Anonymous, NC, USA

I’ve only told this story a few times...never written it down. I wrote it as an email to the guy of the other Navy boot camp story because we had a similar experience. Since its written down I might as well submit it.

I joined the Navy after high school in 1994. I was originally scheduled to attend boot camp in Orlando, FL but it was in the process of being shut down so I was now headed to Great Lakes RTC near Chicago, IL.

We had a completely uneventful experience for the first 6 weeks in the division 6 bldg. We were one of the few bldgs with laundry facilities in our head so they gave us the boot to make room for the girls once they decided to completely shut down Orlando RTC. Our new home was the division 2 bldg.

Anyway. Boot camp was easy for me. I never had anything &rquo;ghostly&rquo;, spooky, or silly happen. I’d never experienced any supernatural shenanigans and was pretty naive to the whole idea of ghost.

So, new home in 2nd division bldg seemed like a smooth transition...the very first night we came back from galley duty week (remember how damn bad that sucked?), went to grab a shower and found myself the last one in there finishing up. I had a shower facet turn on next to me and then the air temp got COLD and a little foggy. No one really knew much about this stuff back in the 90&rquo;s. I felt uneasy and left in no big rush. I thought people were just playing a joke on me. I left the shower room (which was completely open showers back then) and headed into the long portion of the bathroom with rows of toilets and sinks. This room was also empty. Odd. I sat down to use the head and the toilets around me started flushing. Remember I’m the only one left in here.

Apparently my shipmates all felt uneasy and left all at once and forgot to mention something to me. This is not common place. It takes along time for 80 people to do their business.

So, I am aware now that something bizarre is happening.

After that night I laid low and tried to ignore everyone’s stories about stuff that happened to them. You now...ignorance is bliss right?

Wrong. Next night I had a 2 hour night watch. About 30 minutes into my watch I heard some commotion in the aft part of the berthing. I investigate...nothing. On my way back I hear what sounds like fingers or something scratching on the ceiling from where I originally heard them move to the front of the berthing and saw light from the bathroom door opening as the noise went into the bathroom. Guess who’s didn’t go in that bathroom? It was humid that night...windows along 2 walls were open. First thing I did next morning was check out the ceiling, this ceiling is 10-12 feet high and concrete. I noticed there were 4 fingers marks in the condensation that ran the length of the berthing. That was all the proof I needed.

My senses were definitely heightened after that.

I had a rev watch a couple days later. Went to the lounge for a roving tour and to shut some windows that were open over night. I left the door open, when I approached the door to leave it slammed in my face. Everyone was still asleep.

Now, only a couple days had past sense we moved berthings. It was like a switch flipped. Everyone’s personality had changed including mine. People were fidgety, short with one another. There was a noticeable change in the air. The rumor mill was going around too. Funny, in a typical environment people might not openly talk about this kind of stuff with people you barely know... That all changes when it affects a majority. There was talk of a single suicide, an accidental death, murder, and of a fire that killed a number of recruits. I also remember hearing someone mention demons and how the feed off an area with so much transient negative energy. That struck a chord with me. It seemed like the most likely given these buildings were constructed at the turn of the century on Indian lands...I mean look around; there’s Indian names everywhere up here.

Couple more days go by...had the day watch now. Easy enough,... or so i thought until I had someone &rquo;march in place&rquo; next to me. I could hear clothes rubbing together, boots hitting the floor. Nothing, absolutely nothing next to me. It continued, clear as day for a good 15 seconds. Shortly after I heard what seemed like an entire company walking up the stairs...which I thought was funny because everyone should’ve been in class. A scan of the stairway indicated no one was there and the noises stopped abruptly.

I never thought to call the OOD on any of this stuff. Sorry, but no way im bringing that kind of crazy attention to myself.

Now, all this stuff was alarming but it didn’t really bother me. I guess I was tolerant of ghost. What happened next crossed that my threshold of tolerance.

Something had woke me up early in the morning. Still dark, I looked around, nothing... also didn’t see the watch sentry so I assumed he had made some noise by walking into a different room. Laid back down...with covers drawn, over the head of course. hahaha and felt the weirdest feeling come over me. It was not a good feeling but like a heavy pressure like swimming in deep water. it seemed like it started around my lower legs...but i couldn’t move. I was paralyzed or incapacitated. Couldn’t open my eyes. I said the lords prayer and while it did stop moving closer it did not let up, It just came stronger and stronger, like waves. I literally said &rquo;oh the heck with it&rquo; in my head tired and wanting whatever was going to happen to just finish so I can get on with my life but also curious. I immediately felt the most evil, sorrowful feeling come over me. It surrounded me, it was in me and all around me. I don’t know how to explain it but it was a really bad feeling. Never felt anything like it since, don’t ever want to.

I kind of lost track of time after that...but I was still awake. When it finally dispersed I could open my eyes. I mustered the courage to pull the covers off and looked around. What I saw has haunted my memories to this day. I can’t talk about it without getting goose bumps or teary eyed. I looked and saw nothing. To my right was a shadow at the foot of another bunk. The way this shadow looked and moved. The closest thing I’ve seen on TV to what I saw would be the demon from the first Paranormal Activity...consequently that movie scared the mess out of me when I saw it. The size, depth, movements, and shadow translucence was all very similar. It was horrible. I called home and, being a good catholic, requested a rosary from home. At this point I just wanted it to stop. I wanted to be done with boot camp and leave this place. I wasn’t interested in it anymore. I don’t know why I thought a rosary would help but my faith is all I had. I some some other things happen after that. The guy in the bunk below me swears he was possessed. Other people had similar stories as well. The rosary couldn’t come soon enough. When it did everything stopped for me. Nothing, not one thing more. I’m not much of a religious person anymore, be that as it may...but I am intensely spiritual. I remember a couple guys got pushed to other companies because they just wanted out of the berthing so bad.

I’ve never written any of this down until now. Hope u enjoyed it.

Amaris, Westfield, MA, USA

It was just a normal night hanging out with my friend Austin. We always go ghost hunting and usually to the same places and cemetaries. What we didnt know was that this time, we would actually encounter the dead.

We went to Pine Hill Cemetary in Westfield, MA. It&rquo;s a very large cemetary. Probably the size of 2-3football fields. It was around midnight and the sky was unusually dark. It was also colder in the cemetary. We didnt pay any mind to that when we walked through a crack in the fencing and started in. At first, it was no big deal like always. But I heard something almost immediately to my right near a bunch of graves.

We still kept going and continuously kept hearing a crackling noise all around us. We knew, something was following us. I didnt really get scared until I heard the laughter. A dark sinister laugh. It sounded like it was coming from a man maybe 30 feet away. I shivered. Austin saw a shadow dart behind some graves. We began to get freaked out.

I&rquo;m a very logical person. I don&rquo;t believe in heaven, hell, or even a God. But what happened next will defy all my logic. Something picked up a rock and flung it at the grave stone to my right. It flew by itself. At that point I started crying. I couldnt believe what I just witnessed. It flew 5 feet by itself. Austin and I were completly alone. I saw the rock leave the ground and hit the grave. I&rquo;m shaking as I write this. At that point, we knew we had to get the hell out of there.

We started walking towards the crack in the fence where we came. Austin complained of a burn on his ankle. Earlier he mentioned that he heard a low snarl. The sound that a snake makes. I didnt hear it, but I believed him because I just saw a rock fly by itself. As were leaving, I walked ahead and I noticed Austin wasn&rquo;t beside me anymore. He was just standing staring behind us. I walked to him and asked him what he saw. I looked for myself and I saw it. The thing that had been making all those noises. It appeared to us. It was made up as a transparent gray, black, and white figure. It was coming for us. I know it sounds so exaggerated but it was ten feet away and it was coming in our direction. I started screaming at the top of my lungs. We ran out of there so fast. I&rquo;ve never been so scared in my entire life. We bolted to the car and drove away.

We stopped at a parking lot to discuss what we saw and austin lifted his ankle to show me what was bothering him. It was two puncture wounds similar to what a snake bite would look like. I started screaming. It was ironic because Austin said he heard a snarl like snake sound earlier while in the cemetary.

We went home and I dont know about him but I vow never to go back there again. What ever was there did not want us there. I have never been so scared in my entire life. No logic can define what I heard, saw, and felt. I&rquo;m not making this up. I&rquo;m a 20 year old college student. Don&rquo;t tell me that it wasnt real. Austin and I both saw something. Perhaps something sinister. Something insidious. I dont ever want to know. I recommend all ghost hunters to this cemetary if you want to experience the supernatural. But I warn you: you may know what your looking for, but you might not be prepared for what you might find. Thank you for reading the story.

Anonymous, Dublin, Ireland

When I was a little girl, about 9, my father used to frighten me by telling me stories about the Banshee. He had is own personal encounters which he was telling me about as well.

One fine night he went on to tell me more about the Banshee, and I thought that it was fake. I thought wrong. A few nights after those stories, I had forgotten everything and all was well. It was the middle of the night when I was fast asleep in bed when I was awoken to a piercing wail that was extremely loud and sorrowful. It was a cry that I had never ever heard before!

Being brave, I crept over to my window and peered through the curtains. An old woman with pure white hair down to her bottom was perched on the swing of our swing set in the back garden. She was running her fingers through her hair as she wailed. I froze in terror. I wanted to look away, yet I was to in awe to. I screamed for my mother and father in the room across the hall from me, but I kept my eyes glued to the woman sitting on my swing.

My father burst through the door and ran over to me asking why I was up out of bed and looking outside. He spun me around so I was making direct eye contact with him, and he took my hand and walked me to his room. As I walked with him, I looked back and the wailing stopped, and the woman grooming her long hair sitting on the swing had vanished. I started to cry harder due to the fact that I was even more freaked out. I crawled under the sheets of my parent&rquo;s bed, and my mother and father soothed me.

The next morning my father found out that our neighbor&rquo;s son passed away in their house that night. My mother and father heard it as well but didn&rquo;t want to tell me what I heard was actually the Banshee.