As a child who was an ardent follower of Aahat and Shhh, Koi Hai, I would always wait for Friday to come so I could watch these shows. I would watch all the episodes and then sleep with my mother by my side because I’d be super scared! When I grew up I fell even more in love with horror. From movies to trying my hand at an ouija board to pranking my friends – I’ve done it all. So you can only imagine Friday the 13th has been my scariest but most favourite day of the year! The scariest of movies play on TV and the thought of maybe having a spirit sitting right next to me sends chills down my spine… and I love it! If you’re anything like me, here are a few stories by Team POPxo you’d definitely enjoy!
1. I had only one dog.
Before my current dog, I had a dachshund, who passed away due to kidney failure. One night I was sleeping in my room with my bedroom door wide open. They say dogs can sense spirits. So my current dog Reggie started barking suddenly in the middle of the night for no reason. That is when I woke up and heard another dog barking back. For some reason, I believe it was my previous dog’s sound. It did not creep me out, instead, it made me feel safe, as I felt protected by not one but two dogs. – Manasvini Paul, Social Media Coordinator
2. The girl in a white dress.
I was in a boarding school and had gone for a school trip to Rishikesh. In the evening, it was all foggy so all of us sat near the bonfire and were talking about horror movies and incidents that we have experienced or heard from a friend. We got so engrossed in the conversation that we lost track of time. A few of us left and went back to their tents. By around 2:30 AM, the rest of us started moving back to our tents. I was the last one walking. As soon as my friends turned around to say goodbye, they turned pale. I turned back, just to see a small girl in a white dress (cliché but it did actually happen) standing a few meters away from me. When I turned back to see my friends, they had all run away leaving me alone. I froze at that moment and tried uttering a few words, but nothing came out of my mouth. Suddenly someone pulled me by my arm and dragged me away from that spot. Till date, I haven’t figure out whether it was a spirit or a girl from our camp. – Saachi Bamba, Editorial Coordinator
3. A cold house.
I had just gotten married and it was our first day in our new (rental) house. While it wasn’t the ideal place, we had to make do since we were pressed for options in the area. Being a new bride leaving home, I was quite apprehensive to be living in a new place that absolutely didn’t feel like home. It was the morning after the reception that we both arrived at our new house. Exhausted after all the mania, we decided to take a nap. I had a bad dream and woke up screaming and choking my ‘new’ husband. It was a ridiculously funny *first* day of married life story at first, but as months passed by… we discovered weird symbols hidden all over the house. Our first Diwali, I was deep cleaning and decorating when I found a white paper with some strange symbolism written in red ‘INK’ (I’d like to believe) hidden behind the door frame with some other strange stuff. We started to relate a lot of stuff to the ‘negative’ energy always present in the house. We packed our bags in the next 3 days and got the hell out of that house! – Nidhi Kavle, Senior Beauty Writer
4. Visit to a temple.
When I was in class 9th, we had gone for a school trip to Hathi Paon. For some strange reason, a few us decided to visit a nearby temple. As soon as we entered the temple, we could feel something strange, like something bad was happening here. We walked further in and saw a lady all possessed with her eyes rolled up and shaking vigorously. We immediately ran out of that place. Later we got to know from the locals that people performed exorcisms in that temple. – Tanya Verma, Social Media Coordinator
5. A tap on my shoulder.
My husband is a prankster and I am his biggest victim. He’s well aware of my fear of ghosts and he doesn’t let a single opportunity pass to prank me. It happened a few nights ago. We had a fight and he tried to calm me down. I was angry and wanted him to pamper me a bit more before cooling down. So, whenever he put his hand on my shoulders, I would push him away. He did it once, twice, thrice and I kept pushing him away. Then he stopped. I waited for a couple of minutes before he put his hand on my shoulder again. I said, “JD, stop it”. He said, “What? I am not even facing you.” Then who’s hand was it? The room was dark and I searched for him on the bed. I found no one. I screamed my lungs out, only to find him switch on the lights. It was his hand on my shoulder but just to prank me, he had placed himself right at the edge of the bed. He’s got long hands, hence it was easier for him to get a longer reach. I got up and threw an entire set of pillows at him while he stood grinning from ear to ear. – Anannya Chatterjee, Senior Wedding Writer.
6. A long drive.
I had gone for a family trip to Rajasthan and we were travelling late in the night. Our GPS was causing issues so we kept following the signs on the road and reached an area with barren land. My dad turned the car around as the place wasn’t looking too safe. A few meters ahead of us, we saw a lady asking for a lift. My dad immediately put his foot on the accelerator to speed up the car as he didn’t want to take any risks. When we looked back to see the lady, we could see her chasing the car taking really big steps and reaching my dad’s window. My dad kept speeding the car and asked us not to look behind. Luckily we got signal on our phone and we reached our hotel. – Rhea Guliani, Social Media Coordinator
Spooked out, yet?
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