I haven't posted in #bow for a while. When I saw the topic, I just had to share some of my spooky experiences that took place around and on Halloween eve.
I didn't discover Halloween until I was four. Up until then, I was living in Bangkok, where Halloween is not a thing. At least not at that time.
My Canadian father told me I was going to go door to door. People would give me treats. All I had to do was yell "trick or treat" and they would open the door. He also told me I had to wear a costume. I didn't have one this first year so he and my mother took lipstick and decorated my face. I remember not liking that at all. To this day I don't understand why someone wants to paint their face.
Coworker on Halloween eve at work
I temporarily got over the face painting when I noticed treats going into my bag. After the evening was over, my father who was becoming a health nut, told me I could keep two things and the rest would go to the children's hospital. That was a disappointment. Thinking about it now, I realize that sick kids shouldn't be eating candy.
My dislike for costumes and masks continued. Each year the kids at school would parade in their costumes. I was the only single one that did not participate. I thought it was stupid, though I did dress up in a cheap costume the nights I went for treats.
When I was around 6 or 7 years old, I found a way to outsmart my father. I took a good portion of the treats and climbed up the maple tree . There I tied my portion in an extra bag that I had taken along. I hid the candy in the tree. He never looked up there.
As an adult I gave out treats but eventually just left the house on those nights, so I didn't have to bother. I'm like a Halloween Grinch.
I took for granted that Halloween was associated with ghosts, ghouls, monsters, demons, and all things scary. I always thought it was just a fun thing for kids, that like that stuff.
There may be more to it then that.
When I lived with a former boyfriend, I had experienced a frightening and mysterious incident on Halloween eve 1999.
We had been watching a show on television about haunted houses. It was a fitting show for Halloween eve.
We went to bed and discussed it. His last words before we went to sleep were, "that's a pile of horse poop".
In the middle of that night, I was woken up to the sound of a loud crash. It sounded like glass breaking. It sounded like it was in the other room. We had a small apartment. I mean very small. I was terrified. I thought my boyfriend was going to get up and check but I noticed he slept through it. I couldn't believe that it was possible.
I wanted to believe it was outside. I just couldn't bear to leave the bed. After pulling the covers over my head I convinced myself it was nothing and went back to sleep.
In the morning I wanted to reassure myself that it was indeed nothing. I got up and went to the living room which was the same room as the kitchen. The only thing separating the two areas was an island table.
In the middle of the living room was something that I never had dreamt I would ever see.
It was a pile of broken dishes that were smashed in the very middle of the living room floor. We had always put our dishes in a rack on the kitchen counter. There was not a piece of dish in the kitchen area. It was as though someone had picked up every dish and threw them over the island table, and with great force smash them in the middle of the living room floor.
This building was not that old, but weird things happen there. When my father was dying in the hospital, I had water dripping on me from the ceiling. When I checked the ceiling it was dry. I also used his vacuum cleaner, shortly after he died. I had borrowed it and not returned it. I felt guilty. I thought about him at that moment, and it shut off. The button was in the off position.
One day my stove stopped working. The fuses were fine. Shortly after that, it started working again. We found out that during this time the man downstairs hung himself in the bathroom.
One day in the same building, a cat on the 8th floor fell off the balcony and died. This cat had a best friend cat on another floor. They would have play dates together. A couple of weeks after the first cat died, the cat's cat friend fell off the balcony and died.
The final incident in that building that I know of.
After I left my boyfriend, I heard a while later that the man that lived next door to us, had shot himself in the head. He was a very sweet old man. He was also the superintendent.
Although the broken dishes incident, was the only one that happened on Halloween eve, in that building, it would not be the only one in my life.
My current partner, of almost twenty years, and I, moved into a very tiny apartment in 2018. We were desperate to move out of his parents place where we had to go, after a failed attempt at running away to Mexico for good.
We took any apartment we could get. It was fine at first. The neighborhood was one that we had always dreamed of living in. The apartment itself was dingy and had only a bedroom and a kitchen. There was a bathroom but no other area. We didn't have furniture and never bought a bed. We slept on the floor on sleeping bags. It was rough for a few weeks then we got used to it.
The week approaching Halloween, we were off work together one night. At the end of that night we went to bed. I went first and Marc a few minutes later. It's routine to bring a glass of water and put it by the side. I always put it on Marc's side. When he came to bed he asked me if he should bring water but noticed that I had already done it. He saw it in the bedroom.
Shortly after we turned off the lights, he reached for the water. He couldn't find it in the dark. He asked me where it was. I told him it was beside him where I put it. He couldn't find it so he turned on the light and we noticed that there was not a glass of water in sight. We went to the kitchen and there was the glass on the counter. We had to believe that both of us imagined bringing water and seeing water in the bedroom.
A couple of nights later, I was woken up to the sound of the phone unlocking. It had to have the screen swiped to unlock it. It would light up when the button was pressed. It also made a ding sound when it was unlocked. I was convinced that Marc was doing something with it, but he was fast asleep. I checked it and was puzzled as to how it happened, then went back to sleep. It happened again. Now I didn't get it.
I checked it. No calls came in. It was quite alarming to be woken up by the ding sound and the lights. This happened several times until I turned the phone off. Marc said it must be a mal function. It never happened again and there was nothing wrong with the phone.
The next day, Marc left for work early. I worked evenings so I stayed in bed. I went back to sleep. I was woken up to the sound of footsteps coming toward me. Keep in mind we were sleeping on the floor. There were no apartments above and we were on the ground floor. I could feel the footsteps coming toward me. Stomp, stomp stomp. I thought Marc had returned for some reason. I called his name. He wasn't there. I was very frightened. I pulled the covers over my head and told myself I was dreaming.
The next morning after Marc left I went back to sleep. He always said goodbye. I was woken up to the sound of his voice saying "Carolyn". I thought he was back. I opened my eyes and it was dark like the middle of the night. He wasn't there. I closed my eyes and remembered that when he said goodbye it was daylight. I opened my eyes again and it was daylight. It had been a second. I was quite disturbed. I must have been dreaming but I felt awake.
Halloween eve came and we had gone to sleep. I was woken up in the middle of that night to the sound of the computer turning on. It was Marc's desktop. He religiously shut it down before bed. It made a whoosh sound and the lights on the tower flashed in the room. I got up and turned it off.
I went back to bed. It happened again. I knew it was off so it puzzled me. I turned it off again. I went back to bed. It happened again. I was annoyed. Why all of a sudden could I not shut this thing off?!
Marc woke up and asked me what I was doing. I told him the computer keeps turning on by itself. He told me he shut it off as usual so it shouldn't happen. He turned it off himself thinking I just didn't do it right. We went back to bed.
It happened again!
He was puzzled. He turned it off again.
It happened again!
Now he started getting freaked out. He finally cut off the power supply. It was over. After Halloween eve, it never happened again. There was nothing wrong with his computer.
Marc later ran into the crazy neighbor lady, which always kept him by talking and talking. Marc is quiet and doesn't talk much. He listens. When he was listening to her talking about boring nonsense, she happened to mention that she was a direct descendent of the Salem witches. He thought it was weird. He didn't pay much attention to what she said until one day she told him there were bodies buried underneath our property. She didn't explain how she knew and Marc just wanted to go inside to our apartment, so he didn't ask. When he told me what she said, it really creeped me out.
I know this is about Halloween but I must cap off this story with the final incident in this apartment. Nothing happened after Halloween. I thought we were free and clear.
Until.......
One day after Christmas, I was woken up in the middle of the night to the sound of a mechanical clicking. It was similar to a wind up toy made of metal. It was also like the sound of a car that doesn't start. It was as if I were next to a mechanical wind up gadget that was giant and right next to me. This was the most disturbing incident of all. I turned on the lights and could not find or explain what in the world could make this sound in our room.
Click click click click..click..click.......click.......click...............click................click......................................click.
We had no further activity and moved out. We actually moved two months before our lease was up but paid for both places for the last two months. We have since not had any such things happen and I really hope that I never ever have these things occur again.
Yesterday was Halloween eve 2021. Marc and I worked in the vegan restaurant that we have been at for a year and a half. It was a special themed event to celebrate Mexico's day of the dead in combination with Halloween. Day of the dead is a day when we are supposed to pay tribute to souls that have passed.
Our 72 year old helper was eager to have his face painted. He is a jolly man from Venezuela and a kid at heart.
Our youngest server worked that night but would be attending a party later. I hope she behaved.
Our chef from Mexico who created this event, was happy to have a successful weekend.
The chef and our helper danced for the folks at the end. I was happy they had a good time, but for me I am not a fan of Halloween.
I no longer eat candy so what good is it!
Thanks for stopping by, especially if you're still here after my long winded post.
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