Scarecrow

[00:00:06] Good evening, I'm Ben and welcome to the show where you and I gather around this campfire to hear some of our fellow campers scariest experiences. Whether you're a new or returning one, I'm glad you're here. Tonight we will hear a story submitted a while ago, but it is one of the most entertaining stories I've ever gotten. [00:00:24] Aidan grows pumpkins every year on his land. [00:00:27] But last year he had some trouble with his scarecrow. [00:00:32] Now, without further ado, do you want to hear a ghost story? [00:00:38] You know, Halloween used to be my favorite night of the year. Jack O lanterns, kids running through my fields. The crisp autumn air full of laughter and candy rustling in bags. [00:00:50] The farm's been in my family for generations. [00:00:53] Every fall I grow the biggest pumpkins around. [00:00:56] Folks drive hours just to take one home. [00:01:01] This year felt off. It's hard to explain. The crop was fine. More than normal, actually. [00:01:07] Best yield in years now that I think about it. [00:01:10] But when I carved up the first jack O lanterns to stand out for the night, I swear the flesh felt warm. [00:01:18] Almost too much. Like skin not gored. [00:01:22] I built a new scarecrow last week too. The old one had rotted clean through. This one's taller, made of fresh corn husks and an old pair of my dad's overalls. I even gave it a head. One of those big white pumpkins with a face carved deep, a crooked smile and gouged out eyes. [00:01:41] Looked meaner than I intended. But oh well. I stuck it right in the center of the patch where it could watch everything. [00:01:50] By Halloween night I'd sold nearly the whole crop. [00:01:53] All but the weird looking ones. [00:01:56] A few that grew twisted. Some had extra ridges, like fingers pressing out. I don't sell those often. I just dumped them in the woods. [00:02:05] Anyway, around 7:00pm on Halloween night, the trick or treater started coming down the drive. [00:02:10] I'd put up some lights, kept a few pumpkins on the porch, left out candy for the kids. [00:02:16] First few hours were normal. Cute costumes, happy parents. A nice chilly night. [00:02:21] But around 9pm it got quiet. [00:02:25] Too quiet for Halloween night. [00:02:27] I was inside washing up when I heard the front door thump. [00:02:31] Like something hit it. Not a knock, like a flat smack. [00:02:36] I opened it up and looked around. My porch was empty, just the cold wind kicking up the leaves. [00:02:44] But there was a small trail of pumpkin seeds leading away from the porch. [00:02:48] I figured a kid spilled their loot bag. But when I followed the trail down the steps, I noticed something weird. [00:02:56] The seeds weren't the kind you'd scoop out Of a jack o lantern. They were dark, rotten, like they were pulled out of a dead pumpkin. [00:03:05] I went back inside and locked the door. Ten minutes later, there was another sound. This time at the back of the house. [00:03:11] Not the door, but the window. Tap, tap, tap. [00:03:17] That was deliberate. [00:03:19] I flipped on the porch light and yanked the curtain open. [00:03:23] No one was there. [00:03:24] Just the corn rose, swaying in the dark. [00:03:28] I stood there watching, breath fogging the glass, when I noticed something. [00:03:34] One of the cornstalks wasn't moving with the rest. [00:03:37] It was dead, still taller than the others. [00:03:41] And then, I swear to you, it took a step forward. [00:03:45] I grabbed my flashlight and went out back with a shovel. I figured it was some teenager trying to scare the old pumpkin guy, but the field was empty when I got out there. [00:03:55] And worse still, it was dead silent. Even the crickets had stopped. [00:04:00] I turned back towards the barn and froze. [00:04:03] My scarecrow was gone. [00:04:06] The pole was still there, Snapped clean in half, like it had leapt off the husks. The overalls, the pumpkin head. [00:04:16] Gone. [00:04:17] I felt this chill crawl over my skin. I ran back inside and called the sheriff. [00:04:22] There was no answer. Just static, like it didn't even go through. [00:04:27] All the lights. Dead. My phone. Dead. [00:04:31] So I lit a lantern and sat in the kitchen. [00:04:35] The wind outside howled when I heard the footsteps on the porch. [00:04:39] Heavy, dragging. I didn't move. I just listened. [00:04:46] The footsteps stopped at the door. [00:04:48] Then I heard scraping, like something rough dragging across the wood, Back and forth, over and over. [00:04:57] My chest was tight. I could barely breathe. [00:05:00] I tiptoed to the front door and looked through the peephole. [00:05:04] There was something standing there, shoulders bunched up, its head tilted too far to the side. [00:05:12] I couldn't make out the face. Just the shape of the mouth carved in a jagged, twisted smile. [00:05:19] I backed away from the door. [00:05:21] Tap, tap, tap. [00:05:24] It was knocking on the door. I ran to the garage and locked myself in. [00:05:29] I sat with my back to the door, lantern in my lap, staring at the tools, the old rusted tractor, the pile of discarded pumpkins in the corner. [00:05:38] I didn't sleep. I didn't blink. I sat there, and when the sun finally rose, my lights came back on. [00:05:46] My phone regained battery. [00:05:49] The sheriff finally showed up, saying he had a missed call from me. [00:05:53] Said something about a freak transformer blowout down the county. [00:05:56] He asked me why I looked like hell. [00:05:59] I told him that I think some kids were messing with my scarecrow. Messing with me. [00:06:03] He laughed. [00:06:06] I didn't know you put one out this year. That was just something your dad did, I thought, put the scarecrow out to scare kids. I walked him out to the field to show him the broken pole, but it was gone. [00:06:16] There was no pole. No broken corn husks. [00:06:19] No tracks. [00:06:21] There was no more trail of seeds either. [00:06:24] Just that single white pumpkin sitting in the middle of my yard. [00:06:29] Perfectly round, perfectly still, with its face just staring at us. Thank you Aiden for allowing me to share your story. [00:06:38] There's just something about a spooky scarecrow running rampant on Halloween night that just feels so right to me now. I know I love telling scary stories, but I've never really experienced anything paranormal before. [00:06:54] But I'll say this, if I ever get the chance to experience anything, I hope it's this. [00:06:59] I would like to welcome Jamie Richter, newest Lost camper, to the campfire. Thank you so much for supporting the show. [00:07:07] And if anybody else would like a shout out at the end of an episode or access to our monthly bonus episodes, head over to patreon.com do you want to hear Ghoststory? [00:07:15] But as always, I'm just glad to have you all as campers on this journey. Please keep sharing the show with anyone you think might like these stories or someone you're just trying to scare. [00:07:24] If you're enjoying the show, please leave a review. I'd love to hear from you. [00:07:28] Until next time.