Another True Tale for Halloween

Orange is my color.
It goes with everything fall: brown and gold falling leaves; a full, scarecrow moon; fat, friendly pumpkins; scary jack o'lanterns; and candy corn.  I love everything about fall!

So, what is it that I love most about the fall season?  Is it Halloween?  I can't say for certain, but I think it's the orange, organic, scent of possibility that floats through the air with all those leaves and spiderwebs.

Think about it.  For at least one night, we can dress up our wildest thoughts and let them roam free.

Oh, I know.  That isn't what All Hallows Eve is really about . . .  it's supposed to be about dressing up as a scary spirit so that the real scary spirits wandering about on that special night are fooled into thinking you are one of them, and won't grab you and take you down to . . . wherever it is they live.  But hey, in my book, the two thoughts go hand in hand.

Anyhow, I like weird and offbeat stuff.  My story, Chems, is one such example.  It's available for 99 cents on Amazon.  But there are a couple other stories here on the blog that are free ~ just click the links in the title bar.

I also know a few weird tales that are true.  One involves my hubby, Dude, and one of the places where he grew up in Indiana . . .

This particular house was an old two story farm house at the end of a long lane.  Even today, Dude and his family refer to this old rental as The House Back of the Long Lane.  It seems this house had some very odd tenants (I mean besides the Swann family, *wink*).

One night, when he was a teen, Dude came in from his after school job and went straight to bed.  It was late and all the other family members were already asleep.

Sometime in the night, Dude was awakened by an unknown sound.  When he opened his eyes, a creature in a long, black dress came floating up from the stairway landing outside his bedroom door.  It had black holes for eyes, and wild, Einstein hair as fine as spider's silk.  He blinked and looked away to convince himself it wasn't real, and that's when it began to float toward him, hands outstretched, long claws curved toward his throat . . .

He screamed.

His mom came running.

The thing floated up through the ceiling.

His mom said he should not, under any circumstances, tell his younger sister what he thought he'd seen.  Dude readily agreed.  In fact, he said he wanted to pretend it had never happened.

So a week or two later, he was pretty sure that it hadn't really happened . . .  right up until the moment his sister went upstairs to put the fresh laundry away and screamed as if she'd been set on fire.

She came running back down the stairs yammering about a horrid witch.

It was the exact same creature--she described it perfectly--only this time, the thing had been floating outside the second story window, looking in at her!

So there you go, until next time . . . What is the scariest thing that ever happened to you?

Afterthought:
Dude and Kathy, if I told this wrong, I apologize.  My memory isn't 
. . . what was I saying?