Ghost Stories & Paranormal Encounters

We teased the Devil and our car crashed in Duluth, Minnesota.

My stepfather Richard worked as a motel clerk in Duluth, Minnesota. Duluth was a small town and was about 50 miles south of the Canadian border. The year was 1972 and I was 7 years old and my brother Sean was 5 years old. That winter was especially brutally cold.

The December temperature reached a negative sixty degrees. My stepfather tried to make more money working delivering newspapers from his blue Rambler to feed our small family of four. My mother would stay at home in our little apartment to stay warm. The rooms were always slightly chilly. But nothing compared to the bitter cold that was outside that apartment.  No one went outside. It was early Saturday morning and I could look out the window and see smoke coming from all the old buildings trying to produce heat. My mother told us to go with Richard my stepfather and help him delivery papers.

I was excited to get out of the chilly apartment. But I hesitated knowing how cold it was outside our little apartment. My mother dressed me and my brother in our coats she told us to put on our winter boots and gloves. Richard put on his bubuska hat and large black over coat. “Now children stay inside while I start my car.” Richard put rubber bands around the newspapers and put each newspaper bundle in a large green army bag. I looked out the front door as Richard opened it and saw smoke coming from the car and the cold that blew back took my breath away. I saw chains around each tire and a block plug into the motor. Richard pulled the block plug in out of the car and secured the chains on the tires. He closed the hood of the car and marched in. Richards beard was covered with ice. Richard yelled. “Come on kids get into the car.” Me and Sean ran excited to the Rambler. Richard opened up each door and let us in the car.  He buckled us down.

The car was pretty cold. I could hear the heater going in the car but the intensive cold outside the house was too much for the small heater in that Rambler. I had on my black boots. Right away I could feel my toes getting numb. I did not complain because we had to deliver the papers before 7am. Richard started driving the Rambler up the icy bridge in Duluth. The bridge goes over the center of town. Lake Superior is right in front of the bridge.

The car struggled to go over the icy roads. The chains on the tires helped the car to maintain some traction in the snowy road. Richard was brilliant man and memorized all the addresses of the many residents of Duluth. We drove for hours, finally me and my brother becoming restless started to fidget and fight. We were hitting each other in the small cramped car. We were yelling and fighting.  Richard kept trying to tell us to be quiet and let him deliver the newspapers. We were quiet for a while and started up again trying to get Richard’s attention yelling ha ha devil. We yelled it again ha ha devil.  Richard yelled at us to stop it. We yelled ha ha devil again and at the moment the wind started to pick up to blizzard conditions. our car started to spin in a 360 degree turns spinning all around the road. We spun around again in a 360 degree turn.  As we were spinning we were all silent. I could hear the wind hammering the car outside. The car finally spun off the road and we ended up in a ditch.

Richard got out of the car. Me and Sean did not say a word but we were crying. Richard yelled at us for teasing the devil. He said “See what happens when you tease Lucifer.” Do not ever say the word devil again. Richard started digging the car out of the snow. He shoveled for a long time in the cold snow. He got out and pushed and pulled on the car. Richard was a brilliant man so I knew he would get us out of the snow. In that small car me and my brother prayed to god to help us. Finally Richard freed the car from the snow. We got into the car. His face looked frozen. I looked outside the car window and noticed the snow stopped and the wind stopped. We silently drove home.  My stepfather brought us into the apartment. My mother took us into the home. Richard went back out into the Rambler and finished the route. He came home later that day. Half way frozen to death.

That evening my brother became deathly ill and was rushed to the hospital. My father came home and told my mother he was admitted for Pneumonia. Sean was left at the hospital he was put in an oxygen tent. The next day I became deathly ill with a bladder infection. I was rushed in for surgery to reconstruct my bladder. I had some kind of blockage. I was admitted to the hospital. The next day after my mother Hellen was also admitted for pneumonia. Richard came and visited all three of us in the hospital. Me my mother and my brother Sean were in the hospital for at least a month. Richard told me he almost lost his mind with his entire family being in the hospital at the same time.

When we finally were released from the hospital in Duluth Richard drove us home. He brought all of our hospital bags and luggage in the apartment carefully setting them down. Richard was superstitious and believed in hexes and curses. I will never forget that night in that Duluth Minnesota apartment. Richard sat us down on the couch, he was a tall slender man with greasy black hair. He had on glasses with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth with the ashes falling on the floor. He looked like a German scientist.  he looked right into my eyes and said “Carri never tease the devil.” See what happens when you tease the devil.” Me and Sean did a blood pact promise that night. We promised never to tease Lucifer ever again. We had learned our lesson.

Sent in by Carri, Copyright 2009 TrueGhostTales.com