The Haunting on Hogback Hill Road

This new story is, as always, a true tale.
This story was posted on another site.  However, the site was
moved around and I think it finally vanished.  So, I am posting
here on my own site with all my previous stories so it will be
easier to find and will not disappear.  Here it is...

   Sometime around the early 1970’s, my dad established a friendship with a co-worker.  They became good friends and we often went to visit them in the neighboring town of East Palmyra.  We lived in Marion, NY and I was around the age of 12 or so.  My dad’s new friend Al, was married with 3 children.  They had two boys and a girl.  Unfortunately, a short time after we started visiting them, Al’s wife developed cancer.  Within a month of being diagnosed, she suddenly passed away.   Al and his family continued to live in the same house.  A short time later, his Mother-in-law came to stay with him to help with the raising of the children.

   At this point, I must explain a few things to give a picture of the situation.  They lived in a very old house that was not in the best condition.  The house had a wood furnace in the basement and they had no water heater.  Water was heated on the stove for all hot water needs.  Although this was the 1970s, there were still homes like this scattered throughout the rural regions of Upstate New York.  Once, we explored the small attic in this house and found some very old shoes and some “Farm and Fireside” newspapers from the 1870’s. The house was one of two lonely houses standing next to each other on the east side of Hog Back Hill Road in East Palmyra, about a quarter mile from Whitbeck Road.  There was only one other home on the road near them.  That was near the corner of Hogback and Whitbeck Road and was a farm.  Al’s neighbor was an older single man named Myron.  He was probably in his late 50s at the time.  He rented the barn that belonged to the house at the corner and raised cattle.

  The boys were my age and I often visited them and spent the night over the weekend.  They basically had a small farm themselves as they raised rabbits and chickens.  In the winter, the boys would haul in wood from the woods over the back hill and cut it together in the basement using an old two-man saw.  Myron, the neighbor, turned out to be around their Grandmother’s age and the two hit it off well.  Whenever she wasn’t busy, she would spend time at his house.  Their Grandmother was the grumpy sort and could be hard to get along with.  She and Al did not get along real well.  You could say that they tolerated each other.  She was of another era and was also very strict with the kids.  She was very protective of her granddaughter and often kept her well away from any boys including her brothers.  She was about 5 or 6 and her brothers were going into their teens.

  It was on one of my weekend stay-overs, about a year or so after their mom passed away, the boys told me of a strange occurrence that had happened since my last visit.  This was during the winter months, because, they had returned from dragging wood, brought it into the basement and they were cutting it for the furnace.  While they were cutting, they naturally assumed that their Grandmother was upstairs working around the house as usual.  While they were cutting, they heard the organ playing upstairs.  The electric organ had been their mother’s, who enjoyed playing it now and then.  They knew that their Grandmother could play but, had never heard her play.  They commented between each other that it was nice to finally hear her play.  The playing only lasted a few minutes and then stopped.

  A short time later, they finished their wood cutting and went upstairs.  Access to the basement was from outside only.  When they arrived upstairs, no one was there.  They went about their normal day.  They just assumed that their Grandmother had gone next door.  Later that day, when they were all together, one of the brothers mentioned that it was nice to hear her play the organ.  She sharply told them that she did not play the organ and that she was next door all morning.  They told her what had happened.  There was no physical explanation for what ad happened and no one could offer any other input except that it must have been their imaginations.  The boys decided that it must have been their mother’s spirit letting them know that she was there as, she enjoyed playing the organ when she was alive.  Nothing else ever occurred.

  In 1977, I graduated from Marion High School and went into the Air Force.  Shortly after that, Al and his family moved out of the house.  Al had met a woman and they moved into a home together.  My dad, having divorced his last wife, moved into Al’s old house.  It was out in the country and my dad liked that.  When I came home on vacation, I had met a girl, who later became my wife.  After my departure from visiting home, she had slept overnight in the house with my dad and his new girl friend.  The two girls mentioned that they heard what sounded like a marble rolling across the floor above them.  There was no floored attic above them.

  Fast forward until about 1998.  I left the Air Force and was working at Garlock in Palmyra, NY.  I met many people there.  We worked in groups of two and three with plenty of time to chat.  One of the young ladies that I met there needed her computer tuned up.  It was having problems and running a bit slow.  So, we set a date and my wife and I went over for Pizza and a tune-up.  While we were in one room tuning up the PC, my wife and the girl’s boyfriend were visiting in the living-room.  My wife interrupted the tune-up and stated excitedly that I “must” hear this story that the boyfriend had just told her.  So, he retold his story.

  Sometime in the mid 1980’s, his parents and family moved into a house on Hogback Hill Rd.  It was the house my dad and Al’s family used to live in.  Furthermore, one night while they lived there, everyone was in bed and at some point they heard an organ playing downstairs.  Oddly enough, they also owned an electric organ.  The family converged on the playing only to find nothing but a quiet, unplugged organ sitting there.  They were never able to explain that strange event.  Then, I told him about Al’s family and what the boys heard.  He was obviously amazed!

  More people have lived in that house since but, I have not had the opportunity to talk with them yet.  In 2008, both houses were torn down and only the farm house near the corner of Whitbeck and Hogback remains.

Ghosts, UFOs, and Terror At An Old Newark Farmhouse

It was the mid 1960's. I spent every other weekend and two
weeks during every summer at the Newark farmhouse that you see
above. Looking back, it seems that there were mysteries occurring
more times than not during my visits.

Many of the evening events, took place on Saturday nights. I know
this because I would arrive on Saturday morning and go home on the
following Sunday afternoon.

One recurring incident seemed to happen quite often during those
evenings in front of the television. It was a terrifying scream by one
of my stepsister with claims of a face looking in the livingroom
window. We never found anyone outside but, as time would pass,
it would become more likely that they really did see something or
someone.

During the summer months, we often would go swimming in the
pond. It's quite close to the road and a small walk across the large
front yard. We usually walked down along the road to the end of the
pond where the dock was located. Most of our swimming was during
the daytime. However, that changed after our parents purchased a
large plastic, inflatable dragon. The dragon was a ring with some
heads on it. We would try to knock each other off and steal the seat.

One day during swimming, a car stopped by the road and just sat
there. It seemed strange and before long, a couple of us went to
approach the car to see what the problem was. The car hurried away
when we started toward it. This happened a few times but, we never
really gave it any thought of danger. Then it happened a couple times
at night. This continued until one time, my stepfather was ready for
the person. When the car stopped, he jumped in the car and chased
the person down. Turns out that it was a man. I'm told that he told
the guy to never come around or else. The car encounters stopped.

Over those years, my stepsisters had incidents where they were
chased through the trees between home and the neighbor's house. A
small path between the trees was used to visit the girl next door. On
some occasions, when walking home after dark, they thought they
were being chased. One's imagination can easily run away in the
black of night in the woods. But, then again, could it have been that
guy in the car? Or... someone or something else?

There were a few real hair raising incidents. Onetime, my oldest
step-sister and I were the only ones home besides my mother. My
mother was downstairs doing some dishes and we had decided to use
the Ouija board for lack of anything else to do. The weather was
windy and threatening to rain so, outside seemed out of the question.

We asked the Ouija board a whole slew of meaningless questions
and at some point decided to ask it to make contact with her sister
who had passed away many years ago as a baby in a house fire. We
asked for a sign that she was with us. Nothing happened. We asked
again. A simple sign. BOOM! The metal storm window slammed
shut! It was more than we expected. We really never expected any-
thing. In a flash, we were running! Scared out of our skins, we
stood in the middle of the yard looking up at the bedroom window.
I'm glad I didn't have to sleep in that room that night! My mother?
She didn't know what happened as we flew out of the house. We
didn't use the board any more that day.

One day, after dinner (it was dark), our parents had to go up the
road to the landlord's home. It was only about a quarter mile away
and within sight. Seems that they were behind in the rent and had to
go pay them or make some arrangements. In any case, they left and
took my deaf sister with them. The rest of us cleaned up the dinner
dishes and then we all went into the basement to play on the newest
toy... a ping pong table!

To get into the basement, we had to go out onto the back porch and
through another small room. The light switch was at the top of the
stairs. After about 15 minutes or so of playing in the basement, a
loud and distinct "Click" was heard as the light turned into blackness!
After a brief silence, the girls screamed and we were all tripping over
each other while trying to escape the basement. We ran out of the
basement and sought the safety of the house. But, the door to the
house was wide open. Entering seemed just as scary as being in that
basement in the dark.

Looking around, we noticed that none of the neighbors were home.
In panic, looking for a safe place, we all ran to the road and jumped
into the drainage ditch that was partially filled with rain. Now, we
wondered. Who turned off that light and are they in the house? What
to do? We decided to send two people up the road to get our
parents. The rest would watch to see if anyone left the house. We
were cold and wet. When our parents arrived, no one had left the
house and no one was in the house. Our parents didn't believe our
story.

One incident was easily dated. It was July 20th, 1969. We took a
historical step for mankind as we landed a man on the moon that day.

We were all waiting for the final moments of the landing. The ship
seemed to circle the moon endlessly. We kids were sleeping outside
in the tent that night. The coverage went so long that we all went out
and waited for our parents to call us in just before it happened. We
ended up almost asleep before we were all suddenly awakened. We
had a dog named "Butch" that we had found wandering. Butch was
a great dog. He only had one eye but, he was really friendly.




That night, Butch was sleeping near our tent. Our tent was next to
the driveway, right across from the house. All of a sudden, Butch
began to growl. We had never heard him growl before. It was a
very serious sounding growl. Then we heard what sounded like
footsteps coming up the dirt driveway. Only, there was a dragging
noise. Like one foot was dragging. Butch's growl became even more
ferocious. Yet, he didn't budge. The steps got closer. No none
dared to move. No one dared to breathe! I could feel my hair
standing on end as a large upright shadow passed over the side of
the tent. Maybe the outside light made the shadow look bigger than
it was. But, it sounded big and was upright like a person. Whatever
it was, continued up to the barn. No one dared to look.

When the sounds disappeared, there was silence again which was
again suddenly shattered by the sound of what sounded like some-
one throwing a 55 gallon steel drum. After that, we all ran for the
house! Nothing was ever found and it remains unexplained.

Now, you have read a handful of my experiences. And logically,
all could be explained away by the stalker in the car in the above
encounter. However, now, we'll shift a little bit to add another factor.

One winter evening, my dad had to meet with my step-parents. So,
although it was blizzard conditions, we set out to Newark. When we
arrived there, it was dark and the roads were very bad. The snowing
had stopped but, it was deep. Route 88 had barely enough room for
two cars to pass. There was easily 2 to 3 feet of snow in the road.
Most roads were not plowed. When we got to the house, the kids
were all outside and I was invited to join them as my dad talked over
custody issues with my step-parents.



During my youth, the house was two apartments. Our side was the
bigger side and included all of the upstairs. The neighbors that had
recently moved in, had moved from Marion. They had three boys,
one who had been in my class at school. So, I came to know them
all. Back to the story...

Outside, all the kids from the house were down clearing the ice on
the pond so that they could play some ice hockey. It was windy but,
the snow had stopped. One of the neighbor kids and I were about to
walk down toward the pond to join them when we noticed four
bright lights above the hill across the road. There are no roads on
that hill and these lights appeared to be above it. The lights were as
bright as headlights. The blinked on and off one after the other. We
were at a loss of what to do. Neither wanted to miss anything. We
wanted to go get someone but, neither wanted to miss a detail!

The lights hovered above the hill for just a few minutes. It was to
windy to hear anything. Then slowly, the four lights moved beyond
the hill and out of our view. We wanted to have someone take us to
see the back of the hill. This could easily be done by driving down
Ryder Rd. However, having just passed that road. I knew it was not
plowed and driving it would be impossible. Unfortunately, we could
not see a shape either. Just four bright lights. In the spring, I
borrowed a Geiger Counter from school and hiked up the hill to see if
there were any kind of markings or radiation left. I found nothing.

However, I did make some discoveries some years later. Some
years later, in the 1980s, I retold the story of the lights to my step-
father. He told me that him and the neighbor would sometimes sit on
the front porch at night after work and have a beer. He stated that
they would often see lights above the hill. He has seen them shoot
straight up and out of sight. I asked him why he never told anyone.
It was a simple answer. People would think we were crazy.

At a later date, I ran into one of the neighbor boys, now a grown
man. We reminisced of old times and the house came up. He said
he would never admit some of the things that happened there because
people would think he was crazy. He had grown up in the other half
of the house. His most memorable experience... a face looking into
their kitchen window during dinner. A window that is about 12 feet
above the ground!

So, this sheds a new light on the above stories. Did the farm have a
stalker or did it have some visitors from who knows where?

Today, the farmhouse still stands. The barn is gone and no one
swims in the pond. The house is now four apartments. Do things
still happen there? Do lights still appear above the hill? How many
people have moved away with stories of their own to tell? If you
know someone who lived there with a story to tell, I'd love to hear
from them.

My Thoughts About Ouija Boards...

Since my experience with the Ouija board at the farmhouse, I also
have formed other thoughts about the Ouija Magic.


I believe that the human mind is quite complex. It is my belief,
that the Ouija board only serves as a magnifying glass for the
mind. If you watched the video above, you understand what I am
saying. The mind is capable of doing things that we may not
understand and things that we may not normally perform on a regular
basis.

I think that humans are probably capable of doing quite a bit more
with their minds than we actually know. Because we are afraid of
the unknown and we don't know what we don't know, I think the Ouija
board is frowned on and viewed as evil when it may simply be a tool
that we can use with our minds. A tool is simply a tool. It can be
used for good, evil or anything. The board, being mostly associated
with evil and the occult in the past, automatically gets bad press
when someday, it may be the tool that helps us fully understand the
human mind.

The Royal Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt, was once the
largest Library in the world. Established around the 3rd century BC,
it contained in most of the knowledge amassed during ancient times.
Unfortunately, it burned down and the knowledge that was lost is
unknown. We will never truly know what was lost. It is possible
that answers to all kinds of mysteries were lost. The cure for or
prevention of various diseases, how the pyramids and other ancient
structures were built or moved, and maybe, what a Ouija Board was
really used for and how to use it!

In modern times, people generally use the board for occasions
that are related to it's use in the past. Simply, because no other
use is known or has been discovered. But, someday, scientists may
find that it is not a toy at all. The mind still holds many mysteries.
It is known that some religious leaders in some cultures can make
spheres or balls of light appear. They can also control them.
Some of these leaders may not actually know what they are doing or
how they are actually doing it. If this is possible, than could it
also be possible that some people could unknowingly create images
or actual physical items?

This could explain a lot of things such as ghosts, ufos, and a number
of other items. These things could be manifested by the person
seeing it or by someone else.

More Mystery in the Farmhouse

With what were heard as teenagers, we were convinced that the house was haunted. We never heard the footsteps again but,
Sxxxx told me of his childhood experiences. When he was a small
boy, he claimed that he would hear breathing in the bed next to him
at night. He would go down and tell his parents that he was afraid
and his parents would let him go sleep in their bed which, usually
solved the problem. Was it a small boy's imagination or was it real?
No one will probably ever really know.
Meanwhile, back in our teenage years, we had yet another experience
to ponder. On a few occasions, when Sxxxx's parents were gone,
he would invite me over. His older brother had a Ouija board hidden
away in his closet. We would sneak it out and ask it questions. At
first all went well. But, after a few times, we grew board with it and
sought a higher level of adventure with it. So, we started accusing it
of being evil and would ask it if it was actually Satan moving the
pointer.
Eventually, we told it is was a liar and that it was indeed evil. We
told it that it was probably Satan himself! The board reacted in a
manner which seemed violent to us. The pointer suddenly sped up
and flew off the game board and onto the floor. We were shocked at
the reaction. Since the incident, I have never been able to get the
board to work for me again. That was the end of my experience with
Ouija boards. I have tried them again a few times through my life
but, I can not seem to get one to work. Maybe, I'm doing something
wrong.

NEXT... My Thoughts About Ouija Boards

Haunted Marion Farmhouse

(Names changed)
In the 1970s, my experiences were growing. I had a strong interest
in things like UFOs, ghosts or other paranormal events. At this time,
I was in high school and we were living at what was then, 155 North
Main St. The numbers have since changed. The house is located at
the top of the hill on North Main street and on the town side of the
old cemetary.

I had a friend who's name was Sxxxx. Sxxxx lived on Route 21, just
north of where North Main Street ended. He lived in a big white two
story farmhouse on route 21 with his mother and father. He had an
older brother who was away at college.

Sxxxx and his family were a fairly religious, God fearing family.
One evening, we were settled down at his house watching television.
There were three of us in the house. His mother, Sxxxx and myself.
It was about 8:30 P.M. and we were watching a Cass Elliot Special
while we were waiting for Planet of the Apes to come on at 9:00 P.M.
It was toward the fall season because it was dark outside. Little
did we know that we were about to have a ghostly experience.

All of a sudden, all of us heard what seemed to be the loud footsteps
of someone walking down the hallway upstairs above us! It sounded
like footsteps on a hardwood floor and we heard them travel the
legnth of the hallway! We all looked at each other in surprise. We
were at a loss of what to think or do. Then, we took action!

We went to the bottom of the stairs which, incidently, was within
viewing from where we were in the livingroom. We looked upstairs.
It was very dark. I told them not to turn on the light and that I was
going up. I went quickly up the stairs and reached around the corner
to find the light switch. That's when I was told that he switch was at
the other end of the hall! I told them again not to turn on the light.
I slowly inched my way down the hall. The halway was about 20 feet
long. My back flat against the wall, I stretched my hand down the
wall to find the switch. I had no idea what would happen or what I
would see when I turned on the light.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, I found the light. I flipped
the switch. There it was! NOTHING! By this time, I was a shaking
wreck. We all heard it. It all happened so fast. To add to the mystery,
the stairs and the hallway were all carpeted. There is no way we could
have heard what we heard. We never solved the mystery. I wonder if
anyone has heard the footsteps since. The house is still there today
but, different people are living in it.

NEXT... More Mystery in this house!

The Marion UFO

The earliest experience that I can recall was an incident that my
father had told me about. Sometime in the mid 1960s, my dad
returned home from work around midnight. We lived on Buffalo
Street in Marion, NY at the time. He was loading the car with
fishing gear for some early morning fishing. While he was doing
this, a bright pale blue light hovered over the area and lit the
community with an eerie daylight appearance. The light remained
over the town for a short time and then disappeared.


Many years later, I heard from a few different sources that a UFO
had landed in one of the playing fields at the school in Marion.
I have never been able to verify this story as true. But, I'm
guessing that it is a story about the same incident.

The Long Overdue Haunt for Haunting Lovers!

It's only appropriate that this blog be started since I live only a few minutes away from where spiritualism started in these United States. Spiritualism all began in about 1848 with three sisters. The Fox sisters lived in a small community called Hydesville, NY. Hydesville was located on the outer edge of Newark, NY on Hydesville Road.

For those who plan a visit someday, Hydesville road starts at Route 88 North in Newark and ends in downtown Marion, NY. For the complete story about the Fox sisters, click the link above.

Since I was a teenager, I've always had an interest in scary stuff. Ghosts, UFOs and anything else out of the ordinary
grabbed my attention. In the pages that follow, if you stay with this,
you will have the pleasure of reading about all of my experiences that
I have encountered. A few of these stories will be from other areas
where I have lived.