Halloween Special: McNary, Indian Camp

WARNING: STORIES MAY BE TOO SCARY FOR YOUNGER AUDIENCES

The names of the individuals have been changed to protect their identities.

The small town of McNary is kind of split in half. One one side is the main town, but on the outskirts is a part of McNary that the people like to call Indian Camp. It's been called that since before political correctness had a place in society.

When the roads used to be made of dirt and the forest was thicker, a girl went hitch hiking. As she headed for the highway, she ran flat into a hairy creature standing on two legs. She didn't scream, but turned around and walked back home. She tried to keep calm, because she was afraid that if she ran, it would chase her.

Closer to the old sawmill are a row of houses. There, a man I'll call Randy hooked up with a woman I'll call Marie. She had two children. One night, Randy and Marie decided to grab a pizza and a movie to bring back home to them. Everybody was excited and the kids were happy to stay at home.

When Randy and Marie finally returned to the house, it was night, and they found the kids outside. The kids ran to the car when they pulled in. Randy and Marie were a little upset the kids were outside in the cold and said they were supposed to have stayed inside. Marie asked them what they were doing out there.

The kids said they didn't like it in the house. The cupboards had started opening and closing by themselves, things had moved around on their own, and shadows had begun moving on the wall in the shapes of men. There was an eerie aura inside the house, like they were being watched.

Lots of the houses in Indian Camp are made of brick. New ones have been built, but they're not brick. If you ever slap brick, you know it doesn't make much noise, and it just hurts your hand if you slap it hard enough.

Two kids I'll call Nick and Jane were watching TV in the house alone. The sun had already gone down, but there was still just enough light to see outside. They had thin sheets as curtains on the windows, but the sheets weren't up yet. The house was an open floor plan so the kitchen was visible from the living room. There was one small window in the kitchen and a picture window in the living room.

All of a sudden, something smacked the brick wall near the kitchen window Boom-Boom-Boom! It was a staccato sound and it traveled across the house to the picture window, where it stopped. Nick and Jane thought someone was just trying to scare them. Later, when Nick realized nobody could make a sound that loud on the brick.

When Nick was much younger, he was playing with his friend at the end of his driveway. The whole family was outside just enjoying the evening air. From the mountain, a little under half a mile away, an eerie scream split the air. Nick said it was the ugliest scream he'd ever heard. Everybody stopped what they were doing, and then promptly ran in the house. Nick's friend sped back home.

At the same time, on the other side of Indian Camp, a group of kids were playing inside their house. Their mom suddenly stiffened up and she told everybody to shut up. They all fell still and she listened. A foul stench was coming through the window.

"Get away from the windows!" she snapped.

She sent the older boy to close the windows and then pulled everyone into the center of the house.

Near where the road leads to the main town, other people saw something big and hairy, standing on two feet, watching. They didn't know what it was. Nobody dared to go out to it.

Later, everyone told their stories to each other and realized it had all happened at the same time.

I hope you enjoyed these stories. And thank you to Nick for telling them to me and scaring my brains out.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!