Halloween Night: A Date with the Dead

From: Raven (chica_latina57@hotmail.com)
Story type: Ghost
Location: Gatineau, Quebec
Source: Form Submission
Date submitted: Thu Dec 18 00:42:53 2008

Behind the commercialism and propaganda that capitalize on our deepest darkest fears, Halloween bears a sombre facade enshrouded in mystery and wrought with genuine preternatural occurrences that are nothing to be toyed with!

This is but one of the many.

Over the years I’ve gradually developed a strong fondness for Halloween. I can’t quite say that it scores anywhere near Christmas on the warm fuzzy scale. However, it awakens in me a curiosity insatiable, a thirst unquenchable, a treacherous and maddening allure that as of yet remains unrivaled.

Naturally, I wanted to do something grandiose and exhilarating. Surprisingly, my ideas weren’t inclined towards the supernatural. My friend and I scrounged around for news concerning the biggest and best Halloween events that the region had to offer. It was all to no avail due to being under such restrictions as public transportation, age, and cost. So my friend and I made our heavyhearted way back towards our homes, where I was struck with an idea much more befitting of both our personalities.

I thought it would be nice to pay a visit to a nearby cemetery and try to provoke an encounter with the eerily obscure and otherworldly. Let it be noted, this was a quaint little cemetery, which was far from being haunted. I had been there looking for a scare many times before.

So there we were, two hapless and desperate souls sitting in the middle of the cemetery on a cold Halloween night with Jesus spread out on the cross, sternly towering over us in typical ominous cemetery fashion. We had noticed that the air felt oddly dense upon entering the graveyard.

Nevertheless, we both felt relatively at ease. We sat there for a while, clearing our minds to try and focus. But I swear we didn’t summon a thing. We really didn’t have to. Suddenly, we heard the sound of dried leaves crunching beneath someone’s footsteps. The footsteps paced back and forth at approximately 3 feet in front and to the left of us, moving more and more towards being directly in front of us with each round. There were scarcely any leaves on the ground throughout the cemetery and there was nothing in sight! Also, it sounded distinctly like the sound of human pacing over a dry leaf laden ground.

Being very unsettled, especially considering the proximity, fight or flight kicked in and we took off in the blinking of an eye! We didn’t look back until we were almost out of the cemetery and we came to our senses. And by “our senses” I really do mean “our senses”. So we decided to go back for further investigation. I braced my self for an encounter with a macabre apparition. But it never came.

Instead, in fear I turned to face the other way and my friend beheld a small whitish blue sphere of light (apparently trailing light behind it) swiftly and skilfully weave through the tombstones while traversing the cemetery. Now, I trust my friend with all my heart and soul but for the sake of the credibility of this account I really wish I could have seen it.

One peculiar thing we both managed to note was an abrupt rise in air temperature beginning from one area within the outskirts of the graveyard, by which way we were making our exit, all the way to the end of the entire block!

Very much to a “skeptical” mind’s dismay, sometimes the only rational explanation is an “irrational” one. It’s best that we don’t forget our place and venture off too far beyond the boundaries of the ether on the day of the dead, lest we overstay our welcome! Though luckily, unlike many young thrill seeking enthusiasts we didn’t overstay our welcome. We were prudent guests and merely lingered on the doorstep. Nevertheless, I learned just how easy it is to underestimate the ether and all to whom it may pertain. I can now say that I uphold some reverence for Halloween, or as it is more appropriately named, Samhain.