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i_o_r_h_a_e_l shared her Supernatural experience at her journal a couple of days ago, I mentioned to her my friend and I also had what some might call a "supernatural" experience years ago, while we were still in college.
The infamous incident was so bizarre and ended up involving several of our friends that we still talk about it from time to time.
The story is rather long. If you bear with me through the whole ordeal, you can judge for yourself whether it's a mere coincidence, fueled by the power of suggestion; or if it is indeed paranormal. Here it goes:
It happened during my senior year in college. As upperclassmen, my friend Luz and I were lucky enough to get a two-singles-suite in a high-rise dorm (9 floors total, we lived on 4th, see floor-plan). As an en suite, we shared a lounge outside of our bedrooms.
I remember it was on a Friday night.
That night, we both decided to stay in and just hang around. We were sitting on our respective beanbags at one end of the room chatting. Luz had just come back from a year of studying abroad (in Spain). We were chatting about her European experience.
Around twenty minutes into our conversation, I noticed Luz's attention was wandering. She kept eying the opposite wall. I followed her line of sight, and realized she was staring at the poster I hung there. The poster was titled "Justification for Higher Education". The series (I've seen at least two versions) was kinda popular around campus during my time (the early 90's). Mine looked like this:
I hung it in my dorm as a joke. It's highly materialistic, but nothing special, subliminal or otherwise.
"What are you looking at?" I asked.
"You are going to laugh at me, but do you see an ugly face inside that picture?" Luz answered distractedly. In case anyone is wondering, I do remember our conversations that night vividly, even after all these years.
I glanced at it. The picture was encased in a poster-frame. So I reasoned it was just the glare from the lighting in the room.
We kept on chatting. The damn picture kept stealing Luz's attention. Soon enough, my gaze was drawn toward it too.
"Ohmigod, I think you are right. There is a distorted face in the middle of the poster! Now I see it." I blurted out after staring at it for a while.
We started to compare notes, and realized we were seeing almost the same thing: a twisted "demonic" looking head with its mouth opens as if in silent scream (not unlike an image from Goya's paintings, of which Luz no doubt had seen plenty during her time in Spain, come to think of it).
The thing curled our toes was the fact our seats were separated by a small settee in the middle. We weren't exactly looking at the picture from the same angle. Yet we were still able to see practically the same image. This added a crinkle to my theory earlier (it was only a trick of light). Compounded by the fact it was a Friday night, most people in our dorm were out and partying; all of a sudden, our suite became unbearably quiet.
My roomie Luz is a very intelligent and sensible girl. Normally she's unflappable. Seeing her so rattled that night made me extremely nervous. I didn't want to be by ourselves any more. I had an urge to seek out company. Luz by that time felt the same too. At the back of our minds, we were still thinking most likely we were just being silly. We needed somebody to knock some common sense into us. So we went upstairs to look for our friend Lori, who's easily the most practical, pragmatic, and logical person we've ever known. She's also one of our friends lived closest to us.
Unfortunately, Lori was out. Only her roommate April was in; and she was already in her nightgown when we came knocking on the door.
Here's a little background on April: she's one of our friends too, but not too close because she was extremely religious, unlike most of us. It didn't really bother me, but back in freshman year, April told me (in earnest) it upset her I would end up in Hell after I die because I was not a Christian. Most of the girls in our circle were outraged when they heard that. I, on the other hand, understood she didn't mean it maliciously. It was just her belief and I respect that. Besides, I was not religious, I didn't believe in Hell anyway. By senior year, April regularly attended a Pentecostal church near our school.
Back to that night, April noticed the hesitation written on our faces when we showed up at her door. She asked us what was wrong, and we told her the truth, feeling a little embarrassed. We really needed company (and somebody to tell us we were nuts) so she decided to come to our room with us.
Back in our room, April tried both seats Luz and I were sitting earlier. She agreed with us she was seeing the face as well (on the right side of the palm tree). She also told us it's not unusual for evils hiding among pictures and paintings. It was only a week ago her church had to burn a painting because the artist (who was a member of the church) admitted he had consulted a medium when he created that picture. I kid you not!
Now that I'm typing this up, I can't believe Luz and I bought into April's pitch that night. As it was, we were further freaked out as April went on.
Here's also a little background about my alma mater: I went to Kenyon College in the middle of Ohio (about 2 and half hours southeast of Kripke's hometown Toledo, OH). The school was the oldest in Ohio. It has its share of urban legend and ghost stories. Every incoming freshman probably heard the tale how founder Philander Chase found the site by following a ghost fire at night. The school's oldest dorm Old Kenyon was burned down in 1949, killing many students and some local residents. Since then, there were always stories the school was haunted.
That night, April related to us her church congregation told her in the surrounding area, there were 13 witches covenant. So she believed there were a lot of evils around campus. Like we really needed to hear that at our time of distress. But April was only being honest with us in the way she knew how.
Like I said before, I was not religious. Devil and demons don't mean much to me other than fictional characters depicted in books. Spirits however, scare me. Not that I believe in them, but I can't say for sure they don't exist either. All that aside, what scared me the most was Luz's reaction. For all of the four years I've known her, I've never seen her like this. This is the girl who loved horror movies, teased me with scary Depache Mode music on Halloweens. If she was scared by the "ugly face" in the picture, I was positively terrified.
Luz was originally from Central America. She was born and raised Catholic. When she was a young girl, her family had to escape to the US (in the middle of night no less). Through the things she'd seen, she stopped believing in God when she turned 12. That night, she shared with us when she was 5 years old, she was accidentally locked inside a pitch-dark room back when they were in Central America. But she wasn't scared, even at that tender age, because she had faith and prayed God would protect her. Only now that faith was no longer there.
When the subject of praying came up, April was troubled. She believed the only way she could help us was by praying. However, neither Luz nor I were Christians, and her belief prohibited her pray for non-believers. After struggling with herself for some time, and seeing us were truly agitated, April made the decision she'd pray with us anyway.
Even though I didn't really believe in the power of pray, seeing April's decision seemed to calm Luz a bit, I sat down and held my hands to Luz and April on each side.
April said: "Let us pray..."
That was how far she got. As soon as she started, the electricity in the room buzzed and flickered. Then POP!LightsOut when the word "pray" was still hung in the air. I yelped, jumped up and ran out of the room screaming.
Outside the hallway was dark too except for the emergency Exit light over the door to the stairwell. Turned out we weren't the only people stayed in our dorm that night. One of our floor-mates came out of his suite to investigate. I was crying by then and didn't know what to do. Luz was crying too back inside our suite. I overheard our floor-mate talking on the phone (back then, we all had to share public phones on each floor in the dormitories). Apparently our floor was the only one where the electricity went out in the entire building. I was shaking by the time I heard that.
Through it all, April stayed calm. She convinced me to get back in my suite somehow so that we could continue with our pray. We sat down in a circle again, with beaming flashlights (we always kept those around). Tears were running down my face, my head was buzzing, and my heart was beating so fast I was close to hysterical. I was scared. Like never before.
The pray didn't even register in my brain other than the fact I could hear April's calm voice. Then it happened. One second, I was terrified out of my mind; the next, I felt calm washed over me. It was the strangest feeling I've ever experienced. It was like a door slammed closed, shutting out all of my fears. I was at peace all of a sudden. It sounds so cliché, but I don't know how else to describe it.
By the time April finished, both Luz and I calmed down significantly. We thanked her. She went back upstairs, taking the offending poster with her. Luz and I didn't want it in our suite anymore, but we couldn't burn it inside our dorm for fear of getting in trouble with our school's strict fire-hazard policy. Besides, April said some kind of ritual needed to be completed before it can be destroyed. She promised she would take care of it.
Not long after April left, Lori came by. She got the story from April. Bless her heart, Lori didn't say anything that night other than she would camp out in our Lounge so that Luz and I could get some sleep. Luz and I both slept with our bedroom doors open.
The next day we asked around various people on campus. Apparently, in the entire school, our floor was the only place where the lights went out for about 10 minutes the night before! I swear!
i_o_r_h_a_e_l shared her Supernatural experience at her journal a couple of days ago, I mentioned to her my friend and I also had what some might call a "supernatural" experience years ago, while we were still in college.The infamous incident was so bizarre and ended up involving several of our friends that we still talk about it from time to time.
The story is rather long. If you bear with me through the whole ordeal, you can judge for yourself whether it's a mere coincidence, fueled by the power of suggestion; or if it is indeed paranormal. Here it goes:
It happened during my senior year in college. As upperclassmen, my friend Luz and I were lucky enough to get a two-singles-suite in a high-rise dorm (9 floors total, we lived on 4th, see floor-plan). As an en suite, we shared a lounge outside of our bedrooms.
I remember it was on a Friday night.
That night, we both decided to stay in and just hang around. We were sitting on our respective beanbags at one end of the room chatting. Luz had just come back from a year of studying abroad (in Spain). We were chatting about her European experience.
Around twenty minutes into our conversation, I noticed Luz's attention was wandering. She kept eying the opposite wall. I followed her line of sight, and realized she was staring at the poster I hung there. The poster was titled "Justification for Higher Education". The series (I've seen at least two versions) was kinda popular around campus during my time (the early 90's). Mine looked like this:
I hung it in my dorm as a joke. It's highly materialistic, but nothing special, subliminal or otherwise.
"What are you looking at?" I asked.
"You are going to laugh at me, but do you see an ugly face inside that picture?" Luz answered distractedly. In case anyone is wondering, I do remember our conversations that night vividly, even after all these years.
I glanced at it. The picture was encased in a poster-frame. So I reasoned it was just the glare from the lighting in the room.
We kept on chatting. The damn picture kept stealing Luz's attention. Soon enough, my gaze was drawn toward it too.
"Ohmigod, I think you are right. There is a distorted face in the middle of the poster! Now I see it." I blurted out after staring at it for a while.
We started to compare notes, and realized we were seeing almost the same thing: a twisted "demonic" looking head with its mouth opens as if in silent scream (not unlike an image from Goya's paintings, of which Luz no doubt had seen plenty during her time in Spain, come to think of it).
The thing curled our toes was the fact our seats were separated by a small settee in the middle. We weren't exactly looking at the picture from the same angle. Yet we were still able to see practically the same image. This added a crinkle to my theory earlier (it was only a trick of light). Compounded by the fact it was a Friday night, most people in our dorm were out and partying; all of a sudden, our suite became unbearably quiet.
My roomie Luz is a very intelligent and sensible girl. Normally she's unflappable. Seeing her so rattled that night made me extremely nervous. I didn't want to be by ourselves any more. I had an urge to seek out company. Luz by that time felt the same too. At the back of our minds, we were still thinking most likely we were just being silly. We needed somebody to knock some common sense into us. So we went upstairs to look for our friend Lori, who's easily the most practical, pragmatic, and logical person we've ever known. She's also one of our friends lived closest to us.
Unfortunately, Lori was out. Only her roommate April was in; and she was already in her nightgown when we came knocking on the door.
Here's a little background on April: she's one of our friends too, but not too close because she was extremely religious, unlike most of us. It didn't really bother me, but back in freshman year, April told me (in earnest) it upset her I would end up in Hell after I die because I was not a Christian. Most of the girls in our circle were outraged when they heard that. I, on the other hand, understood she didn't mean it maliciously. It was just her belief and I respect that. Besides, I was not religious, I didn't believe in Hell anyway. By senior year, April regularly attended a Pentecostal church near our school.
Back to that night, April noticed the hesitation written on our faces when we showed up at her door. She asked us what was wrong, and we told her the truth, feeling a little embarrassed. We really needed company (and somebody to tell us we were nuts) so she decided to come to our room with us.
Back in our room, April tried both seats Luz and I were sitting earlier. She agreed with us she was seeing the face as well (on the right side of the palm tree). She also told us it's not unusual for evils hiding among pictures and paintings. It was only a week ago her church had to burn a painting because the artist (who was a member of the church) admitted he had consulted a medium when he created that picture. I kid you not!
Now that I'm typing this up, I can't believe Luz and I bought into April's pitch that night. As it was, we were further freaked out as April went on.
Here's also a little background about my alma mater: I went to Kenyon College in the middle of Ohio (about 2 and half hours southeast of Kripke's hometown Toledo, OH). The school was the oldest in Ohio. It has its share of urban legend and ghost stories. Every incoming freshman probably heard the tale how founder Philander Chase found the site by following a ghost fire at night. The school's oldest dorm Old Kenyon was burned down in 1949, killing many students and some local residents. Since then, there were always stories the school was haunted.
That night, April related to us her church congregation told her in the surrounding area, there were 13 witches covenant. So she believed there were a lot of evils around campus. Like we really needed to hear that at our time of distress. But April was only being honest with us in the way she knew how.
Like I said before, I was not religious. Devil and demons don't mean much to me other than fictional characters depicted in books. Spirits however, scare me. Not that I believe in them, but I can't say for sure they don't exist either. All that aside, what scared me the most was Luz's reaction. For all of the four years I've known her, I've never seen her like this. This is the girl who loved horror movies, teased me with scary Depache Mode music on Halloweens. If she was scared by the "ugly face" in the picture, I was positively terrified.
Luz was originally from Central America. She was born and raised Catholic. When she was a young girl, her family had to escape to the US (in the middle of night no less). Through the things she'd seen, she stopped believing in God when she turned 12. That night, she shared with us when she was 5 years old, she was accidentally locked inside a pitch-dark room back when they were in Central America. But she wasn't scared, even at that tender age, because she had faith and prayed God would protect her. Only now that faith was no longer there.
When the subject of praying came up, April was troubled. She believed the only way she could help us was by praying. However, neither Luz nor I were Christians, and her belief prohibited her pray for non-believers. After struggling with herself for some time, and seeing us were truly agitated, April made the decision she'd pray with us anyway.
Even though I didn't really believe in the power of pray, seeing April's decision seemed to calm Luz a bit, I sat down and held my hands to Luz and April on each side.
April said: "Let us pray..."
That was how far she got. As soon as she started, the electricity in the room buzzed and flickered. Then POP!LightsOut when the word "pray" was still hung in the air. I yelped, jumped up and ran out of the room screaming.
Outside the hallway was dark too except for the emergency Exit light over the door to the stairwell. Turned out we weren't the only people stayed in our dorm that night. One of our floor-mates came out of his suite to investigate. I was crying by then and didn't know what to do. Luz was crying too back inside our suite. I overheard our floor-mate talking on the phone (back then, we all had to share public phones on each floor in the dormitories). Apparently our floor was the only one where the electricity went out in the entire building. I was shaking by the time I heard that.
Through it all, April stayed calm. She convinced me to get back in my suite somehow so that we could continue with our pray. We sat down in a circle again, with beaming flashlights (we always kept those around). Tears were running down my face, my head was buzzing, and my heart was beating so fast I was close to hysterical. I was scared. Like never before.
The pray didn't even register in my brain other than the fact I could hear April's calm voice. Then it happened. One second, I was terrified out of my mind; the next, I felt calm washed over me. It was the strangest feeling I've ever experienced. It was like a door slammed closed, shutting out all of my fears. I was at peace all of a sudden. It sounds so cliché, but I don't know how else to describe it.
By the time April finished, both Luz and I calmed down significantly. We thanked her. She went back upstairs, taking the offending poster with her. Luz and I didn't want it in our suite anymore, but we couldn't burn it inside our dorm for fear of getting in trouble with our school's strict fire-hazard policy. Besides, April said some kind of ritual needed to be completed before it can be destroyed. She promised she would take care of it.
Not long after April left, Lori came by. She got the story from April. Bless her heart, Lori didn't say anything that night other than she would camp out in our Lounge so that Luz and I could get some sleep. Luz and I both slept with our bedroom doors open.
The next day we asked around various people on campus. Apparently, in the entire school, our floor was the only place where the lights went out for about 10 minutes the night before! I swear!
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From:
no subject
Spirits need to communicate wit their own way even in non believers.
From:
no subject
It was indeed my creepiest experience. As you can tell, I'm easily scared. 8-| I don't usually watch horror stuffs, which makes it nothing short of a "miracle" that I'm addicted to Supernatural. *g*
*Huggles*
From:
no subject
Btw, what an awesome story. It's creepy as hell and if spirits react to things like praying, that's when I'm really scared. :D
Oh, also, my ex manager's name is also Luz! She is from the Philippines.
*kisses*
Thank you for the story!
From:
no subject
Hehe, the fact you are logged in, does that mean you are further into to your evil-no-good-oh-so-creepy-but-awesome plan? *secretly excited about a new chapter soon*
Thanks for reading! ♥
Hehe, that certainly wasn't one of my proudest moment. I was scared *shitless*.
How cool you know someone named Luz too! I thought that was only a Spanish name. Apparently I was wrong. *g*
*kisses back* Huggles
From:
no subject
Oh, and I think Filipinos use a lot of Spanish names because they were under Spain's occupation in the past. :D
From:
no subject
Of course! I should know that! :p Why didn't I think of it before? o.O
Whooo, interesting. Is this journal for keeps then? Or are the icons part of the story. I'm tempted to go to the journal to look around. But I don't want to get spoiled for the story. You should know that I only worry about being spoiled on well put together stories! *g*
From:
no subject
From: (Anonymous)
no subject
The college I went to had alot of tales, too, and I even experienced a couple of "strange" things, but nothing compared to that!
mick
From:
no subject
That wasn't one of my best moments. O.o
Gosh, I'd *love* to read about your experiences. See, you totally need to get yourself a livejournal account. If you are concerned about privacy, you can make it Friends-Only or semi Friends-Only. That way you won't be bothered with unwanted attention/comments. And you are not obligated to update your journal if you don't want to (laurie never updates hers these days).
*Hugs*
From:
no subject
I'm not religious either, agnostic actually and I can be pretty wary about the idea of spirits and what have you, but that's not to say I am not absolutely fascinated by it all(thus being a fan of shows like SPN). I want to believe *whistles X-files theme tune*
Anyway, your story gave me chills and I would have reacted exactly the same way! Skeptics will say it was just your mind playing tricks on you and coincidence, but it's what you experienced and how it made you feel that matters!
From:
no subject
My sane/logical mind wants to say it's pure coincidence, and mind suggestion whatnot. However, there is a saying there's no coincidence, isn't it?
Sorry to spook you before your bedtime. If you have to dream anything about SPN, dream about Dean! *g*
Huggles
From:
no subject
Hee, no worries, it didn't spook me too bad. No SPN dreams, not even Dean ones. :(
*mwah*
From:
no subject
*mwah*