ghost stories, urban legends, and the paranormal thread

[Kid Cubao]

this thread was created in order for us to discuss the things that made the hairs on your back stand on end. as thread starter, i encourage you to share your most unforgettable experiences about the strange, the sinister, the terrifying, and the inexplicable. first-person experiences are always welcome.

[atenean_blooded]

Terrifying?

Bonbon Custodio biting the railing at the EAC gym.

[Posterized]

The UST sportscaster reporting.

[Kid Cubao]

ok before the clever inmates overrun the nuthouse, here's my story:

i was once asked to liaison for a small team of european scientists that visited the facilities of the international rice research institute in los baños. part of my job is to look after and babysit this foreign group for the length of their stay here.

so we picked them up at NAIA and proceeded straight to our destination in the university town south of manila. after pansol, we made a quick right turn and made the steady climb to mt. makiling, since the danish expert on rice hybrids asked if he can go take up the sights in the said mountain.

when we got to the jamboree area, we formed two groups of three. i took care of one group, and it turned out that these european scientists wanted to go on a walking tour to survey the plant diversity in makiling. so up and down i followed them, tagging along and sharing their "excitement" over the discovery of a new flower breed or a hitherto unrecorded subspecies of vines or shrubs. however, as they carried on their merry ways, i noticed one of them began picking plants that piqued his interest off the ground and stuffing them in his small bag.

after a while we met up in the parking area and boarded our vehicle to bring them to the IRRI guest house. it wasn't long, though, that one of them, who was the same scientist i saw picking all those pants on the wayside, was under great distress. initially he complained of burning itchiness in his groin area, but we became alarmed when his face reddened and then exhibited acute shortness of breath. our driver floored the pedal and rushed to the los baños doctors hospital just outside the UPLB campus on lopez avenue.

we brought him to the ER and an attending doctor performed first aid on our patient. a more senior doctor approached me and asked what happened. after my story, he said to me, "kunin mo lahat ng halamang pinitas nya at ibalik sa pinagkunan. 'wag ka nang magtanong, tumatakbo ang oras."

this crisis situation wasn't much for too many questions, so i and our driver ran to our vehicle carrying his stash and sped back to the jamboree area, leaving behind the rest of our concerned european guests. once there, we returned those plants in their natural habitats the best we could. our worries weren't over yet since we have to check up on our patient back at LBDH.

it was with great relief when we were met outside the hospital by the same scientist who was close to dying on us. we greeted each other with, "what happened, what the hell was that?" i sought out the doctor who advised us on what to do, and he simply said, "next time, wag kayong mamimitas ng mga halaman kung saan-saan dyan sa makiling. alam mo sigurong maraming hiwaga dyan. pero di ito maiintindihan ng mga kasama mo, kaya sana ikaw na lang ang umintindi."

the medical report said our guest had a bad case of "poison ivy-like allergic reaction." we never told anyone else the real reason. the european scientists spent their days in IRRI without any more incident.

[muddatrucker]

the medical report said our guest had a bad case of "poison ivy-like allergic reaction." we never told anyone else the real reason. the european scientists spent their days in IRRI without any more incident.

Couldn't this be the real reason?

[Bennie Bangag]

probably so, otherwise the medical report wouldn't have stated it as such. still...

there's also this story, back in the early 70s, of a tupperware lady who got invited to a stately home in new manila. she walked into a party, but it was not any kind of party she attended in the past. the reason is that the people there were all wearing period dresses and suits of an era she couldn't place. there was dancing, the clinking of glasses, laughter. it was just different, as she later recalled. *

after the tupperware lady's enthusiastic presentation, the party host asked her to return the following week so she can invite a few more of her friends to come over. thrilled, the tupperware lady prepared for days, hoping for that one big sale and her sizable commission. finally the day came for her return, but upon her arrival at the gate, she could see there was nobody home. she knocked the gate loud enough for anyone to hear, and then an old man who identified himself as the property's caretaker let her in.

the tupperware lady stated her purpose for the visit, and the caretaker stifled a giggle. he explained why: "ale, alam nyo bang wala nang nakatira rito? sigurado ka bang may mga tao dito nung nakaraang linggo?" she insisted there were people having a party that time, so the caretaker led her to the house from the back, where he also showed the outhouse he and his family were staying. once inside, though, she was shocked to see the decrepit, crumbling condition of the interiors, which was so unlike its well-maintained state just a week ago. as she frantically jogged her memory, the tupperware lady was led to the staircase, where above it hung a number of dusty oil portraits.

suddenly, she pointed to a particular painting and said she was the one who invited her back that day. this time, the caretaker blanched and hurriedly led her out of the house.

once outside, the caretaker said that the lady in the painting has been dead since the fifties, and that the property has been up for sale since her kids migrated to the US a few years after her death. he wished she was a real estate agent, so that the property can have a new owner and they finally move out of that creepy place.

[MonL]

How about the story of the ghost of Mango Drive in Cebu City?

One story I heard was that a taxi driver was flagged down by a pretty lady in the dark of night along Mango Drive. The lady sat at the front passenger side of the cab and was very quiet during the ride. The she spoke to the driver: "Alam mo, sana maging kamukha mo ako."* The driver, who kept his eye on the road suddenly felt his neck hair stand up as the voice sounded very eerie. With increasing dread he slowly began to look at his passenger.What he saw no longer had the face of a pretty lady. He was now looking at an "umaapoy na bungo"- a flaming skull! He looked back at the road in sheer terror and after mustering enough courage to look back at his passenger, he saw that his lady passenger had vanished.

First person accounts? I used to work as an accountant at a branch in Pasay City in the late 80s. I was all alone in the office in the dead of night on overtime trying to finish work to meet a deadline.*It was so quiet in the office and I had no radio to listen to. It was past midnight already. I suddenly heard a soft "sssst!" behind me. Not thinking about it, not wanting to think about it, I tried to ignore it and went on with my work.* Suddenly I heard a much louder "SSSSSSST!!!!" behind me. That's when my neck hairs stood up and blood seemed to rush to my head,* and,* not wanting to press my luck, I packed up my stuff and left for home.

[LION]

^ Baka naman si misis mo yon at pina pauwi ka na. If that's the case, I can understand the terror you felt. ;D

[MonL]

^ Baka naman si misis mo yon at pina pauwi ka na.* * If that's the case, I can understand the terror you felt.* *;D

"OISSST!!!!" kapag tumawag yun, at maliwanag na maliwang na utos yan at hindi "suggestion." :D

[pio_valenz]

One of my supervisors was alone in the women's CR one night. it was the end of the workday, and the rest of us were already downstairs having a smoke before going home. She was sure she was the only one in the CR when she entered, so it came as a suprise to her when she heard the toilet bowl in the adjoining cubicle flush. Thinking another officemate had entered the CR without her noticing, she very innoncently asked aloud, "Ay, sino yan? Pahintay naman."

To which a very deep and chilling female voice replied, "No one."

When she came out of her cubicle, no one was indeed there. Actually,there was no one left on the entire floor.

My own experience with our office ghost came when I rode alone the elevator going down. We are on the third floor of the building, and the second floor is vacant. So I was totally surprised when the elevator stopped at the second floor and when the doors opened, there was no one there. When I got off, the elevator closed, then went back up to the second floor! I quickly ran up the stairs to see if perhaps someone was playing a joke on me, but when I got there, the whole floor was empty. Later I was told that a former worker once experienced the same thing, except that she had a third eye, and when the doors opened, a young woman walked in. The worker was alone in the elevator with a ghost.