Memory Lane Friday - A Spooky Story

Memory Lane Friday is a weekly blog carnival where you can blog about a memory and link up.  Some weeks have themes, some do not.  All are welcome!  This week's topic is "A Spooky Story".

Back before Paul and I had 3 boys, we used to do a lot of hiking on the Appalachian Trail.  We'd cover 20 miles over the course of a weekend, camping out for the night in a tent or shelter.  It was fun.

Here I am getting ready to head out on the trail before one of our trips:

On this particular trip, we decided to watch The Blair Witch Project, which had just been released on video, prior to heading out.

Have you seen The Blair Witch Project?  Totally creepy home-spun film (urban legend true) where these college students head out in the woods with a video camera to try to film strange happenings.

Probably not the best film for a hiking trip.  Overnight. 

Not to mention I'd just finished reading the nonfiction book Murder on the Appalachian Trail.

Paul, getting ready to cross a fence.

And here we are next to an Appalachian Trail sign. 

We were enjoying our hike, having a fairly leisurely time of it with a nice long break at a shelter:

And we set off for the last couple of miles before dusk.

That's when, deep in the woods, we stumbled upon an old, abandoned house.

I'm always one for exploring abandoned houses.

I adore them.

Here's a pic of one of my favorite abandoned houses ever:

You just know that she used to be glorious back in her day.

So when we stumbled upon an abandoned house, deep in the woods, with no road in or out, I wanted to take a look.

We crossed the threshold and entered....

The Blair Witch Project.

Granted, that took place in Maryland, but this house - well - it was total Blair Witch.

Weird drawings spray painted on the walls.

Stick figures hanging from the ceiling.

Paul and I were both totally creeped out.

Hollow, creaking footsteps as we walked over ancient wooden floors, mouths gaping at the images on the walls.

Who had defaced this house?

Who had come in with cans of spray paint in the dark of the night to create such angry symbols?

To hang the wooden figures?

A deep silence had descended over the valley.

There were no birds outside chirping in the imminent dusk.

Just our hollow footsteps, and the crisp electricity of nerves that hung in the air.

We hightailed it out of there.

That night, snug in our sleeping bags, I couldn't help tossing and turning a bit over the fear of that house.  The images were burned in my mind; I couldn't stop seeing them.

But, nothing strange happened that night, and we made it out the next day safe and sound.

Want to join in Memory Lane Friday?

It's easy!  Grab the button off my sidebar and add it to your post.  Then come back and add your website to McKLinky.  Be sure to take the time to visit others who link up.  Next week's topic?  Halloween, Part 2!