A good friend of mine had talked me and my husband into going to a thing called FanBoy. Now, if you don’t know what that is, it’s an event that’s held in different area’s at different times of the year. During this event, you get to meet some of your favorite tv stars, movie stars, what have you. You get in line and wait your turn to say hello to him or her and possibly even get an autograph. The one we attended seemed to have a lot of stars from horror movies.

I know, right?

But the thing that convinced me to go was the fact that there would be two people there that day that I had always dreamed of meeting. The first was Dirk Benedict, the man who played Face or Templeton Peck on the A Team. The second was Derek Mears, who was not only an actor but stuntman, and was in the 2010 Predators movie. He was the predator.

When we walked into this place, there were tables as far as the eye could see. Behind each one was an actor, artist, stuntman, or voice-over. The first table I spotted was Derek’s; he had a long line, so we decided to walk around and see what there was to see. Another thing I noticed, was that people dressed up as characters from different movies. There were lots of them walking around.

Enter a man named Jeff Cochran, also known as Wickedbeard.

We were halfway down the back of the aisle when I noticed someone dressed up as Jason Voorhees, the main character in Friday the 13th. At the time, I didn’t know who the character was or what movie they were in, but I knew enough that I didn’t want to be around him. Mama didn’t raise no fool and all.

I didn’t know at the time that the man behind the mask was Wickedbeard, I didn’t know that he liked to dress up in these life-like interpretations of terror. I didn’t know that he was looking for someone to scare. And, I didn’t know that he not only spotted me coming down the aisle, but he also noticed my frantic pivot in the other direction, which then, in turn, put a target on my back. All things that I learned later.

I remember my husband saying, “Don’t act scared like that, he’ll notice.”

First of all, I’m not acting. I AM SCARED. There is a man coming at me in a mask with a weapon, who’s very being dripped of murder.

Everyone get in the car, we’re going home!

My good friend laughed it off and told me there was nothing to worry about. People dress like that just for those events and it was all good. Why didn’t I believe that?

I turned around to find that the mask man had completely disappeared into the crowd. If I were lucky, I could hide from him the rest of the day, while I collect my two little autographs and hopefully escape with my life.

When we came back around, Derek’s line had freed up. So, my husband and I got in line, while my good friend stood towards the front of the line taking pictures. Derek was greeting the folks in front of us at his table, taking pictures, talking, signing, the usual. From the moment I saw the dude in the mask, I made it a point to tell my husband that we needed to leave quickly. There was no telling where this dude was. He could pop out at any second. My husband just laughed it off and told me not to look so scared. Thank you, honey.

There were about three or four people in line ahead of us, talking to Derek. I stood there beside my husband, reevaluating my life’s decisions up until that point. I couldn’t help but fidget. You guys know I can’t handle these things. My husband wrapped his arm around me, I assumed to partly comfort me and partly hide his amusement at this point.

If he gets me, buddy, you better bet you’re coming too.

My friend was still taking photos at the front of the line. She was glancing at me and smiling, I thought at me. Then she just stopped taking photos. That’s odd. I told myself that I needed to chill out—I probably looked like a lunatic standing there. I decided to focus on Derek’s table, all the posters, and signed things he had laying out.

It wasn’t long before I realized something was hovering just over my right shoulder. Glancing over, I noticed it was the top of a metal spear. I felt my own face twist in confusion as I followed the spear behind me.

I remember the start of my husband’s sentence, which was, “Don’t—”

I assume he was going to say don’t turn around, but we were far past that now. Attached to the other side of that spear was none other than, Jason. Donned in his mask and ripped-stained clothes. He was literally breathing down my neck.

Y’all, I dang near wet myself.

In the next two seconds, I made a spectacle of myself, in front of the predator, guests, friends, and everyone else in between.

The sound that came out of me then, was something I can only describe as true fear. It was the sound nightmares were made of. My husband jumped and the three or four people in front of us jumped and whirled around. Even Derek Mears himself jumped. He seemed confused at first, but I didn’t have any time to explain. I’m sure he thought I’d lost my mind.

I don’t actually remember moving, but I did. I ripped myself out of my husband’s grasp and catapulted to the front of the line, cutting in front of everyone there, so I could cling to my friend, who was now horse laughing. I lost the feeling in my hands and feet, but I clung to my friend as best I could. My heart was about to bounce right out of my chest and run, leaving me behind. I wanted to follow but my body had just accepted the inevitable and shut down right there.

“Wow,” Derek yelled, “Put her in a movie!”

Has anyone called 911? I need them.

Everyone laughed it off, including my husband who now folded his arms across his chest and stared at the man in the mask.

You’re all sick. Sick!

“Laura, that’s Jason,” my friend explained, “He’s from Friday the 13th.”

Well, what is he doing here? It’s Saturday!  

The guy just stood there, without a word. Staring at me. Swell.

“She’s scared of you,” my friend called to him.

Really? What gave it away?

She smiled at me and then called to him, “Do you guys want to take a picture together?”

Oh, I need to lay down. You find out who your friends are I suppose.

While everyone watched, I moved as close as I could force myself to, so she could snap the picture.

“Alright, smile,” she called.

ARE YOU SERIOUS? JUST TAKE THE PICTURE!

I tried to smile. Even before she snapped the picture, I could feel myself pulling away from him unconsciously. That’s when he took it upon himself to reach out and grab me. He pulled me close to him, in a type of bear hug. I squeaked. I wasn’t sure if I couldn’t breath because I was about to faint or because his grip was that tight.

Once she snapped the photo, he simply turned around and walked away. He never said a word. I turned to see the crowd had departed and I was next in line to see Derek. I don’t know if he was smiling because he was just a happy guy or he was laughing at me on the inside, but I willed my legs to move towards him.

“So, do you want a scary picture where I grab you by the neck or a nice picture,” he asked.

Sir, I can’t take much more. Just smile so I can go crawl into the fetal position somewhere.

During the next several hours, we bounced from table to table. Occasionally, I’d look up to find Jason standing very far off from us, looking at me. I don’t know if that’s a movie thing or what, cause again, I never watched it, but--

​Sir, do you know CPR? Cause if you keep this up, you’re going to have to learn.

Year’s ago, one of the pharmacists I worked with, had been called in to work for an hour on her day off. I pulled up after her shift started, I parked my car beside hers and I noticed an older woman sitting in her passenger seat. I smiled and did the awkward wave, she waved back. When I got inside, I asked who the woman was, turns out, it was her mother.

“You weren’t going to invite her in?”

I could not fathom why she had left her mother in the car.

“I told her to come inside,” the pharmacist explained, “But she didn’t want to. She wanted to wait in the car.”

Well, that wasn’t a stretch, older folk tend to do what older folk want to do. I left it alone. The pharmacist worked the rest of her hour and left with her mother.

The next week when I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed someone was sitting in her passenger seat again. Convinced it was her mother who refused to come into the pharmacy, I pulled up beside the car and parked. When I looked over to wave, I got the surprise of a lifetime. It wasn’t her mother that sat in the seat but a clown. A clown. I jumped/jolted a little out of my seat before I reached over and locked my doors. Whoever this person was, sat still in the passenger seat. The guy was kind of slumped to the side as if he were sleeping but his eyes were wide open. His head rested on his shoulder in such a fashion that it made me think of all the scary clown movies I had ever seen. It wasn’t even close to Halloween. What was happening?

Did someone dressed as a clown get drunk and break into her car for a nap? I looked away for a second, partly to make sure I wasn’t crazy and the other part was not to be rude; staring at someone like that was just as creepy. When I looked back up, the guy was still looking at me. I thought about calling inside the pharmacy for help or at least to tell them to call 911. Who dresses up like clown and then breaks into people’s cars? Or worse, did she know this person?

He didn’t move though, he just watched. For half a second, I thought he was dead; which didn’t help. Then I realized, he wasn’t breathing. But he wasn’t breathing because he wasn’t human. It was a doll. A Life Sized Clown Doll. Randomly sitting in a parked car, in broad daylight, at a pharmacy. Is this how I go?

Either someone slipped me something and seeing clowns or there was really a life size clown doll sitting there, glaring at me with its possessed eyes. Who in their right mind would put a possessed, life sized, clown doll in someone’s car? That was a terrible trick.

I bolted out of my car into the pharmacy. The pharmacist smiled at me from behind the counter, but I wasn’t smiling back. I threw my thumb over my shoulder, pointing to her car.

“Did you know someone put a life-sized clown doll in your car?” I spit.

She laughed like it was funny.

“I put him in there,” she said, “Someone gave him to me, and I had no where else to put him until I get home.”

“Did that someone hate you,” I asked, “You’re actually taking it home?”

“Well yeah,” she said, “he was given to me, what else can I do with him?”

“Open the car door on the interstate,” I shouted, “That thing will kill you in the middle of the night.”

“No, he won’t,” she told me, brushing it off, “He’s cute, he won’t do anything.”

First of all, you need your vision checked. Second, Madam, you’re crazy. The last thing I need is some clown doll roaming around this town killing people off. But that is exactly what you’ve brought upon us.

​When it begins, you’ll be the first to go.

​I was in my early teens when I went to my first haunted house. Now, mind you, this wasn’t one of those corn field things where people chase you with sharp objects. It was actually in a mall; the upstairs part had been turned into the giant haunted house walk through. It started with clocking in like you would clock in for work, proceeded with a walk through, and ended with a bridge. Now, I realize that some of you are scoffing at this. ‘That’s not even a real haunted house,’ you may say. But to devout cowards and extreme introverts like myself, it will do.

I don’t like being scared, I don’t like things chasing me, screaming at me, touching me, this list goes on. I also see no point in walking into a dark room, filled with things you don’t recognize, knowing full well, something is in ‘said room’ that wants to cause your heart to hurt; or even stop. No thank you.

This faithful day, I accompanied my cousin and her mom through this dark maze of hysteria and bewilderment. Keep in mind, I was young and dumb; with a positive outlook that I’d survive it. I’m not that gullible anymore. As we walked up the stairs to the second floor, the thought crossed my mind, ‘What am I doing?’ Before I knew it, we were standing in line to ‘clock in’. It was just the three of us. The group before us had already gone in, above the loud sounds of compressed air, fans, and scary music; I could already hear their screams. Great. Great.

There were two guys that worked there, standing by the clock. One rested his hand on the clock, while the other watched on. My cousin’s mom clocked in first, followed by my cousin, and then myself. The clock itself made me think of a coo—coo clock. You took the time card the guy gave you and inserted it in the top of the clock, it punched your card, shot it back out, and made a little dinging noise. Of course, the first two got through it just fine but when I reached up and inserted my card to clock in, a hand burst through the front of the clock and grabbed my wrist. I screamed, releasing my time card, leaving it inside the clock. I tried to jerk my hand away but couldn’t because the grip was so firm. The hand held me there for a few seconds before releasing me, retreating back inside the clock.

It was then I realized that hand belonged to the guy leaning against the clock. Everyone laughed, me not so much.

“Oh, we got a screamer,” he announced.

His words made me think he had a precognition. And he did.  

I don’t know you, Sir, but I don’t care for you right now.

When we entered the house, the first thing I noticed was the fog that assaulted me in the face. It was dark inside of course, with the occasional strobe light, but the fog was everywhere; and it was thick. It was also humid in there, which was something I didn’t expect. My cousin pushed her mom in front, then wrapped her arms around her waist from behind. I then did the same thing to my cousin. We were a tight chain of nerves as we ventured into the unknown.

The next thing I noticed was the black drapes everywhere. They hung from the ceiling, preventing us from seeing further into the maze. There were ear piercing noises happening beyond those drapes, I couldn’t figure out what they were. When we reached the first drape, my cousin’s mom reached up and pulled them apart, revealing more drapes further up. We slowly wobbled together through the drapes. When I passed through it, I realized the drapes were cut up, black, trash bags. They were everywhere, blocking the view from every directed.

For me, it was sensory overload. It was dark, with flashing lights and fog that strangled you while trash bags clung to you. But wait! There’s more--

When my cousin’s mom moved the second set of trash bag drapes, someone was there. I know this because, even though I didn’t see them, I heard them. I also heard and felt the other two’s reaction to seeing them. Whoever it was, was in costume and screamed like they were in the final try out for a roll in a horror movie. In return, we also screamed. It became a choir of screaming.

Everywhere we went, something or someone jumped out of somewhere. There were things coming out of the walls, the drapes, pretty sure the floor--

We white knuckled our way through this entire maze, jumping, screaming, and darting in different directions. At the last leg of this maze, there was a bridge. All we had to do was cross it and we were done. The other two went ahead of me. It was a metal bridge that ran through this spinning tunnel. The artwork on the tunnel was something I had never seen before. When I passed through it, I took in the odd ‘rings’ if you will, as I walked. I was halfway through the tunnel when I began to lean. I didn’t want to, but I did. I was leaning so much that I had to rest myself on the railing of the bridge. I remember grasping my ticket tightly because the guy at the front had made the comment, ‘Don’t lose your ticket. You’ll need it.’ What did that even mean? Would they not let me back out without it?

The other two stepped off the bridge and continued on while I struggled not to fall off. For the life of me, I could not understand what was happening to me. It felt like something was actually pulling me off the bridge. As I stared at the funky art on the spinning tunnel, my leaning became tipping. I was tipping over the railing of the bridge, dangerously close to falling over. In a panic, I dropped my ticket, which fell between the small gap of the bridge and tunnel. My first thought was, ‘Crap, I’ve lost my ticket.’ I think I actually yelled that, but no one heard. My second thought was, ‘I’m gonna die! If I fall off this bridge, I’ll be crushed where the bridge and tunnel meet.’

I was now halfway over the bridge, being pulled towards the tunnel art. No matter what I did, I could not pull myself upright. It was one of the scariest things I can remember from that time. Finally, I just closed my eyes. If I was going to die, I didn’t want to see it coming. And just like that, I popped straight up, as if that last 45 seconds never even happened. I stumbled off the bridge to the other side in bewilderment. What had just happened?

Later on, I learned that the tunnel is called a Vortex tunnel. Its main purpose is to create an experience of vertigo for the person walking through. It creates a loss of equilibrium as the brain receives conflicting signals from the body and its senses.

​There are some sick people in this world.

Helen’s Bridge. Even if you don’t live in Asheville, NC you’ve probably heard of it.

It was also known as Zealandia’s bridge, which connects to Zealandia castle. So, why do they call it Helen’s bridge?

The story I grew up with, was a woman named Helen lived in the castle with her daughter. One day, the castle caught fire while Helen was putting clothes out on the line. Her baby died in the fire and Helen could never forgive herself for not being able to save her child. So, she walked to the bridge and hung herself.

Now, I’ve heard several different versions of the story. Some say Helen lived in the castle, that she lived on the grounds of the castle, there’s even a version that say Helen was a mistress to the castle owner. I don’t know which one is true, never asked her.

Someone even told me that Helen never existed; that a man who worked for the castle died up there somehow and that’s who haunts the grounds.

Either way, someone died around that area, and now people claim to see things.

Legend says if you go to Helen’s bridge, you’ll see her there, in her white gown; asking where her child is. It’s also said that if you go up at midnight and call out, ‘Helen come forth’, three times, she’ll show up. I’ve heard several people say their car has stalled there or they had some type of car issue.

I have never had car trouble there. And YES, I’ve been there. A few times actually. Even though it has a scary story linked to it, the bridge is beautiful in its own way. I’ve also never gone up there after dark, nor have I called out to her. I’m not going to either. I’ve got enough problems. So, I can’t say I’ve actually seen, heard, or felt anything there. Thank God.

My main problem, when I do visit, is that someone always pops up out of the bushes. My number one question is, WHY ARE YOU PEOPLE IN THE BUSHES? You know what, strike that, I don’t want to know. But I’ll have to say, if memory serves me right, EVERY TIME I’ve gone, someone has popped out of a bush or out of the woods. It’s the most random thing, it’s also very awkward when you make eye contact.

They also have the nerve to look at you like YOU’RE crazy. Hello, sir or madam, who just randomly fell out of the woods. How’s it going?

One particular day, a good friend of mine, who loves ghost hunting, ventured to the bridge with me to do some filming. I was under the bridge filming while she was off filming something else. In all honestly, I was filming for my YouTube channel. You can find that video below.

CLICK HERE FOR YOUTUBE VIDEO

I was looking straight up at the bridge when I heard the bushes near me moving. I turned to see a man and his dog step through the trees. We made that awkward eye contact I mentioned earlier and then he veered off in the opposite direction.

I turned back to the bridge and listened to their footsteps disappear. I had a clear shot of my friend who was also filming, I could get her attention if I wanted to but I’d have to shout, she was so far from me. I peered through my lens to make sure I was getting a good shot when the leaves behind me started rustling.

Whatever it was, it was coming up behind me. Naturally, being where I was and being who I am, there were only two scenarios I could come up with at that point. Either that man and his dog snuck up behind me to kill and/or kidnap me or it was Helen. It took a bit to muster up the courage to look behind me. When I did, there was no one there. And of course, everything fell quiet.

Yep. If I can just make it to my car, I promise to never come here again.

I turned back around to yell at my friend when the leaves started rustling behind me again. And no, it wasn’t the wind. There was no wind.

Against my better judgement, I wheeled around to look. Every movie I have ever watched, has taught me better than this. I let myself down.

Again, there was nothing there. But the leaves were still rustling. It had been years since I had sprinted, but I was entertaining the thought. I glanced down, bewildered at this point. I saw it then. Weaving himself through the leaves, right at my feet, was a tiny little mole.

Dude, really?

I watched as this tiny little thing sniffed around for food and then disappeared under the leaves.

​Well, cute as he was, that made my heart hurt. AND CUT! We’re done for the day.