Stranger Paranormal by John Olsen (2022)

Stranger Paranormal by John Olsen (2022) is the sixth in his Stranger Bridgerland books series. Each volume contains stories based on first-hand interviews Olsen has conducted with experiencers themselves. I have read and reviewed the previous five books as they appeared, and I can say with confidence that Stranger Paranormal is the strongest collection yet.

My interest in this material is based on a life-long passion for strange fiction, particularly the stories of writers Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen. In Olsen's books, there is a similar frisson. Though Olsen is reporting real stories by everyday people who have crossed paths with the uncanny, there is a real congruence.

Stranger Paranormal leads off with "Doppelganger," by Kent. An engineer, Kent describes working late and alone at his plant. He hears an insistent voice from the office next door: "Kent…… Kent…… come help me, Kent."

In "The Belmore Ghost," contractor Jaxon has a late-night encounter on a lonely back road when he stays too late at a job site. Sadly for Jaxon, his encounter is with something not as pleasant as a vanishing hitchhiker. 

After these two stories where men are driven to extremes of terror, Anthony's experience as a part-time cemetary "Caretaker" is a well-judged change of pace by Olsen. Anthony says, "I've been working there for eight years now and love the work and the feeling of caretaking for the city's loved ones." The guy's dignity and probity shine through; his two spectral encounters are eloquently told.

Stranger Paranormal takes the reader through many western states, as well as Florida. A Montana ghost town shows a transplanted California teenager more than he bargained for. A father and son fishing in British Columbia realize they are being watched by a dog man. Four friends at a cabin in northern Minnesota surprise a sasquatch as it pays a midnight visit to their trash cans. Hikers exploring an abandoned mine near the Utah-Nevada border meet its non-human tennant. And "The White Stalker" features a titular figure that seems to be the subject of Jaroslav Panuška's 1901 painting "Death Looking into the Window of One Dying" brought to life.

My choice, though, for the most unsettling story in Stranger Paranormal is Kurk's encounters with "The Dark Pacer." Just outside a tiny rural town in western Kentucky, across the road from his parents' porch, Kurk grew up watching a large dark figure pacing the treeline at dusk. The encounters he and his younger siblings experienced are hair-raising.

Stranger Paranormal is filled with stories from people who never thought of cashing-in, or making paranormal media spectacles of themselves online. Their plain-spoken accounts, expertly reported by John Olsen, demonstrate again the old truism that life is not only stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.

Jay

29 August 2022

"Late one night, I would find out just how wrong I was." Beyond Stranger U.S: True Paranormal stories from across North America

 "....There are aspects of the Paranormal I intentionally avoid and always suggest others avoid. If you go looking for the darker side of the paranormal, you may find it.  But opening a door, when you have no idea who or what is on the other side of it, should frighten you—my suggestion will always be not to play with fire."

-- from the author's introduction

"Ed, why do you keep asking me where it went?"

--from Chapter 4 Hunting Monsters

Beyond Stranger U.S: True Paranormal stories from across North America (2021)

By John Olsen 

For the last five years my late-summer/early-autumn tradition has been to read the latest book by John Olsen.

My Stranger Bridgerland review is here.

Beyond Stranger Bridgerland, here.

Stranger West, here.

Stranger U.S., here.

John's uniqueness is that his books only contain stories that he has found for himself via email, personal interviews, and site visits. Another appealing fact is that most of his stories (including those about his own youth) happen in the "Bridgerland" region of the Western US.

This August, Olsen published Beyond Stranger U.S: True Paranormal stories from across North America. Like previous volumes in the series, it is of modest length, but well organized. A standout feature of the book is original artwork by Kate Walker, sketches that are alone worth the purchase price.

Whether or not these tales relate something that "really happened" or not, their direct style and brevity, their plain-spoken yet uncanny power, are effortless and very appealing.

Below are excerpts from a few chapters that struck me and raised the gooseflesh.

* * *

1. My Mothers story

Olsen recounts an anecdote from his mom about their family home, which has given the Olsen family a lifetime of odd experiences. "....she could hear a woman crying uncontrollably," Olsen reports.

....What I find interesting about this is I know my mother has hearing difficulties, and if she could hear it, it was certainly loud.

* * *

2 Appalachian Trail Ghost

....When we got to a nice spot in the late afternoon, we set up camp. We made a nice dinner and sat by the fire. It was getting late so we went to bed in the tent. In the middle of the night, I woke with a start. I lay there in my sleeping bag, not sure what had woken me up.  I was a bit disoriented. As I lay in my sleeping bag trying to go back to sleep, I began to hear footsteps. I could hear heavy boots walking around our camp. I was so terrified, I had no idea who might be at our campsite. The footsteps walked around our tent and stopped.

....I was just about to say, "let's go to bed" when the sound of footsteps started.  I heard them coming up the trail towards our camp. I grabbed Jason's hand and arm hard. We both looked into the dark towards the sound, but we couldn't see anything. The footsteps walked right up to the edge of the firelight and stopped. We stared for the longest time, but nothing happened.  Just as I was about to look away I started to see something strange. The outline of a man began to form in the light. Almost like the man was growing out of the smoke of the fire. Then the dark form walked forward into the firelight. It was a tall man with long dirty hair and an old weather-worn face. He had a gray wide brim hat and a long scruffy beard. His shirt was pale under a dirty coat. He had old-style pants and heavy boots. As he stood there, I was fixated on him. He walked almost to the fire, then he hunched down on his heels and looked into the fire.

  I had a horrible feeling of dread and fear sweep over me in waves like the heat coming off the fire. After a moment, he looked up from the fire and right at me. A horrible, toothless smile came to his face. Then just like that, he vanished into the smoke and was gone.

....We packed up our things and we hiked out that night.

* * *

3 Black Eyes in Moose Jaw

....As soon as he finished talking that deep chill came over me again and I started to get a dreadful fight-or-flight sensation. Who was this kid?  What was he doing out at 3 AM?  Why am I so terrified right now?

...."I'm sorry you are sad Alesha, but we can help. Just let us in," he said calmly. Another wave of terror rushed through me as I realized they knew my name.  I hadn't given my name to these kids, and I didn't know them.

...."Alesha, we can stop Greg from ever hurting you again. Just take us back home with you."

* * *

4 Hunting Monsters

....As I cleared the brush, I came into the canyon bottom, and it was a deep round bowl shape. As I took my first steps out of the brush into the quaking aspen trees, a deep sense of fear washed over me. It hit me like a rush of wind and seemed to penetrate right into my core. It was a warm day, and till now, I was fighting not to overheat as I hiked, but this feeling made me much colder than I should have been. I stopped to assess my situation. It was about 100 yards to the trees' edge before I was out and on the next ridge. It was a tight group of quaking aspen with three big old pines near the middle. My gut was telling me I should backtrack and walk around this area, but there was a well-worn trail right through the middle, so I brushed the feeling off.  I told myself I would head quietly but quickly through and save myself the effort of walking around.

....I had taken about ten steps into the trees when I heard it. It was that deep metallic hum we had heard on the hills earlier in the morning.

....Everything seemed much darker than it had a moment before as if a huge cloud had blocked the sun.

....Directly in front of me, about 35 yards, was a large pine tree, and from behind it, something had stepped out into my path. It was about 8 feet tall and shaped like a large man, but it wasn't anything like any person I’d ever seen. It was a shiny black, almost like oil. I could see where the head was, but the only detail other than the shimmery deep black color was two enormous red/orange eyes. The eyes were almond-shaped, and the red/orange color was a mixture of bright brake lights and those of a cat's eye caught in a high beam light. The eyes seemed to glow from deep within. The deep black of its shape was a moving fuzz at the edges, almost like snow on an old TV set, just along the creature's outline. It didn't seem to have legs, it was almost like it was being poured into the ground.

* * *

5 Quake Lake Ghosts

....It was early evening when we passed West Yellowstone, and my Dad decided to head north. He wanted to see Quake Lake. When we got to the lake, it was around 7 pm.

....Dad told us about what happened the night of the slide. He talked about the people who had lost their lives that night and how scary it must have been.

....There was a large bright light in the trees.

....Over the years, we didn’t share this with many people. It seemed like a gift to have seen the orbs, or whatever they were. To this day, I believe it had something to do with the people who died there, but I don’t really know.

* * *

6 Alaska Sasquatch

....I had heard a lot about Sasquatch growing up, but thought of it mostly as an old wife’s tale or just a Native legend. I didn't know it was really a real living breathing creature. Late one night, I would find out just how wrong I was.

* * *

8 The Warning

....I thanked her and walked away. This is when I finally realized what was actually happening at my house, and to my kids!  I instantly knew I needed to stop ghost hunting. When I got home, I put all of my equipment in storage until I could sell it, and then I contacted my Priest.

* * *

9 Lake Powell Lights

....it had gotten dark, and there was no moon. I had to sit at the front of the boat and point which way to go. Lake Powell is a very large lake that sits at the bottom of Utah and runs into Arizona.  It’s known for its gigantic, towering rock faces. Some of these steep walls jet off the main lake into long maze-like canyons.  It's easy to get lost back in these narrow waterways in the daytime, and so you can imagine how much easier it is to get turned around at night.

....The area where Lake Powell is located is well known for Native American pictographs and strange visions in the desert.

* * *

10 My Night on Route 666

Teresa and her high school friend have a bizarre late night road encounter.

Olsen:

..... I’ve learned that this section of road is now called Route 491 (the name was changed to avoid the stigma of the number 666).  However, it is still considered one of the scariest 200 miles sections of road in the world. What Teresa and her friend Jill experienced late one night on Route 666 is strange, but definitely not unheard of, along this ominous highway. 

* * *

11 It Was Not My Brother

....Just as I walked into the store I got lightheaded and disorientated for a moment.  I was in my mid 20's, and in great shape, so it took me by surprise. I sat down on a chair near the front of the store for a few moments and got my bearings.

....As my head started to clear, I looked around and noticed the store seemed different than it had when I visited just a week earlier. The registers were on the right side of the store, but I remember them being on the left.  I shook off my feelings of discomfort and started to focus again on the task at hand. I got up slowly and walked back to the medicine aisle. I was briefly frustrated again, it was taking me a minute to find what I needed because the aisle was not in the same spot as the last time I had visited. As I scanned over the medicine bottles, I noticed someone approaching me on my right. I glanced over towards the person standing next to me, then back to the meds. Suddenly, the realization hit me, and I turned around to see that the man that was shopping next to me was my brother Sam.

....He whipped around and stared at me with an irritated, almost evil look. Then he poked me firmly in the chest with his finger, and a low growl he said, "I don't know you.  Now get the hell out of my face!"

....The cashier was a haggard-looking lady, probably in her 50's. She gave me the total, and I handed her cash from my wallet.  I thanked her and looked up at her as I grabbed my bag to leave.  Without another word, she just snarled at me like a dog. I was completely perplexed.

* * *

12 UFO over Cart Creek

....I began to realize that this wasn't a fire, but I was still confused about what might be producing this type of bright red light just under the canyon's rim. Something came into view and I instinctively slammed on my brakes!  I quickly skidded to a halt.  About 200 yards from my car, was a big craft. It was shaped like a smooth walnut round on the top and bottom, but it had a visible seam around the edge. It was glowing red, like molten metal. I stepped out of my car, amazed at the sight. As I stood there, staring. I could tell the craft was massive in size. It slowly floated up and out of the tree line.  Then it moved slowly from the left of my view to the right without a sound.

* * *

13 Woman in Blue

....One Saturday in August, I was working the closing shift.  It was a hot, muggy night.  I moved slower than usual as I cleaned up the kitchen. My coworker Tammy was cleaning up the front area.  She finished up about the same time as me.  She helped take out trash and we locked up. When I finally got my Buick started and headed down the road, it was around 12:30 am.

  The area I grew up in was very rural, and the road I took to get home was a curvy two-lane that didn’t see much traffic even in the middle of the day.  At night it is dead quiet. I might see one other car on the road during my fifteen-mile drive home at night. I was about halfway home and I headed around one of the bends in the road.  Just as I rounded the turn, I nearly jumped out of my skin. There was a woman standing in the middle of the road. I slammed on my breaks and slid to a stop. The woman appeared to be young, maybe in her early 20’s.  She had dark hair and was wearing an old-style light blue dress and a white hat. I recognized the style of dress from very old pictures in my family's photo album.

....My dad looked shocked as I spoke, then he told me the story he had heard as a teen. Growing up in the area, my dad said he had heard the story of a young couple who had driven off the road in that area in the 1920’s. Both of them died when their car hit a tree. Legend has it that a few people have seen the woman's ghost in a blue dress pointing out the accident. My dad hadn't even thought about the story since high school.  Confused, I finally just went to bed and fell asleep.

* * *

14 Lost

....I was an early morning driver who delivered the uniforms to various businesses. I would start at about 5 am and work till noon.

....No one had complained about my route, so I took my regular shortcut to my next stop. I moved to the entrance of the first subdivision heading west. As I approached my turn, I got a strange feeling and a cold sensation seemed to immediately fill the entire cab of my truck. I reached my turn and started my left-hand turn. As the truck turned, it felt like I was being dipped in ice-cold water. As I finished my turn, I could literally see my breath in front of me.  I was scared to death by this overwhelming feeling hanging in the air.

  I pressed my gas pedal to get back up to speed. I take this drive three times a week. I know it like the back of my hand, but something today was different; something was wrong. All of a sudden, I didn't recognize anything on the street. It was 6:30 am and the sun hadn’t completely come up. There was a lit little light, but not much. I stared in awe...what used to be typical two-story houses built in the 80s and 90s were now round-top igloo-shaped houses. They were all the same size dome-shaped gray houses with two windows and strange vehicles in the driveway. I slowed down to look, and I had a sick, lost feeling in my stomach. I was confused and anxious.

  Had I turned down the wrong street? Had I missed my turn? Where in the hell was I?

 

....I got about 100 feet down the road and stopped. I was sitting in front of one of the dome houses, and it had a light turned on. Someone was peeking out the window at me. I looked at the vehicle in the driveway. It was so strange, and it looked like a big jeep or hummer with a plexiglass bubble around it. It almost felt like an encapsulated lunar lander, out of a 50’s space movie.

* * *

15 Mujer en Verde (The Woman in Green)

....“My mother told me her grandmother had told her of the Cihuateteo. They were the spirits of women who died in childbirth. Not all women who die in childbirth turn to Cihuateteo.  However, some women are so distraught in death they become malevolent spirits. Some old cultures compare them to male warriors who died in violent battles because childbirth was, in some civilizations, considered the same as a battle.  She told me that Cihuateteo comes back to walk the earth, trying to steal small children from their mothers.”

* * *

17 Upstate Monster

Moving from New York City to a small farmhouse in the country was a big shock for me. One thing that really bothered me at first was trying to sleep with no ambient city noise.  It was way too quiet for me, and when there were sounds, they were the sounds of birds and animals, not the buzz of the city.  I just couldn't wrap my head around it. Needless to say, I didn't sleep well for a couple of weeks.

....I was listening to the sound of a raccoon rustling through our moving boxes, trying to get in the garbage. I was about to get up and chase it off when a loud crash came from the tree line.  At the sound, the Racoon quickly scurried off, I heard it run around the house.

....I sat quietly listening and soon realized all the normal sounds of the forest had stopped. There was an eerie stillness surrounding the house. I listened, waiting for the familiar sounds to come back.  The next thing I heard was one of the trees bending and creaking as if it was holding a considerable amount of weight. I slipped out of bed and quietly moved to the window. Our bedroom was on the second floor, and our window faced out the back of the house towards the forest. It was a light night with the moon almost full. I scanned the scene around the backyard. At first, I couldn't see anything, but then some movement caught my eye. A large dark figure was standing at the edge of the trees. It was an enormous black figure.  Based on the trees and things nearby, it was standing almost 12 feet tall. The shadow was skinny, gangly, and all black.  It was standing just behind the brush with a long slender black arm pushing a large limb out of the way so it could look at the house.

...."What are you doing?! I told you not to go near those woods." Travis looked at me with a confused face and then scowled. "The man wanted us to follow him!" I got down to Travis's level and asked him, "What man?!" He turned and pointed into the woods. "The Tall man we wanted to play with us."

* * *

The men and women Olson interviews are pursuing everyday lives when they have their experiences. These are working class people, mostly on the way to or from their job, or out camping or hunting. Others are simply trying to get some sleep at night, including Olsen's own mother in the story that opens the collection.

I think this everydayness is why I find his pieces so interesting.

Jay

28 October 2021

“There is another world, but it is inside this one.”

--Paul Eluard

Stranger U.S. True Paranormal Stories from the United States

Stranger U.S. True Paranormal Stories from the United States 

Book four of the Stranger Bridgerland Book Series By John E Olsen (2020)

For the last three years my late-summer tradition has been to read the latest book by John Olsen.

My Stranger Bridgerland review is here.

Beyond Stranger Bridgerland, here.

Stranger West, here.

John's uniqueness is that his books only contain stories that he has found for himself via email, personal interviews, and site visits. Another appealing fact is that most of his stories (including those about his own youth) happen in the "Bridgerland" region of the Western US.

* * *

USS Lexington Ghost 

A girl scout troop spends a night in the bowels of the Lexington.

....I opened my eyes, and there was a thick feeling of dread in the room. The feeling hung in the air like a thick fog. The smell was so horrible I could taste it in my mouth. Suddenly there was a wall of energy in the room. It was passing through the compartment from one side to the other like a heavy curtain. As it passed through, I felt it move slowly through my body.  It started at my head and slowly moved through my torso and down through my toes. It's like I was being dipped head first in fear! I lay frozen in my bunk, unable to move anything but my eyes and head. Since I couldn't see my hand in front of my face, I listened intently....

Drowning Ghosts 

Two friends in Montana go snorkelling in a lake.

....I had been in the water for a while and made my way about 200 yards up the shore, I stopped and looked for Zac but couldn't see him. The sun had just gone down, and it was getting a little darker. I knew I didn't have more than 15 more minutes before I had to head back. I ducked back underwater when some movement caught my eye. Many times, you would see fish up close because they aren't afraid of you in the water, and I thought that is what I saw, however as I looked, I realized it was a large shadow just past where I could see. The lake is clear, and visibility is excellent, but at dusk, the light can play a trick on you. I stared in the direction of the movement, and I could see a large dark mass slowly coming my way. I came up to see if I could understand better from the surface, but I couldn't see anything. I went back now under to look, and the black mass had soon come close enough to see. There about 15 feet from me was the body of a woman....

Babysitting Bigfoot 

A young woman in rural Wyoming babysits, gets her charges to bed.

....I turned on the back-porch light and looked around through the window of the door, but I couldn't see anything. Just then heard heavy steps and the wood creek as something stepped on to the front porch. I turned off the light and made sure the door was locked. At this point, I still wasn't too afraid. Living out in Wyoming, you get used to all kinds of animals coming round your house at night, and I thought at worst it was a bear snooping around. I walked to the front room, and I could see the silhouette of an enormous creature standing on the porch through the big front window....

Time Traveling Dog 

A charming animal story. A girl in southeast Idaho loses her dog while on a family outing to gather firewood. It disappears, seemingly into thin air.

....Five years later, I was 15, and I again had to go help get wood for the winter. I had avoided it for most years because going into the mountains made me so sad.  But this year, my Dad had told me to suck it up because he needed my help.

     ....I turned around and looked up the road, and I could see a dog walking down towards the truck. Confused, I walked up to the truck. As the dog walked around the front of the truck with its tail wagging, I almost passed out. The dog looked just like I remembered Sammy. The dog bounced and wagged its tail as if it knew me. I looked more closely and realized the dog had the white S on its chest just like Sammy too.

     ....In shock, I called out, and she came running over. It was Sammy! But it couldn't be! Confused, I got down on her level and looked her over. She looked like I remembered, and I thought I must be dreaming. She was so happy to see me. I looked at her collar and saw her tag.  It was just as I remembered; her name and my name and address on it, and it was still brand new! I hugged her so tight and started crying....

UFO on Shasta 

A friend of mine at work, sober and serious, offered to show me snapshots of his Nothern California vacation. He pointed to a couple and half-joking said he thought they showed sealed "doorways" of flat rock on slopes of a trail.

     ....As I slowed down, the light came up on my left.  It was at this point I realized it wasn't a car at all. It was a craft floating above the road. It looked metallic, but it was also glowing bright! It was just bigger than my bug and staying right next to me, hovering above the roadway. I was mesmerized by the object. As I approached the next corner, the craft jetted up over my car and turned towards Mount Shasta. It got just above the trees, and then in a flash, it shot up and out of sight. I stopped and stared in disbelief! After a few minutes, I gained my senses and got back on the road.

Pawapicts - Water Baby 

A couple's disturbing experience camping in northern Utah.

...."I'm going to see what it is. Do you want to come or stay here alone?"

     When he put it that way, I decided to go. I slipped on my boots and grabbed a jacket. We exited the tent, but my husband didn't turn on the flashlight. There was enough light from the stars and moon to see where we were walking. We slowly continued down the path and towards the sound. It sounded just like a baby crying, but in my mind knew there was no way this was a baby.

    I hung on to Jon's arm as we made our way around a corner where we could see what was causing the sound. As we made our way through the brush, it cleared to and opening. Right in front of us was a bunch of rocks half in and out of the water. Sitting on one of the rocks was a creature. I could just make out the outline and some dark features. It was about the size of a 4-year-old child. It had arms and hands like a child, but its skin was dark green. It had scraggly black hair covering its head. I couldn't make out any facial features because it was too dark....

Bruja 

A young woman recounts her grandmother's encounter.

     ....When she was around 12, she was out searching for the sheep at dusk, and an older woman emerged from nowhere. My Grandmother said the old woman asked her to help her home, but Grandma had a bad feeling about the woman, so she turned to go home. When she turned, the Bruja screamed and jumped at her. Grandma narrowly escaped because of her dog, who came to her rescue and bit the Bruja. When the Bruja screamed and kicked at the dog, grandma escaped.  On my last trip, grandma told me she had seen the same Bruja come to her door and knock. When grandma answered, she saw it was the Bruja from when she was 12. Grandma slammed the door, and she said the old woman cackled and screamed well into the night as grandma sat and prayed. The Bruja finally left, but my Grandmother wouldn't let me out of her sight....

Cabin Nightmare 

Colorado.

     ....The evening started with dinner and continued with a lovely discussion by the fireplace. We were planning out everything we wanted to do the next day.  All at once, Trina put her hand on my arm to silence me. Surprised, I stopped talking and listened carefully. I could hear the boards on the front porch creaking as if someone was walking on the front porch towards the door.

     I jumped up, grabbed the flashlight, and walked towards the door. As I faced the door, I could hear heavy boots moving from the right side of the porch towards the front door. I looked over at Trina; she was sitting on the old couch with her knees held to her chest; her eyes were as wide as saucers. I held up a hand, then put a finger to my lips to motion for her to keep quiet. I grabbed the doorknob with one hand and held the flashlight in the other. As the footsteps reached the door, I swung the door open and shined the light on the porch....

From Bad to Worse 

Salt Lake City

     When the medium arrived, she walked around the first floor and then went upstairs.  She stopped right in front of the extra bedroom. She turned around, quickly walked downstairs, out to the front step, and vomited over the side of the porch. She was shaking and pale as Ted and I walked her back into the kitchen.

Missing House 

Missouri

     This missing house bothered me, so I gave my brother a call. I asked him what he remembered about the house. He told me we used to play in it before it got bought by the Nelsons. His next sentence made me even more confused. He said they tore the old home down to build a new one. I questioned him more, but he thought I was making it up. I told him I remembered it differently.  They didn't tear it down; they remodeled the old home into a beautiful house.  I reminded him that we had been in the remodeled home many times over the years.

Night of the Comet 

Logan Canyon, Utah

     I stood mesmerized by the ball of light as it made its way down the hill. I hadn't noticed when Clay stopped taking pictures.  He was standing next to me, also staring at the bright light. We watched as it got closer and closer to us. 

     Suddenly Clay's voice broke the silence. "We need to go now!" he said.

UFO over Wyoming 

Rock Springs, Wyoming

     My head had barely hit my pillow, and I was completely out. I was in a deep sleep when something rattled me awake.  I cleared my eyes, and It took a few moments to understand where I was. The inside of the truck was too bright to see. I tried to look out the window, but the same blinding light was there also. There was a humming sound, so deep I could feel in my chest, and the light was so bright I couldn't open my eyes completely. After a few moments of confusion suddenly, the light was off, and my truck was silent. I rubbed my eyes and got out of the truck.

Monster Wolf 

Black Hills of South Dakota

     We made camp around 5:00 pm and took a walk. We came across a shrine in the woods just to the west of camp. It had some old clothes tied in a bundle, some small animal bones, and an old knife with a bone handle. All the objects seemed to be old and worn down from the weather. As we stood looking over the objects, my husband bent down to grab the knife, and I stopped him. Just as he reached for it, I had the worst feeling of anxiety and fear come over me.  I couldn't explain it, but it felt like this feeling was somehow attached to the objects and the area. Alex told me I was overreacting, but I finally talked him into leaving it and heading back to camp. Even at camp, it took me an hour or more to get the creepy feeling from crawling up and down my spine.

Not My Cousin 2 

     ....I yelled furiously up the stairs, "Jill, we needed to LEAVE!"

     A disturbing laugher filled the air. At that moment, apprehension turned to terror, that was not her laugh.  I quickly turned on my heels and ran down the hallway.

     I ran out of the building and down the street.  I didn't stop running until I made it home, out of breath. I was still confused and scared when I got to my front door. I opened the door and stepped in.  The first thing I did was call out to my grandma."Grandma!" Then I froze in shock, my cousin Jill was sitting at the counter with a bowl of cereal....

     I'm not sure how many people out there followed too far and now aren't around to tell their story.

Green Canyon Ghost 

Cache Valley in Northern Utah

     I woke up in the middle of the night to a mumbling voice. At first, I laughed because I thought it was Jill talking in her sleep, but as I listened more closely, I could hear it was a deep male voice. I opened my eyes and rolled over to look at Jill. To my surprise, there was a dark figure in the corner of the large tent. The shadow loomed over Jill muttering indistinctively in a deep growling voice. All at once, it stopped and turned towards me. The dark shadow changed before my eyes; it turned from a dark shadow to a tall older man with dark, dirty pants, a brown shirt with big suspenders. I was in disbelief as he stepped over Jill and just came right up to my face. I could see his filthy face and long beard as he bent down to my level. I had a scream stuck in the back of my throat, and my body shook with fear as he screamed, "GET OFF MY CAMP!"

Missing Time 

Illinois

     One minute I remember watching TV, and the next, I'm coming to my senses standing in the snow outside the house looking at the window from the back yard. I was shocked at my sudden location change.  I went from my warm and comfortable basement to the harsh cold yard in the snow at night. As I was standing there in shock, I also realized I was now down to just my boxers.

The Little Old Man 

Arizona

     The little old man was all skin and bones and had wisps of gray hair on his mostly bald head. He looked dead, and I thought for a second, I was looking at a dead body. When I gasped out loud, he opened his eyes and looked at me. His clothes were old and shabby, and he had big bare feet that were black with dirt. When he looked up at me, his eyes were deep green that almost seemed to glow from behind his gray skin. He had a thin, ragged beard that framed his gaunt, pale white face.

The Hatchet Head 

Northern Utah

     I was just about to turn on the hall light for a better look when a figure stepped out from behind the door. I could see he was in buckskin pants and no shirt, and he had long tousled hair and a band on his arm. I was staring at a Native American! My breath caught in my throat, and I reached behind me, fumbling for the switch to flip on the hallway light. I looked back up as the light illuminated the hall, and he was gone, and all the sounds had stopped. I grabbed a bat from my room and walked down the hall.

A Vision of the Past

Wyoming

     I set up and started watching the hills for movement. It had been an hour, and I had seen a few doe and fawn but not much else. It was beginning to get late, and the sun was about to disappear behind the hill when some movement, just below me, caught my eye. About 100 yards to the left of me, in a patch of trees, I saw a horse coming out of the brush, and I cursed under my breath. I thought at first, that it was a fellow hunter.  He was going to scare all the deer away from the hill I was watching. As I looked more closely, I realized this was no ordinary horse. It was a painted horse, and its rider was a Native American, he was not wearing a shirt, and he had on buckskins and was riding bareback.

Followed 

This is the most disturbing experience by far in Stranger US. A couple plan to spend three days on a hike in the Wind River.

     At noon we stopped for some water, a little bite to eat, and then we packed up and got ready to go again. It was at this point I had a creepy feeling sweep over me. I didn't want to tell Jill about it, but as we started walking, she turned to me and said, "Can you feel that?"

     I nodded and said, "It's a creepy feeling, isn't it?"

     I looked around but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. I did notice that all the normal sounds of the forest had stopped. I couldn't hear the birds or bugs, not even a breeze. As we kept hiking, I noticed some movement to my left in the trees about 50 yards off. Whenever I stopped to see what it was, it would also stop moving in the brush line. Jill had noticed it as well, and she stayed very close to me as we hiked. As we went on, I could see that it was two to three distinct "things" following us in the woods, but I couldn't pick out much other than a flash now and again. After about an hour of this, we stopped to get a drink and talk it over. We were standing in the shade and trying to decide what it was that was following us when Jill's face went white.

     Jill pointed over my shoulder, and I turned, there about 50 yards behind me was a man standing to look at us. My best explanation of him as he looked like a tall thin-looking Amish man....

     

The Apartment 

Charleston, South Carolina

     ....One night after getting home from work, I had just finished dinner and was sitting in the recliner chair when something caught my attention. As I watched TV once in a while, I would catch a glimpse of some movement in the kitchen. It looked like someone was peeking at me from behind the wall just inside the kitchen. As I would turn to look at the movement, it would duck back inside the kitchen. I got up and walked to the kitchen and found that nothing was there. I looked around and couldn't see what would have caused the movement. I went back to the chair and continued to watch TV. After a few minutes, the movement was back. Without looking directly at it, I tried to use my peripheral vision to see what it was. It seemed to be an older man, older with a little hair around the side of his head. He kept poking his head around the corner, watching me but staying very concealed.

I Skipped in Time 

Jefferson City, Missouri.

     I told my mother, "Ok.  I better get going." and walked down the hall and into the bathroom to grab my bag when suddenly I was in my car on the road driving. I quickly pulled to the side of the road and tried to come to my senses. I tried to remember what had happened between picking up my bag and where I was now. Looking at the scenery, I could see that I was 20 minutes from my house and only 10 min or so from work. But, I looked at my watch, and it said 8:51. I'd grabbed my bag only 1 minute ago…but I was 2/3 of the say to work?

The Stranger 

Seattle

     A young man stood before me wearing a dark coat that went all the way to the ground. He wore dark pants and an off-white shirt underneath. He had short dark hair and pale skin. When I looked up to his eyes, adrenaline rushed through me, and fear froze in my throat. The young man's eyes were a pale blue-grey color that I had never seen before.  He stood very still and had a calm smile on his face. He lifted his left hand and pointed at me with his thumb index finger and middle finger raised.

Haunted Hotel 

Ben Lomond Hotel in Ogden, Utah.

     As I entered the main elevator, the first thing I noticed was that it had mirrors on both sides of the walls. It gave the illusion you were standing in a hallway that never ended with infinite images of yourself. As the doors closed, it was odd to see endless reflections of myself standing waiting there to get off the elevator. I pushed the button that would take me to the lobby and patiently waited. Halfway down, some movement to the right caught my attention.

     I looked again at my many reflections, but this time I noticed that one of the mirror images was different from the rest.  Three mirror images back, a man in a trench coat was standing next to me. I blinked a couple of times to try and clear up my confusion.  Then I focused on the reflected images again.  He wasn't in all of the mirror images, just the THIRD one.  He stood right next to me, and it appeared as though he was also waiting patiently to exit the elevator....

Undertaker 

Cache Valley in Northern Utah.

     We sat for about an hour waiting for anyone to drive by, but the chances of help were slim at that time of night, and especially on that remote road. Out of options, we tried to decide whether we would walk back to the cabin or stay the night in the truck. After a bit of debate, my husband, who was in much better shape than me, said he would hike back to the cabin and get someone to drive back down to get me.

     My husband took the only flashlight we had and headed back up the road. I sat in the dark truck for quite a few minutes when I spotted some movement in the sagebrush on the front left of the road about 20 yards from me. I figured it was just some animals, and I sat quietly, starting to get a little nervous.

     I knew the wilderness, and I knew I was nowhere near anybody. Any animal that could hurt me couldn't get in the truck, but there was this feeling of fear I didn't quite understand. I chalked it up to being left alone in the dark, but the anxiety just kept getting worse. It wasn't a full moon, but I could see out through the sagebrush flats that surrounded me, and I could see movement all around me....

A Strange Occurrence

Ogden

      There was a hallway with restrooms nearby.  I watched as she waddled down this hallway only to disappear out of sight. After about 5 seconds, I thought to myself, "OK, my son should be coming behind her…any time now…". So, I waited a couple more seconds, and when he didn't appear, I commented to my daughter how I was getting very alarmed. She said she hadn't seen her at all didn't seem to be too concerned about the situation.

     I was getting anxious, so I got up from the table and walked to the hallway.  I looked up and down to the very end, and I couldn't see my granddaughter at all! Now I was both alarmed and confused. I couldn't imagine that my son would have left her this long without supervision.  I got up and started looking around the mall for him. When I couldn't find him, I went back to the food court to see if they had returned.  They were still out looking around....

* * *

Whether or not these tales relate something that "really happened" or not, their direct style and brevity, their plain-spoken yet uncanny power, are effortless and very appealing.

Jay

24 August 2020

P.S.

My only criticism of the book is that it needs a couple more passes by a proofreader.