Halloween Special Blog: Ghost Story from my Early Childhood · 2:48pm Oct 26th, 2020
Halloween isn't far off from now, so I figured I'd take this time to tell you a short ghost story. It's from a time long ago when we were living in our second house after some family issues put us in a position we couldn't stay there anymore. It wasn't a willing decision, and we would most certainly still be there to this day if things were different, but we had no choice.
If you're like me in your early childhood, you had issues sleeping. Insomnia, narcolepsy, fatigue, etc. You literally were a restless child. I spent most of my nights awake and chatting with my older brother on the bunk above me, or I'd frequently hide beneath the bed where my toys were stored. A lot of people don't know this, but I suffer with sleep paralysis. It's a terrifying existence, not knowing what'll happen when you're at your most vulnerable, somewhere between awake and asleep and whatever happens, you're powerless to stop it.
I always remembered this one nightmare I'd have frequently. I don't know if it has or had any meaning, but I've experienced it at least a handful of times. It's like flashbacks or visions playing through a zoetrope. All happening so fast and depicting of dark areas, like old-fashioned rooms full of dust and decay and shadows, then I distinctly recall this image of going near this cupboard door that was at the end of the bedroom, at the opposite end of the room from my bed. I'd go up to the keyhole and I'd put my eye next to it. I'd almost jump back in pure terror as I see a dead eye of a girl stare right back from the darkness inside at me, not moving.
They wouldn't move and they stood there. Their eye was wide, as if surprised to see me there and I remember very clearly the dead white skin, how lifeless her eye was. I knew this was a girl judging from the long black, greasy hair in front of her face. Think of the cover art on the DVD case for The Grudge. That type of scary. I don't think I had seen that film yet, either. I probably saw the film later on when I was in a different house, likely my auntie's with my cousins.
These nightmares kept occurring. Not the exact one, but similar. In my old house before this one, my first childhood home I entered as a baby, it's not only me who noticed anything strange about that. You hear about young children and animals being able to see and hear things certain other people can't, a phenomenon not yet fully explained. This comes in to a memory of mine where I was coming up the stairs towards my bedroom and the door to the shared bedroom I had with my brother was open.
The lights were flicking on and off. Flickers of bright yellow in a dark room, even though I'm sure the curtains were open and it was likely the afternoon, which makes this illogical. I can still hear the disembodied laughter while the lampshade swung and the room shook, along with all of our stuff. I don't know how to explain this event, or even if it was indeed real or a dream. In any case, I hope to god it was just a dream. If that was real...I don't want to know.
But that ties into the part on animals having the same amount of sensitivity and perception. My dad is a skeptic. He doesn't believe in the paranormal. But this strikes me as incredibly strange when he himself and my mother's sister told me that he was scared one night when he was home alone with our dog. He was hearing strange noises upstairs. Our dog's name was Barney. I loved that dog as a kid. My dad didn't know what to do or what to think, and my dog was 'petrified' according to my dad. Noises from upstairs, nobody but dad and the dog home, me and my brother staying probably with my auntie or grandma. How do you explain that? A skeptic was scared to go upstairs when he doesn't believe in ghosts and the dog wouldn't move. He'd whimper and scurry away. I have no memory of Barney being scared ever.
So, there you have it. I remember literally nothing much about either of these events in my life and I have even less of an explanation for how they could be possible. I mean, it was only us back then. I'm surprised I remember under half the events in my very early life considering how back-to-front and how hectic everything was due to personal issues with my family. There has to be an explanation somewhere, but I have none.
Given Halloween is closing in (and most likely going to be cancelled this year and possibly the following year), I figured I'd help keep the spirit alive by telling this story. It's never left my system, all that fear from back then. If anybody can offer an explanation, I'm eager to hear it. For now, all I have to say is Happy Halloween and don't feed the Yao Gui. That is all.
If you feed the Yao Gui, you’re likely to be the next snack.
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What's scarier: being chased by a Yao Gui or a Mirelurk? (Either get bitten hard or get pinched equally as hard.)
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Irl, they’d both be terrifying.
In the game, it’s the Yao Gui.