Sunday, January 21, 2018

Wanna Hear Something Really Scary?

Been carrying this around with me since I was a small child...  something overheard while my parents were visiting an old friend.  They'd drag us kids along on these weekend visits, and it was always strange.  Being quiet kids, we would just sit on the couch listening to what was going on around us.  "You kids want a drink or something?" and we'd just quietly say 'no'...even if we wanted something.  Quiet kids.

Well, at this one house, I remember the TV was on and they had an episode of REAL PEOPLE playing.  Now this was a creepy variety show of sorts, where they'd feature strange stories about remarkable (weird) people and places.  And often times they'd do segments on the paranormal or unexplained.  So on this one night on this one episode, we were watching a segment on ghosts appearing in photographs.  Seems so tired and worn out now, but back then, the prospect of a photograph revealing the ugly pained face of a ghost in the background was brand new and purely horrifying.  I recall an image of tombstones in a cemetery with faces in the stones.  Awful faces.  Man, I was scared.

Anyways, the guy my parents were visiting starts reminiscing, and I don't know if it was the TV show giving this guy some terrible thoughts, but he started to recall a memory of when he was a boy.  He asked my dad if he remembered Mr. and Mrs. So-And-So.  My dad did.  And they both started talking about that couple's weird son.  "Do you remember that kid, sitting in the yard all the time?  Well, they bought him a pet turtle...and it died.  So they bought him another one, ....and IT died.  By the fourth small turtle, they watched the kid from a window in the back of the house.  And wouldn't you KNOW!  They see this kid with the turtle...and he's sitting there with it....and just as the turtle starts to put its head out of its shell, the kid is sitting there with a pair of metal scissors....AND CUTS ITS HEAD OFF!"

My GOD, that story horrified and terrified me then.  And it still does today.  God, it's horrible.  And so sad.  And so disturbing on a million levels.

I have no idea who they were talking about.  And ten minutes ago I called my dad asking him if he remembered that story.  He's up there in age and couldn't remember, and accused me of making it up.  When I described the details of the house, as I recall there being a lot of hanging photos and dark wood paneling, he DID recall that house and who owned it.  I said "Call the guy up!  See if he remembers!" and my dad replied "He's dead.  Died YEARS ago."  He then proceeded to tell me that all my mom does is dye her hair.  "You see, all that dye seeps into the brain...it catches up to you!"  We both laughed.

He told me that he'll start asking around as that man's brother is still alive and he sees him semi-regularly.  I'll, of course, do a follow-up blog post if the mystery is solved.

Though I have a feeling I should just scan old crime files in the region for psychopaths or sociopaths (no idea what the difference is).




18 comments:

Rot said...

My dad also commented "Remember that turtle I killed?!"
Referring to an old story posted on this blog (click the MEMORIES tag)

Unknown said...

Yes, definitely creepy! The stuff of nightmares...

Anonymous said...

Ok. You can admit it, YOU’RE that kid! :D
Seriously though, horrible story. Poor turtles.........

I have totally forgot about “Real People”. I remember watching it when I was a kid. That was a great show.
Man, I feel old now

Rot said...

totally was me.

good news...my brother confirms the memory...as it terrified him as well.

Theo said...

I'll admit that I saw that title and scrolled down to see first whether this was tagged as 'ghost stories' or 'memories'.

and this IS scary. like a flashback scene meant to provide a backstory for the killer in a bad slasher movie... which of course begs the question of what the kid is doing now.



i bet he still uses the same scissors.

Rot said...

totally still uses the same scissors.

Some poor soul unlocks their car...windows are fogged...small dried empty turtle shell is hanging from the rear view mirror... "who hung THAT in here???"

Patrick Nottingham said...

Holy crap. Real People! I used to watch that religiously as a kid. Yeah that turtle killer was a budding psychopath. Crazy how memories like this pop up.

Jeannine520 said...

That's horrible. Poor turtles and what stupid parents refusing to put two and two together. He probably has his dead parents buried under his house by now. His mother dressed in a teenage mutant ninja turtle Halloween costume with her head cut off.

Tallulah said...

Very interesting story.

Pumpkin5 said...

Wow.....I won't read that story to Henry, my turtle....he would have nightmares for weeks. :( I bet that sick little kid grew up to be a psychopath, or a serial killer, people that can be cruel to animals are the most horrid. It is a very frightening story, I think sometimes grown ups don't think that what they are reminiscing about, can really scar kids. I remember when I was little I was terrified of Wee Willie Winkie. I mean come on, he is running through the town, upstairs and downstairs??? What sick level of hell was this children's nursery rhyme? My older sister told me Wee Willie Winkie was hiding under my bed....I had nightmares for months over that.

girl6 said...

Omg..TRULY Horrifying!!!!!! : (
i had a pair of turtles when i was a kid. called em mommy & baby cause of their size. i loved watching them swim in their tank. they had the cutest little feet & the sweetest little spots on their bellies. i LOVED those little guys. i HOPE something dreadful happened to that EVIL kid.

remember this kid a few yrs back... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMNry4PE93Y

Rot said...

haha...the turtle kid!
I think that just cleansed my brain of this horrible event.

Willow Cove said...

Wow. Too weird to be made up!
And you may or may not dye your hair. According to your dad.

Rot said...

It's very risky, you see.
impacts the brain...


I, though, am dye free.

Lady M said...

That is a horrible story. They say it all starts with animal torture.

Ragged Grin said...

There was a kid in my neighborhood, my age, was always in the classes for "troubled kids". He used to catch injured birds and crucify them. It was kind of a dirty secret everyone knew about, his parents were deeply religious, his mom deeply in denial.

When we were 13 the butterscotch colored cat, Brandy, of my next door neighbor went missing. She was found a week later in the kid's basement, nailed up in the same manner as the birds had been years before. "D"...went away after that, never actually seen him in person since. He lives in Florida now. A couple years ago I saw a post on Facebook where he'd very nearly been killed by an alligator. Payback...almost.

Rot said...

he was probably trying to torture the alligator.

Ragged Grin said...

Probably. He was either deathly quiet or laughing at every word he uttered. That poor gator, probably caught whatever this dude has and went gator crazy.