When people lose their lives in tragic and unexpected circumstances, does this increase their odds of coming back as a ghost? Are they aware that they were taken off this earth? In this episode of Real Ghost Stories Online we hear the story of a horrific flood that took the lives of hundreds of people, including children… And the people who witnessed their appearances, after their death.
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This weeks feature letters:
Sent to us by Sandra Williams
I live in West Virginia, Logan County – home of two known famous events – “The Hatfield and McCoy Fued” (The Hatfield family lived here during this period – and is now the location of “The Hatfield Cemetery and Memorial” AND this county is also home of one of the largest floods in history – “The Buffalo Creek Flood” which happened in 1972 – killing 126 persons – with 3 infants never being identified, and 7 people never found. I was in second grade at this time, and I was personally affected by this in many ways. I lived on Main Street, in the town of Man, which was the gateway into Buffalo Creek (the only way in or out) When we (the people living at Man) first heard of the Dam breaking – the news came by way of those lucky few that were able to escape – telling of how they could see the flood waters, by watching through their rear view mirrors, driving at break neck speeds, and praying for God to save them. They also told of how the flood reached from mountain to mountain – approximately 30 feet high – telling of seeing a huge black mass behind them – with coal sludge, cars, trees, houses – etc combined with the water, and they told of watching this hit homes with so much force, that it would splinter each into what looked like match sticks. But this news came to the residences of Man too late – by the time we heard this news – no one was able to get onto Buffalo Creek – and the only thing then to do was wait – which we did – people were lined up and down both sides of the street, and along the creek bank leading out of Buffalo Creek into Man – from there on, for days and months to come, it was pure hysteria – and with me being so young at the time and because the adults did not have the time to explain what was going on – I was in a whirlwind it seemed – seeing and hearing things that has affected me throughout my life. I remember seeing one man, on a large tree, floating down the creek, screaming for help. I can remember, like it was yesterday, how several men had to rescue the employees at the Man Post Office – by going through the roof of the post office – lowering a rope and pulling each to safety. My grade school became the morgue – where each body recovered was taken for identification – then prepared for burial – schools were closed for weeks – our area became the hub for everything – helicopter’s, National Guard trucks and men became common sights – and the streets were occupied, day and night, with those that were lucky enough to survive – and those less fortunate, that didn’t survive, being carried out in body bags . I could relate these type of scenes for hours – but I am trying to give a short review about this tragic event – and set the stage so I can tell of my experience, years later, with the paranormal, on Buffalo Creek. Years later, my out of state family members would ask about this time in my life – usually because of learning about it in history class at school – so, over the years, it was talked about and retold many times. Then, after I was married and moved onto Buffalo Creek myself – my out of state family made plans to come visit – with their children so they could all see first hand where this took place – thinking this would benefit the children when they were taught about the flood in history class , they would be able to say – they had visited the area where this tragedy happened. We choose the Summer time for this visit – and after their arrival, I got the bright idea to make this sight seeing trip more than just facts – I planned on making it something that everyone would remember. I personally had never experienced anything paranormal while living on Buffalo Creek, but I had heard many stories, told mainly by the elderly in the area, of seeing unexplained occurrences – telling about a little girl in white – who supposedly was lost during the flood and who searched for her lost family – then there was the stories told by hunters – seeing people in the mountains – where homes use to be located before the flood – but no longer existed – of course I did not believe these stories – I was always a septic about things like this – but I made sure to tell these family members about these stories before we started out on our history lesson – what better way to remember this trip if I added a ghostly atmosphere – or so I thought! It was a Saturday and the day of our trip. I decided to wait until complete darkness before we took off on this journey. My car was a Camero Convertible – with the top down and the car packed with people – we took off. I drove, and my cousin rode up front with me, and the back was full with her kids and mine. Along the way, I pointed out stories about each community – what was lost and what was now new – I told of the number of deaths in each community – on our way to the mouth of Buffalo Creek – where the Dam broke and started this disastrous tragedy – and the farther we drove – the number of deaths rose – until we reached the area where the Dam use to be located – this area was the worse – no one living in this area survived – once we reached here – I have to say – I felt a change around us – and with the top down it seemed to engulf us – the first thing I noticed was the overwhelming smell of roses – and the darkness was like no darkness I had ever seen before – the only light we had was my car’s headlights – which cast a yellowish looking glow everywhere – at this point too, the main road ended, and a dirt road was all we had left to drive on – which was so narrow I prayed I would be able to turn the car around when we were ready to leave. We finally reached the area of the old coal mines – which could only be seen by looking up toward the top of the mountain – I could only tell them that the Dam was located up there before the flood – being that we could not drive to the top of this mountain – I wouldn’t have even if we could- with the feelings I was feeling at this time – even my so called brave ass wasn’t leaving the car! My cousin wasn’t helping any – she kept begging me to turn around and leave – and I wasn’t hearing a sound from any of the kids – my plan of scaring everyone was abandoned – I didn’t even think about it once we got to this area – I decided to turn the car around and leave – it took a few minutes to turn around – while I was doing this – I heard what sounded like children playing outside on a school playground – then while leaving this area – I slowed the car down because I had a strong urge to look upon the hillside – and when I did – I swear I saw two small children standing there – looking down at us! I said nothing but I did speed my car up – I couldn’t get out of there fast enough it seemed! Once we reached the main road again – my nerves seemed to relax – and the rest of the way back to my house we all stayed silent. When we finally got home – me and my cousin still said nothing – we got the kids ready for bed – after that, I went out on my front porch to sit and think over what I thought had happened – after a while, my cousin joined me on the porch and shared with me her experience – repeating – WORD FOR WORD – my exact experience! She mentioned the smell of roses, the sounds of children playing, and of seeing two children, watching us from the hillside, as we drove away! I was completely shocked! I did not speak a word to her during all of this – and neither had she -so, I didn’t know what to believe! Did we experience something supernatural? Why? Was it my fault?, because of my plan to scare everyone during our trip? Why did it happen? Did it happen? My thoughts were a jumbled mess! We did not speak about this with the children – and they did not mention anything either – I assumed (and prayed) that only my cousin and I had witnessed this – I did not want the kids to be affected by this – how could I explain it? If it scared and confused me like it did – what would it do to children? My cousin and her family stayed for one week – but we spent the remaining days away from Buffalo Creek as much as possible, and we avoided this subject for years – then, a few years later, while I was getting my hair done at a beauty shop on Buffalo Creek one Saturday morning – somehow I mentioned what had happened to me and my cousin – an elderly lady was also at the beauty shop that day and she spoke up saying she was a survivor of the flood and she said she had grew up on Buffalo Creek – living there before and after the flood – she spoke about a one room schoolhouse that she had attended as a child – located in that same area – exactly the same hillside where we heard and seen what we did! – this validated and answered a lot! I still can not say I was glad to receive this information – I had mixed emotions! On one hand it proved I wasn’t crazy and/or just seeing things – then on the other hand – I would have to face the fact that maybe ghost do exist – either way – I can say this – never say never – and I know for a fact what I saw was real! Why I saw it – I really don’t know – and I hope and pray I never see anything like it again!
Sent to us by Robin Weary
It’s Saturday, August 28, 2010. My husband and son decided to go to MD and spend the night working on his parents home with his brother. I worked from 9-5 that day and my husbands Aunt was baby-sitting my daughter. I went to her house after work and picked up my daughter. She fell asleep on the couch around 8:30 p.m. I turned the T.V. off in the living room but left the kitchen light on for her. I had my bedroom light on and was sitting on my bed playing with my laptop with the T.V. off. From where I was sitting I could see directly into the living room. Everything was quiet and calm until around 10:30 p.m. Something in the living room caught my attention. It was an apparition of a man!!! Standing in front of the wall facing towards me was a figure. A light greyish transparent figure. I could not see a face. All I saw was from the neck down. From where he was standing he looked to be about 5’8″ or a little taller. He had no shirt on because the kitchen light was reflecting off of his collar bone. He had on a pair of blue-jeans and boots. For some reason the belt on his jeans stood out. I stared at this image for what felt like forever trying to figure out what I was seeing. I said to myself “That’s an arm.” Then I yelled out loud “That’s an arm!” and right then the apparition dissipated. I was stunned! I was scared!! My first reaction was to run out into the living room and check on my daughter. She was fine. I kept replaying in my head what I had just seen. I honestly felt like I was losing my mind. Around 12 a.m. I was dead tired. I knew I had to go to sleep but I was so afraid. I dug up some courage to go lay down in my daughters room. I kept saying to myself “Get a grip!” “Your imagination is getting to the best of you!”. I layed down in my daughters bed and turned towards the wall with my back towards the door. Within a minute of turning towards the wall I felt “something” touch the back of my neck!! It felt like an index finger poked the back of my neck!!! I ran out of the room and back into the living room with my daughter. I turned on all of the lights in the house and stayed up until I finally fell asleep. I awoke the next morning and I was fine and my daughter was too. I didn’t tell my husband when he came home that day. I didn’t want anyone in my family to know what I was experiencing. I honestly felt like I was going insane. That Monday I made another trip to see the spiritual healer I had seen before. I told her what happened. She said that I needed to get brave and have a talk with this spirit. I needed to let him know that he wasn’t wanted. I couldn’t do that!! What if I made him mad and he retaliated on my family or myself!!! I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. The anxiety I felt outside of my home was now the feelings I got from within my home. I was living everyday in fear.
