Decemystery (2024) 26: The Ghost Who Took a Pair of Socks

 

Here’s an odd story: I was looking through my Google documents to see if there would be an easy case to cover. As I’ve made explicitly clear a multitude of times throughout this month, I’ve been strapped for time—and this has been no more apparent than right now. I’m writing this on Christmas Eve; it’ll likely be finished tomorrow, the day before it goes up.

Anyway, while looking through old documents, I came across this one. I barely remembered, and I can’t even recall why it wasn’t deleted.

I’m serious; I have no recollection of this story outside of it briefly being considered for last year’s Decemystery duology. It isn’t on sustained_disgust’s Obscure Unsolved Mysteries Iceberg. I don’t recall telling any of my friends about it. It’s just here, in a document, with one sentence that was written on November 30, 2023. It reads as follows:

Okay, so I had no plans to cover another story from “It Happened To Me,” but I found one mere minutes ago that was way too good to pass up.

Well, a year later, I guess the story wasn’t as good as my younger self thought it to be.

Or maybe it is, and I didn’t give it a fair chance. Today, I want to find out with you, dear reader. This month has been filled with a lot of twists and turns, but none will be more unique than exploring a remnant from last year’s Decemystery duology that even I, the writer of these articles, forgot the origin of.

So, I invite you to accompany me over to the United Kingdom as we investigate a weird ghost story that sounds closer to a comedy short. This is the case of The Ghost Who Took a Pair of Socks. I’d tell you to hold onto your socks, but I don’t want to attract the specter we’re looking into.

Hey, where’d my socks go?

Decemystery (2024) 13: The Mummy on the Bed

 

Ah, this story. There’s a weird history with it. It was on the schedule for last year’s Decemystery duology, but I scrapped it in favor of something else. I forget which story it was, but regardless, there was also the mounting pressure of having to write so much in so little time.

When this year rolled around, though, I didn’t plan on covering it. Then, when I revised the schedule, I did—until I didn’t. After the mammoth-sized write-ups “The Nickelodeon Hamster Wheel Broadcast” and “The Man From the Box,” the thought of covering a third mystery from Reddit sounded as appealing as salmonella. Simply put, I dreaded the idea of having another write-up that’d end up being far longer than I originally intended it to be—and that would leave me utterly drained.

However, after yesterday’s case, I opted to look over this story again out of sheer curiosity. As I did, I realized that it was nowhere close to as long as the aforementioned two. In fact, it’s remarkably short; it’s roughly the length of a story from About but with a few replies (only six, with half of them being from the original poster).

So, after much consideration (by which I mean I acted out of pure impulse), I figured I’d re-add it to Decemystery 2024’s schedule. In doing so, I’m confident that this story has had roughly the same number of date changes Duke Nukem Forever did prior to its release back in 2011. I promise it won’t be anywhere near as mediocre as that game was.

Anyway, aside from taking us back to Reddit, this case is also the first time since the original Decemystery that I’ll be discussing a story related to a mummy. Yes, it’s been six years since I’ve discussed anything related to them; I’m in disbelief that it’s taken me this long to talk about them. So, come along; let’s dive into the belly of one of the Internet’s most controversial websites once more and go over the oh-so-fantastically named story of The Mummy on the Bed!

Decemystery (2024) 5: The Triangle Man

 

When it comes to the realm of the paranormal, I’m far from the most well-educated person on Earth. Sure, I’ve heard plenty of ghost stories. I know the basics of ghost lore—to some degree, anyway. I know that ghosts aren’t corporeal beings, that they leave behind cold spots, and that they can move stuff. Also, they’re prone to responding to people knocking on walls. I have no idea why, but I think that’s funny.

I learned the basics of ghosts as a child, though, and I’ve since forgotten a lot of other things that would likely be useful when writing about them. I could go back and relearn them, but I’m lazy. Yes, that’s really my excuse. How professional of me.

In recent years, my interest in it has waned considerably. While I still enjoy a good ghost story, I feel like they’re largely the same. A house or some other location where stuff moves around and footsteps are heard when there’s only one person home. If you’re lucky, the person saw an apparition.

That level of sameness makes them a drag to cover. There’s only so much I can handle before I find the energy and love that I pour into writing turning into a sense of obligation. That, for me, is one of the worst feelings in the world because it leads to the driest and blandest write-ups possible. The last thing I want to do is post something that was an obligation and not something that I believe could be enjoyed by the folks who visit this blog.

Those reasons are why I seldom cover paranormal cases. While some can argue that UFO sightings are the same, I find UFOs to be a lot more interesting. Also, there’s a lot more fun to be had in the absurdity of cases about enormous UFOs being seen by one person. To paraphrase CinemaSins, “Nobody who watches the sky for a living saw this thing.”

That said, there are occasionally cases that pique my interest enough to where I need to make an exception. Today marks one of those occasions because it is, without a doubt, one of the most unsettling ghost stories I’ve read in a long time. I mentioned it in yesterday’s Decemystery entry, and I’m going to give it the attention it demands today. This, dear reader, is the disturbing tale of The Triangle Man!

Decemystery (2023) 30: The Glowing Dancing Bulls

 

I believe I’ve said this on this blog before, but I like to dance, slow dance, to be exact. I don’t know why, but I find it relaxing and soothing. Unfortunately, I have no one to dance with, so I often dance around my room alone. Not that it matters that much because I’m not exactly the best dancer.

Thankfully, I have my writing; that means I’m not at risk of hurting my dance partner. Also, it means I get to go down all sorts of weird rabbit holes that lead to all sorts of strange, bizarre discoveries. That includes today’s story. For the penultimate entry of Decemystery 2023, we have the tale of The Glowing Dancing Bulls. Come along, dear reader; this is gonna be a really memorable one!

Decemystery (2022.3) Bonus Entry: The Ghosts of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Good evening, dear reader! Merry Christmas to you; have a seat near the fireplace. I have a story for you. A few of them, actually. This write-up isn’t focused on any one case or report; it’s more of a collection that I’ve amassed when researching the topic.

When I was putting together this year’s Decemysterys, I wanted to cover some stories related to NASCAR. Unfortunately, I didn’t get around to all of them; the one about the Talladega sabotage ended up being considerably longer than I thought. So, I decided to forego most of the other stories.

There was one, however, that I kept. One that I thought was simply too good not to cover. You see, one of the most iconic tracks in all of motorsports stands in Indiana. It’s known as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, nicknamed “The Brickyard,” and it’s a beast that has a bloody history. So, for our first Decemystery bonus entry, we’ll be talking about The Ghosts of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Come along, dear reader; let’s go ghost hunting!

Decemystery (2023) 25: “It will come over the hill when it comes.”

I debated on how I should introduce this story. You see, I’m really bad at starting up stories (I’ve said that before), but I’m especially bad when the story is in quotes. I’ve done it only once, and that was three years ago. So, when it came time to kickstart this write-up, I was left wondering how to do that.

Ultimately, I decided to just jump into it; this is the story of something known as “It will come over the hill when it comes.” This is going to be a really weird one, dear reader!

Decemystery (2023) 24: The Television Demon

Hello, dear reader! I hope your Christmas Eve morning is a fantastic one; if you aren’t reading this on Christmas Eve, then I hope your day is still amazing. Anyway, welcome back to my blog; it’s time for another round of Decemystery fun. This story is one that caught my eye for a multitude of reasons, not the least being its title.

When I was a wee lad, I remember two horror movies very fondly: The Ring and The Grudge. If you weren’t alive back then (2002 and 2004, respectively), they were American remakes of two Japanese horror films: Ringu and Ju-On. Their success led to an abundance of Asian horror films being remade here in the United States. Most of them were absolute trash. In fact, I think the aforementioned two films were the only ones that were deemed good in some capacity.

Anyway, those two movies had a huge influence on me. The Grudge scared the living daylights out of me as a kid; that croaking will forever haunt my nightmares. Meanwhile, The Ring always stuck with me for the visual of a ghost crawling out of a television. It’s equal parts surreal and terrifying; I absolutely adore it and wish more horror movies did more creative things like that.

That brings us to today’s story. When I was searching for things to write about, I stumbled across an account that reminded me a lot of The Ring. I knew right away that I had to cover it; there was no way I was passing up the opportunity to cover something like that. So come along, let’s take a look at The Television Demon!

Decemystery (2023) 23: The Oklahoma Fly Man

 

I have had some really bad experiences with Flies. I remember once when I was playing Dead Island; one was inside our house; this little bastard decided to fly near me, so I clapped at it, hoping to kill it. No dice, though, but it decided to fly in front of me like, “Haha, you missed!” To this day, I swear it momentarily gained sapience because there’s no way it didn’t know what it was doing.

Oh well, it got it deserved because my mother eventually killed it. I’m incapable of doing anything worthwhile when it comes to insects; I’d resort to throwing television to try and kill a gnat. Too bad I’d miss it; further proof that I’m incapable of doing much of anything outside of finding weird stories on the Internet.

Anyway, now that you know my history with pests that had wings, you can likely guess why I picked today’s story. Well, outside of the name (which I’ve said plenty of times, I pick stories if the name is eye-catching). With a name like The Oklahoma Fly Man, I knew right away that there was no way I’d pass up the opportunity to cover something that brings to mind memories of both The Fly and my utter disdain for those aerial jerks. So come along, dear reader; it’s time for yet another tale of high strangeness!

Decemystery (2022.3) 22: That Time Someone Saw the Joker in Their Closet

 

I remember as a child that I, for whatever reason, never had a real fear of monsters under my bed or in my closet. I guess that’s because I slept on a couch (I still do—old habits die hard) and because my duodenal ulcers hurt too much for me to be afraid of the dark.

That said, I will admit that closets can be pretty dang scary. Tight, enclosed spaces with little-to-no light are unsettling. For me, though, my fear isn’t some monster leaping out to attack me while in them. No, it’s if there’s a spider in there with me. That chick from The Grudge could be in there, ready to kill me, and I’ll still be more terrified of the spider that’s as big as the tip of my pinky finger. 

Although I never got to experience the fear of monsters in the closet, though, plenty have. In today’s story, someone found that fear to be all too real; our eyewitness insists that it was neither a dream nor her imagination. Indeed, this lady believes that one of the most iconic villains in comic book history was peering out from her closet. So come along, dear reader, let us dive into the story of That Time Someone Saw the Joker in Their Closet!

Decemystery (2023) 12: The Phantom Honda Civic

Disclaimer: the car in the header image is a 2001 Honda Civic, which wasn’t available for purchase at the time this story took place. I’m using it because it’s the best Honda Civic, and you can’t change my mind. :) This story is also dedicated to a friend of mine who goes by 2001 Honda Civic. There is absolutely no connection there whatsoever.

In this blog’s life, I’ve discussed a fair number of odd paranormal happenings. Whether it be ghost ships, Pokémon acting like an Incubus, or ghost moose, I’ve covered an array of wild ghostly tales. Yet, despite all of those stories, there’s one topic I’ve avoided: ghost cars; they’re cars that appear from seemingly nowhere, only to disappear in one way or another. It’s like they went out to buy the car equivalent of milk and cigarettes.

I remember having plans to cover a ghost car mystery—a famous one at that—all the way back in 2019. As is plainly evident, I never got around to it because of time constraints. I made plans to cover it every subsequent year at some point, but for one reason or another, I didn’t get to it. Today, however, I will rectify not having covered a ghost car story; it’s not that previously-mentioned famous case (which, for those curious, is the Garden City Ghost Car), but it’s still a ghost car story—and it’s one that I think is pretty dang interesting.

Our story today is a short, simple, and sweet one; I found it while browsing the gold mine that is the archives of About. It’s known as The Phantom Honda Civic. So come along, dear reader; let’s go ghost car hunting!

Decemystery (2022.3) 9: The Fence Fiend

 

A random fun fact: I had no idea what to tag this write-up with. I’m 99% sure it’s a story about a ghost, but it also struck me as a humanoid encounter. In the end, I went with both because that felt like the safest option.

Anyway, hello, hello; welcome to my blog. This is where I write about the weirdest mysteries and other Fortean goodness that I find. As of the time of writing, I want to stop writing because I’m pretty sure I’ve written more in the past six months than I have in my entire life, from birth to throughout my time in the god-forsaken public education system to playing World of Warcraft. Seriously, carpal tunnel hurts; why do I lack foresight of any kind?

My incessant whining aside, it’s Decemystery. That means it’s time for yet another mystery; pretend I threw confetti here because I’m too lazy to get a jpg of some. Anyway, today’s story is one that, as I said earlier, feels like a weird mixture of a humanoid encounter and a paranormal mystery. While that may sound stupid since ghosts are normally said to be the spirits of dead humans, you’ll see what I mean in a little. But enough dilly-dallying; this, dear reader, is the tale of The Fence Fiend!

Decemystery (2022.3) 6: Richard Curle’s Nighttime Visitor

 

Before I even get into the introduction, the image source is from Anomalous Illustrations, which is a part of Thack! Pow! Productions. Really great art; I wish I had any level of artistic skill. Unfortunately, I have the drawing capabilities of a kindergartener.

Hello, dear reader; welcome back to my humble little blog. Here, we (or rather I) talk about anything and everything Fortean; if you want the strangest stuff imaginable, just visit here. Yeah, I’m not the best at advertising, but it’s a work in progress. The point is, it’s time for another bout of Decemystery goodness!

Today’s story, in my eyes, exemplifies that evolution as it’s classifiable as quintessential weirdness in its purest form. People claiming to have seen something strange is by no means remarkable on its own, but I believe that changes when it’s from someone of higher status. Richard Curle was a Scottish traveler, author, and critic; when he was but a young lad, he saw something truly bizarre; it was a creature most unexplainable. So come along, dear reader; it’s time to dive into the story of Richard Curle’s Nighttime Visitor.

Decemystery (2023) 3: The Little Blue Man

 

Hello, dear reader, and welcome back to my little blog. This is the place where I spend thousands of words talking about weird stuff that I found while browsing the Internet (and elsewhere). Given that it’s still December, it’s time for another round of Decemystery goodness!

Today, I want to take a trip over to a website that I’ve gone to for a write-up—not that I remember, at least. It’s called Your Ghost Stories and is dedicated to—shock of all shocks—user-submitted ghost stories. The site was launched in 2006 and is host to 19,839 stories (as of October 17). Even nowadays, it’s still posting new stories. God willing, it will still be active when this goes up because if it’s not, I’ll be quite disappointed.

Anyway, today’s mystery is one that I stumbled across while I was browsing through the archives; like many stories before it, the name is what got me: The Little Blue Man. This is a rather oddball tale; although it’s on a website dedicated to ghost stories, it’s by no means a tale about a haunting or anything of that nature. Instead, it’s closer to a user reaching out to others asking for help on what their mother experienced when she was pregnant.

So come along, dear reader; let’s see if we can provide answers to this puzzling case! After over a year of being out of the game, it’s time to dive back into the world of the paranormal!

Decemystery (2022.3) 2: The Elizaville Monster (AKA: Tall, Dark, & Gruesome)

 

There’s nothing I dislike about writing more than introductions. This disliking extends to talking, too; I’m terrible at initiating a conversation unless I absolutely know what I want to say to someone. But when it comes to writing, I never exactly know what will get someone’s attention since my writing style is very similar to how I talk. In fact, when I write, I do so in a manner where I envision myself outright talking to someone. So I never feel like I’m “comfortable” (for lack of a better word) until I’m actually talking about whatever the main focus of the write-up is about.

As such, there are times when I sometimes just wonder if I should simply do away with these introductions and instead jump right into the main story. Alas, I don’t like change, and to be honest, when I do find some footing with the introduction, I feel like it adds something to the overall write-up. It all comes together to form a nice, delightful story of strange/mysterious/Fortean goodness.

However, with today’s write-up, I must concede that I don’t think any introduction could quite prepare anyone for what’s to come. No, it isn’t gory (though there is some pretty gnarly stuff), nor is it shocking. Rather, it’s the name of the story—which I have a good feeling you chose to read because of that name.

With a name like the Elizaville Monster, I feel one would be likely to assume it’s another Bigfoot-type monster. There are more of those said to be in the United States than there are butthurt football fans any given Sunday.

However, this thing’s second name is what drew me in. You see, this thing is also known as Tall, Dark, & Gruesome. With a name like that, I must admit that there was absolutely no way that I wouldn’t pass up the chance to cover this. I mean, that name is just glorious. Even if this had absolutely nothing on it and was brought up once on 4chan, I would still cover it. As luck would have it, the story itself is pretty interesting and has more than just a few sentences on some niche Wiki.

So come along, dear reader, let’s take a gander at one of Indiana’s strangest murderous paranormal cryptids! Good God, I think that sentence is a crime against literature. I love it.

Decemystery (2021) 25: Eliza Battle

 

Each year, I always do a story involving a ship of some sort. This year, however, I came very close to not doing so. I was feeling really unmotivated and most of the mysterious ships I could find were either over done (The Kaz II and Sarah Joe for example), or simply weren’t interesting (like the MV Kairali). Luckily, at the last minute, I came across one: the Eliza Battle. I’d actually heard of this story a few years back, but totally forgotten about it. When I was skimming through the Wikipedia page on it, my eyes lit up; it was perfect. So come along, board the S.S. Vertigo once more and enjoy the beautiful, crystal-clear ocean once again. It’s time to head on over to Alabama and cover a ghost ship on fire!

Decemystery (2021) 4: The Spectral Moose of Maine

 

Welcome back to my blog! Today, we’re taking a trip to Maine, the home state of United States Senator Susan Collins and horror icon Stephen King. Fun fact: they live on the same street and, amusingly, King absolutely loathes Collins. Now that that fun fact is out of the way, let’s just get straight to the point.

Two years ago, I covered the story of the “Ghost Mammoth”. Last year, I had thought about covering another ghostly animal, but real life hindered that. This year, however, I shall redeem myself by covering the Spectral Moose of Maine. Also, let’s just pretend that the header image above is of a ghostly moose and not just a regular one. Sorry, I didn’t feel like poaching an image from one of today’s sources. Anywhoozle: let us begin!

Mystery: The Pokémon Incubus

Minor content warning: brief mentions of rape.

Okay, so, get this: I’ve discovered this thing called “not working constantly”. It’s a really novel concept where I don’t sit around on my bed, staring at a blank Google document, trying to force myself to write for hours on end before inevitably having a mental breakdown. I know, really incredible; I am truly ahead of my time and am far more enlightened than the Dalai Lama.

In all seriousness: I’ve actually finally decided that maybe not writing when I don’t feel like I can (whether it be due to feeling under the weather or just not really desiring it) is, in fact, a good idea. This has opened up a whole slew of new possibilities for me, like playing video games and enjoying some time to myself so I can recuperate from writing.

So in short, I’m making progress in living a healthier life!

Anyways, when it comes to video games, I’ve been playing a ton of Pokémon ROM Hacks, so I’ve been going through Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and even Unova (well, that is until the game froze and I couldn’t progress). It’s been a ton of fun, and quite frustrating. Though mostly fun.

At the same time, however, it’s also been kind of a bummer. While I’ve been having a lot of fun, I’ve found myself really unable to write. This is mostly because none of the stories I had in mind really struck the right chord with me. Sure, I wanted to write about them, but nothing I wrote really struck me as “worthwhile”. When I set out to cover something. I always want it to be entertaining and not flat, boring, and unengaging. So for a brief while, I found myself feeling really bummed out.

Well, that is, until I remember a certain story.

Just yesterday, I remembered something that I saw on the good old Paranormal World Wiki. It was a story involving Pokémon and I thought it fit with my recent bingeing of the series. So, let’s take a look at the Pokémon Incubus.

Decemystery (2020) 25: The Dancing Underpants

 

After the really insipid story of the Subway Man, I figured that we could cut loose with something truly nonsensical and light-hearted. In my search to find something silly, I encountered a story so eye-catching, so goofy, and so delightful, I could never ever pass it up. So come along, dear reader, it’s time to talk about the baffling, ridiculous, and rather short tale of the Dancing Underpants.

No, I’m not making that up.

Decemystery (2020) 21: The Mandela Effect

 

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a mystery become so prominent and prevalent as this one. Sure, there are plenty of people who have seen ghosts, Sasquatch, or UFOs, but today’s story—which on the Mandela Effect—is something significantly more unique. It’s a phenomenon which I think most of us could have experienced at least once in our life.

For those unfamiliar with the Mandela Effect, I want to give a brief rundown of it before we get into the story itself (which will be focusing more on famous examples of it rather than going over its history). It’s basically a case where someone believes something to be one thing, but it isn’t. The name comes from when former South African President Nelson Mandela died in 2013, but most swore up and down that he had died back in the 1980s.

This phenomenon has taken off a lot in the past… I’d say about decade; with the popularity of 4Chan, Reddit, and the YouTube Horror Community, a lot of people have come forward claiming that they’ve had experiences with the Mandela Effect. Though one thing that must be asked is this: how many of these experiences are truly enigmatic and how many are just cases of false memory?

With today’s Decemystery entry, we’ll be doing something different. We’ll be taking a little bit of time—not a whole lot because as is the case with Decemystery, we’re trying to keep these stories short, sweet, and fun—to take a gander at some of the most famous cases of the Mandela Effect and give them a brief rundown before rounding it out with two of the most popular theories. Then we’ll go into the theories section to echo what I just said. Why? Because here at Limitless Possibilities, the norm/professionalism is reserved for squares who have a bunch of subscribers on YouTube. So let’s get to it!

Decemystery (2020) 13: Stigmata

 

Whether you’re Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Atheist, Agnostic, Buddhist, Hindu, or any other follower of another religion, I would eager that know the story of Jesus Christ.

The central figure and Messiah of the Christian faith, Jesus is said to be the son of God Himself, sent to Earth to die by crucifixion for the sins of humanity. There’s a considerable amount more to it than just that and honestly, despite being Catholic, I almost certainly got something wrong in the first sentence of this paragraph.

What? I sure as heck am not a theologian.

Lucky for me, I don’t need to be one for today’s story—in spite of it dealing heavily with religion. Known as stigmata, there is a very strange phenomenon where people mysteriously become wounded in a manner similar to the way Jesus was crucified. While there is one prominent difference, it’s never been adequately explained as to why this occurs. So today, I would like to see if we can come to some sort of conclusion and seal off what is arguably one of the most traumatizing mysteries of my childhood. So come along, let us see why people receive gnarly Jesus wounds together.