Thread: Bush Ghosts

Originally Posted by longshot

Anyone else had a dog that knew when they were coming home. I always thought it was a fairly common thing.

Don't know that my dogs know when I'm coming home as they are literally with us all the time but I've got a few issues with my arm since my accident last year and get really painful nerve spasms that near cripple me untill they pass. A few times I've been laying in bed and start getting them and although I don't make any sounds or anything our young bitch will come from the other end of the house into the room and sit by me and whimper like she somehow knew I was in pain.

Dunno if sleep paralysis has been brought up yet. Ive had it once, kind of half wake up enough to open your eyes and you are sort of conscious but kind of still in a dream state. Could see the dark room around me, saw this dark shadow, the shape of a person come in and just stand over top of me looking down at me. As much as I wanted to I just could not move any part of my body, just lay there in terror. Id watched a documentary once about sleep paralysis and it stuck with me because it sounded so dam creepy. Throughout this ordeal I was thinking, this must be it, this must be sleep paralysis. It somehow didn’t make it much less terrifying though. Eventually was able to move again and fully woke up after a few mins (maybe as time becomes weird). Was breathing about 100 bpm. Only ever happened once. Very creepy.

Originally Posted by Juicy

Dunno if sleep paralysis has been brought up yet. Ive had it once, kind of half wake up enough to open your eyes and you are sort of conscious but kind of still in a dream state. Could see the dark room around me, saw this dark shadow, the shape of a person come in and just stand over top of me looking down at me. As much as I wanted to I just could not move any part of my body, just lay there in terror. Id watched a documentary once about sleep paralysis and it stuck with me because it sounded so dam creepy. Throughout this ordeal I was thinking, this must be it, this must be sleep paralysis. It somehow didn’t make it much less terrifying though. Eventually was able to move again and fully woke up after a few mins (maybe as time becomes weird). Was breathing about 100 bpm. Only ever happened once. Very creepy.

I've had that twice, the first time was waaaay back when I lived in buttfuck nowhere, in an old school. One of those nights where it is pitch black.
I woke up to pressure on my chest, like something working it's way up my body and I went to turn the light on and that's when I realised I was completely paralysed!
I was fully aware all base functions working, yano heart, lungs, overwhelming sense of dread and terror, I tried to cry out but couldn't even open my mouth, I could feel pressure in my throat but it just wasn't getting the message, this seemed to go on for a very long time but eventually the weight on my chest lifted and a while later I could move my head slightly and then slowly the rest of the "system" came back online.....it was the singularly most terrifying experience of my life.

The second time was maybe 6-12 months later, same deal but I understood what was happening (had googled and found "sleep paralysis") and whilst the knowledge helped it still took me a few moments to chill myself out and just ride it out, unsettling but not terrifying but yeah, I don't need to experience that again.

Originally Posted by Zedrex

I've had that twice, the first time was waaaay back when I lived in buttfuck nowhere, in an old school. One of those nights where it is pitch black.
I woke up to pressure on my chest, like something working it's way up my body and I went to turn the light on and that's when I realised I was completely paralysed!
I was fully aware all base functions working, yano heart, lungs, overwhelming sense of dread and terror, I tried to cry out but couldn't even open my mouth, I could feel pressure in my throat but it just wasn't getting the message, this seemed to go on for a very long time but eventually the weight on my chest lifted and a while later I could move my head slightly and then slowly the rest of the "system" came back online.....it was the singularly most terrifying experience of my life.

The second time was maybe 6-12 months later, same deal but I understood what was happening (had googled and found "sleep paralysis") and whilst the knowledge helped it still took me a few moments to chill myself out and just ride it out, unsettling but not terrifying but yeah, I don't need to experience that again.

Yeah I knew a stone cold fox of a woman who kept a boyfriend just cos he was a bed companion who could pull her out of her sleep paralysis - he was just a dumb penis-wielding idiot who didn't know how lucky he had it and didn't even know what the fuck was going on - human motivations are weird

Originally Posted by Juicy

Dunno if sleep paralysis has been brought up yet. Ive had it once, kind of half wake up enough to open your eyes and you are sort of conscious but kind of still in a dream state. Could see the dark room around me, saw this dark shadow, the shape of a person come in and just stand over top of me looking down at me. As much as I wanted to I just could not move any part of my body, just lay there in terror. Id watched a documentary once about sleep paralysis and it stuck with me because it sounded so dam creepy. Throughout this ordeal I was thinking, this must be it, this must be sleep paralysis. It somehow didn’t make it much less terrifying though. Eventually was able to move again and fully woke up after a few mins (maybe as time becomes weird). Was breathing about 100 bpm. Only ever happened once. Very creepy.

yeah I have had that- now I know what it is- thanks for that -

Human behaviour is weird full stop, we're a funny bunch

Not so much of a ghost story, but about 20 years ago, I was visiting a mate, who I knew was doing it hard financially, at the point of counting up the 5c coins to buy milk sort of struggling. It isn't something I would normally do, but I had $20 in my pocket and it was a week before Christmas so I slipped it into his dirty washing pile while he was out of the room. It was only $20 dollars, but I thought it would make a pretty big difference to his week, finding that.

Well for about the next 3-4 months after that, it seemed like I couldn't go anywhere without finding money on the footpath, $2 here, $5 there, it would have been an easy $30 in total in the first two months, and I was getting up around $100 by the end of the year. Karma, or co-incidence, I will never know.

Originally Posted by longshot

Not so much of a ghost story, but about 20 years ago, I was visiting a mate, who I knew was doing it hard financially, at the point of counting up the 5c coins to buy milk sort of struggling. It isn't something I would normally do, but I had $20 in my pocket and it was a week before Christmas so I slipped it into his dirty washing pile while he was out of the room. It was only $20 dollars, but I thought it would make a pretty big difference to his week, finding that.

Well for about the next 3-4 months after that, it seemed like I couldn't go anywhere without finding money on the footpath, $2 here, $5 there, it would have been an easy $30 in total in the first two months, and I was getting up around $100 by the end of the year. Karma, or co-incidence, I will never know.

Maybe it's the faeries, maybe it's karma, maybe you were just "aware" of money and noticed it when ordinarily you mayn't, dunno but good deeds get repaid imo.
Also good on you for helping yer mate out without making him feel embarrassed or awkward or indebted, proper GC

Originally Posted by Casper145

Manly men needn't read my further.

So occasionally when I'm out enjoying nature, for no reason at all sometimes I'll just absolutely get the willies, hairs on the back of the neck standing up, the whole shebang. If it happens it's usually in relatively thick NZ native bush, and it doesn't even have to be that far from civilisation. I'm not even sure what it is, maybe a sudden cold gust comes out of nowhere that sends shivers down the spine, or just an overwhelming sense of being watched by something, but just not by the venison that should be in the freezer. It's not a fear of the dark or anything - can happen mid morning, and I've always got more than enough equipment and nav sense to get me out of (almost) any situation.

I'm not sure what my imagination is more worried about - something human, like some Deliverance/hills have eyes types who don't believe in the same social contract/rules based order that I do, or something supernatural. I'm a scientist according to an expensive piece of paper I studied for, and while I don't really go for any of the usual ghost stories, some specific locations and experiences give me reason to pause. Actually that's the wrong term: usually my pace quickens a little more than I should and move on.

Am I the only big scaredy cat here? Has anyone got any stories or thoughts they'd be able to share?

It's an atavistic thing..when we lived in caves/the jungle, there WERE things out there that could seriously harm you, so Man (can you use that word in this context anymore?) would have developed a heightened sense of awareness in order to stay alive. That's why we have that "shiver down the spine" thing.

Originally Posted by Casper145

Manly men needn't read my further.

So occasionally when I'm out enjoying nature, for no reason at all sometimes I'll just absolutely get the willies, hairs on the back of the neck standing up, the whole shebang. If it happens it's usually in relatively thick NZ native bush, and it doesn't even have to be that far from civilisation. I'm not even sure what it is, maybe a sudden cold gust comes out of nowhere that sends shivers down the spine, or just an overwhelming sense of being watched by something, but just not by the venison that should be in the freezer. It's not a fear of the dark or anything - can happen mid morning, and I've always got more than enough equipment and nav sense to get me out of (almost) any situation.

I'm not sure what my imagination is more worried about - something human, like some Deliverance/hills have eyes types who don't believe in the same social contract/rules based order that I do, or something supernatural. I'm a scientist according to an expensive piece of paper I studied for, and while I don't really go for any of the usual ghost stories, some specific locations and experiences give me reason to pause. Actually that's the wrong term: usually my pace quickens a little more than I should and move on.

Am I the only big scaredy cat here? Has anyone got any stories or thoughts they'd be able to share?

now you can believe this or not but I believe - if you go near an old burial ground urupa and you can tell -then you can feel that maybe you should not have been there - what I do is I go to a nearby stream -wash my hands - say a honky Karakia - I cant whakapapa to any IWI so its from a honky and just say your respects to the old tipuna possible buried there - I asked an old Koro of mine now gone this question _ if i went onto an old urupa without realizing it what happens - his answer was if your thoughts are pure you are okay - my apologies to Iwi on here - but many need educating on that sort of Tikanga

When I was a young hunter, 13-16 probably, I got the creeps often. Narrow dark trails, quiet spots, eerie places. Now days I can't think of that having happened to me in decades. I think it's built in instinct from times when such a place might well mean potential for attack from an animal or another human. Throw in a bit of superstition etc. As we get older we learn there is nothing out there to harm us.. Except stupidity. That always has potential to harm... and so those feelings diminish through experience.
I dont think it's coincidence that it's more likely to be on your mind or you experience some event when you are alone either.

In my 50 years of life, I've never seen or heard anything that has made me question a rational, scientific, non-supernatural view of the world and if I did, I would be questioning my own rationality rather than jumping to conclusions. Each to their own though.

Also had sleep paralysis a couple of times, not much fun at all, but in my case it wasn't shadowy figures or something on my chest. In my mind I was wide awake and could hear noises, the first time when I was a kid it was a ball being bounced on the lino then being held and then bounced again, several times over. In adulthood it was footsteps up and down the hall, like hard shoes on the wooden floorboards. Paralysed mainly due to fear.
Then when my Father was still alive I was visiting and we were watching the news and they had a story about sleep paralysis, my Dad never believed in anything other than what he could see and touch but he said to me "you know that story about the sleep paralysis?" I said "yeah". (thinking he was about to say something spooky), and he goes, "Ya know when you're in bed, and you roll over, and you get wrapped up in your sheets"...