My Encounter

[Nathaniel Brehmer]

Well, I've seen some scary shit in my time, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm pretty sure it's because of where I live. There's a reason Stephen King writes about Maine so much. I've had two major paranormal experiences and another time when I just saw... something. In all honesty, that time scared me to a point I've rarely reached and I'm not about to go into detail about it.

The first strange thing that ever happened to me was in the summer of 2001, in Bar Harbor, ME. I was with a friend inside this old (but beautiful) building. We were both (and still are, I admit) fascinated with horror. So when we heard the basement of the building was haunted, we jumped at the chance to go check it out.

Most of the building is very modern on the inside, despite its gothic exterior, but the basement is another story. No joke, it looks like something ripped straight from a Hammer horror film. It's all stone and wood, gothic archways, just like an old Dracula film. As if this wasn't creepy enough, the electricity only reaches the length of the stairs. In the main hallway, there are a few windows, but not throughout the entire place. Take a few steps, past that, and you're relying on night vision.

My night vision's not bad, and there was some shred of light leaking in from the previous hallway, but that was the extent of visibility. Still, we didn't stop. We made our way down in, until we were succumbing to the darkness. I noticed that, while I should feel terrified, I didn't. I felt cold. I remember because it was one of the warmest summers I've ever experienced, and it was the first time I'd felt cold all summer. The temperature had dropped to the point where we could see our own breath.

Then we heard it. Laughter. A child's laughter, and another sound like a ball bouncing back and forth. I asked my friend if he heard, and he didn't reply. I looked back at him, and he was just frozen, staring at something without moving a muscle or even blinking. I asked him what he was looking at and got no reply. When I turned in front of me, following his gaze I saw a young boy (maybe a year or two younger than me at the time) staring at us. His eyes are something I'll remember as long as I live. They were like a cat's in the night when light is shining on it. As I mentioned before, there was no light, around, which made them that more prominent.

We finally got the good sense to run back upstairs, hearing the laughter (so loud it was almost deafening) of a child either echoing, or the laughter of two children.

A fair amount of time later, when I was looking through a book on the town's history, I saw a section on that building stating that two young boys (this I was most fascinated with, as that was exactly what we were) had been playing in the building, then went downstairs. It was one of only a few times that the area suffered an earthquake, causing a section of the foundation to collapse. The children were killed when part of the basement collapsed, and the electricity has never been fixed down there, never reaching where the accident occured. Nothing ever said why the children went down there, but I think they were chasing their ball.

[Nathaniel Brehmer]

Now, that you mention it Randy, I do have some pictures of the place, I'll see if I find them to upload them.

[Randy Tuggle]

THANK YOU for sharing that! That story was awesome and your recollection of it was quite chilling. Have you the ability to go back there for an investigation and take any pictures of the place? I'd love to see it after reading this.