From "Weekend Book of Ghosts", edited by Richard Whittington-Egan, Associated Newspapers Group Ltd. (1975) (price 60p!)
Night of terror on the road to Annan
It was almost midnight. The road stretched ahead, empty under the glitter of a frosty April moon, and silent except for the humming of a small saloon car. Inside the car were two brothers, Derek Ferguson, aged 22, and 14-year-old Norman.
That spring - 1962 - they had spent a short holiday touring Scotland. Now it was over and, dolefully, they were making their way home.
They had stopped for petrol in Dumfries, then set off along the A75 for Annan - 15 miles south-east. Those 15 miles were to become a nightmare.
The horror began with an incident that seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary. A large hen suddenly came flying out of the night towards them. Then, just when it seemed the bird would smash into the windscreen, it disappeared.
Derek Ferguson swerved. Momentarily, both brothers were shaken. Who wouldn't be? But they grinned and the car purred on.
They had hardly settled back when they were again startled. This time they saw an old woman ahead, wildly waving her arms and rushing into their path. Then came the shock. The woman vanished.
Trembling, streaming with sweat, Derek Ferguson thought he must be going mad or suffering delusions. He sneaked a glance at his brother. One look was enough. Norman had obviously seen the woman, too.
What followed on that lonely, moonlit road was so remarkable that both lads began to doubt their senses. It was as if the hen and the woman were the opening scenes of a horror film. For now a stream of weird and terrifying figures began to loom up in front of the brother's little car.
Huge cats, wild-looking dogs, hens, other large fowl and strange creatures which the brothers could not even recognise, rushed, sprang and swooped about the car.
And in their wake came an old man with long, flowing hair, uttering a series of blood-chilling screams from his gaping mouth.
As the horrifying sights and sounds tore at the nerves of the two frightened brothers, the car zigzagged along the road, swerving, braking and changing course repeatedly to avoid the mysterious creatures.
But both lads noticed an odd thing. However close the throng of open-mouthed, wild-eyed, creatures came, they never once made actual contact with the car.
They noticed something else - an appreciable drop in temperature inside the car, although by this time both were drenched in perspiration.
Derek said afterwards: 'My hands seemed to be very heavy, and it was as if some force was trying to gain control of the steering-wheel. Controlling the car became increasingly difficult.
'We seemed to be suffocating. I opened the window for fresh air, but it was bitterly cold outside.
'I just hung on to the wheel as screaming, high-pitched laughter and cackling noises seemed to mock our predicament.
'I was absolutely certain an attempt was being made to force us off the road. And I was equally certain that a fatal accident would be the result.'
Eventually, exhausted by the struggle, Derek stopped the car. Immediately, a powerful force attacked them, bouncing the car violently up and down and rocking it from side to side so savagely that they became dizzy.
Beginning to feel sick, Derek wrenched the door open and leapt out... Instantly everything went quiet. He gazed in bewilderment along the deserted road, across fields and hedges. Everything was still. Yet as soon as he was back in the car with the door slammed shut, the shaking, buffeting and hideous chorus of screams and laughter began again. A high wind blew up. There was the din of something like fists striking the sides, the back, the front and the top of the car.
Heart pounding, Derek started the car and began driving slowly towards Annan. The night was still full of weird figures looming from nowhere. Terrifying noises continued from all round the car.
Then, at last, came the first tangible sign of reality. The brothers noticed a small red light ahead and as they drew nearer they sighed with relief to see that it was the tail-light of a large furniture van.
Derek's delight at finding some apparently normal object on that haunted road was, however, short-lived. He realised he was approaching the van far too fast - on a collision course.
Exhausted, physically and emotionally, he discovered to his horror that he could not take evasive action. And his foot simply would not move from the accelerator pedal. There was just time to scream a split-second warning to Norman. Then they were on the van...and it vanished.
Derek drove on in a daze, until, suddenly, he realised that the car, the noises and the high wind had died away. Peering ahead, he saw they were approaching Annan. The whole experience had lasted nearly half an hour.
What were those horrors on the Annan Road?
Derek Ferguson wondered later if he had stumbled on a clue. A friend who had been stationed near Annan during the Second World War had often heard tales of witchcraft being practised in the area. And another friend spoke of a 'phantom' furniture van which, according to tradition, had been seen in the vicinity.
Adapted from Gazetteer of Scottish and Irish Ghosts by Peter Underwood