We asked YOU to send in a summer ghost story — all starting with the same prompt: It’s a dark summer night. Neil hears a strange sound in the woods. Cautiously, he walks into the shadowy forest to investigate. You all took it from there. Grab a seat by the campfire, and ready your spine to be tingled…
It’s a dark summer night. Neil hears a strange sound in the woods. Cautiously, he walks into the shadowy forest to investigate. Suddenly, there is a loud howl of wind, chilling him! Instead of rushing out to the field behind him, he begins to walk toward the darkest corner of the tree-clad reserve, where he comes into contact with a…SKINWALKER! Skinwalkers are Navajo witches that have the ability to shapeshift into different forms, and this particular apparition transforms into Neil’s worst fear, DEATH! The phantom grabs him by the leg, pulling him into a deep, pitch-black ditch filled with spikes. As Neil awaits his fate, he wakes up with a jolt, realizing it was only a nightmare.
—Nika S.
It’s a dark summer night. Neil hears a strange sound in the woods. Cautiously, he walks into the shadowy forest to investigate.
A rush of goosebumps quickly ran through him as he realized he was wearing only the bunny slippers he received as a gift for his 50th birthday and the leopard print undies he was sleeping in prior to hearing the sound.
Hearing it again he delicately pranced through the woods towards it. The sound reminded him of something. It was the soft voice of something not quite all there, as if it were calling to him from a different dimension. It sounded like “a matta” repeated over and over. As he pinpointed the sound, he saw a soft, purplish glow that threaded in time with the soft words “a matta, a matta.”
Neil shouted out “What’s ‘a matta’?” in frustration as the recognizable sound still eluded him. Suddenly his grandmother appeared hold a purple candle saying, “Nothings the matter, I’m out hunting herbs for the marinara.”
—Mike S.
It’s a dark summer night. Neil hears a strange sound in the woods. Cautiously, he walks into the shadowy forest to investigate.
The normally bustling sounds of wildlife have vanished, replaced with the soft crunch of Neil’s boots in the fallen leaves and an eerie silence. His flashlight illuminates a dim path ahead, it’s light shaking in synchronization with his hands.
The wind slices through the woods, through his thick flannel shirt and into his bones. It carries with it soft whispers, their words indecipherable except for one. Watching.
A chill spreads down his spine. The flashlight goes out. The new moon blankets the world around him in absolute darkness.
The whispers grow louder, they surround him. Neil holds his breath, hoping it will not hear him. Hoping he will fade into the invisibility of the dark.
He can hear it breathing, and then he can feel its warm breath on his skin. His heartbeat quickens.
A blood curdling scream pierces the silence! Almost as sharply as the scream began, the forest returns to silence. Except for the sound of the body dragging across the damp forest floor. Except for the soft drip of sanguine liquid that falls from the blade. Except for whispers that would forever be unanswered.
Neil smiles into the darkness. The hunt is just beginning.
—Brooke L.
It’s a dark summer night. Neil hears a strange sound in the woods. Cautiously, he walks into the shadowy forest to investigate. At first, he can’t see anything…but he can certainly hear something. Way out there, amidst the foliage. Shhhhh – bump. Shhhhh – bump. Something dragging … something clomping. Shhhh – bump. Shhh – bump. Suddenly, Neil summons his trusty guard turtle and bids the turtle investigate what’s out there. The turtle is obedient to Neil and slowly slithers off into the brush…Neil waits for what seems like hours. And it truly is hours. But then, the sound changes. Shhhh – bump – CLONK. Shhhh – bump – CLONK. Oh my God! It sounds like it’s getting closer! If only Neil had a flashlight. But, wait – he does! That one, over there by the tent, the one from the Family Dollar store with the failing batteries. Well, it’s better than nothing, right? Neil lifts the flashlight with a slightly shaking hand and aims it into the murky gloom. It doesn’t work. A good, solid shake causes a dim beam to shine. Neil can only see about three feet into the night. But something catches his eye – some movement, something…unnatural. Is it alive?
—Jason M.
It’s a dark summer night. Neil hears a strange sound in the woods. Cautiously, he walks into the shadowy forest to investigate.
He hears a twig snap. His eyes dart right then left. Senses heightened, something compels him to move forward. Up ahead, the full moon casts its shine barely through the thick foliage and puts a spotlight on a massive tree trunk.
Neil inches closer. A grotesque, skeletal hand starts wrapping around this once majestic redwood. Is that a face?
“Who’s there?” whispers Neil. The hand grips harder around the stump. With a cackle, “Why it is just I, the Keeper of the Trees!”
The Keeper of the Trees? “Never heard of you,” Neils says assuredly. “Oh yes,” it replies. “How else do you think this magnificent forest feeds and exists?! Only through I does it stand!”
Neil shuffles in his feet. “Ha! Don’t believe me?” creaks the creature. “Come, let me show you.” Its fingers curl in a jesting matter. Neil glances back. But strange curiosity pushes him on.
“Look!” It points to a massive hole in the trunk. “It goes on forever!” marvels Neil. “Yes, and you look delicious!!” And with one swift movement, the Keeper of the Trees pushes him in. Neil screams in terror and with one satisfied burp, all is silent.
—Cindy M.
It’s a dark summer night. Neil hears a strange sound in the woods. Cautiously, he walks into the shadowy forest to investigate. Neil’s husband David sees this nonsense and stops him and asks, “Have you never ever watched a horror movie? You should never walk into a scary forest in the dark…here, take this flashlight, silly.”
After apologizing for his gaff and thanking David, Neil takes the flashlight and goes deep into the forest. The sound seems to be coming from everywhere and is growing louder by the step. “Where could this be coming from, and what is it” Neil wonders. A sudden wind blows through the forest making the trees quake and rustle, sending goosebumps down his neck.
Suddenly the noise stops. Neil pauses and pans the flashlight around, straining to see beyond its meager beam. “HELLO?” he yells, hoping against hope that it won’t answer.
Then behind him comes a horrible screech and loud rumbling, the forest lights up with a bright burning flame and a rush of wind almost knocks Neil down. The dark shadow passes over and heads towards a meadow up ahead. Neil picks himself up from the ground and shakes his head. “You crazy dragon, you scared the hell outta me. Now get back in your cave, I’ll bring you your dinner shortly. Sigh.”
—Cynthia W.
It’s a dark summer night. Neil hears a strange sound in the woods. Cautiously, he walks into the shadowy forest to investigate. He pushes through undergrowth, sometimes snapping twigs, despite his attempts at silence. A large branch looms silhouetted in the receding firelight and Neil lowers it slowly with one hand, his phone’s flashlight in the other. The branch snaps back, pushing him forward into yet another thicket, thorns tearing at his sleeves. He spies a shadow ahead as his phone’s battery dies and he trips across a fallen log.
He rises, convinced something pushed him. The campfire is merely a suggestion in the distance. Up ahead leaves rustle and Neil pushes forward, convinced he hears a low chuckle. “Hello?” Only a light breeze responds.
Cautiously he steps forward. Branches grab, collide, push, then block him. He steps into a warren of fallen branches, trapping his foot. Again a chuckle. “Hello!!” Neil shouts as he fights the pine branches whipping around him in the wind. With each branch he pushes away, two more seem to strike. His ankle is thoroughly trapped and twisted, and he knows it’s too late when the tree in front of him leans forward and chuckles.
—Robert H.P.
It’s a dark summer night. Neil hears a strange sound in the woods. Cautiously, he walks into the shadowy forest to investigate.
He sees a distant figure, frantically running through the labyrinth of twisted trees. Neil begins his chase, running deeper and deeper into the woods until suddenly he loses sight of the figure. Stopping to catch his breath, he notices something curious hanging from a tree. He slowly approaches and starts to recognize the yellow and blue pattern. “Is that…the Ducky Tie?” he wonders to himself. As he contemplates how an old prop of his could’ve ended up here, he hears something sweep through the forest behind him.
Panic-stricken, Neil spins around, but is only met with a still, silent forest. He looks around and spots another old prop: a stethoscope. Could this be a stalker, playing some sick game? At this moment he notices an unusual tree in the distance. As he slowly approaches he can barely make out the words etched deep into its bark: “NPH Fan Club.”
All at once the rustling begins again, but this time he’s completely surrounded. He watches in fear as his sadistic fan club approaches, all wearing masks of his own face. As they come nearer and nearer he knows one thing for certain: he will be the last prop they collect.
—Harley M.
It’s a dark summer night. Neil hears a strange sound in the woods. Cautiously, he walks into the shadowy forest to investigate.
It is no more than a whisper, an alluring lullaby leading him inside. He was there this morning snapping off branches for firewood, carving his name into a tree. Now, though, it looks so different. It is as if he has trespassed into another world: a watchful, eerie world. The soft sounds cease, and only the crackling of leaves beneath his feet and the exhales of his breathing are his soundtrack. Then the shadows start to lengthen, jagged branches seem to grow — twisting, clawing, menacing. Something catches on his jacket collar. He jolts back before pulling free. Something tugs against his sleeve, his hair. Now Neil is running, stumbling; his tripping feet and rasping breaths joined by groaning creaks of limbs elongating. He is grasped by gnarled and knotted knuckles, embraced into the copse, inosculated.
In the daylight, a couple hike through, studying the plants, identifying the trees.
“That one looks like a man running,” she says, pointing.
“These live for hundreds of years,” he muses. “We’ll come back when we’re old, see how it’s changed.”
A breeze passes and the trees sigh, a soughing cry.
—Bec L.
It’s a dark summer night. Neil hears a strange sound in the woods. Cautiously, he walks into the shadowy forest to investigate.
He cautiously steps into the undergrowth. There! A sound! The snapping of a twig underfoot startles him but it is of his own doing. Suddenly movement out of the corner of his eye has his heart racing, but as he awaits in dread and terror nothing comes. His imagination is getting the best of him as it bounces about between thoughts of monsters and ghosts and all things ethereal and wicked at their core. Buoyed by a newfound confidence that none of this is real and the scariest thing out here lives within his own thoughts he abruptly decides that’s enough adventuring, however miniscule, for this evening. He spins on his heel to return to the comforts of the warm fire and glow of the log cabin he so foolheartedly left behind. But upon his about-face, he finds nothing but more forest. To his dismay, he is completely enveloped by the wood, as darkness presses in upon him from all sides. Panic enters the conversation and quickly overtakes his waning confidence. How is this possible? He couldn’t have taken more than a dozen steps. He whirls around frantactically now, nothing is familiar and no direction is apparent.
—Steve S.
It’s a dark summer night. Neil hears a strange sound in the woods. Cautiously, he walks into the shadowy forest to investigate.
Actually, he got up to pee…which may seem irrelevant to this story, but in fact is quite necessary to it, because as he was, uh, relieving himself…he encountered a presence…not wholly human…and definitely not benevolent.
Which made for an awkward moment, to say the least.
For you see, Neil had inadvertently urinated on this ghoul’s grave! And it was NOT pleased!!
Suddenly, the earth in front of him began to crumble and break apart, as if an eruption was boiling up from the ground. And then he heard a laugh: deep and unearthly, so evil, and so downright unpleasant, as to cause Neil to stop mid-stream.
And then, and THEN, he felt icy fingers on the back of his neck and clearly heard the ghoul speak to him!!! It said, “Neil come back to bed, you’re sleep-walking again, and you’ve put out the campfire.”
It was not a ghoul after all! It was his beloved husband, David, and Neil then saw that he had made a mess of their campsite, once again.
THE END.
—Bernadette E.
It’s a dark summer night. Neil hears a strange sound in the woods. Cautiously, he walks into the shadowy forest to investigate.
“Wait, why am I walking into the woods alone?” Neil thinks. “This doesn’t seem like something I would do. I’m always so cautious.” But despite these thoughts, Neil’s feet keep moving. In fact, it feels like Neil is no longer in control of his body. While panicked thoughts ricochet through Neil’s brain and his heart races, his feet continue to move towards a sound growing increasingly more dissonant in the abnormally quiet woods.
Neil’s whole body shakes as he strains to turn back to his family left sleeping in their tents.
Alas, it is no use. He grows closer and closer to the whirring, rattling, and growling cacophony. Neil squints his eyes trying to make out the source of the noise slowly being revealed behind branches and leaves. Neil can’t believe what he’s seeing. It’s a bear holding a remote control in one hand and a user’s manual in the other. The bear is studying a page titled, “Rebooting your man.”
—Jen
It’s a dark summer night. Neil hears a strange sound in the woods. Cautiously, he walks into the shadowy forest to investigate.
As he creeps closer toward the darkness, Neil is startled by a strong wind crashing through the canopy above. Leaves fall in a frenzy left and right. However, Neil notices one spot where the leaves don’t dare rest. A small area beneath a crooked oak remains untouched. At the base of the trunk, there is a small hole. He takes a few deep breaths and cautiously begins inspecting the tree.
The hole looks almost like a doorway. Inside lies a small gold coin. Neil picks it up to examine it. On one side, a picture of a tree is engraved into the gold. The other side has a strange language. Instantly, Neil feels an eruption of terror tremoring through him.
He takes a few steps to run, but his body quickly becomes stiff. Time moves around him. Hours, days, and possibly weeks pass. As he tries to scream for help, his mouth fills with leaves. His arms become branches raised high, and the coin falls to his feet. The forest welcomes its new oak tree, strong and full of life.
Then, on a dark summer night. A young boy hears a strange sound in the woods…
—Diego S.
It’s a dark summer night. Neil hears a strange sound in the woods. Cautiously, he walks into the shadowy forest to investigate. As Neil ventured deeper into the forest, the mysterious sound grew louder, echoing through the dense foliage. With each step, his heart pounded in anticipation, his senses alert to every rustle and whisper of the night. Suddenly, he stumbled upon a clearing bathed in moonlight, where he discovered the source of the sound — a group of ghostly figures dancing under the stars. Frightened yet oddly exhilarated by the unexpected encounter, Neil watched in awe as the creatures danced in the moonlit glade then slowly faded into the darkness of the night, a magical moment he would never forget.
—Rosa M.
It’s a dark summer night. Neil hears a strange sound in the woods. Cautiously, he walks into the shadowy forest to investigate. The sound was faint, but Neil felt compelled to investigate. It was eerily quiet as the twigs snapped beneath his feet, echoing through the vastness. He heard a low moan, then a desperate wail as he neared a small clearing, illuminated by the light of the full moon. There was an outline of mossy rocks, making a circle around what appeared to be an enormous stone slab. Upon closer investigation, what Neil initially thought was moss was darker and more sinister. Could it be blood?
Suddenly, Neil felt the earth shift beneath his feet until he was falling, falling into a dark abyss. He landed with a thud and looked up to see a shadowy figure locking a cage door overhead. The moonlight reflected in a small pool of stagnant water and then onto dozens of stark-white skeletal remains.
Neil screamed in unbridled terror as realization set in. He tried desperately to get phone reception but was only able to utilize his flashlight. He saw a small, ominous tunnel that he would have to crawl into, but it could be a way out. That was until a skeletal hand reached out to grab him…
—Amie A.
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