Category Archives: general

My Uncle’s Military Ghost Story

Nationality: Mexican
Primary Language: English
Other language(s): Spanish
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 11/25/2023

Tags: military, war, ptsd

He was a United States Marine Corps veteran in the 1960s, serving his second tour in Vietnam. He was performing recon after a gunfight, making sure that the dead were actually dead. While searching through the piles of bodies, he noticed one of them twitch. They had been awake for days, he thought he might have been hallucinating. Then, He looked closer. The twitching man on the ground was staring right at him. Then he screamed. He screamed and startled all of the Marines and everyone in the area. He startled everyone so bad that nobody knew what to do. In his fear and confusion, my uncle shot him in the head. Silence reclaimed the air.

My uncle lived for more than fifty years after he returned from that deployment. Randomly, with no pattern and no warning, he would hear that scream in his head as if it were happening right in front of him. And he would see the screaming face in his sleep, the terrifying look of a man who knows that he is about to die. He was haunted by this memory for the rest of his life. Even into old age and through horrible sickness, he remembered it until the day he died.

This story was told to me multiple times during my life, most recently in fall of 2019. It was told to myself and my brothers, and to my father before that. I find the story disturbing, knowing that something like that can live with somebody forever. It is very scary to think about, and it makes me feel sorry for my uncle because of how traumatized he was.

Virginia Woods Ghost Story

Nationality: Mexican
Primary Language: English
Other language(s): Spanish
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 06/03/2023

Tags: wilderness, haunted house, mystery

We were dirtbiking on our usual trails for what must have been the hundredth time that Summer. I was with my usual group of four friends, and after biking for a while, we were bored of the same trails. My friend had the bright idea to try and find the haunted house that they had discovered when they were younger. We were already out in the woods, but this house was very, very far out into the wilderness, past where we knew there were bears and all sorts of other things that we should not mess with. So obviously, we agreed and started to bike there slowly, through the thick brush and trees.

The unexplainable things started on the way there. We were all used to getting thorns from bushes and mosquito bites, but when we got them on that day they hurt extremely bad. The thorns were unbearably painful and we had to walk very slow and plan our routes, almost giving up. In addition to that, the bug bites and stings were so frequent that they were also unbearable, as if they were trying to get us to turn back and go home. And on top of all of this, I have never had seasonal pollen allergies in my whole life, but I got them on that day. My eyes were so swollen that they were almost completely shut, and I felt disgusting. We were all experiencing these things, and we were able to push through them and still find the house despite our impaired vision.

When we got to the house, we understood what the unexplainable warnings were about. We were standing on the outside of the house, looking at the disgusting, run-down walls and caved ceiling. One of my friends said that someone should go to the door and look inside. My other friend, the known daredevil, said that he would do it. He walked about seven steps, and came to a sudden halt. He walked backwards towards us, never taking his eyes off of the house. When he got back to us, he said that he felt an unnaturally cold wind coming directly from the door. This house was uninhabited, there was no air conditioning, and it was 98 degrees outside. We assumed it was a prank, and someone else tried and reported the same thing. Both of the people that tried were wide-eyed and quiet for the rest of the day, as if they had seen a ghost.

Once we got out of the woods, they just wanted to go back home, and the day was over. I will never be able to explain what happened on that day, but I do not want to go back there to look for answers.

This story was experienced and told in June of 2023. It was told by my friend that I was with and myself. It took place in Centreville, Virginia, deep in the woods near Fairfax. The teller of the story and I both think of the story as surreal and unexplainable, and we both have agreed that we will never truly know or understand what happened on that day.

White Watchers

Nationality: Cantonese/American

Primary Language: Cantonese

Other Language(s): English

Age: 58

Occupation: Engineer

Residence: Yorba Linda

Performance Date: 19th of November 2023

This story was recounted through email to me and takes place in their family’s apartment in Hong Kong between during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Unfortunately due to how young the informant was at the time, they do not remember a lot of details and also did not feel comfortable going into more detail than they provided. After recounting the story, they commented that they are glad they no longer see the apparitions. They still believe that we are not alone and that other beings can cross into our dimensions even though they are not supposed to.

P as a child saw apparitions in their family apartment. They were described as white shaped human figures that would float across the apartment. The figures would float aimlessly and not interact with anyone, they would simply move across the house. P described their movement as if they were flowing through the air. One night when P and their siblings were sleeping, they woke up and P saw the figures in the room watching them. P said that that was the first time they really interacted with anything or anyone in the house. From then on, the figures would make a habit of watching P and their siblings sleeping, just silently watching, staying completely still. In the day when P saw the figures, they would continue to float around like they normally did, but at night sleeping became horrifying. P recalled that they would often times be unable to fall asleep, but be too afraid to open their eyes because they could feel the figures’ presence. All P could do was tightly shut their eyes and hope the figures would leave or that they would fall asleep soon. Shortly after, P and his family would move to the United States where they would no longer see the apparitions.

P is my uncle and is known in the family for having this “3rd eye” or “true vision” and my dad, his brother, used to tell me all the time that P used to see things because of his special sense. Often time when I see P at family functions he stares off into the distance, he’s very well known for doing that. My dad thinks he does this because he’s seeing something. I always thought this was a little funny seeing him zone out, but after hearing his stories and how uncomfortable he was about talking about it, I can’t help but think it’s at least a little bit true. That being said, my family is already pretty open about superstitious belief, it’s not just my dad’s side of the family as my mother believes in ghosts too. I think being raised around the idea that ghosts are real definitely makes this story more believable to me too. Admittedly, this was the first story P recounted and he wasn’t feeling entirely open just yet, so the details of the story were heavily limited.

Irregular Apartment

Nationality: Cantonese/American

Primary Language: Cantonese

Other Language(s): English

Age: 58

Occupation: Engineer

Residence: Yorba Linda

Performance Date: 19th of November 2023

This story was recounted to me through email and occurs in the 1980s in South Pasadena. The informant was living in a two person apartment with their roommate. The informant called this specific story the scariest one they can remember as the details are still very vivid to them. They noted that they always thought the apartment was shaped very strangely, and following the incident said the apartment was shaped like a pentagram. Following the story, the informant relayed to me their belief that these being are from other dimensions and although we are not supposed to cross paths, someone is calling them to us.

P was working in their apartment at night with the windows and doors closed. They recall it being after 12 AM and that they were home alone, the roommate was out at the time. While studying at their desk out of the corner of their eye, P noticed that his roommate’s door was sliding open. P said that it was like someone was walking out of the room. P’s body went cold and the roommate’s dog began to bark at the door. When the door started barking, the door stopped opening. P checked the air conditioner to see if it was on, but it was off, then they turned on the lights in the house. The next month P moved out of the apartment and that’s when P realized the apartment was shaped like a pentagram with sliding doors at the start of each corner. Later, P’s roommate moved out but did not give a reason why.

I found this story quite strange as the first thing P mentioned was the shape of the apartment. It’s quite strange that the apartment would be built in the shape of a pentagram, but it’s definitely a supernatural shape used in a lot of rituals. P made it a very big point that the apartment was weirdly shaped. P thought that the apartment might’ve been a door for things to come through because of its shape. P is my uncle and is known in the family for having a 6th sense that allows him to see strange/supernatural things. He often zones out staring into the distance and my dad thinks it’s because he’s seeing things in the room. He’s was hesitant to talk about this subject which only makes me think it’s more real. What he’s relayed to me also sounds like many other stories about being home alone and the dog barking at something unseen. I don’t think my uncle is the kind of guy to look up those ghost stories and take those tropes to come up with his own story, so I can only think this story is true. What I also find interesting is that my cousin has the same habit of staring off randomly, so she might have the same thing as my uncle, I might have to ask her about it too.

The Ghost In The Laundry Room

Nationality: American
Primary Language: English
Other language(s): N/A
Age: 18 yrs
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Southern California
Performance Date: 8 years ago

H.H is 18 years old. She lives in Southern California, in the same hometown as I. I had a conversation about her regarding any ghost experiences she has had in life. She mentions a story in the home she’s lived in since elementary school. She tells me this ghost story that happened when she was around 10 years old.

“It was maybe 8pm. The sun had already gone down and it was pretty dark. I was upstairs alone and my family had gone out leaving just me and my sister in the house with our animals. The bulldog was upstairs with me and we were playing tug a war in the middle hallway. Everything seemed fine- completely normal when he suddenly dropped the rope and looked around suddenly startled. His fur stuck up, clearly spooked and he started walking away from me. Stopping just before the open laundry room. It was dark, and the machines were off. Suddenly, it was very, very, quiet. He stood there and stared for a good long few minutes. And then starts barking aggressively at the empty room. I didn’t know what to do, he was starting to frighten me and I was spooked by the whole empty room situation he was suddenly offended by. I closed the door and he stopped barking but did not get comfortable again until I brought him downstairs and away from the room. He never wanted to go back up those stairs… and the laundry room shares a wall with my bedroom.” 

I think this ghost story is very interesting. I’ve known H.H for some time and know she has experienced many different spirits in life. Hearing this was interesting though as it tied into the idea of dogs being able to see more than the human eye can. After she did tell me this though I did ask for another story as this first one left me so intrigued and it feels like she may have vengeful ghosts in her house considering her dog didn’t seem too fond of the laundry room ghost.