We wish you a scary Halloween!

You are here: Real Ghost Stories :: Misc :: Weird Forest Encounter

Real Ghost Stories

Weird Forest Encounter

 

I have a lot of encounters from ghosts, but this one is a little different. Different because I'm not sure what exactly was encountered, but I'm hoping maybe someone can read this and shed a little light on this experience.

So, this was when I was probably about 17. I was out hanging out with my boyfriend at the time and one of his friends. Now, one thing to put out there, is that his friend was a pretty "outdoorsy" kind of guy. He wasn't scared of much, he grew up hunting, and was always out exploring the woods at all hours. Living in a small town with a lot of parks and surrounded by wooded areas, there wasn't a lot to do so exploring the woods was a typical thing for really any of us to do. I never used to be afraid of the woods, until after this experience.

This particular night, his friend decided that he wanted to go spotlight hunting (yes illegal, but we were kids and I had no idea). We drove out to an area on a gravel road in my boyfriend's car. There used to be a bridge that went across the river but it was burnt and eventually torn down so it was closed off and the end of the gravel had become overgrown with grass, weeds, and such. There's a tall bridge off in the distance, actually it's a bridge our little town is very well known for as it has a lot of history. We were out there, miles away from town and from any houses. We found a place to pull over near the end of the gravel and my boyfriend and his friend grabbed the rifle out of the trunk and their flashlight. Me being an animal lover, I didn't feel like taking part so I chose to stay in the car. Before my boyfriend took off into the field, he told me to give them 15 minutes and if they didn't come back I could take his car and leave them. With that, they disappeared into the dark.

So there I was, sitting in his car. There was a metal railing in front of the car that we had pulled up to, which the guys had to climb over. On both sides of the car there was tall grass, taller than the car. It was a bit spooky but I tried to keep my mind busy. I turned the radio on and waited. 15 minutes went by and they still weren't back. I hadn't heard any gunshots so I figured maybe they just weren't having any luck. Then, I get this weird feeling. The feeling of being watched. Enough to make the hairs on your neck stand up. I tried to play it off as my nerves. I look out my window to the right and I see the tall grass moving. I told myself it was the wind. I look out the driver side window, the grass over there stood still. I've seen enough horror movies to know that I didn't want to look out the right window again. Ignorance is bliss right? I look down at my phone and do everything I can to not look up, scared I might see something I didn't want to see. Then... Something hit the back of the car. Pretty hard. I look back, but with the tint and the darkness, it was impossible to see anything. So, I check the locks to make sure I was safe and turned up the radio. The knocking on the trunk and back window continued on and off. At this point it had been an hour since they left and I was hoping it was just them trying to play a joke on me. I knew I couldn't leave them out there, and there was no way I was getting out of the car, so there I sat, trying to ignore whatever was out there. The knocks soon turned to shaking the car. I shrank down in my seat and just kept my eyes on my phone. Waiting for the guys to get back. After about 15 minutes the banging stopped and I was left in silence for about another 15 minutes when I hear the guys yelling. I sat up, flipped on the headlights, to see my boyfriend (who had never touched a gun in his life) running towards the car, cradling the rifle in his arms, and vaulting over the metal railing. His friend came running soon after. I unlocked the doors, my boyfriend jumped in the driver's seat, throwing the gun in the backseat where his friend was scrambling to get in, yelling "go! Go! Go!" He quickly backed out and off we sped down the gravel road. My boyfriend's face was filled with terror and he starts yelling at his friend, "what the hell was that man?!" His friend is looking out the back windows terrified and exclaims, "it's following us!" I was both scared and confused. I kept asking what they were talking about, and what happened but they were too busy trying to calm down. We sped as fast as his car could go back towards town. Once it was clear we were safe, I asked again what happened, only to be told they didn't want to talk about it. Whatever it was, it had scared them more than I've ever seen someone scared before.

We eventually get back into town, and pull up to his friend's house. We all just sat there in silence for a minute. Both guy's looked almost paralyzed trying to figure out what they had seen. His friend finally spoke, admitting that after whatever they encountered, he was scared to even be home alone. Reluctantly he got out of the car, grabbed his rifle, and headed inside. I questioned my boyfriend for the next several days but he always just got a weird look on his face and would shake his head, like he didn't believe it himself. It was apparent I would never know, and I guess a part of me was okay with that, so I stopped asking and life went on.

Ok, so now, 9 years later. And I finally got the answer. Like most high school relationships, my boyfriend from back then have been broken up for a long time, and I'm actually married now with two kids, and one on the way. Well, it just so happens, that my husband had this guy start working with him at work. It took a couple weeks and "on the job stories" from my husband to realize that this guy was the friend of my boyfriend all those years ago. I decided to open up to my husband and tell him about this horrifying experience we all had back then. Well, my husband is a big fan of a podcast called "Dogman encounters" he told me that a lot of the guests on the show had similar experiences that I did while I was in that car. That they would hear banging on the car and it would shake. Almost like it was trying to lure them out. I suggested that maybe he text the guy that he worked with (the friend of my ex) and ask him about that night. He did and the response was not what I was expecting.

He got a reply, the guy explaining how that night haunts him. He told about how they were out in the field, not having much luck. They heard a whole bunch of birds in the grass suddenly take flight making a ruckus and gave the guys a bit of a jump. They went over to the area with the flashlight on and that's when they saw 'him'. He said he was unusually tall and very skinny and lanky, as well as very pale. It was odd enough to see anyone out there at that time of night, let alone being out in a large field lined with forest. He just didn't belong. He then went on to say that the weirdest thing about this guy, was his voice. It was very abnormal, and unexpectedly high pitched, like a child. What did the guy say? Well this is the part that still sends shivers down my spine. Apparently he said,"you might want to check on that girl you left back in that car."

This friend described how they ran back through the field, across a ditch and back to the car. He said they were running as fast as they could and this 'guy' was running parallel to them, but through the wooded area, a much harder route, and yet he was keeping perfect pace with them. The trees and terrain didn't slow him at all as they all sprinted back to me in the car. That's when we had started speeding back home. He said when he looked back, he saw the guy step over the metal barrier next to the road. They had to vault or climb over it, but this guy stepped over it like it was nothing.

So here I am, my story has finally concluded after 9 years. Although I've tried researching similar encounters, I can't find anything. The only thing I know for sure, is whatever that was, it wasn't human. I don't know if it was a ghost, a mystery of nature or what. So I guess what I'm here for is to find out if anyone had heard, or had any personal experiences with something like this. I'm terrified to go back to that place, even in the daylight. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I would love to solve this mystery. Thanks for reading!

Hauntings with similar titles

Find ghost hunters and paranormal investigators from Iowa

Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, Kaitlyna93, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will participate in the discussion and I need help with what I have experienced.

Geogeo21 (1 posts)
+2
4 years ago (2020-10-01)
Is this cedar falls? I lived in cedar falls and would bike the trails during the day but never at night.
Kaitlyna93 (1 stories) (1 posts)
+4
5 years ago (2019-12-14)
I never personally saw whatever it was. I probably could have had I looked but it was just something inside me that knew I shouldn't look because of what I might see. Looking back, part of me wishes I had but I still remember the fear and how extreme it was and I don't know if I ever could have looked if I had a chance to redo that night. The one feeling I can't express enough was that feeling of knowing something was there and it wasn't a pleasant feeling. In fact it felt like this overwhelming sense of doom. It felt evil. I've been in the presence of other spirits before and there were ones that I had an urgency to get out of the area/building and others that felt harmless (as creepy as it is encountering a ghost lol). From what I understood from the guy that was with us that night, he was tall, lanky, pale, seemed out of place, and had a high pitched voice like a male child. He never said anything about him being naked so I'm assuming he had clothes on otherwise I feel that would have been something he brought up. The one other thing that was noted was the way he ran so easily through the terrain (especially since he wasn't the one with the flashlight). I often imagined this thing looking like slender Man and have even researched slender Man which seems to be a made up figure that started on creepy pasta. Also people who have reported slender Man often describe him as faceless which I don't believe was the case here.

For all I know it could've been a native spirit but the feeling I got was anything but nice. I have been back to that place during the daylight and I get that gut wrenching feeling that makes me want to leave as quickly as possible. Although I don't know if that's just because of my past experience or if that thing still roams there. I've thought about going back at night but I'm definitely not brave enough to do that when the place now scares me in the day time! Also, I want to say that this thing seems to be somewhat new there. When the wooden bridge was still in tact it was a place a lot of people would hang out at all hours of the night. It was also once a great place to go fishing. But once the bridge burned, the road closed, the place was left to get overgrown, and it pretty much seemed forgotten for the most part.
Amor (5 stories) (64 posts)
+3
5 years ago (2019-12-06)
That really freaked me out. So far nobody can tell what that was. Care to share more info, like what he was wearing, how does he look like aside from being pale.

We can only assume stuff, like for me I could say it is the same creature who was looking at you in the car and when you didn't go out, he sprinted toward your friends and told them you scared as hell so they might want to check you out. You did say he did run fast so I would assume he saw you and went to the clearing/woods and scared some birds in the process.

I was expecting bigfoot or something but this was far more sinister. Like why can he speak? What was his drawl/accent? How he got so big? He can't be a spirit because he clearly stepped over the fence/roadblock so he really had some physical form. Could he be a feral human being and your friends exaggerated some details because he was really spooky?

Thanks for sharing. I hope you find time to reply and give us update. I hope you were able to chat with your husband's co-worker who was with you when it happened.

Take care and thank you.
JulietteM731 (1 stories) (1 posts)
+2
5 years ago (2019-11-24)
So I have a thing where I can see and feel what your feeling and I'm just as baffled and freaked out as you I don't know what it is what I know is that there was 2 of em one to scare you and the other to warn the boys
freakedoutfreddy (1 stories) (77 posts)
+3
5 years ago (2019-11-21)
No freaking way dude, that was creepy! The only thing I don't get is how your bf's friend could see the thing following the car but you didn't cuz with the tint and the darkness, it was impossible to see anything. 🤔 Was he wearing night vision goggles? 😉 😁
DarriuxDarkk (6 stories) (80 posts)
+3
5 years ago (2019-11-21)
First thing I imagined from your description of the creature was slender man. I don't know about it being real or not as I've only seen and came to know about it on movies and stories.

Another thing that confuses me is that the creature warned your friends to check on you on the car where you were experiencing something banging and shaking on the car. Is it safe to assume there were 2 creatures that night and the tall lanky creature was just warning your friends to come rescue you from that 2nd creature by the car?

I agree though that the 1st creature could be of a nature spirit or an elemental spirit as it doesn't seem like a ghost or human in description.

There are so many physical differences of nature spirits, I believe on that one. There are beings called Engkantos where their physical attributes differs of that a human. There are accounts of their descriptions to be good looking, some white skinned with golden locks of hair. Others doesn't have that philtrum, the vertical dent between the nose and upper lip. These physical descriptions even leans towards more exotic kind where some have green skinned with leaves on their bodies (but personally I think they are more of a nymph than engkantos).

My point is, the creature they described that seems out of place in a forest seems like a nature spirit than that of ghost or any creature. I am just wondering though, what was that other creature attacking the car?

Your story is really scary and thank you for sharing.

Thanks and God bless.
silverthane61 (4 stories) (344 posts)
+2
5 years ago (2019-11-18)
So many questions... Was "he" wearing clothes, naked, or hairy? The areas around Iowa share commonalities to what is known as the "Ohio Grassman" - though I am not sure this is what you saw. There appear to be 2 beings: One that shook the car, and one that accompanied the hunters. The behavior at the car is very suggestive of a bigfoot-type encounter, but it also could have been a prank. I am at a total loss to describe what the boys saw and this is the first ever reading I have ever had of such a creature! There is some argument to suggest that the being that met with the boys was being helpful and protective of the girl. Who can really know?
LuciaJacinta (8 stories) (291 posts)
+3
5 years ago (2019-11-17)
So scary. My heart is pounding after this story. On one hand it could have been like a local farmer who happened upon a car with a girl in it and just wanted to make sure she was ok. Or... It could have been a creepy demonoid earth spirit Boogeyman big foot Slenderman...

Either way, great story.

Seriously though, yes I have heard of stories of forest encounters similar to this on paranormal shows like "These Woods are Haunted" on the travel channel or TLC or something... Or in local lore... I think these tales happen a lot.

My only question is, so your door was locked and then the driver side locked. Were the back doors locked too? Or did the friend jump in the front seat with you? Or did you have time to reach back and undo his door?
Caz (342 posts)
+4
5 years ago (2019-11-17)
Hi Kaitlyna and welcome to YGS!
As Leighlea suggests, I too think this entity was some sort of guardian. Maybe a nature spirit of some kind. However, I can't help feeling it's purpose was not to harm you, but merely to scare you off it's patch, since I doubt it would've had much trouble overtaking the boys, or even entering the car if it had so wished. LOL... And after all, it never followed you home! 😜
Thank you for posting this interesting story!
MK1 (2 stories) (28 posts)
+5
5 years ago (2019-11-16)
Hi, Kaitlyna93,

I'm with Lealeigh on this one. Sounds like some sort of spirit, but I have to agree that I've not heard of anything remotely like your experience. Thanks for sharing your story. Very interesting!

Michael
Lealeigh (5 stories) (512 posts)
+4
5 years ago (2019-11-16)
Hi Kaitlyna93,

The woods hold a fear for me as well. Particularly the pine forests that I grew up in as a child in North Georgia.

It isn't a vague feeling either. I know why. The town I grew up in began to expand in the late eighties and early nineties. New construction uncovered several Creek Indian burial mounds in the woods by the Chattahoochee River.

I don't live there anymore but it is called Suwanee after the tribe of Indians that were living there when the young United States "acquired" the area.

It was terrifying to me to walk to any of my friend's houses regardless of the time of day. I saw clear shapes darting around and felt a concentrated anger directed at me. I conditioned myself to never look into the woods.

I wonder if the creature you encountered wasn't some kind of Native American guardian spirit. If it was, then it seems to me only natural that they would want to scare you guys off. I don't think that "spotlight hunting" is an enterprise that the Native Americans would find very sporting.

Thank you for sharing your experience, Maria ❤

To publish a comment or vote, you need to be logged in (use the login form at the top of the page). If you don't have an account, sign up, it's free!

Search this site: