Ghosts

ince Ancient Times people have been
claiming to be haunted by the souls of

the formerly living. It’s not uncommon
to find people who say they have had a
ghoulish encounter, even here at the Other
Press,

An encounter: Supernatural loves me
When I was younger—maybe about seven
years old—I shared the master bedroom
with mom. There was a separate washroom
in the bedroom, and if you leave the door
open, you can see into the bedroom from
the washroom’s mirror over the sink. It was a
normal, bright day, and I was simply washing
my hands with the washroom door open,
but while I was doing that, I looked through
the mirror and there was a woman. She was
relatively transparent, but solid enough
that I could see every detail about her. She
was tall and thin, had her hair tied in a bun,
looked about 40 to 50 years old with a young
face. She was wearing a casual gown with
many frills. She didn’t look at me, she just
walked straight past the washroom entrance.
Nonetheless, that freaked me out and gave
me a fear of mirrors that I still have (though
I’m sure it'd have been much worse if she
did look at me). Every time I talk about her
to anyone, | have this uneasy feeling that
she doesn’t like it—as if we’re connected or
something.

Apparently, I used to see or feel ghosts
in a house when I was a toddler, too. I’d go
into empty rooms and talk to “someone”
and often cry and seem terrorized, so much
so that my family moved out. Even now, I

 

never quite feel alone. I started getting sleep
paralysis hallucinations last year as well,
which doesn't help. I never wanted to be
spiritual and still can’t say I fully believe in
anything, but if it is real, the supernatural
loves me. - S.K.

An encounter: Ghosted by a ghost

I worked at a movie theatre a few years ago
and my managers would always tell the
employees that the place was haunted. I
didn’t believe it, but I did get creeped out in
some parts of the theatre. One morning |
was opening concession by myself and went
to the back room to get some ice. As I was
looking down shoveling ice into a bucket, I
saw in my periphery someone open the door,
walk into the back room, and come up to me.
I didn’t see who it was since I was looking
down at the time, but I saw some black shoes
right in front of me. I assumed it was one of
my coworkers, and since I was pretty good
friends with everyone who worked there at
the time, I started to make a comment about
how much | hated scooping ice. I looked up
mid-sentence and quickly realized there no
one standing there. I don’t believe in ghosts,
but I was thoroughly spooked. I ran out of
the back room immediately; we didn’t need
ice that bad anyway. - J.B.

An encounter: Possession
This was based ona true story from my
mom?’s first-hand experience. It was almost
midnight and my mom and her church
mates were about to finish their weekly
prayer meeting in their church—when
suddenly, one of their church mates came
screaming for help. She said that a girl in
her workplace was possessed. Quickly,
they came into the scene, and what they
saw was a violent, possessed young
lady resisting four security guards.
Next to them was a known witch
doctor in town, trying to cast out
the demon(s) from her. None of
them, neither the guards nor the
witch doctor, were successful in
controlling the lady. My mom
and her church mates took charge
of the situation. Through some
sort of exorcism, they effectively
cast out the demon(s) in the
lady’s body. After, the girl was
relieved. My mom then asked
her what happened. She carefully
explained that as she was heading
towards the washroom, she
saw alongside her five gigantic
and shining beings—which she
specifically emphasized to be
like the “Buddha figurine” in the
workplace—completely staring at
her. The next thing she knew, she
was possessed. - E.M.

Bigfoot

nlike the other urban legends, the
| origin story of Bigfoot is actually

documented. In 1958, Andrew
Genzoli, a journalist for the Humboldt Times,
gota letter from a reader talking about
loggers in California finding mysterious,
large footprints. He published it with a joke
about finding a relative of the Abominable
Snowman, and people really responded to it.
As such, a fellow reporter at the paper began
to cover the footprint story, reporting that
the loggers had given the supposed creature
a name—Bigfoot. To this day, many people
report encountering the great beast.

An encounter: One small step for bigfoot,
one big step for sasquatch-kind

Back when I was foolish enough to hitchhike,
I was fortunate enough to meet a cool man
on the way to pick his dog up from the vet.

After talking for awhile, I asked the
man about the most interesting things that
happen in the area, and he immediately
retorted with “I know you'll think I’m crazy,
but I do have an interesting story.” The area
apparently had a history of bigfoot reports.
Apparently, a woman in the area reported
getting lifted up by a bigfoot, slung over its
shoulder, and then dropped off in the middle
of nowhere.

He also spoke of a man living ina
mountain cabin who reported constant and
consistent “human-like shrieks, screams,
and howls” coming from the forest, but
the sounds were distinctly louder and
more guttural than any human could utter,
according to the man in the cabin. Several
people have reported these unexplained
noises, which is no surprise considering that
BC has the most bigfoot sightings in Canada,
according to the Bigfoot Field Researchers
Organization. My driver went on to explain
that he actually had his own sasquatch
experience.

One day, when he was in his car waiting
for his friend near the edge of a forest, he
decided to take a quick nap. Before he could
nap however, he heard a thumping in the
trails—the sound of a creature running.
Being an experienced hunter who knew
the running sounds of deers and bears (the
most common creatures in the forest) he
was confused. He has never heard a running
sound in the forest like that one. He said
that it sounded like the creature was running
on two legs and was running at an extreme
speed—yet was also very heavy.

After dismissing his confusion, he
decided to attempt a nap once again. As he
tried to fall asleep, he heard a great heaving
pant at his window. Paralyzed in fear, his
eyes were open, but he couldn't turn his
head. All he saw in his peripheral vision was
a great mass of brown fur. - J.M.