STIRRING UP MY PARANOIA These individual accounts may not be of the scariest nature, but they certainly stirred up my paranoia. They all take places either months or years apart, in no particular order. I was spending the night with my best friends, Nicole and Lynn. We were in Nicole's room, on the second story of her home. The weather was very nice: balmy but cool, the transformation of spring into summer. Because of this, we would leave the window open and listen to the soothing sounds of the night. However, the tranquility of the moment was disrupted by a foul odor that wafted in the room from the side of Nicole's home. It smelt much like that of a heavily decayed body of an animal. At first, we figured that the wind must have carried it over from the woods that grow behind Nic's house; but as the smell grew stronger and more offensive, we decided to investigate. We went out, to the side of the house that Nicole's room is located on. The stench was heavy and seemed to be coming from some place nearby--but, as much as we searched, we could not find the source. The smell was only located directly beneath her window. It was very strange, because we could stand beneath the window and almost gag, but step a few feet away and not smell a thing. The next morning, the smell was gone. There were other experiences with Nicole's house--and it was, strangely enough, on 'her' side of the home that things occured. Knocking on her window (remember--her room was on the second story), strange noises coming from the side of the house, and on a few occasions, Nic, Lynn and I would see odd things out of the corner of our eyes. Another strange, unexplainable encounter took place at our friend Marie's house (we were very close friends, and spent all to most of our time together). She lived in a very "rich" part of town that was always a treat to visit, and staying in her home was a nice experience--visually, at least. Several times we would stay there, we could get mysterious cuts on our hands or feet--I received a light but bleeding wound on my hand, Lynn had the inside-side of her foot cut deeply, and Nic would get small scratches all over her arms. Marie never experienced anything--but all of these cuts would appear while we were fully awake, and without any knowledge of their appearance (they never hurt). Other times, I would feel what I think to be her deceased dog rubbing against my legs in her dining/living room area. Marie was very close to her dog, and he had passed away inside the home of old age. I sometimes see people out of the corner of my eyes--I can see them, but can't quite make them out clearly. This happened once at Nic's house. I looked out her window and believed to see a headless figure dressed in black walk mid- air from the limb of a tree to her neighbors' roof, and disappear. I also saw a man running through the backyard of my boyfriend's home. I'm not sure if I actually saw either of these; for one, I was the only witness to the headless man, and two, my boyfriend's dog was in the backyard at the time I saw the man, and would have barked and/or attacked this strange, running man. Submitted From: Willa, TX