...who will she visit next?
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