True Ghost Tales

A few years back, my friend and I decided to take a motorcycle trip into the Anza-Borrego desert in Southern California. After riding the better part of a day, we decided to camp out in the desert that night. We set up camp by a wash and I prepared some tea. As we were drinking our tea and looking at the starry sky we began to hear voices.

My friend Scotty kept saying “do you hear that” and I did. Sometimes it sounded as someone was mumbling something and other times it sounded like laughter. The only thing is the mumbling sounded unintelligible and the laughter sounded like something you would hear in a insane asylum.

Scotty whom before now, never spent a night outside of the city, was becoming completely unnerved by these sounds. I tried to calm him by explaining that the desert air does tricky things to sight and sound. Such as making objects appear closer than they really are and carrying sound further, as well as distorting it. I told him it was probably some Off Roader’s partying a ways from here. I don’t know who I was trying to convince more him or me. This seemed to work for Scotty. Until we both distinctly heard what sounded like whispering, by where we left the bikes. I took a .45 colt commander out of my pack. I told Scott to circle around to the left and I would go right. It was a dark moonless night, with no other ambient light source. When we circled around the only one their were ourselves. We just started laughing and decided it was time to get some sleep.

Ocotillio Wells

We got back to our campsite, got into our sleeping bags and lay back and talked for a while. Scotty dozed off first, but I kept awake for awhile. After peacefully sleeping for about a half hour Scotty started talking in his sleep, which he had never done before at least in the three years I was his room mate. He mumbled words I couldn’t make out and tossed in his sleep for a good ten minutes and then calmed down. A little while later, my eyes began to close and I was just starting to doze off when the hair on my body started to stand up. Anyone knowing anything about woods lore knows this to mean there is a chance of being struck by lightning.

I sat up getting ready to wake my friend and make a run for it but came face to face with a disembodied head. It was red and like a balloon you could see through it. It had thick and grossly distorted features and it’s tongue which was several inches long was lolling out of it’s mouth. It was looking at me as though I were a bug. I was so scared that I was literally paralyzed and incapable of speech. One part of my brain was telling me to go for my gun while another part was saying a gun would be of no use.

I finally mustered up enough courage to shout at it, the only thing I knew to use. “Be gone” I yelled “In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” With this the creature started spinning around as it grew smaller, until it turned into a small red dot and shot off out into the desert.

I woke Scott told him we were leaving. We packed up got on our bikes and travelled down the road a couple of miles before setting up another place to sleep. After explaining to Scotty what I saw neither of us slept. At dawn we mounted up and not to far down the road, came upon a diner that sold gas and water to the ORV crowd.

At breakfast the waitress remarked that we looked like hell. I told her we just spent the night sleeping in the desert. She asked where at. I told her Ocotillio Wells. With this she leaned in close and asked “See any spooks?” I replied, “WHAT!” She answered “Well anyone who’s camped over there always come back with a Ghost story, even the Indians back in the old days knew it to be haunted.” Scott and I just sat their staring at each other as she walked off. We left without finishing our meal and haven’t been back since.

Sent in by Thomas Vuono, Copyright 2011