The following anecdotes were previously published, but deserve another look because of the high strangeness described:My experiences took place in the early 80's in Toronto, Canada, and just like the fellow writing of his experiences on your site, mine also took place in a very old house. The house then was at least 75 yrs old and has since been razed to the ground and a brand new structure built in its place. When my family moved in there we experienced the same sort of events, arguments, abusive situations, strange phenomena but not to the point where we all noticed it right away. In fact my younger brother was a skeptic up to the point where things began happening to him as well. I think he took this attitude to allay the fears he must have had. Our father moved out of the house after the first year and away to another part of the country so just the three of us were left. At one point we had family come and live with us before they too departed.
My experiences began with an event I will never forget when I was 16. It was summer and I had difficulty sleeping. This went on for one month approximately. Then one night I had fallen into a light sleep when I was violently awakened. I recall hearing a sound that I thought was an explosion and thinking that our stove must have exploded in the kitchen below me. I opened my eyes and looked around the room in the darkness but saw nothing to indicate anything was happening. Suddenly my bed began to shake violently up and down and it felt as though I was being electrocuted through my solar plexus. I couldn't move but I could see my feet moving as the bed was jumping up and down. Some objects rose up off my dresser and shot towards the bed I thought they would hit me as they approached with such speed. In fact they stopped suddenly and began to swirl around in a counter clockwise direction above me and from the center of this swirl a bright white light appeared and some voices which were like high pitched shrieks or nails on a black board said quite clearly. "The message we bring is to tell the people he is still alive." And then everything stopped suddenly. I was terrified and basically thought I would end up in a nut house. I remember shaking from fear so much I could barely get out of bed. I made my way to my mom's room to tell her about it at which point she assured me I was having nightmares. Say your prayers and go back to sleep she said. I returned to my room after an hour or more but I couldn't sleep. It was a long time before I could sleep there in fact.
The next event happened the following January. I was coming home very late one night and decided to take the short cut through the alley way by our street. I passed a parked van with windows all around and I saw a movement in the van which made me feel somehow by its shape, size and response that it was doberman someone had left outside in their van. I kept walking but the thought pestered me that someone should leave their dog out in mid winter in the night. So I went back to the van cautiously peering in but there was nothing at all. Not even a cushion or anything hanging from the ceiling. Ok I thought I guess I imagined it. I happily kept walking home and when I was in the alley I suddenly heard footsteps behind me in the snow. I got a little freaked out and when I turned my head I didn't see anyone there. As I got to the end of the alleyway and turned onto my street I looked back to the entrance to see if anyone was following me. What I saw shocked and terrified me. There was a streetlight right at the corner and in the pool of its light was standing this enormous creature. It was at least 8 feet tall and huge. What struck me was that its form was completely black, there were no reflective surfaces on it whatsoever. In fact the light was shining directly on it and it seemed to absorb that light. It had large things on its head which I took to be horns or ears and its fingers ended in points like claws and the feet as well. Its eyes were red completely and staring right at me. I don't think my feet touched the ground I ran so fast.
After that experience I had a few others with the same creature. Another night I came home late again and I fell onto my bed after shutting the door just wanting to fall asleep. My cat was in the bed with me when we both heard a voice laughing in the room. A masculine voice. My cat freaked out and ran to the door scratching and miaowing loudly to get out ,I opened the door and she took off. I just didn't want to believe anything was in there with me so I pointedly turned my back to the rest of the room and went to sleep. Another night I turned over and opened my eyes early in the morning and there was the same creature , smaller though, standing in front of my closet staring at me. I recall I got really mad and told it to eff off and turned around and went back to sleep. Meanwhile my brother had seen the exact same creature but his had yellow eyes. He confided the story to me years later when we had left the house and had no knowledge of my experiences. He told me he had awakened early one morning and found that he had left the light on in his room, thinking that he should get up and turn it off he turned onto his back and opened his eyes and there sitting on his bed's headboard was the same creature, talons on feet and hands, completely black with no reflective surfaces, but his was he said about 4 ft tall and squatting on the headboard staring at him with yellow eyes. He said he was terrified and decided not to turn off the light after all. I don't remember if he said it vanished quickly or if he shut his eyes and when he opened them it was gone. He said he never saw it again but had other strange experiences in that house.
One day we decided that we should trade rooms. So I moved all my stuff out to his room and vice versa. I teased him and said he'd have to share my room with a visitor but he was disbelieving. After I had moved to his room I had my last experience in that house that was in the shadow people realm. I woke up one night to a sound in my room like rustling. I was wide awake because I thought it might be a mouse. I switched on my lamp and looked toward the other end of the room but seeing and hearing nothing I lay down again with the light still on. I turned to look at the clock and saw that it was 2:20 am then I saw these two large globes of light beyond my night stand. I was frozen up on one elbow because I had been about to turn out my light again. They moved in a way that reminded me of balloons falling. The larger of the two was golden yellow in colour and the smaller was blue. They looked like spheres lit from within and emanating a misty light from their forms. I somehow could sense that they were intelligent. They knew that I was looking at them and they wanted me to see. The larger golden one floated almost majestically to the door whereupon it flattened to a pancake shape in under half a second and slipped under the door. The second smaller one followed along and did the same. I was very nervous and scared at that point but only because I had to go to the bathroom and this meant I had to go out into the hallway where they had vanished to. Our hallway was very dark and without a proper light as the house was old and not renovated very well. I waited for as long as I could which was about 15 minutes and then I cautiously opened my door and went. The hallway was pitch black so my plan was to inch my way to the bathroom with my back to the wall so nothing could sneak up on me and once I got there I could turn on the bathroom light to illuminate the hallway. I followed my plan through and as it turned out when I turned on the bathroom light it shone down onto the stairs and the first landing. In the light were two shadow people. I've only ever thought of them that way because there was no other way to describe them. They looked like shadows, only they were in the light. They didn't look like the other creatures I had seen, in fact they looked like people in the sense that they had a head and arms and legs and torso and hands. They threw up their hands as though in surprise, like I'd caught them unexpectedly and then they flew down the stairs without a sound. It took me a long time to come out of that bathroom as I didn't want to encounter any of these things again.
Unlike your other poster, these creatures never touched me, at least to my knowledge and never tried to hurt me. Although they did scare the dickens out of me. I recall telling these stories to people years later in other parts of the world and hearing similar tales and wondering just what they could be. Somehow we don't seem that much closer to knowing. I would conjecture though that as is the case with plant and insect life here we certainly haven't got all the facts in yet. Perhaps these creatures share the world we live in but in a different way and we have learned to ignore them or pretend they don't exist. Maybe they are trying to tell us they do exist. Perhaps like us there are those with good intenetions and those with not so good intentions. Its my opinion that we are getting closer to the truth everyday.
A side note here: I read a book a year ago called 'Initiation' by Elizabeth Haich in which she distinctly mentions the shadow people and the effects they caused in the lives of people she knew including her own son prior to WWII. If this is true then perhaps these are beings who've been with us for a very long time. Then again if they are time travellers then all things are possible.
Sincerely, Pema
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Hello, Mr. Strickler. I was referred to your site by my grandson after I mentioned an incident I had in 1958 when I was a young man going to college in Mont Alto, PA.It was late evening and I was in my room sitting in a lounge chair trying to read and stay awake at the same time. I was near graduation and had a lot of things on my mind. As I sat there, I had a strange feeling like someone was watching me and I became very restless. After a few minutes I 'sensed' that something was on the other side of the closed door to my room. I still can't explain it. So I got up from the chair and went to the door, opened it a bit and looked out. There were two men dressed in black suits and black furry hats. They looked like identical twins. They were dark complexioned with Asian eyes, but they were not Asian.
As I stood there, they didn't said a word but I knew that they were 'talking' to me through my mind, saying '...are you ready?' For some unknown reason, I knew deep down what they were referring to. I was shirtless with only a pair of shorts, so I reached for a jacket, '...that will not be necessary. No one will see you.' The three of us walked out in the hallway and suddenly we were standing on a small hill behind the student hall. I noticed the headlights of a car coming down the street and ducked behind the two men. I heard them laughing at me in my mind, '....we told you no one would see you'.
I was scared and turned away for a minute wondering if I should try to run. I thought better of it, turned to say something to them and noticed that they we looking up. I followed their gaze and realized that something was suspended above is. I continued to look when an opening appeared in its center and blue-white light came tumbling out of it. I started to feel dizzy and a bit nauseous, like when you are on a roller coaster or airplane that is dropping too fast. Then I realized we were floating up toward whatever the object was. I must have fainted because I only remember that I was lying on my side when I woke. I raised up and looked around. The entire room was empty except for the small table on which I was sitting.
The room was bathed in a soft glow but had no apparent light source that I could see. Then I heard a female voice say, '...he's awake.' I looked around to see if I could see anyone but saw nothing. About this time on the far wall a door appeared and opened. Although the hallway was dark, there was a bluish white illumination that appeared as though it was materializing. Two shadows seemed to move across the doorway but I couldn't tell anything about the shapes.
I received a mental image of two people approaching, one carrying a tray full of some kind of surgical instruments and syringes. Then I went blank. My next memory was of being back in my room and in my chair reading. I got up and felt like I had just woke from a deep sleep. Then I noticed several items were missing including three books and a framed photo of my parents.
I have never had any affects (that I know of) from my experience though I have had a remarkable healthy life. As well, I am constantly told I look 20 years younger than my actual age.
Now, the reason I am now writing about my encounter. A few days ago, a large box arrived at my daughter's house that was addressed to me. The reason why it was sent to her address is a mystery. As well, there was no return address and it was shipped from Oakland, California (the state where I now reside). My grandson brought the package to me a day or so later. While he watched, I opened the box. It contained the three missing books and the framed photo of my parents that went missing the night of my encounter. There was also a battered shoebox that looked very familiar. When I opened the shoebox, there were a variety of small items (pens, buttons, coins, etc) that I realized I had lost at some period in my young life. That is when I revealed my past experience with my astonished grandson.
I'm still confused after receiving the package a few months ago. Who were these men and what did they want? Have you heard of a similar experience? You have my permission to copy this email. I really need some answers. Thank you so much. D.L.
Darkness Walks: The Shadow People Among Us
Shadow People: A Journal of the Paranormal
Encyclopedia of the Unseen World: The Ultimate Guide to Apparitions, Death Bed Visions, Mediums, Shadow People, Wandering Spirits, and Much, Much More
