I come from a large family living on a farm with a lot of animals and gardens of fruits and vegetables. I was 5 years old when this happened and still has this clear in my mind.
My father woke us up everyday at 5 in the morning to do our chores. All my brothers and sisters had their chores before going to school. I had to feed 500 chickens, bring them fresh water and clean their houses everyday. Sometimes I fell asleep in the middle of all these birds and my older brothers would wake me up before my mom comes outside and see that didn’t finish my job. My mom was very strict and mean to us. She would beat us up with a belt, broom, or anything she could grab or scare us by telling us that the devil will come for us and take us to hell. When we would do something wrong like spill food or don’t do the dishes or the laundry or fight with each other like most brothers and sisters do, she would beat us up. At that time I thought I was already living in hell.
My dad was working two shifts everyday, 16 to 18 hours a day. We didn’t see him much, but when he arrived from work at midnight, we would sneak out of bed just to get a chance to hug him. He used to bring his overtime meal home so we could share the food amongst ourselves. We never ate in a restaurant or brought food in a supermarket, everything was made at home, bread, milk, fruits, vegetables, meat, everything. So this food was different and we liked it. We learned the hard way how to take care of ourselves.
I was number 11 in the family and I had a 7 year and a 4 year old brother, that I was very close to and we were playing together all the time. One night my brother woke up and had to go to the bathroom, but one of my sisters was using the bathroom, he couldn’t hold on and went outside in the woods to take a pee.
I heard screaming and got up quickly to see what happened. I found my brother standing in front of his bedroom door, pale and it seems that he couldn’t move. Meanwhile everyone woke up and my dad took him to bed and told him that he was sleep walking and had a bad dream. He never told my parents what really happened, but trusted me and my brother and told us this very shocking story.
While he was taking a pee, he saw three ghosts playing cards under a tree. He said that he knew that they were ghosts because they were all white glowing in the dark and had no feet. We believed him and promised him that we will go with him the following night at the same place to see the ghosts. Of course after our parents were asleep. So that’s what we did, I was looking outside our bedroom window, to see if I could see anything and there they were. I saw the tree ghosts coming from one side of the woods and going into the direction of the tree were my brother saw them. All excited I woke up my two brothers and we headed to the woods. We approached the tree and saw the same thing my brother saw the day before, they were white transparent human figure type, as soon as they noticed us they got up and start going away back into the woods. Their feet didn’t touch the ground and were flying instead of walking. Of course we got very scared and at first I felt my two legs numb and couldn’t move, my two brothers took my hand and start running back into the house.
Every night one of us was on the watch to see the ghosts passing by and would call the others to go after them to see what they were doing. Many nights there were more than 10 ghosts wandering around and we would follow them in the woods. They saw us but didn’t go away this time. We start running after them and they would disappear. I wanted to touch them and see if they were real or what it felt like to be a ghost. They never harmed us, but we found this a funny game and start doing it every night after midnight. One time I went alone into the woods and got closer to the ones playing cards and sat next to them to see what would happen, to my surprise they dealt card to me and wanted me to play with them. I got scared and ran back home. My two brothers were sleeping and I didn’t want to wake them up, they haven’t slept for more than a week busy chasing ghosts at night.
I got obsessed with this and couldn’t sleep at night and always went back to the ghosts. This time I start playing with them, the cards were real, but the meaning of them was unknown to me, they were like tarot cards or something like that. So I start putting the card down and play with them. This was going on for about a week. My two brothers would also go with me but they preferred to play with the other ghosts in the woods. They were playing hide and seek, I think. They wouldn’t say a word to us but were very nice ghosts and didn’t harm us at all.
We stopped for a while and after a month we decided to start chasing the ghosts again. This time I was on guard checking outside the window when they would come out, but after waiting and waiting for more than two hours nothing came out and I fell asleep. My older brother got mad at me because he blamed me for falling asleep. The next night he was on guard and he saw something different than ghosts, he saw like a big fireball rolling up and down in the woods. He immediately woke us up and we ran into the woods to check it out. The closer we tried to get to the fireball the further it seems to get away from us.
I went to the tree were the ghosts were playing cards and they were not there anymore. I was leaving the area when I heard Pssst, Pssst. I checked everywhere and couldn’t see where this was coming from, then I felt like some one was throwing small stones at me and I looked up and there was something sitting on a branch of the tree. It looked down at me and whispered “do you want to play cards tonight again?” See who will win this time? It was full moon that night and I could see his face, he looked like a demon, he had horns and a horrendous face, he had legs like a goat and very hairy. I froze, I couldn’t move, talk or scream. Only my eyes and ears were functioning. This thing started laughing so loud that my brothers came to where I was standing and saw it too. They too got very scared and were telling me run, run, but I couldn’t move. He whispered again “do you want to play cards with me tonight”? I felt my brother taking my hand and dragged me to our house.
We got to the back door of our house, I lost consciousness and didn’t know what happened after that until the next morning. I saw my mother, a priest and some other ladies standing around my bed, praying like performing an exorcism. I asked what is going on and they told me to relax, that they were here to help me. I was thinking, help me with what? But I stayed calm mainly because I was afraid to get my mother angry. The priest started with his ritual and I start laughing when he started throwing the holy water on me, praying with a crucifix in his hand and showing it to me. I couldn’t help it, I thought it was funny. Because I started laughing they thought it was the devil in my body that was playing with them. I didn’t throw up green stuff, nothing was moving in my room, but the priest started to pray louder and louder. My mom was telling me to shut up and listen to the priest. I nodded ok, I never dared to say anything back to my mom, I was more scared of her than that thing I saw outside. Finally the priest stopped with his ritual and told my mother that the job was done and I will be fine. He gave me a necklace with a crucifix that I should wear at all times. I said thank you and he left.
My mother and the rest of the woman started with rosemary prayers and I was only thinking of getting out of there to go play outside. My two brother were beaten and punished for this. After that day we never talked about it or went back into the woods to chase or play with the ghosts. Although this was 50 years ago, I never had another encounter with any ghosts since then.
I heard that a lot of children between the age of 1 and 6 see ghosts. We tend to call them imaginary friends, be careful, because they are not. They are very real. The innocent mind and soul of a child gives him the power to see and feel activities beyond normal and the unnatural.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to tell my story to the world and get it out, other than trying to block it of my mind and pretend it never happened.
Sent in by Dan, Copyright 2010 TrueGhostTales.com
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Dan,
I really enjoyed reading your story. I do believe that the very young and innocent children sometimes are more aware of their surroundings than older siblings and adults. I’m very glad to hear that no one was hurt.
The description you gave of the last creature is very much like accounts I’ve read about in stories reported several centuries past. Actually, I think the character named “Pan” playing a odd type of flute dates far back into history when Greece was at its peak of civilization.
Very entertaining story!
Hello, Dan.
I haven’t had too many experiences with ghosts myself, and I don’t know much about the and lore and legends either, but I have to say that there was something about your story that left me with a strong feeling of fear. I’ve read a lot of ghost stories, but I’ve never been too impacted. When you described your encounter with the being in the tree, my hands flew over my mouth and I couldn’t even breath. I’ve never felt fear like that from any horror movie, book, or “true” story, either. I still feel it, it’s a very heavy, nervous feeling. I don’t know what it is about your story that scares me unlike the others.
I can only imagine how it must have been for you.
-Dana
DAN-how did your mom find out that you guys went in the woods?did your brothers rat you out when you froze?you know what you said you were afraid of your mom we were all afriad of our dad.we had to watch out too.he got mad in seconds.anyways what did your dad do when your mom spanked and everything else she did?it sounds very interesting.if the ghosts didnt hurt you then i would of kept going back for more.the demon what if that was the ghost in the first place and changed himself back to the demon?he got you to trust him so he wanted you to know who he really was.sounds weird but you never know.thanks for the story.if you have any other stories i would like to hear them.
yeah that would be scary i dont like them !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I like your story very much. I am a mother of 4 boys. Sometimes I am kind of like your mother. My boys would say something like they hate me because I am mean to them. Maybe I should chang myself to a certain degree.
I know the ghosts you played with are harmless, but what is the relationship between the ghosts and the demon on the tree? I think the demon was the one who could control all the entities. That is why when you saw him, the other ghosts are not there. It is a very interesting story.
Good, detailed story. I had a picture in my mind when you described the demon, ol’ tricky demon. I truly believe this happens more often than not to kids in that age group. The age of innocence/trusting/fearless because no one has told them to BE scared.
When reading your story, it brought back little flashes of story very similar to this, that a friend told me when we were no more than 8 years old, or so. I am thinking it had to do with a man who would go by her house and always stop to talk to her. I am not clear on the details, (thought she was just making MOST of it up), but the tone of the story just made me remember. The END of the story was that the man had horns and wasn’t really this nice old man…………creepy. I remember feeling creeped out when she told me and it was on my 8 yr old mind for some time after that.
If you have more stories, do tell! It’s funny, she told me that story 40 years ago and your story just jolted the memory…..
Christina
first of all i can’t imagine what you went thru with you mom. did you ever tell your dad and did he know about the priest? i have heard some ghosts will interact with people. yes you were young enough to see them. i would do a little research on the house. what were wearing can give you a time period. i think your experience is nearly a one of a kind!
Hi trolldoll
Thanks for reading my story. My dad never knew about the priest and all the beating, he was the nicest dad in the world. My mom would threaten us, if we tell my dad anything she will beat us up again. She had to take care of us and the farm and I believe she was stressed out all the time. I don’t hate her for that, I always tried to look for answers why she acted like that. Having the load of work she had and being pregnant almost every year, I can understand her actions. I am sure she loved us, but didn’t know how to control her stress and anger. That night I was wearing a white shirt with long pants pyjama,. The time frame was in 1953 in July. I know the month because the school vacation just started. I wasn’t attending school yet but my older brother and sisters were. Dan.
This is one of the most amazing storys ive ever read so this better be real
i enjoyed reading your story….i am sorry but you must have had a hard life, and a very beaten one at that…lol…sorry, but your story was good, if that is all true then that is a very crazy story…but sorry it is a little too far out there for me to believe…but if its real………then wow!
I really enjoyed your story, Dan!! There is no two ways about it and i dont even have a question to ask you. Can just say that the demon in the tree was the ghosts you’ve been playing with.. he got your trust and then he thought now it’s time to reveal himself to you.. that fireball might be running away from you, but that’s luring you deeper into trouble, but lucky enough you got away! I was having a ‘movie’ going on in my mind while reading your story and got such a fright when you talk about this thing in the tree and you even having the guts to play cards with them! Goodness, your mother scares me too lol!
Hi Bernie, thanks for reading my story and your comments. My dad was to busy working to bring in the money. We were the whole day with my mom and we were driving her crazy. I can’t blame her for beating us up. We were really bad kids. Teasing and fighting each other all day. Missed school to go hang out with friends. Bad report cards, Fights with teachers, My older sisters would sneak out at night to meet with their boyfriends and mom would walk the whole town looking for them. My older brothers were smoking and drinking and wouldn’t come home until the next morning. We didn’t give my mom one second of rest during the day or night. I think we really drove her crazy. If it was me with all these children I would have killed them one by one. When you’re 5 years old you are very curious and don’t have fear. If I had to experience the same thing today, do you think I would go into the woods at midnight and play cards with ghosts, NEVER, no way! I would be scared as hell! and probably get a hart attack.
When you saw that demon in the tree that really creeped me out because i pictured that demon in my mind and it was creepy.But i think i would be more scared of your mother.That must of sucked haveing a mother like that
Yes you’re right. My mom was really crazy. But with 13 bad children I would go crazy too. 50 years ago beating a child was a normal way of punishment. Even the teacher would beat up at school. This past experience is still in my mind everyday. But doesn’t bother me and I continue with my normal life. Hoping that I would never have another encounter with this thing again.
Hi, Dan:
People should make a movie or a TV show based on your story such as A Hunting. Although you had a tough childhood, but it is fun to have so many brothers and sisters.Do you think the demon is the ghost you played with in the woods?
Hi Mimi
Thanks for reading my story.
Please don’t tell me when the movie comes out. I have no desire to watch it.
We had a lot of fun with so many brothers and sisters. There was always something to do.
I don’t know if the demon was the ghost, or the demon chased the ghosts away, but it scared the hell out of me.
Hey Dan, just thought I would let you know, great story, I was touched and moved rated 5 stars!!! I really thought this was gonna be a funny or happy story when boom! You follow a fireball into the woods then a demon who may have been the ghosts shows up and scares the hell out of you. My impression of the demon was that it thought it got your trust and now he thought it was time to show you who he really was, and he used that fireball to lure you deep into the woods where he was. Good thing you didnt get hurt and you got out in time, who knows what that demon could’ve done to you! Never trust a demon lol! Again great stroy, best Ive ever read, sorry about your mom too.
Hi Jeff
Thanks for reading my story and glad you liked it. I didn’t. Actually the tree were the demon was is very close to our backyard, like a few feet. I don’t know what the fireball was, we couldn’t reach it. Whatever it was it wasn’t good. When I think back, I ask myself were did we get the courage to do Play with ghosts! With no fear we would go into the woods in the middle of the night. Now I know better and wont go in my backyard after dark. Dan.
Great story, although I would love to give your mother an upper cut.