Real Nightmares (Book 8)

Brad Steiger

Description

BANG!! Screech! Rattle! Thump!

From blood-curdling whispers to miraculous events, the good, the bad and the frightful unseen presences await you in this latest Real Nightmares compilation of surprising tales to make you think and shudder.

Explore the strange world of the unknown with paranormal researcher extraordinaire Brad Steiger, an author of thousands of books and articles on mysterious secrets and unexplained phenomena.

You’ll feel a tingle down your spine when you enter the world of Real Nightmares: Phantoms, Apparitions and Ghosts.

Sujets

• Unexplained Phenomena
• Body (disambiguation)
• Spirituality
• Supernatural
• Brad Steiger

Informations

• Publié par: Visible Ink Press
• Date de parution: 01 octobre 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781578594375
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

REAL NIGHTMARES

Phantoms, Apparitions and Ghosts

B r a d S t e i g e r

8

C O N T E N T S

The Phantom Hun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The Vardogr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Mothman—Harbinger of Death . . . . . . . . 16 A Nurse Appeared to Bring Little Buddy the Medicine He Needed . . . . . . 27 His Loyalty to His Friends Brought His Spirit Back to Guide Them . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Confronting a Real Vampire in the Castle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 While Out-of-Body in Extreme Pain, He Encountered an Angel . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Fiery Ghosts in the Home of Joan Crawford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

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F R O M T H E A U T H O R , B R A D S T E I G E R

real nightmare occurs when you experience a fright A ening encounter with something strange and un known, and you know without question that you are not asleep, that you are not dreaming. You know with every ounce of your being that the chilling encounter is real. I first experienced real nightmares when I was a child. Today, my sister and I attribute our insomnia to the ghostly visitors that walked through our bedrooms nearly every night and kept us awake. Our farmhouse was built on the site of the old stagecoach stop, and it seemed that some otherworldly passengers were still trying to catch the last stage out of this dimension. It didn’t help when our parents tore the old house down and built a new home on the same site. Our spirit com panions still appeared as shadows moving about the house and amused themselves by knocking on the walls, stomping about with heavy feet, and opening and clos ing doors. Growing up with real nightmares on a regu lar basis prepared me for the nights in my adulthood when I would investigate haunted houses with a team of paranormal researchers and encounter a wide variety of otherworldly beings. [Continued on p. 56]

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The Phantom Hun y friend John Pendragon of Tunbridge Wells, England, M sent me the eerie account of the “Phantom Hun” who was seen in 1916 well behind the British lines between Laventie and Houplines to the northeast of Bethune, France. According to Pendragon, the story was first made public in the 1930s, when Edwn T. Woodhall (late of Scot land Yard and the Secret Service) wrote his reminiscences.

It was the practice during World War I (c. 1916) to earmark numerous isolated sites for reserve dumps of ex plosives that could be drawn upon in an emergency. Such dumps were usually in abandoned villages or farmhouses, well away from the range of enemy guns, and were guarded by one or two soldiers, the guards being changed weekly. From the guard’s point of view, such jobs were “cushy,” though the loneliness of a deserted ruin could often be rather irksome.

Real Nightmares: 8

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The Phantom Hun

One such dump was located between Laventie and Houplines, and the explosives were hidden in the base ment of a ruined farmhouse close to a derelict village. The guards were given rations for a week, plenty of fuel, cook ing utensils, books and magazines, and perhaps a dart board. The men used to say that it wasn’t so bad during the day, but nights were apt to be eerie—even if one did not believe in ghosts. From far away there came the rumble of the guns and the frequent ascent of Verey lights. Occasionally an air plane droned over. Although they were in the midst of war, it seemed strangely remote to those in the ruined farmhouse near Laventie. Then, gradually, stories began to circulate about the site. It seemed, according to reports, that always around the full moon, strange sounds were heard as if the guards were not the only inhabitants of the shambles of the farmhouse. Unaccountable footsteps were heard on the cobbled road that ran past the dump, and one man reported that when the moon was full he had seen a figure some 25 yards from where he stood. He challenged the figure, and receiving no reply, fired his rifle. To his amazement the figure vanished. Since it was suspected that an enemy agent was at work, the intelligence service was informed, and an officer— Edwin T. Woodhall on the first occasion—was sent with a French policeman to augment the guard. The gendarme was chosen in case the arrest of a civilian was necessary. The first night passed uneventfully enough. The men had a good fire, plenty of candles and food, and a couple of packs of cards, and after they had amused themselves for a while, they arranged to take turns to keep watch. It was on the second night’s vigil that the strange manifes tation occurred. Woodhall was taking the first two hours Real Nightmares: 8 5

The Phantom Hun

watch while the gendarme and the soldier slept. The lat ter soon settled themselves and fell asleep, but a little over an hour later they found Woodhall shaking them awake and telling them to listen. The awakened men listened as they silently reached for their weapons. Above the cellar hideout there came the unmistakable sound of ironshod boots on the road that ran a few yards away. So heavy and so definite were the footfalls that the vibration caused one or two pieces of plaster and earth to drop from the ceiling of the cellar. With Woodhall leading, the three men crept to the top of the steps and into the moonlight. Instantly they saw a dark figure move from its place near a wall and van ish into the deep shadow cast by the buildings. For an hour or more, they searched the area but found nobody, not even a stray animal disturbed by the uncanny silence that had fallen upon the moonlit ruins.When daylight came, a more thorough search was made, but again there was no indication of any unauthorized person being on the site or in the derelict village beyond. The following night brought spectacular events. Again the watch was kept, but the men who were resting did not slumber. They were too expectant and tense. At 2:55 a.m.—a little later than on the previous night—there came once again that characteristic sound of heavy iron shod boots clumping toward them in the darkness. Silently the three men crept to the top of the steps and, remaining in the shadows, gazed to the right towards a moonlit wall. A few yards from where they stood, their weapons ready, a German soldier knelt by the wall turn ing over some fallen bricks. Spellbound, they watched him. There was no doubt in their minds that he was as earthly as themselves. His spiked helmet gleamed in the Real Nightmares: 8 6