Okay...first off, sorry I took so long to get back into the swing of things. I'm still settling back down after getting back from holiday, and it's only this weekend that I'm feeling at home again, and everything is all back in order...it also allows me to share with you an interesting experience I had while on my travels...

As I posted back before christmas, I was going on a little road trip to visit some friends of mine about the UK, delivering presents and cheer, much like Santa Claus without the flashy red coat and beard. I ended up looping as far south as Stafford, and as far north as a little town called Drumladrocket, a couple of miles from Loch Ness (I had alot of online friends I wanted to say hello to).

Allow me to set the scene for you then...just outside of Motherwell, I pull up at a rural B&B for the night before heading into the highlands. This would be about day five of the trip. The place was a nice little single storied cottage that sat beside an offshoot from the main road. The veiw was just endless rolling hills and farms, and far enough from the road that you couldn't hear the traffic...in short, seemingly a very nice place to stop for a night.

At this point, I should point out what I had taken a few friends along for the drive, partly because I wasn't too keen on the idea of meeting up with people I met online all by my lonesome, just incase There four of us, three girls (Katie, Shannan and Becca) and Katie's boyfriend (Allan...who will hereafter be refered to as Shady...long story, don't ask) and we paired up so we'd only have to pay for two rooms, me with Shannan, and Katie and Allan next door.

Place seemed to be the nice little place it appeared to be all evening. It wasn't so much a commercial B&B, just a normal house furnished as one with rooms rented out by the old couple that owned it, and was overall pretty cosy. We just spent our time resting up, ate dinner, and went to bed somewhere around 1am.

I don't think I'd been asleep two hours before I was woken...just woke up to a dark room, completely silent, without any idea of exactly what had disturbed me. After a few moments though I heard a creaking outside, and reasoned that someone moving around outside the room must have woken me. Thinking it was one of my friends, I went out to see what it was, and met the old guy who ran the place with his wife standing in the front porch clutching a broom.

He said that he'd woken up in the night and gone to the bathroom (he wasn't very modest about that part either ), and when he switched in the light the fuse had blown, which apparantly happened quite a lot. He'd been about to go the fuse box, which was supposed to be on one of the outside walls, but the moment he'd set foot outside the door he'd had to rush back inside. He didn't exactly know why.

So, being the prime of her life young 'un I am, I said I'd do it, and off I went outside, following his directions...I made about two steps before I had this sudden sensation of seriously not wanting to be outside...It's very hard to explain, and about the only thing I could liken it to was when I was a child and lie awake at night terrified of monsters under the bed or whatnot.

Either way, it didn't take long for me to back into the house, close the door as quickly as I could, and decide that Shady would be better served waking up, and going about it. As much as he didn't like being woken, he groggily complied. When he headed outside though he kept stopping and starting, looking around him uncomfortably and, when he came back he practically slammed the door.

He described it as feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, as though he was being watched from just beyond what little sight the near pitch dakrness outside allowed. The three of us just drifted off after a minute or two, the owner checking over all the bolts in the door first before doing so.

When I got back to my room, I tried to go to sleep, but the feeling not only returned it actually got worse. Eventually, I realised that there was a direct line of sight from the window to my bed, and it was only after I dragged my blanket over to a chair in the corner that I actually eased up a bit...didn't sleep a whole lot though, if at all.

Now, as I've quite firmly established, I don't believe in ghosts and goblins However, what I do know is that three people experienced a very real sense of dread for no apparant reason. I've ruled out paranormal in my own mind to be honest, not sure if it was just the pitch darkness getting to us, or just some prowler wandering around the countryside trying to get an eyefull through people's windows

However, it was an interesting story in a journey that was otherwise uneventful...wondered if anyone had a take on it? Just, for the love of god, don't propose that I'm being stalked by an evil ninja

Well the power of suggestion can be very strong - the fact that you and your friend each knew the previous person/people who tried to venture outside got spooked would of made you nervious to start with. God knows that sometimes after reading something disturbing on this forum before going to bed makes me spooked sometimes too

Only way you could know is if a cat was with you . If the cat was acting very strange ( staring intently concentrated on things that are not their ect. rather then sleep like normal cats do ) then you may have had something .

Definitely the work of an evil ninja.

It sounds like you had a good trip! Having been on many a remote camping trip, I can vouch for the fact that fear has a way of spreading between people faster than the flu when the conditions are right.

Being in an old B&B, in the dark, surrounded by strangers in a power outage can put anyone on edge. Add to that the owner being scared when you woke up, I think I'd be scared too. It was scary enough just reading about it, let alone being there.

Yeah, cats have to be the biggest wind up merchants

Seraphina

Pitch darkness can have a very, very clostraphobic effect on people. I dont know if you suffer from it but i do and the feelings you descibed were almost identical. Even though you were in the outdoors and you knew there was more room if you can't see it does it really matter whereas indoors you know your confines.

Oh an it wasn't a plaace just outside or nearby wishaw was it?

Shady sounds like some kind of a wimp, you should have brught along a big strong buff fella like me o_O;; XD!!

Who knows. I mean, the power of suggestion can't completely explain it, especially since this "Shady" guy didn't seem too worried about it until he actually got outisde.

About that.

Sack the ghost tales i wanna know why your callin him shady now .

Did he make a move on 1 of you behind his burds bak??
Cos 1 guy and 3 lassies all cooped up. u know that'd be enough to tempt anyone

lol...no...

We call him Shady because he goes by the online name "Shadowsleet", which a guy called Aven eventually shortened to "Shady"....which pissed him off a great deal because, not long after, everyone started going "so Shady...are you slim?"

The name stuck however, and he's actually been known as Shady since before I met him, and as such everyone (even his brother) call him that...the only person that doesn't is Katie.

And no, he's never made a pass at me behind his girlfriend's back He's a sweet, lovable kinda guy...and a dependable one, which was why I was very surprised that he was as bothered about going outside as I was, even if he did go and get the job done.

I am slightly claustrophobic...but when I say 'slightly', I mean I only get worried in extremely cramped conditions; elevators and the like don't bother me at all. I live on the suburbs of Paisley, and there are plenty of rural stretches nearby that I've walked around at nighttime, pretty much able to see the ground beneath my feet and that's it...but nothing has ever made me feel the same way I did out there.

Just for the record, the "power of suggestion" is the same conclusion I'd come to...especially given we were in unfamiliar surroundings. Another reason I posted this up was to see how many people tried to explain it logically, and how many people started with the ghost, ghoul, and black cat affairs.

That doesn't mean I'm not interested in the black cat affairs though Overall, the whole thing was extremely strange, and I'm still wondering about it today...whether I believe it or not, I still would like to hear people's take on it all, or any similar situations you've been in, and what you believed caused them.

I didn't know Paisley had ne suburbs lol like feegie park:D

Only kiddin.

It doesn't really sound like anything paranormal happened. It was late at night in the dark, and you were unintentionally scaring one another. Either that or it was the work of the devil. Yeah, that's it.

Well, being the supersticious person that I am (believing in everything, or at least that there's some logical explanation (not always a non-evil one)), I have these feelings all the time. Step outside for a minute at midnight to untangle the cat's collars from a bush or something always made me a little jumpy. Usually I'd first call them with my back against the house, then if they didn't come, I'd cautiously go get them.
A strange experience almost like yours, Seraphina. It was actually a lot like yours.
A few years back, when I was around maybe 8, my family and I went to Montreal for the weekend. We found a nice bed and breakfast and settled in for the night. Five minutes after we went in, my sister realized she forgot her book and pillow out in the car. My mom gave me the keys and sent me out to get them.
So I went through the dark hallway to the door and put my shoes on. I had a little voice in my head not to go out there, but I did anyway.
As soon as I stepped onto the sidewalk outside, the hair on my neck literally stood on end and I dived inside the door and slammed it.
My mom asked me what was wrong and if I had the pillow and book. Then I remembered my task and told her I had to get my coat on.
So I zipped my coat up, took a deep breath and ran out to the car as fast as I could, opened the door, and grabbed the stuff.
I slammed the door, and ran to the building. This whole time I felt like I was being watched.
When I got to the door I tried to open it and it was locked so I used the handy-dandy key I had and opened the door.
That last part at the door was the scariest part, as it felt like whatever was watching me was running right at me.
As all my stories, I never told anyone that I really knew unless it was close to home, because all these people around here don't believe in that stuff.

Ghosts? Nah! PAranormal? NAh! Michael Jackson creeping up behind you? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! (Runs screaming into the wall "THUMP!!! KUUWUMPH" OOWWW we're not Kansas anymore."
Ok seriously I think that most likely there was something out there waching you; although I am willing to bet that what ever it was probably could have been taken care of if hit hard enough. There is a part of me that does believe that it could be something "otherwordly", but I would put that option down as highly unlikely.

Can I ask if you or the owner turned your back away from the door, Seraphina? Even if it was just at a 90 degree angle. I've heard from several sources that as a natural safe-guard humans are insecure with their backs exposed, even more so with men. So, if you stepped out the door and turned...well that could explain it. I know I get nervious just walking through the house at night, and it's always the feeling that something is watching me from behind. I've done the whole running out to the car late at night thing OneEye posted many a time, with the same results. Oddly enough, I've always got everyone's back. I'm usually the one who takes the end of the line in a group, thus leaving my back exposed. Also, I find the country at night scary. All those old campfire stories about axemurders lose in the countryside sticks with you, and when it's dark you can't help but imagine on some level...

Bah, hope that helps. Nice story, by the way.

i know its annoying to have "its paranormal!" thrown in your face everytime you tell of a strange experience, but sometimes its the only thing that fits. plus, deep inside you know yourself whether its otherworldly or not. this instinct and utter terror and revolting that we feel in the pit of our stomachs or in the deepest places of our hearts is built into us all, those feelings are there to protect us from what would harm us or turn our lives upside down.

just because its common dosnt mean to say that its normal, in the context of what we as humans consider normal. i wouldnt just write it of as just a fear of the dark in an unfamiliar place or shared fear amoung those present. the dread you describe is not of the same of the fear felt when others around you are frightened. the fear you describe comes from deep inside yourself.

other's oppinions (like myself) will always be plentiful, but only you know whether or not not you had reason to be alarmed or if you were just reacting to those around you. plus, its just as possible that that you made it all up just cause you were curious 'bout what we would say.

lots o' love
katie

i get that feeling all the time, especially when im alone in the house...like now *shudders*

Maybe it's just bed and breakfasts?

I've been decieved. Good story, maybe you and Stephen King should hook up. It was fun reading some of the replies though. Thanks Seraphina, for getting our brains workin'