The Hanging Tree
CA, USA
November 2001
When my husband was a boy in the 1950's, his family lived in a campground for gypsies. At the end of the campground was a little travel trailer which housed a husband and wife. The wife was in her late 30's with the most beautiful red hair my husband had ever seen, her husband was considerably older.
The husband was very mean to her, abusing her with constant beatings. One day, the beautiful red head could take no more, she hung herself in the tree which stood in front of their trailer. Their neighbor screamed at the sight of the woman swinging on the end of a rope. My husband and his family ran in the direction of the screams. My husband said his heart sank when he saw this poor soul who had taken her life.
Not long after her burial, strange sightings of a red-haired woman walking through the camp started to circulate. My husband saw her numerous times. Sometimes she would be hanging in the tree, other times just walking about.
One night my husband awoke to find her standing over him. Her beautiful red hair shining in the moonlight. At first, he was afraid, then something like a calm settled over him. The red-haired woman smiled at him and thanked him for being so kind to her, then she vanished.
Not a real scary story, but maybe a testament that there is an afterlife.