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The Scariest Fortean Thing Ever To Happen To You

On a mundane note.

A while back I was soaking in the bath, as is my wont when I get chilled.

Layed back thinking nice thoughts about Victoria Coren (as you do) when there was a sudden icy cold shower all over my head.

It was , of course, the accumulated water from the shower head hitting critical mass and dropping straight down to suitably positioned face.

All thought of Victoria faded away.
 
On a mundane note.

A while back I was soaking in the bath, as is my wont when I get chilled.

Layed back thinking nice thoughts about Victoria Coren (as you do) when there was a sudden icy cold shower all over my head.

It was , of course, the accumulated water from the shower head hitting critical mass and dropping straight down to suitably positioned face.

All thought of Victoria faded away.

That made me laugh! And she is gorgeous ☺️
 
Isn't she a sort of professional poker player ?
 
Ah now y'see that couldn't happen here because our shower is situated on the wall over the side of the bath. That's the bath that Nick the builder was knocked into by the door he'd just leaned against a wall.
 
This is me at work in the hat Techy called 'preposterous'.

hat work.jpg
 
It could be the internationally famous Anti-Phantom-Drip-Protector Hat!

That’s the problem. The ‘drips’ come from thin air. No leaks. No condensation. No moisture. That’s the whole point of them being ‘phantom drips’.
I have seen and heard it fall on a man's head, and he heard and felt it. He had his back to me and I had no time to warn him. No nerve endings there.
So, just to verify, the drip after landing on a body had a verifiable wetness to it, is that correct?
Escargot, what did the drop sound like when it manifested?

A few times I've had a feeling of wetness on a particular part of my lower leg when it wasn't wet. I had been walking a lot previous to those times, and needed more rest that I'd been getting. I suspect there was a minor dietary deficiency involved as well. But this was no sudden drip sensation, and there was no wetness to it, just a feeling of cool wet on my leg. (And no dogs around, and no bladder malfunctions on my part.)
 
So, just to verify, the drip after landing on a body had a verifiable wetness to it, is that correct?
Escargot, what did the drop sound like when it manifested?

It went SPLAT.
The ex felt it land on his balding pate, icy cold, and put his hand on his head saying 'What the HELL was THAT?'
His head was already dry.
 
Many years ago, I was walking home through the empty streets, in the early hours of a mid-week morning, by the light of a full-moon.
As I passed a long avenue something caught my eye, about 250M away there was a tall, dark figure standing in the middle of the road.
In an instant it became obvious that they had seen me because they turned in my direction and began running torwards me at some speed.
Panic set in and I ran across the road, down some side streets and through several alleyways to get back to my bedsit.
I have no doubt it was another human being but I felt an absolute sense of dread at the time; I've never seen anyone else move at such a pace
It imagine it sounds trivial, even as I write it, but something felt very wrong; and I'm glad I didn't hang around to find out who they were or what they wanted...
 
Many years ago, I was walking home through the empty streets, in the early hours of a mid-week morning, by the light of a full-moon.
As I passed a long avenue something caught my eye, about 250M away there was a tall, dark figure standing in the middle of the road.
In an instant it became obvious that they had seen me because they turned in my direction and began running torwards me at some speed.
Panic set in and I ran across the road, down some side streets and through several alleyways to get back to my bedsit.
I have no doubt it was another human being but I felt an absolute sense of dread at the time; I've never seen anyone else move at such a pace
It imagine it sounds trivial, even as I write it, but something felt very wrong; and I'm glad I didn't hang around to find out who they were or what they wanted...

That happened to me a few times. Once when I was 10 years old, it was winter so it got dark early. It was around 7pm and I was walking to the store on Queen street in Toronto, Ontario. There was a man walking toward me, he was about a city block away, when he yelled, "There you are you little brat, where are the other two little shits?". Then he just ran full tilt toward me. I screamed and ran into traffic to cross the street. He didn't pursue. I have no idea who he was, never seen him before or since.

Another time, I was 13 years old and walking on Young street in Toronto. It was mid day and very crowded. There was this man dressed in full outfit and makeup as a clown. He was about 6 metres away from me and threw his arms in the air waving to get my attention. As soon as I made eye contact with him, he came running at me so fast, again I screamed and ran, he kept coming. I ran into a buskers guitar case and knocked it over which sent money flying all over the ground. Then a lot of people took notice of me so, he backed off and walked away. I was so scared. No one said anything to me like, why was I running, or was I okay, they were all just starring at me with confused looks on their faces.
 
It's never a good idea to let anyone who's running full tilt at you to collide with you! It doesn't matter if they're natural or supernatural.

I had a similar experience as a young woman when I was waiting for the bus to go to work. It was 11:30 in the morning. Crazy guy walked by going "hey baby, hey baby" at me. I pretended to ignore him, but by accident he crossed the path of my gaze and as soon as our eyes met he changed course to walk rapidly toward me. He wasn't slowing down at all. I couldn't run off because I would have missed my bus, which only came every half hour. He was three feet from me and not slowing down at all, so I kicked him in the shin. That made him irate, and he threatened me verbally, but he walked away.
 
It went SPLAT.
The ex felt it land on his balding pate, icy cold, and put his hand on his head saying 'What the HELL was THAT?'
His head was already dry.
Just to clarify, was the spot already dry or was it never verifiably wet?
Did you both hear the splat?
For the benefit of science and future generations, we must ascertain that this was not a neural quirk, such as the ones I had with that spot on my leg (which felt wet, but had not been hit by a truly Fortean, mysteriously manifested-out-of-thin-air liquid blob.)
(I am earnestly hoping that your husband did indeed experience the truly Fortean, mysteriously manifested-out-of-thin-air liquid blob.)
 
Just to clarify, was the spot already dry or was it never verifiably wet?
Did you both hear the splat?
For the benefit of science and future generations, we must ascertain that this was not a neural quirk, such as the ones I had with that spot on my leg (which felt wet, but had not been hit by a truly Fortean, mysteriously manifested-out-of-thin-air liquid blob.)
(I am earnestly hoping that your husband did indeed experience the truly Fortean, mysteriously manifested-out-of-thin-air liquid blob.)
This was all explained on the 'Drip' thread back when my memory of it was fresh.
 
It's never a good idea to let anyone who's running full tilt at you to collide with you! It doesn't matter if they're natural or supernatural.

I had a similar experience as a young woman when I was waiting for the bus to go to work. It was 11:30 in the morning. Crazy guy walked by going "hey baby, hey baby" at me. I pretended to ignore him, but by accident he crossed the path of my gaze and as soon as our eyes met he changed course to walk rapidly toward me. He wasn't slowing down at all. I couldn't run off because I would have missed my bus, which only came every half hour. He was three feet from me and not slowing down at all, so I kicked him in the shin. That made him irate, and he threatened me verbally, but he walked away.

Wow, that was really brave of you to kick him. I'm glad nothing happened to you.

I was so young when those two incidents happened. They were both fully grown men and I was so rattled afterward that my whole body was shaking. By the way, I know that Canadians are known to be friendly and helpful but, not so much in Toronto. lol
 
This was all explained on the 'Drip' thread back when my memory of it was fresh.
Isn't your memory crystal clear? I thought I was the only one whose memories faded over time . . .

In searching for the "Drip" thread, I found so many other posts by you describing the phantom drip phenomenon (many of which I've read, but forgotten—no reflection on your posts!) that I don't need any more verification about the one I asked about.

For others who are curious, here are some fabulous (and often amusing) episodes:

https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/phantom-drips.13355/#post-443659
and
https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/strange-stuff-dripping-from-ceilings.609/#post-8109
 
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The only scary fortean seeming experience I ever had was hearing footsteps upstairs. I wish i had recorded the details on here immediately at the time,as I usually do, but as far as I know I only ever reported it a few times in retrospect over the years so the order and details are reduced to mere bullet points.

I had been sitting in the living room with my legs over the arm of the armchair , perhaps reading and distinctly recall seeing through the bubbled glass of the living room door, which separated it from the hall way and therefore front door, the shadow of someone darting up the stairs. I must have dismissed it after doing a double take as I don't remember going out to check at that point.

But sometime shortly after on the same day as I recall it, I was perturbed when in the other downstairs room (at the time my late mum's bedroom) footsteps above the ceiling over my head. The squeak and tread of someone crossing the floorboards above.

There should have been no one in the house. I recall sneaking up the stairs in what was now growing darkness, with my heart pounding. as I went from room to room constantly wary of someone hearing me and darting out of one.

There was no one there.

**********************
The only other spooky to the point of panic incident didn't involve anything spooky at all bar my imagination and too much exposure to the Twilight Zone.
Being driven back reluctantly from Manchester to Liverpool late at night by someone I believed, perhaps wrongly, may not be in a fit state to drive, my fear of being in an accident grew as the empty motorway just seemed to go on forever and a Rod Serling inspired notion crept into my mind..what if we've already had the crash and we're dead and this motorway drive goes on for eternity, never reaching home..... No matter how fanciful and ridiculous the notion i did silently feel the panic rising in my stomach at the idea it might be so.

Turned out it wasn't. I'm still alive.

Or Am I?
 
I've had that same feeling, Gattino - that there's been an accident and I'm already dead.

Once, driving with an ex partner down Telegraph Hill just outside Exeter. We'd been to Paignton zoo. We were driving down the hill and I suddenly got the most awful feeling that there had been an accident, we were both dead. I could almost see my mum being told of my death and feel her distress - I've never had such a feeling of certainty of death before. I wasn't, obviously, dead, we weren't involved in any accidents or anything and reached home without incident. But I've never forgotten it (as evidenced by me remembering where it happened, more than forty years later).
 
I think there is a haunted Army barracks thread on here somewhere, but I thought I’d post this one here.

Many years ago towards the end a short stint in the British Army, I was sent to a barracks in Cambridgeshire to finish off the final months of my service.

The barrack block I was housed in was just plain weird, and although nothing fortean was ever seen, it had a very depressive atmosphere to it, especially the corridor and ablution room (which was just downright scary).

People found it hard to relax there, and once we were given the order for lights out, an unpleasant feeling was experienced by many. It made sleeping difficult, so most of the platoon would spend their evenings in the NAAFI bar getting drunk, just to ensure a night’s sleep.

Some would even keep empty soft drink bottles on their bedside cabinets, and use them in the event they were caught short in the night, thus avoiding walking through that corridor and using that room.

Luckily I only spent 3 months there before being discharged (honourably I might add :)) , but I would say without a doubt it was the most unpleasant 3 months of my life.

A couple of years after I left, I got chatting to the Son of a friend of my fathers, he had spent 6 months at the same barracks, and told me that while he was serving there, there had been 2 suicides in that same block.

I’ve often wondered if the highly unpleasant atmosphere of that barrack block, was the cause of 2 men taking their own lives, or was it the suicides themselves, that had something to do with the weirdness there.
 
I could almost see my mum being told of my death and feel her distress
Me too!

Here's a worrying additional thought that occurred to me at the time....the idea we sometimes read about our lives/realities splitting off into alternative timelines/universes.. Maybe I (and you)..the original version... really did die, and the versions sitting here at the keyboard are the part of us that branched off into another timeline....
 
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Me too!

Here's a worrying additional thought that occurred to me at the time....the idea we sometimes read about our lives/realities splitting off into alternative timelines/universes.. Maybe I (and you)..the original version... really did die, and the versions sitting here at the keyboard are the part of us that branched off into another timeline....
I've heard this idea dubbed "quantum suicide", which I am not sure is all that helpful a label But the basic notion is the same: what each of us experiences as our "I" continues down a timeline in which we survive events that kill us in other timelines.

Taken to its logical although difficult to credit conclusion - mind you, I've never seen this articulated in any of the discussions of the subject that I've read - the implication must be that, in that timeline, we never die. It's little consolation, though, because there is no guarantee that our loved ones will survive in the same timeline.
 
I've heard this idea dubbed "quantum suicide", which I am not sure is all that helpful a label But the basic notion is the same: what each of us experiences as our "I" continues down a timeline in which we survive events that kill us in other timelines.

Taken to its logical although difficult to credit conclusion - mind you, I've never seen this articulated in any of the discussions of the subject that I've read - the implication must be that, in that timeline, we never die. It's little consolation, though, because there is no guarantee that our loved ones will survive in the same timeline.

Would that imply that - should this one of me live to a hopeful old age - this version of me is the ultimate? Sloughing off other reality versions of me as I go?
 
From what I've read, when people are starving they have less respect for nature, since extreme hunger drives them to do desperate things, like eat grass and rocks and anything else they can subdue in their fragile, weakened state.
 
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