By Day, by Night

From: Rifen Dash (American32891@hotmail.com)
Story type: Ghost
Location: Various places in NJ
Source: Form Submission

I never was a real firm believer in ghosts. That is until I actually encountered a few of my own. At first, I hardly believed it, but there were just too many coincidences. And, after experiencing these things first hand, I have no doubt in my mind that ghosts exist.

It all started near Halloween. Me and two of my friends were going to Flemington to meet a girl there. It didn't particularly bother me that I was the only boy. I was used to it and kind of liked it. Anyway, we met the girl in the daytime and went to the farm to explore the corn maze and haunted house. It was daytime and the attractions were inactive. After a while, we went back to the girl's house. It got dark and my two friends were scared because they believed in ghosts and I didn't. They wanted me to escort them everywhere through this huge house. I was a little scared too, but I didn't show it... yet. After escorting them to the bathroom (I didn't go in), we decided to do a seance. I did it for fun. All three of us crossed arms, linked hands and chanted. I forget the exact words, but it was something like: "If there's a ghost in this house, please give us a sign". We said it three times. Nothing happened. We walked around the house for a couple seconds. Nothing. Not one single- THUMP! It came from the room next to us. We screamed and nearly jumped out of our skins. After getting the girl who lived there, we went into the room. Nothing. Then one of my friends saw it. There was a gord in the middle of the room. We had bought the gourd earlier and my girlfriend put it in her jacket pocket. The jacket hadn't shifted a bit, but the gourd was in the middle of the floor. We found out that it would have had to been dropped from quite a height to have made that loud of a noise. All of us were scared. That night, we went to the hay ride. It was lots of fun.

* * * At school, there was a group called Project C.A.R.E. that raised money for the American Cancer Society. I joined. Again, I was the only boy. But that was a fluke. We decorated a hallway and called it Hallowed Halls for the Halloween dance. Me and my two friends that were in Flemington with me snuck away with a few other girls. We wanted to have a seance in the bathroom that was supposedly haunted. I wanted to use the boys bathroom, but the haunted bathroom was a girls' one. We chanted the same thing. Nothing. I was ready though. Last time nothing happened and- SLAM! We shouted in surprise. One of the stall doors had slammed shut! That had us freaked out. We decorated some more. When we tried to hang up the sign that read Hallowed Halls, it kept falling down. The director of the project told us to go to the artroom and get some duct tape. My friend and I did go. No one was in the art room and we were afraid the mean janitor would yell at us if we were caught inside. But the door was open and we went in. We couldn't find the tape.

Then, we heard footsteps coming down the hall. "Crud!" I whispered. We scrambled under the art teacher's desk and hoped he wouldn't come in, if it was the janitor. The footsteps passed, but we still huddled together. Suddenly, out of nowhere, BOOM, CRASH, BANG! It was right over our heads. It sounded like someone or something was drumming really loudly on the top of the desk. We ran out of there faster than a dragster on racing day! We got my girlfriend and another friend to come back with us. As we were walking towards it, I asked my girlfriend, "If it was a ghost, how was it attacking during the day?" "It doesn't matter." she said, "ghosts can do that by day, by night. It doesn't matter. We all vowed to stay inside the art room no matter what. And we did. Pencils, paint, paper, and pens flew off shelves and barely missed us! Chairs fell off tables, more paint spilled, cabinets opened.

It was the most terrifying thing I've ever witnessed. It died down after a bit. there was a hissing in the kiln room. We bravely walked over. Looked in... the kiln was on! It was open too! Odd. Suddenly, a man I had never seen before thrust himself on the glass! He was screaming, but we couldn't hear it. His hands were spread out wide. And his eyes flashed. He slid down the glass leaving the foggy trails of his hands behind. We ran back. They were crying, I was about to. No one would believe us. We went back with other people, but nothing happened. The Halls were very successful. But it has always stayed with me. We were going to start a club called the Ghost Hunters, but things happened. My girlfriend dumped me and they all started hating me. It didn't matter. I never believed in ghosts before, but things happen. This was a poem that one of the Ghost Hunters wrote. By Day, by Night By day they look you in the eyes With a look of being vexed By night they look upon you as if to say You're next!