Hoosier Haunts - Paranormal Photography & Ghost Pics

Pecans in the cemetery

On the outskirts of a small town, there was a big, old pecan tree just inside the cemetery fence. One day, two boys filled up a bucketful of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts. "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me," said one boy.

Several dropped and rolled down toward the fence.

Another boy came riding along the road on his bicycle. As he passed, he thought he heard voices from inside the cemetery. He slowed down to investigate. Sure enough, he heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me." He just knew what it was. He jumped back on his bike and rode off.

Just around the bend he met an old man with a cane, hobbling along. "Come here quick," said the boy, "You won't believe what I heard! Satan and the Lord are down at the cemetery dividing up the souls." The man said, "Beat it kid, can't you see it's hard for me to walk." When the boy insisted though, the man hobbled slowly to the cemetery.

Standing by the fence they heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me..." The old man whispered, "Boy, you've been tellin' me the truth. Let's see if we can see the Lord." Shaking with fear, they peered through the fence, yet were still unable to see anything.

The old man and the boy gripped the wrought iron bars of the fence tighter and tighter as they tried to get a glimpse of the Lord. At last they heard, "One for you, one for me. That's all.

Now let's go get those nuts by the fence and we'll be done." They say the old man made it back to town a full 5 minutes ahead of the kid on the bike.

The Backyard
Author Unknown


I live in the backwoods of Texarkana, and if you've ever been, you already know that weird things happen there!! Just about everybody I know has a spooky story to tell. For the last several months (off and on) there have been very strange noises coming from my backyard. At first I thought it was a deer or a wild dog or something, but the noises are just so bizarre!



It started off about 4 months ago. I woke up one night to hear a scratching sound coming from the backyard. I dismissed it and tried to go back to bed, but the noise continued all night long. The next day I told my husband about the noise, and he said that it was probably just a deer. So I forgot about it until about 2 weeks later when the noise woke me up again. This time I decided to nvestigate. I pulled on my robe, and headed out the back door. With the porch light on, I still couldn't see what the animal was, but I knew that the noise was coming from the woods just behind my shed.



I shined my flashlight back there, and the noise stopped. I still couldn't see anything. Then the noise became very loud, and it sounded like whatever was making it, was running after me! I dropped my flashlight and ran for my backdoor. As I slammed the door, it felt like something ran right into it. I just stood there watching the door, just waiting for Big Foot to jump in and tear my head off, but nothing happened. No sounds, no movement. I must have stood there for an hour before finally going to bed with the light on.



It was three months before anything happened again. I think really I was waiting, like I was holding my breath. I knew that something was really going on out there, and it wouldn't just go away. I had just put my two kids to bed, my husband was at work, and I was finishing off the dinner dishes. I was drying the dishes when I heard a thump against the back door. I immediately knew what it was, and my skin broke out in goose bumps. I turned my head to look at the door and waited. Dust began to blow in from under the door, and it took me a moment to realize that something was breathing there. Like it was smelling something or me. The clouds of dust became bigger, and the breathing noises were more insistent. I was afraid for my kids, and suddenly I just screamed, "Go away!"



The breathing only stopped for a moment, and then the thing started pounding on the door. It was hitting so violently, that pictures began falling from the walls nearby. I covered my ears, and could no longer stop the tears from falling down my face. Suddenly I heard a new noise. I turned around and saw my husband striding towards me. "What is it?" he practically screamed over the pounding. "I don't know!" I sobbed. Jack wasted no time. I realized what he planned to do, and rushed over to him. "No, don't go out there!" I pleaded. His face was set, and he hurried out the front door. The growling was so fierce, and the pounding so hard now, that the dining room mirror cracked down its center. I picked up the phone to call 911 when all of a sudden the noise stopped.No pounding, no growling. Nothing. All I could hear was my own breathing and the sound of the ceiling fan chain, clinking against its base. tink - tink – tink





A loud knock at the back door caused me to jump, and it took me a moment to register that it was my husband knocking. "Jayne, open the door," he said. For a moment, I almost didn't. Something told me not to, but then I did. I reached out and slowly turned the lock and opened the door. Jack was standing there, his face white and eyes wide. "There was nothing there," he said then. "There was nothing at the door." My mouth fell open, and I stepped outside with him and looked around. Everything looked normal. There were no animal tracks, and nothing had been disturbed. Still, there was something in the air, something building, and something waiting there in the dark. Something still waiting for us to get comfortable again, to let go of the paranoia. Waiting to come at us again.

Death by Scrabble

It's a hot day and I hate my wife.

We're playing Scrabble. That's how bad it is. I'm 42 years old, it's a blistering hot Sunday afternoon and all I can think of to do with my life is to play Scrabble.

I should be out, doing exercise, spending money, meeting people. I don't think I've spoken to anyone except my wife since Thursday morning. On Thursday morning I spoke to the milkman.

My letters are crap.

I play, appropriately, BEGIN. With the N on the little pink star. Twenty-two points.

I watch my wife's smug expression as she rearranges her letters. Clack, clack, clack. I hate her. If she wasn't around, I'd be doing something interesting right now. I'd be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. I'd be starring in the latest Hollywood blockbuster. I'd be sailing the Vendee Globe on a 60-foot clipper called the New Horizons - I don't know, but I'd be doing something.

She plays JINXED, with the J on a double-letter score. 30 points. She's beating me already. Maybe I should kill her. If only I had a D, then I could play MURDER. That would be a sign. That would be permission. I start chewing on my U. It's a bad habit, I know. All the letters are frayed. I play WARMER for 22 points, mainly so I can keep chewing on my U. As I'm picking new letters from the bag, I find myself thinking - the letters will tell me what to do. If they spell out KILL, or STAB, or her name, or anything, I'll do it right now. I'll finish her off.

My rack spells MIHZPA. Plus the U in my mouth. Damn.

The heat of the sun is pushing at me through the window. I can hear buzzing insects outside. I hope they're not bees. My cousin Harold swallowed a bee when he was nine, his throat swelled up and he died. I hope that if they are bees, they fly into my wife's throat.

She plays SWEATIER, using all her letters. 24 points plus a 50 point bonus. If it wasn't too hot to move I would strangle her right now.

I am getting sweatier. It needs to rain, to clear the air. As soon as that thought crosses my mind, I find a good word. HUMID on a double-word score, using the D of JINXED. The U makes a little splash of saliva when I put it down. Another 22 points. I hope she has lousy letters.  

She tells me she has lousy letters. For some reason, I hate her more.

She plays FAN, with the F on a double-letter, and gets up to fill the kettle and turn on the air conditioning. It's the hottest day for ten years and my wife is turning on the kettle. This is why I hate my wife. I play ZAPS, with the Z doubled, and she gets a static shock off the air conditioning unit. I find this remarkably satisfying.

She sits back down with a heavy sigh and starts fiddling with her letters again. Clack clack. Clack clack. I feel a terrible rage build up inside me. Some inner poison slowly spreading through my limbs, and when it gets to my fingertips I am going to jump out of my chair, spilling the Scrabble tiles over the floor, and I am going to start hitting her again and again and again.

The rage gets to my fingertips and passes. My heart is beating. I'm sweating. I think my face actually twitches. Then I sigh, deeply, and sit back into my chair. The kettle starts whistling. As the whistle builds it makes me feel hotter.

She plays READY on a double-word for 18 points, then goes to pour herself a cup of tea. No I do not want one. I steal a blank tile from the letter bag when she's not looking, and throw back a V from my rack. She gives me a suspicious look. She sits back down with her cup of tea, making a cup-ring on the table, as I play an 8-letter word: CHEATING, using the A of READY. 64 points, including the 50-point bonus, which means I'm beating her now.

She asks me if I cheated.

I really, really hate her.

She plays IGNORE on the triple-word for 21 points. The score is 153 to her, 155 to me.

The steam rising from her cup of tea makes me feel hotter. I try to make murderous words with the letters on my rack, but the best I can do is SLEEP.

My wife sleeps all the time. She slept through an argument our next-door neighbours had that resulted in a broken door, a smashed TV and a Teletubby Lala doll with all the stuffing coming out. And then she bitched at me for being moody the next day from lack of sleep.

If only there was some way for me to get rid of her.

I spot a chance to use all my letters. EXPLODES, using the X of JINXED. 72 points.

That will show her.

As I put the last letter down, there is a deafening bang and the air conditioning unit fails.

My heart is racing, but not from the shock of the bang. I don't believe it - but it can't be a coincidence. The letters made it happen. I played the word EXPLODES, and it happened - the air conditioning unit exploded. And before, I played the word CHEATING when I cheated. And ZAP when my wife got the electric shock. The words are coming true. The letters are choosing their future. The whole game is - JINXED.

My wife plays SIGN, with the N on a triple-letter, for 10 points.

I have to test this.

I have to play something and see if it happens. Something unlikely, to prove that the letters are making it happen. My rack is ABQYFWE. That doesn't leave me with a lot of options. I start frantically chewing on the B.

I play FLY, using the L of EXPLODES. I sit back in my chair and close my eyes, waiting for the sensation of rising up from my chair. Waiting to fly.

Stupid. I open my eyes, and there's a fly. An insect, buzzing around above the Scrabble board, surfing the thermals from the tepid cup of tea. That proves nothing. The fly could have been there anyway.

I need to play something unambiguous. Something that cannot be misinterpreted. Something absolute and final. Something terminal. Something murderous.

My wife plays CAUTION, using a blank tile for the N. 18 points.

My rack is AQWEUK, plus the B in my mouth. I am awed by the power of the letters, and frustrated that I cannot wield it. Maybe I should cheat again, and pick out the letters I need to spell SLASH or SLAY.

Then it hits me. The perfect word. A powerful, dangerous, terrible word.

I play QUAKE for 19 points.

I wonder if the strength of the quake will be proportionate to how many points it scored. I can feel the trembling energy of potential in my veins. I am commanding fate. I am manipulating destiny.

My wife plays DEATH for 34 points, just as the room starts to shake.

I gasp with surprise and vindication - and the B that I was chewing on gets lodged in my throat. I try to cough. My face goes red, then blue. My throat swells. I draw blood clawing at my neck. The earthquake builds to a climax.

I fall to the floor. My wife just sits there, watching.