A True Ghost Story for the Halloween Party...

Happy Halloween everyone.

Thank you for having me today. Do you know where that picture of me is taken? If you guessed French Quarter, your right.

Well, I’m super excited to share a spooky Halloween story with you if you dare to read.

I’m calling it the Shadow Man, because I’m not sure what else to call it. Now if you heard me tell this story once before, I’m sorry for telling it again, but it’s the freakest thing that ever happened to me. So, here we go...

I was lounging on the sofa with my husband, Danny, watching television one late evening. My daughters slept out that night, so it was just the two of us, and I was ready for bed.

I glanced at Danny and found him sound asleep. Shortly after, I must have followed him into dream-land. I’m not sure what woke me, but it felt as though someone was watching me. I glanced at my hubby again and he was out cold. I twisted around and stared out of our large glass wall (window) and noticed the shades were still opened. Anyone could be looking in the house, and I would never know. I closed them in a hurry, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched.

I noticed my retriever still asleep too. Darn dog would sleep through anything. I’m not sure why, but I turned to glance at the balcony. A dark shadowy figure stood peeking from around my daughter’s bedroom wall near the hall. The shadow stared at me. My heart slammed so hard it hurt. I tried to catch my racing breath, so I closed my eyes briefly, and prayed it was my imagination. Please be gone. I opened my eyes and the dark cloaked shadow was still there. I couldn’t make out a face, but I think the shadow was taunting me. My flesh tingled, and I knew whatever it was – it wasn’t good. I could sense evil.

I shook my husband. He didn’t wake up. I was so scared, but even more scared to glance back upstairs to see if it was still there. But I did – I couldn’t help it.

It was gone. I jumped off the sofa and stood in front of my husband, but I kept searching for the shadow.

It knew I had seen it, and yet it didn’t care. Why would it want me to see it? I don’t know.

I finally woke my husband, but I didn’t tell him. Its bad enough I wake him up during the night with strange nightmares. And I knew if we went upstairs he’d only tease me again. He tells me – either I need to stop reading horror books, stop watching scary movies, or stop writing paranormal books. I tell him I’ve had nightmares way before I did any of those things.

I go around the stairs and peek up, but I don’t see or hear anything. The dog doesn’t act funny – so I sort of felt safe enough to go to bed. I knew I saw something that wasn’t human, and thank God my bedroom is downstairs.

Anyway, it took a long time to fall asleep. I kept waking up through out the night. Every little noise I heard, I was up on my elbows trying to listen. I kept questioning myself. My mind went places I didn’t like. (I always do that to myself)

Finally, I fell asleep, but what felt like seconds later, my daughter called to me through our intercom system, which sat on the nightstand next to my husband,

“Mom. Mom.”

I vaguely heard her, half sleeping. My husband shook me. “Hey, Maggie’s calling you.”

I woke some, and Maggie calls again, “Mom, come upstairs. I need you.”
I sat up. The fog was clearing from my head, and then my husband nudges me, “Aren’t you going upstairs to check on her?” he asked.

“Mom, please.”

Something didn’t feel right. I froze. My entire body started trembling. I could feel my eyes getting wider, and my breathing stopped. I could hear my heart beating all the way in my ears. Thump. Thump. Thump.

I sucked in a deep breath. “No,” I whisper.

My husband pats my leg. “No, what?”

“That’s not Maggie.”

“Hmm.” He replies still half asleep.

“The girls aren’t here. They aren’t here!” I said.

Just then the voice coming from the intercom laughed eerily in the creepiest tone I’ve ever heard. It scratched like nails on a chalkboard beneath the surface of my skin. I jolted out the bed.

Was I dreaming? Had this really happened? I listened again, but I only heard my husband snoring. I quickly jumped back in the bed. I didn’t know what else to do. I was so shook up by this, and I wrapped my husband’s arm around me and snuggled against him.

A nagging feeling told me to glance at the intercom. I had to see if someone was still there. I raised my head and found the red light on. That meant Maggie’s talk button was pushed. Goose bumps spiked my entire body.

I screamed in my throat, and it hurt like hell. My husband sat up, scanning the room in a daze. I demanded that he go upstairs and check. He did, then later came back down with an annoyed look. He found nothing of course.

I haven’t seen the dark shadow since, but a few weeks ago I was sitting on the sofa again this time with the hubby and Maggie, and I glanced at her and she was staring up at the same corner where I had seen the shadow. I asked her what she was looking at and she told me she had the feeling that someone was watching us. I guess I’ll never know if I was dreaming or not, but all of the events felt real.

I hope everyone enjoyed my Shadow Man story. Have a safe and fun Halloween! Has anything this creepy happened to you? And do you believe in ghosts?

Comment for a chance to win, NOT AN ANGEL.

Dawn Chartier
NOT AN ANGEL, Out Now! Amazon Kindle
DIAMONDS, releasing Jan. 2012, Siren BookStrand

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