April 28, 2011
Monster Month
It's alive! This May, Monster Month begins on Scary True, featuring five monstrous tales of mayhem! May belongs to the monsters! Check this page for a complete list of stories.
April 25, 2011
The Beast of Blue Mist Road
As the Great Depression shook the economic foundations of the early 20th century, millions of formerly working men crisscrossed America in search of jobs. Hitching rides on trains that travelled the country, these men joined the legions of travelling hobos, engendering a culture and way of life that became a part of America’s heritage. For some of these travellers, however, the railway life offered the chance to travel not in search of work or handouts, but in search of victims.
George writes to tell me about his boyhood during the Depression and the many hobos that he met near his home in Tennessee. Railway tracks bordered George’s family’s property and when men came to the back door asking for food, George's parents sent them on their way empty handed. George’s Granny, however, was more gracious, and she was the one who usually answered the door. “Granny had a big heart for people down on their luck,” George tells me.
In those days travelling hobos used signs carved on trees or buildings to communicate with those who came after. As a boy George found such a sign on a post by the tracks. A crude cat carved into the wood let other hobos know that George’s house was a friendly place where food was available.
George writes to tell me about his boyhood during the Depression and the many hobos that he met near his home in Tennessee. Railway tracks bordered George’s family’s property and when men came to the back door asking for food, George's parents sent them on their way empty handed. George’s Granny, however, was more gracious, and she was the one who usually answered the door. “Granny had a big heart for people down on their luck,” George tells me.
In those days travelling hobos used signs carved on trees or buildings to communicate with those who came after. As a boy George found such a sign on a post by the tracks. A crude cat carved into the wood let other hobos know that George’s house was a friendly place where food was available.
April 18, 2011
The Midnighters: Mad Science
For over thirty years, Jerry worked as a police officer in Pittsburgh. In his time on the force, Jerry had seen some bad things, some worse things, and some downright evil things. Cleaning up when people got mad or got crazy was part of the job, but there were other things that Jerry saw, things that most people never see, things that prowl the night, things that refuse to die.
I interviewed Jerry several times in 2002. The following incident is just one of the many stories Jerry shared in hours of audio recordings. I have transcribed them just as they were told to me by Jerry.
“When I was kid, long time ago, back in the 30s thereabouts, I guess... Anyway, when I was a kid I lived up in the North Side. It was a nice neighborhood just over the river, right? Everybody on my street, which was Ridge Avenue by the way, everybody on my street knew the scary old house at 1129 and everybody had heard the stories about the Doctor that lived there.
“My father said the guy’s name was Brunrichter, Doctor Brunrichter from Switzerland in Geneva, I think. My mother said he was the devil and don’t go near that house. Well she didn’t have to tell us kids because we stayed away from it anyway. It was a spooky old place.
I interviewed Jerry several times in 2002. The following incident is just one of the many stories Jerry shared in hours of audio recordings. I have transcribed them just as they were told to me by Jerry.
“When I was kid, long time ago, back in the 30s thereabouts, I guess... Anyway, when I was a kid I lived up in the North Side. It was a nice neighborhood just over the river, right? Everybody on my street, which was Ridge Avenue by the way, everybody on my street knew the scary old house at 1129 and everybody had heard the stories about the Doctor that lived there.
“My father said the guy’s name was Brunrichter, Doctor Brunrichter from Switzerland in Geneva, I think. My mother said he was the devil and don’t go near that house. Well she didn’t have to tell us kids because we stayed away from it anyway. It was a spooky old place.
April 11, 2011
Demon of War
In October of 1944, the Western Allies were pushing the Wehrmacht back into Germany for the first time in four years. The war in Europe would be over by summer, but for the young soldiers on the ground, the summer was a long time away. As the Germans retreated, the Allies were witness to the horrors they left behind in newly-liberated nations. Other horrors, however, seem to travel with the Germans.
Ed Phillips was one of those young soldiers helping to turn the tide in fascist Europe. His adventures with the Allied advance are recounted in the long out-of-print paranormal oral history The Frankfurt Testimony. An infantry grunt, Ed fought with the 30th Infantry Division from Omaha Beach in Normandy to the Elbe River in Germany. “We chased them Germans from the beach to the river,” Ed says.
As the 30th fought their way across the German border, the Allied generals gave them their target: the city of Aachen. Encircling the city took the 30th on a tour of the surrounding hamlets and farmland, perfect positions for enemy ambushes. “You had go about like there was a German behind every fence, every bush,” Ed recalls, “‘cause half the time there was!"
Ed Phillips was one of those young soldiers helping to turn the tide in fascist Europe. His adventures with the Allied advance are recounted in the long out-of-print paranormal oral history The Frankfurt Testimony. An infantry grunt, Ed fought with the 30th Infantry Division from Omaha Beach in Normandy to the Elbe River in Germany. “We chased them Germans from the beach to the river,” Ed says.
As the 30th fought their way across the German border, the Allied generals gave them their target: the city of Aachen. Encircling the city took the 30th on a tour of the surrounding hamlets and farmland, perfect positions for enemy ambushes. “You had go about like there was a German behind every fence, every bush,” Ed recalls, “‘cause half the time there was!"
April 4, 2011
The True Story of the Litch House
Just past North Fork Creek in the sleepy hamlet of Brookville, Pennsylvania, a local legend stands overlooking historic Main Street. The Litch House was built in the 1850s for the lumber baron Thomas Litch and his growing family. Today the residents of Brookville know the stories, but the history of the home is so twisted that few know the true story of the Litch House.
In the years before the Revolution, Western Pennsylvania saw an influx of white settlers into what was nominally recognized as Indian land. The following account of the Brookville area comes from A Survey of the Indian Countries, Being an Account of the Travels of Col. Joseph Paxton Among the Indians of the French Territories:
“At the Head of a Forked Creek there stood a Bluff upon which gloomy Pines held the high ground. My guide led our party away from the wooded Hillock and east toward the Ohio Country. The Indians hereabout hold that these Woods are inhabited by sundry Spirits and ravenous Beasts – Devils, the Parson might deem Them. My Guide related an Incident to me in which an unwary Brave hunting in the Forest was taken up by some Fiend that it was said lurked in the very Trees.”
In the years before the Revolution, Western Pennsylvania saw an influx of white settlers into what was nominally recognized as Indian land. The following account of the Brookville area comes from A Survey of the Indian Countries, Being an Account of the Travels of Col. Joseph Paxton Among the Indians of the French Territories:
“At the Head of a Forked Creek there stood a Bluff upon which gloomy Pines held the high ground. My guide led our party away from the wooded Hillock and east toward the Ohio Country. The Indians hereabout hold that these Woods are inhabited by sundry Spirits and ravenous Beasts – Devils, the Parson might deem Them. My Guide related an Incident to me in which an unwary Brave hunting in the Forest was taken up by some Fiend that it was said lurked in the very Trees.”
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