House in the Woods

[thedemon]

I'd like to share an event that happened to a friend and myself. Whether we imagined it, or whether there's a logical explanation, I cannot say. I'd like to start by mentioning I'm a rational thinker. I love debunking hauntings, UFOs ect... I haven't had many paranormal events happen in my life, but there is a few, this is one of them, and it's a story that my best friend and I have shared with our children for years. Only he and I know it happened just as I will describe it, therefore I cannot prove anything to anyone, it's impossible. But I can provide you with an account of our experience, take from it what u will. My best friend Steven, we have been best friends since grade school, even to this day. We are both sane, and were sane then. I sometimes think back on this event, and I just can't understand how it's possible, or how two people could imagine or hallucinate the very same thing. But it's something we'll be telling our grandchildren about for years to come. It's something I don't often share with anyone outside my immediate family, so this is actually the first time I've even put it on the net. But this is a great website and it feels appropriate enough. I'll cut the foreplay and get to it.....

My friend, Steven and i done a lot of squirrel hunting, snake hunting and small game hunts as teens. We live in the south in a well wooded area. The woods we hunted in on a daily basis, we knew like the back of our hands. As well as Steven's father, who had also hunted this area for decades. We struck out one day, grabbed our rifles and went on our typical walks through our typical hotspots. We packed some canned goods, sausages and crackers, filled up our packs with supplies and off we went.

After about an hour of walking (not really hunting, just walking and talking about whatever), we came up on a fallin tree, it was huge, and we thought it to be a nice spot to pull out our crackers and food and take a break. We carried on talking about all sorts of things, laughing and just being ourselves. We saw a lizard climbing up a near by tree, and as morbid as it sounds, took a couple of turns shooting at it with our 22. Caliber rifles. Just being idiots. There we were in the middle of nowhere, acting a complete fool, laughing and just carrying on as normal friends do. We had been there at least 20 or 25 minutes, give or take, when I looked up and saw a big white house. It wasn't right over us, it was a considerable distance, but it was clear to see through the trees.

We had been in this same area for years! So we immediately thought it odd that we would have missed something so obvious. We knew every creek and stream, every water hole, and this area was nothing new to us. We knew every home and neighbor in the area, so It just didn't feel right. We didn't jump to any conclusions right away, nor the entire incident actually, until we returned home and talked to his dad about it. We weren't even remotely open minded about the paranormal, and back then, i never got seriously interested in such things. But anyways, at first we thought we had simply gotten turned around, and maybe we hiked more toward the dirt road that stretched through these woods. But after thinking a moment, we were absolutely positive that we were no where near the dirt road (or any road for that matter) and looking at our compasses, and knowing full well the way from which we came. So we simply came to the conclusion that maybe it was just a house that we had somehow missed all these years. Then it suddenly dawned on us that this house was in an extremely remote location, and for anyone to live in it would have to mean no electricity and no path in or out. If, in fact, there were no path.

So after discussing it, and viewing the house through the trees, we decided that a closer look was warranted. Normally we would never go sneaking up on someone's home, but this was so strange that we, as curious teens, just had to know. Because a home being way out there was ridiculous! So that's what we did. We walked in closer and almost came to the edge of it's yard. Yep, it had a yard. Very green and cut, neat looking. It was a small house in square feet, but not that small. It had an upper story as well. In the windows were white drapes, I remember seeing those, and they were pulled and tied as if someone were letting the sun in. I can't remember every detail, because it was so long ago (it was 1993 or 1994) and even at that time I didn't pay much attention to all details. But I do remember the clean cut grass, and the drawn drapes in the windows. I also remember it was painted white, made of wooden planks. It had a small porch on the side we were viewing, I remember the porch being blue, also made of what appeared to be wooden planks. I also remember the door being all white. Still to this day, i don't know if it was the front or back.

After sitting there crouched for a few minutes, whispering back and forth, i suggested to Steven we go around the house so I could see if a road or path lead to it. He argued that he didn't like what we were doing, blabbity blah blah and he didn't want a closer look and he didn't want to go around the house. After calling him a colourful name (it was common for us to call each other names by the way), I made my way around the right side of the house, walking along the woodline of the yard while Steven stayed crouched. On the right side, I observed pretty much the same thing. Just windows with more drapes. Continuing, I finally made my way to the opposite side of the home (exactly opposite from the side Steven was still crouched) and this side looked very similar to the other side, it also had a porch, and i do recall the porch to be painted blue. I still hadn't found a path to the house (I seriously actually expected to find one), and from my current viewpoint, looking across the yard, I could also see enough to just know without any doubt, this house had absolutely no road to it, not even a path from what I could tell.

This gave me a really nervous feeling and from that point I just wanted to get out of there. The feeling of anything paranormal was zero. I had no suspicion other than it being a home belonging to a very reclusive person who just chose to live that way. I made my way back to Steven, and that's when we went back to the felled tree, grabbed our packs and headed back home. On the way back, we discussed the home, and I was trying to convince him the house had no path. We finally walked in the door to his home. His mother and dad was there, and Steven and I went on to explain to his father what we had found. His father was a very quiet and modest person. A man who usually sat alone with himself in his armchair, ignoring everyone and everything around him lol. Good guy tho. But the moment Steven mentioned we had found a house with no path, he sat straight up and had a facial expression I can only describe as surprised. Him having a facial expression at all was shocking enough to me. He inquired us further for details, and we explained where we saw it and the details of the house as well as we could remember.

He went on to tell us a story that Steven claimed he had never told him before. He told us he found the exact same home in the same area as we described. And he told us we would only see it once. It's a ghost house he explained, and his uncle had also found it many years ago. He said it only appears once for those who have never seen it. He had no other information really, and he didn't know why the home appears, or the history of that area. Before he told us this story, we seriously had no notion of a paranormal incident, we were thinking it was better explained by the hermit theory. But after hearing this, we decided we were going back. Again he told us the house is gone, ''you won't find it''.

So off we went again, into the woods, tracing our path right back to the same area. We didn't find it right off, because we were actually looking for the house as a marker. We were sure we were in the vicinity, so we kept looking, going back and forth and around in circles it seemed. So finally I suggested not looking for the house, but for the felled tree as a marker. Being honest, when we first went back I was sure we would find the house again, so i didn't think for one moment that his dad's story was true. Finally it happened. After running to felled tree after fallen tree, we found our tree. We found our empty cans of Vienna sausages, our drink cartons and our litter. Even down to the bullet holes in the tree from our lizard killing attempt. No house. Absolutely nothing but trees.

We went to the exact spot where the house should have been, and were standing in the midst of briars, bushes, vegetation growth and trees. As I stood there trying to rationalize what was happening, it actually took a few moments for the reality to set in; and when it did, I can't even describe in words the raw emotion and feeling that pumped through every vein in my body, as every hair stood on end. The best way I could describe it would be 'fear'. Pure terror. For a few seconds we stood there in silence, looking around. I don't remember Steven saying anything and I don't remember saying anything either. Our next course of action was a break in the silence as Steven suggested we get out of there quickly as possible, and we did. We ran and ran and ran until we had decided we were a safe distance from that spot. We didn't say much on the way back either, but we finally got back home.

It's been many years ago, but Steven and i occasionally talk about it. We have had some very deep discussions concerning this event. Sometimes, I play the 'rational one'. Arguing that we somehow shared a hallucination, because I have read about it before. And he argues it's paranormal. And then sometimes he's the 'rational one', having to convince me it wasn't paranormal. There have been times we both agree on the hallucination theory, and other times we both agree on the paranormal theory. Truth being, we just don't know. But we do both know that there are events that happen to people every day, that can't just be explained away.

I realize, if this does get any replies, that it might get picked apart, analysed and just wrote off as two idiots hallucinating or even making it up. But it's expected. I'm just putting this out there because I've never done it before. It's 'our' story. An event that has made me more open minded about the paranormal. I believe that many people do imagine things, and many experiences can be explained by the human mind and it's tricks. But I also believe that many people experience actual paranormal events. And this is mine. Cheers.

Edited March 22, 2015 by xxxdemonxxx

[docyabut2]

There could have been a house there at one time that is now gone, but you could have seeing into the past as everything is recorded in time. Some thing like rewinding a movie.

[Q-C]

I love your story! Growing up hanging around the woods (however small they were), my friends and I would have loved a mystery like this! I've never heard one like it before.

I believe you knew the woods well, especially with two of you, to not have gotten turned around, although of course it can't be completely ruled out.

Random thoughts:

Perhaps you stopped at the right place (the fallen tree) during the right season- bare trees making the house easier to see?

Maybe it was a fairly new fallen tree and you hadn't used it to rest on before and thus to easily view the house?

You walked an hour so you could have covered a lot of ground and only happened upon this place once? Same with your friend's father and his father's uncle. All four of you just happened to come to the right place in the woods only one time?

Did this happen when you were 12 or 18? Are you sure your father or his uncle or other family members hadn't talked about this ghost house as you guys were growing up? Was it a local legend retold? Friend's dad was pulling your leg?

Although why you couldn't find it again after finding the fallen tree, I have no idea. But again not a complete impossibility,

Great fun read anyway! And thank you for breaking that up into paragraphs!

Edited March 22, 2015 by QuiteContrary

[Likely Guy]

No suggestions here, just thanks for sharing your story.

[Patient Zero]

Cool story, well written too.

A glitch in time, i enjoyed it, thanks for sharing.

[thedemon]

NP. Occasionally I wonder, considering it's been so many years, that I might be forgetting something. Something that would explain it. Maybe a house that was there, and we just forgot a home was actually there.

But then i remember how we found our trash, our bullet holes, and the story by his dad. Still trips me out to this day. There's a few minor details I left out. Like me trying to get Steven to go knock on the door with me ha! He wasn't having none of it, and I wasn't going by myself. I figured it was just a reclusive survivalist type person, and I was way too curious. But I knew all the other residents within' a 2 or 3 mile radius (there weren't that many actually, it was a small community out in the boonies). We never did mention it to any of them tho, and I sorta regret that.

We sometimes talk about what might have happened had we knocked. Who might have come to the door, if anyone. Or what might have happened had we went in and the home vanish with us in it! We could have perhaps, ended up on a milk carton. But still, there's the part of me that thinks maybe there's a rational explanation somehow.

I also have a paranormal story passed down to me by my grandfather. I'll post it later. The man wasn't a liar, and whether it actually happened or not doesn't matter, because I could see in his eyes when he told me, that 'he believed it happened'. I'll post it when I get time. Thanks for the comments guys, I enjoyed finally getting this one out there.

Edited March 23, 2015 by xxxdemonxxx

[thedemon]

Quiet Contrary. I'm using a tablet so quoting isn't working out for me. Hopefully you'll get my response this way.

I think some of those are possible, but there are so many aspects to the experience, it just wouldn't explain it all. I can tell you with a certainty, we were in the right spot. Even down the the place we crouched. That wasn't the last time we visited it either. We went back time and again to relive it, hoping for it to happen again.

And nah, we never heard a legend or any stories. I also had never heard a story of a vanishing house at that time. We didn't have internet or things like that to have gotten it anywhere else. And whether his dad was telling the truth, I'll never know. Maybe he might have played it off on our fear.

And whether the uncle, and Steven's dad had experienced it in the same exact spot, I can't be sure. We had a radius of an area in the woods that we stayed, and we told him the general direction, basically. We never took his dad down to the spot or anyone else for that matter. We went back a few times, and even built a tee pee in the same area about a year later. We've never saw it again or had any other type of experience in those woods.

[thedemon]

And to be honest, had the house looked run down, or aging, we might not have thought much of it. Other than how we might have missed it. It was the fact the yard was so green and cut so nicely. Draped windows, and I remember there being some other stuff in the yard that neither of us paid any attention to. Could have been a bed for flowers or other plants, I can't be sure. But it wasn't a really big yard. But what got us talking the most was how livable it looked. It looked occupied. We knew every neighbor in the area. I simply don't see how we could have not known a homeowner, even if it were a recluse. People, even recluses have to come out eventually. Even people in the 1800's went to their nearest town for supplies. Just so many oddities about this.

But i seriously hate the thought that there's a reasonable explanation somewhere, and I'm being foolish and naive. I would never dare tell this story to anyone like me, in real life. Because when I hear ghost or UFO stories, I go with the logical explanations. And it sometimes feels odd to write off someone else experience as delusion or confusion, when I can't even explain my own lol.

It's a doozy.

Edited March 23, 2015 by xxxdemonxxx

[Jackscolon]

Thank you for sharing! As you say itsa personal experience and it is impossible for anyone else to connect emotionally to what happened to you and your friend. Being a sceptic myself it would be easy to tear your story apart as you say and offer some concocted logical explanation for the event. But instead I'll just post it in my mental "hmm, that was weird"- file. My father has always told us kids how, he as a young boy one night woke up on the farm he was living and saw that the "moon" had landed on the fields just outside his Windows. To this day we struggle to get more information from him, other than "a big ball of light" moving over the fields. My father is one of those "firmly down to earth"- people and does not believe in UFO's. He's not interested in talking about the story, but will admit that he off course today know it couldn't be the moon. Even with that insight he has somehow labeled this event as being a deeply personal one and refuses to discuss any other explanation of what it was he saw. I myself has experienced quite a few things in my life that I cant explain. I'm still convinced that they must have had some kind of rational explanation, but even so deep inside I still have some kind of emotional connection to each of these happenings that I cant explain. I remain a sceptic but still hope for a day where I can be proven wrong. Until that day it is stories such as yours that keeps this hope alive.

[KariW]

I loved that story, and it had me on the edge of my seat! Thank you so much for sharing it! I have to wonder if perhaps your experience has to do with the nature of "time", and the ability of time to fold back upon itself like a soft ribbon, instead of being hard and linear like a stiff ruler. I think you may have found yourself at a point where present and past intersected one another so too speak. I agree with others in this thread that you most probably experienced a glitch in time......

[thedemon]

Yeah we have discussed that. The time thing. It's an issue so misunderstood and not understood at all by the scientific community. It might take a thousand years of extreme progression, but I think one day science might be able to determine what cause these 'glitches'.

Think about it. Many of the things we know as common knowledge today, were considered products of the paranormal 300 years ago. The pace of technology is phenomenal in itself. For thousands of years, people lived so simple. Everyone a survivalist. But just the past 200 years, and especially the last 100, the advancement of technology has just exploded. Mind numbing to really think about.

[Moon Gazer]

That's a cool story. I've no idea what to make of the "ghost house" or what could have happened, but I enjoyed reading about it. If you were a writer / producer I bet you could spin that in to a fabulous book or film by creating a story around that