Kith & Kin

It was a dark and stormy night. Ding-dong! Cindy and I were immediately awake. I turned on the bedside lamp. “Was that the doorbell?” “Yes!” Cindy replied, her eyes wide open. “What time is it?” Cindy looked at her bedside clock. “Four o’clock!” “Four o’clock! Well, who—why. . . ? ” I got out of bed and stepped from the bedroom into the dark hallway. I looked through the nearly lightless living room toward the front door. Its window was small, probably ten inches by ten inches, a square resting on one corner. From my location in the hall, I could see that the front light was on. And I could see raindrops glinting as they passed through its glow. But I couldn’t see anyone on our front step. Tightening the muscles in my solar plexus, I crossed the living room to the door and looked directly out the window. No one. I cracked the door open, knowing that there was still at least a locked storm door between me and any boogerman. There was definitely no o...

Dear Readers, I will vouch for the fact that each of the stories below is true based on my personal knowledge of the character of each person relating the events. Unlike most “true stories” involving the supernatural, these don’t start off with, “This happened to a friend of mine,” or, “I knew a guy once who said this happened to his cousin.” These stories are told here as accurately as possible by those who experienced them. Each story is creepier than the one before it. You might find some of the events so disturbing that you won’t want to finish reading the post. That’s up to you. I promise you, though, that these events happened as they are related here. This is not a stunt or a hoax. My only regret is that none of them happened to me. Rats. Happy Halloween! Steve Sandi Duncan: “Bunny” NOTE FROM STEVE: Sandi is my first cousin on my dad’s side, daughter of his brother Leo. My mother’s name was Bonnie, and the grandchildren all called her “Mimi Bon.” But when great...

I mentioned in an earlier post that, starting in childhood and continuing even today, I love juxtaposing the feeling of fascination with the feeling of horror. (“It’s so scary but I can’t look away and I’m getting such a rush from this!”) That’s why I’m a sucker for YouTube videos from sites such as Mr. Ballen and The Why Files with headlines such as “Who Are the Dark Watchers?” and “Ghosts of Flight 401.” Most of the time I watch these out of curiosity with a large dose of skepticism mixed in, but even when I don’t believe the stories, I’m like, “Well, thanks, you did a good job of combining fascination with horror!” But in spite of my lifelong fascination with creepiness, I’ve never experienced any sort of paranormal event myself. I’ve never spotted a cryptid looking at me through the backyard fence. I never walked by an abandoned house and saw a shadowy figure watching me from an upstairs room. I never heard a voice speaking when there was no one present. Shoot, I was rai...