October is here, and I couldn’t be happier!

First and foremost, after sweltering summer heat and humidity, the brightly colored leaves against a blue cloudless sky soothes my anxiety and stress. Through my lifetime, the locations might change, but every single Autumn contains a memory of me walking outside and pausing to look up and breathe deeply. Something about the smell of burning leaves, cooler temperatures, and turning colors just does it for me. I feel it deep in my soul. 

Second, the start of the holiday season adds an extra element of excitement. There’s a buzz in the air as people get ready to celebrate that makes the world feel more alive. The better side of humanity emerges as people try to make the wishes of their loved ones come true. The food, the people, the love. I can’t get enough of it.

And finally, the fact that it’s my birthday month definitely plays a role. I’m honest enough to admit I love presents. And cake. And attention. Having a birthday so close to Halloween means that every one of my parties has a predetermined theme—and I’m not mad about it. I think I won the lottery of holidays to be born around. Hayrides, bonfires, county fairs, haunted houses, free candy hauls. Growing up, my birthday parties rocked!

This leads me to the true meaning behind this post. I want to celebrate, and I want to do it by telling ghost stories. But not just ANY ghost story. I’m looking for a very specific type—the scariest of all.

I want you to tell me about that ONE time when something happened that you just can’t explain. We all have a memory where we saw or heard something that doesn’t add up. You try your best to explain it away, but it sticks with you throughout your life. To everyone else, you laugh it off as silly. But in your honest moments alone, you wonder. What if it was real? What if what I thought happened really did?

This is a safe place, and in the spirit of Halloween, let’s share with one another. Drop your creepy moments below and let’s be scared together. Don’t worry. I’m going to be brave and go first. 

My creepy memory happened when I was twelve.

My sister and I shared a bedroom that had twin beds separated by a desk and chair—a pretty standard room for two little girls. I’ve racked my brain for anything about the night that seemed different, but nothing jumps out at me. It was just a typical night…until it wasn’t.

I woke up in the middle of the night gasping for air. There was lingering pressure against the front of my neck, as if someone had hit me hard. My entire body flooded with adrenaline, and I wrapped my hands protectively around my throat. I was confused and simultaneously terrified.

As I tried to catch my breath, I naturally looked toward my sister’s bed, but a dark, lumpy shape blocked my vision. I couldn’t see my sister. Something about the lumpy blob filled me with more terror. I couldn’t take my hands off my neck or take my eyes off the strange shape. For a moment, I was literally frozen in fear. I knew, in my bones, that the shape was responsible for choking or hitting my neck.

I tried calling for my sister, who was usually a light sleeper, but she wouldn’t wake. I was too afraid to get up, so I forced myself to cover my head and hide. 

Once under the covers, I calmed enough to think more logically. I worked out that I must have been looking at our desk chair covered in clothes. I kept repeating to myself that I’d a bad dream, and it was just clothes on a chair. Finally, with my hands still wrapped protectively around my neck, I fell asleep.

The next morning, I got up only to quickly realize something. There, in front of the closet, was the desk chair. We had been using it to reach the top of our closet the day before and hadn’t put it back. 

There was nothing beside my bed. Nothing at all. 

I don’t know what I’d been looking at in the middle of the night, but it wasn’t a chair.

To this day, I can’t fall asleep on my back. 

That’s it. That’s my creepy true story. Now please tell me one of yours. I know you all have them. That time you went into your grandmother’s basement and saw a weird shadow, or walked into the woods and heard a weird noise, or broke into an abandoned building and saw a strange blur. 

Don’t be shy. Let’s usher in the Halloween season right. I can’t wait to hear what true spooky things have happened to you all!