 Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and is intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised. Welcome Weirdos, I'm Darren Marlar, and this is Weird Darkness. Here you'll find stories of the paranormal, supernatural, legends, lore, the strange and bizarre, crime, conspiracy, mysterious, macabre, unsolved and unexplained. If you're new here, welcome to the show! And while you're listening, be sure to check out WeirdDarkness.com for merchandise, my newsletter, to enter contests, to connect with me on social media. Plus, you can visit the Hope in the Darkness page if you're struggling with depression or dark thoughts. You can find all of that and more at WeirdDarkness.com. And this month we're celebrating Weird Darkness' birthday. This month makes 7 years of Weird Darkness as a podcast. And to recognize our birthday, every October we ask you to make a donation to our overcoming the Darkness fundraiser. Every dollar we raise through donations and the Weirdling Woods painting auction will go to organizations that help people who struggle with depression. You can learn more about the fundraiser and what we're doing with it on the Hope in the Darkness page at WeirdDarkness.com. Now, bolt your doors, lock your windows, turn off your lights and come with me into the Weird Darkness. This incident took place a few years ago. I had no interest at all in the paranormal until this occurrence. I was home alone as my parents were out for the evening and I was in the living room of our house on my laptop. My laptop is set up so that my back is to the wall. From there I have a clear view of our kitchen. I was browsing different websites, one of my dogs, Casper, was curled up on the chair next to me. I heard some loud noises coming from upstairs but ignored it, assuming that it was our other dog playing around up there. At one point I thought I heard someone step down a few stairs and pause but I continued to ignore it. Suddenly out of the quarter of my eye I saw black outline go down the last few steps of the stairs. Usually with a lamp on I would be able to see anyone coming downstairs but in the darkness I could only make out black. At the exact same moment that I saw this, Casper jumped up, faced the stairs and started barking at the moving mass. I quickly turned my head toward the stairs but only caught a glimpse of the black figure turning to the right. Casper stayed next to me barking. He seemed to be following something with his eyes, something that was headed towards the kitchen. I could hear footsteps on the wooden floor as it approached but right when someone should have walked into the kitchen the footsteps stopped. As soon as I got over the shock I searched the hallway and the rest of the house. No one was there. I believe I saw something that night but I haven't seen it since. Is it possible for just one occurrence to take place? It was around 11pm and we were getting ready for bed. We turned off all the lights and turned off our cell phones. Just as we were drifting off to sleep my phone rang. I picked up my phone and noticed that the caller ID said John. I just thought my husband John was messing around. I turned and asked him why he was calling me. He just replied that he wasn't. He picked up his phone and showed me that it was turned off. On a few occasions I would leave my laptop on at night and let it rest in sleep mode. Both my husband and I sleep lightly so we would wake at the slightest sound or crack of light. I remember waking up in the middle of the night and being blinded by light. Once my eyes adjusted to the light I saw that my laptop was no longer sleeping and the lid had been opened. Something strange was happening. After this my computer would malfunction all the time. My mouse wouldn't work. My printer wouldn't connect and the internet would drop off all the time. One night I was taking a shower. I stepped out to dry myself and saw that someone had written hello in the mist that covered the mirror. Some very strange things had been going on in our house. I don't think it's anything dangerous but I do think someone is trying to get in touch with me. What do you think? My mother died suddenly when I was a teenager and as a way of keeping her memory alive my father thought it would be a good idea for me to wear her cross. He told me that he would come to my dorm at college that weekend and bring it with him. When he arrived he went to get the envelope out of his jacket pocket. He couldn't find it. More than a little bit worried he went and searched the entire car to see if it might have fallen out. Not finding it there he went back home and tried to find it but had no luck. Finally giving up he went about the events of the day feeling very bad for having lost the cross that he promised me. The very next day my father drove my brother back to the college and after parking they both went to get out of the car to say goodbye before my brother had to attend class. When my father opened the door and looked down at the ground there was the cross lying between his feet. Now it was the middle of the day at a busy college and in the middle of the parking lot just the cross lying on the cold hard concrete. To this very day we have no idea how it got there. Was this a sign from my mother? I'm female, married and 51 now but when I was in my early 30s single and living alone I lived at 5 rearbrook road Northfield Birmingham UK. The then long bridge car plant was still there built in 1905 and demolished in 2005. It was literally just a two minute walk from my flat. Number five as several of the houses on that road and other roads were I think was originally built for the plant workers and then converted to bedside flats. I was on the ground floor and there was a woman living above me. My living room and bedroom were one room with the bathroom and kitchen separate. I had 26 pet mice and was up at 4am six days a week for work at 5am. From the second I moved in there was always the feeling of being very unwelcome in the flat. No matter how much I brightened it with colorful decorating, incense sticks etc. no matter how light or dark the weather it was always dark, gloomy, eerie, hostile, suppressive. I hated the place. I'm not religious but resorted to using crosses and other religious things to try to stop or ease the evil atmosphere. It never worked. I'm fine with ghosts etc. and have been connected with them all my life but the whole place was horrible and I had ten miserable years there. One morning while feeding my mice I was suddenly thumped really hard on my chest by a huge male fist that literally set me flying through the air backwards. I crashed on my back on the shelving unit taking it with me as I landed. I was wrecked and my head was banged hard as I landed and my back was in agony. I managed to haul myself up and thankfully the mice were ok. Visitors who came for the first time refused to come again saying they could feel evil and felt like they were being watched. Workmen were reluctant to come in, would leave ASAP and some made comments that they didn't feel comfortable there. The bruise came up within a couple of minutes, big, painful and throbbing, shaped just like a huge male fist and it lasted several weeks. To this day I still get a bit of pain there occasionally. I showed it to a couple of workmates as proof. I had a nice ghost there also called Old Burt who would talk to me and I'd talk back. I'd talk to Burt physically and he'd reply with a sort of telepathy. I actually missed him when I finally managed to leave that horrible place in my early 40s. I told him he could follow me to my new place in Upton upon Severn, Worcester, if he wants. He said he can't as he is earthbound to that flat. I think he was the elderly Jan 2 died in the flat above before the woman moved in. Burt was playful. I'd go out and make sure all plugs were unplugged, switched off, would come back and they'd all be plugged in and switched back on. A CD I left face up on my bed on the head end where I left for work was faced down at the feet end when I came back. I put that down to Burt playing tricks as he heated Doris Day which is who was singing on the CD. A photo was ripped off the wall. It was of a couple of workmates who are Mormons. It vanished for several weeks then reappeared by my bed. It wasn't there when I searched for it when it first vanished. My mate Elaine, a Jehovah's Witness, refused point blank to get near my flat saying it was possessed and it scared her. Pictures refused to stay on the wall in one bedroom no matter how strong the nails or hooks were. I saw pictures and photos being physically ripped off that wall. The atmosphere in the kitchen was so violent at times. I grabbed the kettle, toaster and microwave and moved them to the living room, closed the kitchen door and I only went in when I absolutely had to. When outside, I got the impression of being watched by someone from the inside. Burt told me he tried to find out who or what was causing the bad things but had no luck. Mountain Ash is a quiet Welsh mining town located near Carfilie. The General Hospital, a community hospital built partially using deductions from the miner's salaries was closed in around 2012 with several others in the area to make way for a new and larger hospital. Established in 1910, the hospital served several generations of locals in the area through birth to death. These days the site has been heavily vandalized, stripped of metal and its slate roof to now sit abandoned and forlorn in the valley. Its only visitors these days are urban explorers and ghost hunters. The town has had its share of paranormal activity being the site of reported live fish falling from the sky in 1841. Like many abandoned hospitals, its own derelict hospital has gained a reputation for being haunted. Residents, locals and even ex-workers at the hospital have seen the ghost of a little girl wandering around the hospital even while it was in use. A former security guard has reported strange noises from some buildings including screams. However, a recent ghost hunt there produced a very scary video. Professional ghost hunter Lee Smart performed a hunt there recently capturing a strange image on video of what appears to be a person's head looking out of an upper story window. Whatever it was that was captured quickly pulled itself back into the window when it was noticed. The team went to investigate the room and recorded an eerie and scary threat on EVP with a voice saying, you watch your back ha ha ha because I will kill you. Here is the actual recording. Smart claims his name was called by the phantom presence in the room. The security guard at the site had to move his office from inside the main building to a caravan in the grounds after he became too frightened to stay there. He reported hearing all sorts of noises including the screams of a little girl and other noises at the site. On several occasions the police were called to sweep the building because of the noises he heard but they never found anything to explain the noises. Smart and his team also reported growling noises and the feeling of being watched as they investigated the building. However, the creepiest aspect to the whole night was being threatened by a presence who he says seemed to want them to leave. You can find a link to the original video containing an image of this ghost as well as the EVP in this episodes description. My mother died when I was 17 years old. The night before she died she ran into my bedroom and woke me up. She told me that there was someone in the house. She was terrified. I told her that I had heard and seen nothing but she continued to rant about someone being in the house. Eventually she calmed down and took my father's gun to bed with her. The next day she died. Nothing paranormal caused her death just a car accident. After that I started to see things. I was still terrified of the dark even as a teenager and I wouldn't sleep unless I had a night light. One night the light fell off my bedside table. I fixed it, got back into my bed and saw a figure standing at the bottom of my bed. He was a little opalescent and almost black and white. His skin was white gray and he had a white shirt on and black pants and he just stood there looking at me with an odd grin on his face. I froze. Then I leaped into my bed and pulled the covers over my head and didn't look again until morning when naturally he was gone. I never saw it again but strange things still happen to me. I'm always misplacing things and I'll look everywhere for something and then after I give up the item will turn up. I hear whispers at night and I sometimes see shadows and shapes. I absolutely believe I inherited a gift from my mother. Canak Chase is a place many have described as tranquil or beautiful. A part of England where few would ever dream of finding anything out of the ordinary. It is a place of dog walkers, fishing and natural life. It also seems to be a place of unnatural death. There have been several terrifying accounts of black-eyed children in the area and these accounts seem to be becoming more frequent. A mother and daughter were walking through Birch's Valley when they heard the screams of a young child. By all accounts they couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl but the child seemed to be in distress and sounded extremely close to them. The two of them turned and ran towards the source of the scream. They couldn't find the child anywhere and stopped to catch their breath. The mother turned around and saw a girl standing behind her. The girl was no more than nine or ten years old and had her hands over her eyes. The mother asked her how she was. It seemed natural that she had been the one who had been screaming. The girl dropped her hands slowly and placed them by her side. The mother watched in horror as the girl opened her eyes and saw that they were completely black. No iris, no white, just completely black. The mother jumped back and grabbed her daughter. The girl disappeared in a second but the mother said she was chased by strange feelings all day. An earlier account from Canuck Chase came from a married couple who were walking their dog. As they walked through dense woodland they could hear the sounds of giggling. A child by all accounts, no taller than three feet in height, appeared out of nowhere. The couple stood watching her and eventually noticed that the girl had completely black eyes. Her head was tilted to one side as though she had been hung. The couple watched as the girl stared at them for a few minutes before running away into a dense area of the forest. The interesting thing about the Canuck Chase sightings is that many of the accounts happen during the day. For those who dare to walk through the forests and overgrowth of the Chase, be sure to make sure you don't travel alone. In the early 1970s in Thornton Heath, England, a family was tormented by poltergeist phenomena that started one August night when they were woken in the middle of the night by a blaring bedside radio that had somehow turned itself on. Not only had the radio managed to turn itself on, but it had turned itself to a foreign language station. This was the beginning of a string of events that lasted nearly four years, terrifying one family to the breaking point. A lampshade repeatedly was knocked to the floor by invisible hands. During the Christmas season of 1972, an ornament was hurled across the room, smashing into the husband's forehead. As one member of the family sat down, the Christmas tree started to shake violently. The new year didn't bring any respite for the family due to footsteps in the bedroom, and one night the couple's son awoke to find an older man in clothes from the turn of the 20th century, staring down threateningly at him. The family decided to have the house blessed by the local vicar, but even after a prolonged blessing, the phenomena continued. Objects would fly through the air, extremely loud noises were heard, and the family would sometimes hear a noise that suggested some large piece of furniture had crashed to the floor. When they went to investigate, nothing would be disturbed. It was becoming a living hell for the family. The poltergeist still appeared in front of family members, leaving the family in fear. A medium who was consulted told the family that the house was haunted by a farmer by the name of Chatterton, who considered the family trespassers on his property. An investigation bore out the fact that he had indeed lived in the house in the mid-18th century. Chatterton's wife joined in, causing mayhem, and often the tenant's wife would be followed up the stairs at night by an elderly gray-haired woman wearing a pinafore and with her hair tied back in a bun. If looked at, she would disappear back into the shadows. The family even reported seeing the farmer appear on their television screens, wearing a black jacket with wide, pointed lapels, high-necked shirt, and black cravet. After the family moved out of the house, the poltergeist activity ceased, and nothing more has been reported by subsequent residents. What did this family do to incur the wrath of two former tenants of one house? Poltergeist intrusions have always been some of the most fascinating cases in paranormal investigation. From the Enfield Haunting, the Amityville House, through to the Monk of Pontifract, much of this activity is well known for being prankish, playful, and, although creepy, it is not particularly harmful. However, there are those cases in which a poltergeist will escalate its activities to a terrifying and intense level, running amok with even more impressive displays of strength and power. One such case that has become one of the most incredibly potent poltergeist manifestations of all time was a spooky series of events surrounding a young family in a tranquil town in England. This is the case of the South Shields Poltergeist. Up until the end of 2005, a young couple and their young son were living a relatively peaceful life in their terraced house in the gentle coastal town of South Shields in the United Kingdom. In December of that year, the family started to experience a series of steadily escalating paranormal incidents that they could not explain, no matter how hard they tried. It started with things like doors suddenly opening or closing on their own when no one was touching them or strange sounds coming from the walls. After that, furniture and other objects began to seemingly move around on their own, such as chairs found stacked on top of each other upon a table in the bedroom and a large heavy chest of drawers moved from one bedroom to another. In some cases, the mysterious movement was witnessed or heard, such as when furniture could be heard moving about and sliding over the floor of the son's room upstairs when no one was there, as they all cowered in fear on another floor. Other weird occurrences noticed during this time were bangs, thuds and knocking, which became more and more pronounced, as well as sudden dramatic temperature drops in rooms. This all seems like typical poltergeist activity so far, but things would quickly graduate to even more bizarre and sinister levels when these spirits, or spirits, allegedly began to creepily turn its malevolent attention to the son's toys, which it would turn into instruments of mayhem to terrorize the family further. The first instance of this happened one night as the couple was settling down to go to bed. It was at that point as the wife began to lay down that she reported feeling something hit her in the head. It was found that the projectile that thumped to the floor was, oddly, their young son's toy dog. Since the son was not there and there was no one there to have thrown it, neither of them could figure out what was going on. It was not even clear how the toy had gotten into their room to begin with. Moments later, another stuffed toy hit the wife, propelled by an unseen force, this time with greater impact and ferocity. As the couple sat there in the darkened room trying to figure out just what was going on, they were set upon by other toys flying at them and pelting them from all directions, seemingly coming from nowhere and sometimes stopping in mid-air to continue their trajectory. As the terrified couple pulled up the covers to shield themselves, they claimed that something began trying to rip the blankets away from them. As they struggled in a sort of tug-of-war with the mysterious intruder, the husband is said to have suddenly screamed out in pain. It was soon purportedly found that red scratch marks had appeared on his back. Soon after that, the attack stopped as suddenly as it had begun. Oddly, the scratches are said to have completely disappeared by the following morning. From there, the strange entity seems to have become hooked on using children's toys to frighten and panic the family. One time, the family found their son's rocking horse ominously hanging by its reins from the ceiling loft hatch, and on another occasion the couple was met by the creepy sight of a toy bunny sitting at the top of the stairs with a box cutter placed in its paws. Toys would also often roll across the floor on their own without warning, making eerie moaning sounds or turn on by themselves. Another weird occurrence was when a sink in the bathroom allegedly suddenly seemed to fill with blood to the point of overflowing, which vanished soon after. What was going on in this house? One disturbingly menacing habit that this poltergeist had was leaving threatening messages on the son's doodleboard. These messages were typically ominous, aggressive, and peppered with profanity, saying things like, you're dead, just go now, die, bitch, rip, and go bitch now to your mam, sometimes joined by strange arcane shapes and symbols scrawled next to them. These messages would graduate from the board to emails and SMS messages that the wife would receive on her mobile phone, which were typically death threats or promises of violence such as get you bitch and die now. One such message said, going to die today, going to get you. And another read, I can get you when you awake and I'll come for you when you asleep, bitch. None of the messages could be tracked to a number or email account, and they seemed to come from nowhere. Her cell phone would also be incessantly called by her whole number, even when she knew there was no one at home. The South Shields poltergeist has often been accused of being merely a prank or hoax played out by the family. But what do you think? Could this family have been under attack from forces unknown? Weird Darkness continues in just a moment. October is the anniversary of Weird Darkness and we celebrate by raising funds to help people who suffer from depression. Chantel wrote in saying, I had fairly aggressive postpartum depression three years ago. At work as a reservist in the Canadian Armed Forces and full-time as a correctional officer. I didn't know about the Weird Darkness podcast when I was dealing with my postpartum. However, due to my past medical history and my two jobs that almost guarantee me to have some type of mental illness in the future, I am glad that there is a soft place to fall other than the usual government-funded sites. Chantel is right. The organizations that we are raising funds for this month, Seven Cups, iFRED and the National Suiciding Crisis Lifeline are all funded by donors like you and me who understand the importance of these resources being available. You can make a donation now of any amount by visiting WeirdDarkness.com slash overcoming. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash overcoming. Or click the link in the show notes. Cool air bristled across the wide open space of the dimly lit parking lot. The sun was still a long ways away. It was just a very faded light blue haze on the distant horizon. Most nights it would be the dead time of night with the world still asleep. But that night, that morning, it was far from still and asleep, not the early pre-dawn morning after Thanksgiving. Cars and trucks filled with holiday-traveled shoppers roamed in the early morning streets. Coffee shops were already opened to the morning participants and filled with many people getting their refills. Family members would be switching out from the long lines as many would be tucked away in their vehicles while one member would brave the cold. Solitary shoppers would be heavily bundled with hunter hand warmers placed strategically throughout their body to attempt to keep them warm. Winter was coming and so was Christmas. Tim stood there. He was one of the many shoppers getting ready to storm the doors into the closed department store. The store itself still had an hour before they would open to the onslaught of customers and the line outside was already stretched around to the side of the building. Its end lost out of sight. He was glad that he was one of the few people closest to the door, but then he had also been camping there since before the store had even closed the night before. I'm going back to the car. Tim looked over his shoulder. Michelle was shivering behind him. Her face, the little he could see exposed as most of it was hidden behind her pink scarf, was pale white from the cold. Even her normally bright blue eyes seemed to be iced over with a sheen of frost. He had warned her beforehand about coming with him that it wasn't easy to stand in the line for hours on end. She had thought it would be fun. She could play on her phone and text people, she had told him. That had lasted 15 minutes. By midnight, she had already been complaining about wanting to go home and come back later. She didn't understand. Okay, hon, you go get yourself warmed up, he said to her. She hadn't even waited for him. She had already turned and was bouncing back to their little Ford Escort. The heat wouldn't kick on for a couple of minutes, if it did at all, but she had blankets in there and it would get her out of the wind. The couple next to him really came prepared. They were seated in lawn chairs, large, thick blankets pulled up to their faces and full headgear to keep them warm. They had long since fallen asleep and were statues to the god of greed. Others nearby had set up tents. Those were the fanatics. They had been camped out there for two days. When Tim first showed up, he couldn't help but find out more, like what they were there for. One of them was just there for the event of it. He just planned on picking up a couple of new DVDs. Michelle was shocked by the madness of it all. She was furious at first. Didn't any of these people have families they should be with? It's Thanksgiving! Tim just smiled. She was cute. That she was and her tight blue jeans that sometimes looked like they were just painted on. A wiggle fit, he called them, as he knew she had to shake her booty viciously to fit them into the small space of the pants. Then there was her slim fitting sweater that was thick enough to be warm, but still tight to her shape. Damn, he felt lucky having her there with him, even if she did spend most of the time in the car. Tim looked back behind him. People were still pulling into the parking lot and crossing over towards the distant end of the line. The stream was becoming larger. More cars were driving on the roads and the morning was waking up in greater force. He loved being out there for it, just the feeling of being a part of the morning as it was waking up. The air smelled different, the cool breeze felt different, like it was electric, pulsating intensely in preparation for what was to come. Tim scanned the parking lot, at how the morning was coming alive and stopped when his gaze fell upon his car. He watched as the exhaust created a small poisonous fog spitting out from the rusted tailpipe. Maybe he should think about getting a new car instead of waiting in line for a television. That exhaust had to be filtering into the heat. He didn't know how she could stand to just sit in there. Then again it was either that or out here in the cold. Just like her good looks, she wouldn't nearly die if it meant to keep herself comfortable or looking good. Tim shifted as he noticed that she wasn't alone in the car. She was sitting behind the wheel, but Tim could just make out another shape sitting there with her. He couldn't see it too well, but there was definitely a dark shape moving around in the front seat of the car. He was making the whole car shake, rocking back and forth. If Tim hadn't known better, he would have thought there was sexual feeling going on, but Michelle would never and it was too soon after she had left. Tim didn't stop to think about his place in line when the driver's side door opened and he could hear her screaming. Michelle's scream could be heard loudly throughout the parking lot and it chilled him even deeper. He tried to run as fast as he could, but his legs had long since gone numb from standing and being out there in the cold. They burned and pulled against him. He neared the car as Michelle was trying to pull herself out. Her hands just reaching over the top of the door were covered in blood and she struggled against the dark shape trying to pull herself away. He could hear her struggling, sounding like she was trying to kick herself away, but with the windows fogged and the angle he had run towards her, he still couldn't see much more than the streaks of blood coming down the driver's side door. Michelle! Tim yelled. He could see in greater detail how the passenger side window had been broken in and the dark shape was reaching through from the other side, chasing after his girlfriend. She was staring at him through the window as some of the fog had started to fade, making her face just a haze. Her expression was of desperation and he knew that tears were streaming down her face. He tried to push himself even faster to get around the door to get her. Michelle! He rounded around the open door quickly reaching in to grab for her hand. Take my hand! Tim said. He reached for hers, but she wouldn't grab it. Her grip remained tight on the door, fingers locked into their grasp. Her skin was covered in blood and he grabbed at her hands to pull them away. The fingers stayed locked. She refused to look at him and a lump was beginning to form in the pit of his stomach. There was a lot of blood. He hoped like hell that it wasn't hers. He silently prayed to himself that it wasn't. He finally was able to break away her fingers from the frame and took her hands into his. The blood was wet and sticky and he had to fight to keep hold of her as he started pulling her out of the front seat of the car. She wrenched back, pulled away from him when her hand broke free from the door frame. He had to pull harder. A tug of war occurred with Michelle being used as a rope. He pulled with all of his strength coursing through his legs to dig into the black top of the parking lot. The shape, hidden in the darkness of the car, Tim couldn't see who or what had her. He just knew he wanted to get Michelle away from it. He pulled harder, feeling as she was starting to come farther from the front seat of the car. Then, with a sudden snap, she was broken free and lunged forward towards him. He fell back and Michelle came crashing down on top of him. Blood was dripping from her and he could see the large chunk of flesh taken out of her neck. He could also see her collarbone right where skin and muscle should have been through a large rip in her sweater. Around the tear, a massive amount of red crimson already drenched her sweater around the gaping hole and it was quickly getting worse. Tim looked to her eyes, turning her face so that she was looking at him. Her face turned but her eyes were barely open and looked at him with a blank gaze. Her mouth was open but inside her tongue flopped with emotion as Tim was jerking her around trying to get her to snap out of it. She was gone. He let her go and started to pull himself out from under her. His eyes stayed locked into her lifeless orbs as the black dots continued to look back at him. She had just been there with him, just minutes ago. She had been in line with him, talking to him. He could already start to hear the commotion from the crowd and some that had family members holding their place were already running over. Tim didn't turn to look. He just wanted his Michelle to have her eyes snap out of their days and to stare back at him, not through him. He didn't even notice as the dark shape started to crawl over Michelle and continue towards him. Brett yawned, his eyes moist in the corner as they fought to stay open. His mouth pulled tight and he could feel the muscles in his neck tense. His whole body was feeling like it wasn't awake and there wasn't a single part of him that wanted to be there. He couldn't remember the last time he had woken up that early. Had he ever? He didn't want to be up that early now. It wasn't even five in the morning yet. It was unnatural, uncalled for to be there and to make it worse, he had to listen to that man just drone on and on. He was babbling something about lines and flow of traffic. Brett really didn't care, like he really wanted to spend his day after Thanksgiving listening to some windbag who thought he could just shout out orders and that they were like sheep that would follow. Brett had to fight from laughing out loud. Sheep. That was like the pack forming outside, sheep being led to the slaughter. Just yesterday he had been dragged with his parents to his grandparents over the river and through the woods to their cramped little house somewhere lost in the corn fields of Illinois to endure a long day of his uncle screaming children. His parents didn't want to leave until it was well past eight which meant they hadn't crossed back into Wisconsin until it neared midnight. Then he had to be there to listening to this man who on a normal day he would consider to be a pretty cool boss. However, any man inflicting the early morning torture was no longer considered to be a nice man. So Brett, what are you going to be? Brett blinked and looked through the blue clad men and women around him to the man standing at the middle, the man who now called him out for not paying attention. Um, walking the line, Brett said, thankful that Sullivan had told him the plans before Thanksgiving. Okay, so grab your jacket and the item tickets and get out there. Remember, one ticket per customer and make sure to pitch our services. I don't want any computers going out without any setups. If they get to register and you haven't sold them, you failed. Failed? What the hell did he know? Brett thought to himself. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen the old man on the sales floor. Brett grabbed his large heavy winter coat that he had sitting on one of the front displays, made a check for the hand warmers he had kept in the left front pocket, and started to walk towards the front door. Behind him, he could hear Jim ramble on to the rest of his troops. Troops preparing for war and this were the battlefield, he thought, as he reached the large front metal gate. It clouded loudly in the busy morning and he wanted to cover his ears against the screeching metal sound. Instead, he just clenched his teeth until the metal was pulled far enough to the side and rested there in its guided path. He stepped over the metal rail that was the guide for the gate and stood just before the large glass double door and looked out into the darkness of the morning. He could have sworn that the street lights had been on when he had pulled in to the parking lot, but now as he looked out there it was dark, almost completely dark, where usually he could see the cars parked in the lot. The employees' cars were always parked toward the back and a stab of concern spawned that he couldn't see his own car. He reached for the lock and heard the click as it unlatched with a dead thud. Something was growing in his stomach. Something wasn't right and he had a feeling starting to twist in his insides. The hairs along his arms started to rise and a sudden shock of what felt like electricity started to dance in the air. Maybe it was just his fear? What the hell was there to be afraid of? Come on, man. Wake yourself up and get out there. What the hell is there to be afraid of? He knew he was saying it in his mind more to himself to calm his nerves, but there was still that unnerving feeling that there was something there. There was something out there that there was to be afraid of. Why else wouldn't he just go out there and start working up the line of customers? He was one hell of a salesman. He could walk that line and sell warranties to the most cranky of them and that was all commission money coming straight to his pocket. Who said it didn't pay to be sleazy? He started to pull on the doors, working to pull them apart. They caught at first and then started to pull apart with ease, and Brett was met with the cold November chill that was feasting its way through the morning. It was hungry that cold and it wanted to make him a part of it. A shiver ran through him. He took a step out into the darkness and was met with cold, stiff plastic assaulting his face and he instantly remembered why he hadn't been able to see the parking lot from inside. Jim and his infinite genius to protect the bargains had covered the front door with that damn black plastic so no one could see into the store. Heaven forbid that anyone could see in and see that we only carried maybe two of some ultra low priced deal. No, let's keep the customers not knowing so they stand in line for three hours and still were not able to get what they were waiting for. It was no wonder why all his managers hated the damn holidays. Brett had only been working there for seven months and he was already starting to hate them. They ruined his fourth of July, his labor day and every other single holiday since he had made the mistake of starting there. Brett closed the door behind him and started to beat against the plastic, working his way to find its end. Fuck this, he muttered under his breath. The cold wet plastic seemed to fight against him. The darkness, a small maze he was trying to push his way through. He could almost imagine how fish felt when they were trapped in the net. The damn plastic just wouldn't seem to let him go. The wind just seemed to catch it whenever he would try to push it away from himself and whip it back into him. It was like there were hands reaching through the plastic trying to grab him. A sudden strong draft finally pushed the plastic away, allowing him to break free. The wind, a slice of cold air that burned his skin, rushed at him and the light from the parking lot revealed itself. He felt a brief relieving sensation of being free and inhaled deeply the clean, cool air. Brett had just a second to enjoy being released from the plastic before he realized that it hadn't been the wind that had been pushing it in against him. Cynthia was rushing, nearly running to reach the break room where she could already hear Jim talking about how they were all going to survive the morning. It was his same speech that he gave every year, the one about what everyone was expected to do and how certain people were sharks walking the line while others were given directions on how to do the quick pitch on selling at the register. Jim could sell, she definitely felt that way about him. He had no soul and would sell a warranty to his dying grandmother even if it cost her last dollar she had. He would still make the sale. Listen to him and a person could make some money in commissions and that she did. But she didn't like being late. She was never late. Her damned alarm clock, why hadn't it gone off? She was never late. She knew they were already upset with her. She could tell it from the tone of Aaron's voice when he called wondering where she was. Thank goodness he had called. She never would have made it otherwise. She eased her way into the already crowded room, sneaking her way into the back of the crowd. Jim didn't seem to notice but Aaron did. He was probably for the best though, so that way he knew that she was there and wouldn't be trying to call her again. She wondered if anyone else had been late. Okay, everyone ready? Everyone know what they're supposed to do? Jim called out to the crowd. Cynthia looked over to the new guy. His name was Rick or Randy, something with an R. Damn, she felt sorry for him. This was never what you wanted to do for your first day. Only a sadistic SOB would put a man on his first day against the morning rush. She looked back to Jim who was walking over with Randy or Rick or whatever his name was and was starting to lead him out of the room. Cynthia had to step to the side to let them pass and she caught the evil stare that Jim gave her. Then he turned his attention back to R and they were heading toward the door. The rest of the half-awake zombies of the morning employees moved to follow. But Cynthia, her pulse racing from having to hurry, had a quicker step to her walk and was able to follow Jim out the door before anyone else started to really move. They were all making their way from the back brake area. Jim and his long quick manager's stride. R, eager to please on his first day and Cynthia with her just being her normal chipper self. However, Cynthia slowed as they were making their way to the front door. She slowed as the hairs on the back of her neck stood and she realized that something just didn't feel right. The front of the store was dark, darker than normal, but that was to be expected with the plastic over the front door. Still, that wasn't it. There was something else, something that hung in the air. It was like there was a bad smell of meat gone rank, but it was so faint that she could feel it more than smell it. Then there was also that tickle of a sound. There was a thumping like something dull being repeatedly knocked against glass. Holy shit, is that that beating against the glass? R said as him and Jim headed toward the front door. Jim stopped just before they both reached it. Cynthia thought she knew why too. It was the same reason why she slowed. He felt it too, or he heard it. After all, R was right. It did sound like the customers outside were hitting against the glass doors. That is, if they were hitting it in slow motion and no energy. The repetitive pumps did make it sound like there were many of them and they wanted in. It's time! Jim said as he checked his watch. Yeah, but time for what? Cynthia thought as she watched Jim move to unlock and power on the inner doors. It was time for what? Cynthia could hear as the other employees started to stop and stand at various spots around her. She took a glimpse at them and she could see them all as the walking dead as they all looked so tired and half alive. She turned back from the crowd of employees behind her in time to watch as the inner doors glided loudly open and Jim strutted his way to the outer doors. The inner doors started to squeak back closed, the loud high pitch squeal cutting through the mysterious thumping with its own horror movie soundtrack. Jim and R were cut off from the rest of them as they stood enclosed in the vestibule. Each one taking sides as Jim guided R in how the front iron gates folded back away into the sides of the door. Cynthia stopped watching them and looked to the black tarp still hanging outside the doors. She could see different shapes at different points of the black tarp pushing through and then hitting into the front glass door. She could hear the loud clank as Jim secured the gate on the left side of the door, the pounding on the door intensified. Jim without waiting for R to finish with his side came rushing back into the front part of the door. Where are all my tech guys? Jim said as he scanned through his sleeping audience. No one responded. Jim turned back around. Where were they? Cynthia had the fleeting thought as she watched Jim unlock the door and R flipped the power switch. As the door slowly squealed open, even louder than the inner door, no one expected what was about to happen. The door didn't make it halfway and Jim was just about to give his morning get in line speech to the customers while reaching to pull down the black tarp when all hell broke loose. A hand reached through the tarp, grabbing Jim's hand just after he grabbed the tarp. He barely had time to call out what the, when the weight shifted on the other side from pulling Jim's arm to pushing it forward. In a rush of flying black, darker than the moonless sky, the tarp rushed forward. The first shapes falling forward caught in it like it was a fishing tarp. R, who had just kept himself a little off to the right, just missed being caught by the falling tarp. Not that it helped him much. The mass crowd, still not seen too well in the darkened vestibule from where Cynthia stood, was quickly stumbling over the first wave of the fallen and their hands quickly were grabbing R. Their grasp ripped and pulled at his clothes as he started to stumble back. He might have made it away from them as well had he not backed up against the glass stationary part of the gliding front door. It was then as R was trying to push against a glass that would not move that Cynthia saw what was there. At first she could only see all the pairs of hands and disembodied arms. The hands themselves were mostly all covered in crimson and dripping, but what they belonged to. It was something like out of a horror flick, the ones that her ex-boyfriend Kenny used to always try to get her to watch. Zombies? Zombies! She could see the disfigured faces, the blank stare and the stumbling lurches as they made their way forward. She could tell, though she had never tried to watch those films as there was too much of people getting torn apart, their intestines strewn around like bloody Christmas lights. She had a passing reminder of having to help her mom put up Christmas lights tomorrow as she started to back up. The zombies had already reached R and were starting to pull him apart. They were tearing off limbs, but they were eating into it, pulling his flesh away in large strips. He was screaming in ways that Cynthia didn't know a man could. The loud sound, not sounding like it came from human vocal cords. Then the scream seemed to fill with liquid, gurgling before it was cut off. Cynthia hadn't stayed around long enough to find out what caused the scream to quit. She had turned tail and run, and she hadn't even waited to see if anyone was following. She cared about them. Many of them were her friends, but right now it was survival. She was a four-foot petite 18-year-old girl, nothing but a snack to those things. She didn't plan to have herself become an easy snack. She made it to the back of the center row when she stopped running. She was panting a little, but nowhere near yet worked up. No, those weekly workouts she had with that hot instructor that she had been continuing to flirt with had kept her in shape. Behind her she could hear others coming her way, running. The breath caught in her throat as she turned to see who was coming. She kept her body turned, ready to run. All her senses were alive and she felt like she was a deer who had just heard the snap of a twig. With her head turned back, she saw shapes running towards her, shadows dancing in the dark, nothing more than outlines running away from the lights surrounding the front. Cynthia felt her breath catch and her chest seized. The shapes were running and images of running zombies flashed through her head. She tried to think of where to go and where to hide. Where could she go? Go, go, go, go, go! The large shape yelled. Cynthia recognized his voice. Ryan was yelling at her and she turned back to run as they neared reaching her. Come on, receiving! Ryan yelled at her, waving his arm for her to follow. She did quickly. She wasn't sure how many or if anyone else was following. Sure, she hoped there was, but she could only afford to think about herself and get herself safe. Cynthia heard a loud scream behind her. It wasn't all the way to the front, so the zombies must have been getting closer. She wanted to turn and look to see how far away they were, but no, it wasn't safe. Ahead, Cynthia could see the light disappear where the sales floor ended and the receiving department began. Her pace faltered, as she could imagine once crossing that threshold, it was going to be harder to see what was around the corner. It was too dark in there. They shouldn't be going in. Just what the hell was Ryan thinking? Ryan, wait! Ryan didn't wait. He kept running, and when he reached the corner to turn into receiving, he disappeared into the darkness. Cynthia didn't linger any longer. She pushed herself harder to catch back up with them, still not sure who the second running figure was. She assumed it was Tommy. The figure was about his size and she couldn't imagine Ryan being there without his twin. The shadows kept bouncing around her and she felt like she had entered into one of those fun houses that tried to scare her. She entered into the darkness and all sight was lost. The world around her felt like it was gone and the night was taking over, like it was its own essence. It was enveloping around her and she was losing herself into some bad horror film. It was the one where everything was coming after her, everything from her nightmares. Ryan yelled back to her, telling her to hurry. As her eyes adjusted to the little light, she could see him starting to climb his way up the roof access stairs. His boots, echoing off the metal stairs as he climbed, she worried that they would be heard if any of those things were nearby. Tommy was right behind Ryan and she hurried over to follow them. Come on! He yelled to her, urging her on. She started to climb, looking up to Ryan as she did so. He was getting near the roof access door. She was afraid they might freeze to death once they got out there, but for the time being, she just wanted to get somewhere safe. Being on a roof where none of those things could get to her was at least one step in the right direction. Ryan reached the top of the ladder and started to push on the door. She could hear him grunting and then a frustrated cry out, Shit! It's locked! She kept climbing, though she already feared that they were going to be stuck there. She heard another kind of grunt. It was one that she had already learned and dreaded recognizing. The lights of the store turned on. The automatic timer must have finally recognized that it was time to open the store. Cynthia could see as the first wave of zombies made their way around the corner. They moved slowly, some of them limping, those it looked like because part of their legs had been eaten through. Most of them just stumbled, walking slowly like they didn't remember how. It was like they were mindless to the point of not knowing who or what they used to be, but that they were moving with a purpose and a desire to do something. Like they wanted something, but didn't know what it was that they wanted. A sick part of Cynthia that she never knew existed until that very moment said to her what separated these shoppers from many of their other customers. She suppressed the small insane laughter that had been building. The answer wasn't all that funny after all. These shoppers wanted her flesh. What are we going to do? Ryan asked. Cynthia looked back up to him. She was glad to see that she was right and that it was Tommy there with him. She always liked it when she was right. She just smiled at herself and to them. She was beginning to realize that she was about to die. It was strange knowing that it was about to happen, but she was done fighting it. She looked around her. There was no place to go. The large receiving bay doors already had pounding from the other side and the familiar grunts from more zombies. So they were trapped. The only way out was up and with the freezing cold, even that would have been a death sentence. She watched as the zombies started to gather below her feet. They were far enough below her that as they reached up to try and pull her back down, she was still safe. Above her, Ryan and Tommy were working together to try and break the door open. She just watched them for a brief time. The fear that had previously gripped her seemed to have left her as a now strange, calm seemed to have washed over her. She felt her hand release on the cool metal and she could feel herself falling back. Then the hands. There were many of them and they all started to tear into her. They grabbed and they clawed and while she could hear herself screaming, she knew that her body was filled with pain of being ripped apart. She also didn't feel it like her mind was already away from it all. And then everything she had known before was gone. She was gone. And just becoming another one of the many. One of the many cravers, mindlessly craving what they don't even know what they are craving for. She was lost to become a part of the mass. Thanks for listening. If you like the show, please share it with someone you know who loves the paranormal or strange stories, true crime, monsters or unsolved mysteries like you do. And please leave a rating and review of the show in the podcast app you listen from. You can email me anytime with your questions or comments at darren at WeirdDarkness.com. Darren is D-A-R-R-E-N. WeirdDarkness.com is also where you can find all of my social media, listen to audiobooks I've narrated, shop the Weird Darkness store, sign up for monthly contests, find other podcasts that I host, and find the Hope in the Darkness page if you or someone you know is struggling with depression or dark thoughts. And please consider giving towards our overcoming the darkness fundraiser. Every dollar you give will be donated to organizations that help people who struggle with depression. The fundraiser ends Halloween night after the live scream, so please give today. Visit the Hope in the Darkness page at WeirdDarkness.com for more information. Also on WeirdDarkness.com, if you have a true paranormal or creepy tale to tell, you can click on Tell Your Story. You can find all of that and more on the website. All stories in Weird Darkness are purported to be true unless stated otherwise, and you can find source links or links to the authors in the show notes. Weird Darkness is a production and trademark of Marlar House Productions. Copyright Weird Darkness 2022. And now that we're coming out of the dark, I'll leave you with a little light. Romans 5, verses 6-8. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And a final thought. For every dream that you have, your week needs to match that dream. Eric Thomas. I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me in the Weird Darkness. Congratulations to Petra Hammer. She is my email newsletter winner for October, and Petra has won a Weird Darkness prize pack, which includes a Weird Darkness pen, button, phone stand, bumper sticker, fidget keychain, magnet, and more, along with a mini tote bag to haul it all in. Congratulations, Petra. If you want to win next month, be sure you're signed up for the free Weird Darkness email newsletter. You can sign up by clicking on the Contests tab at WeirdDarkness.com.