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Achievement Unlocked: 500th post!

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Halloween/All Saints' Eve/All Hallows' Eve/Dia de los Muertos, much like any other occasion, sees different forms over the world. That's always been interesting to me – the differences influenced by culture. I'm pretty sure there will be tons of posts chronicling the different practices (sadly, most of them just lifted from other public sources in the internet), so instead I wanted to focus on telling a personal terrifying story.

A Peek at the Filipino Tradition

I won't expound too much on this, because I'm sure other people would, but I just wanted to provide some context. The Philippines has been outwardly invaded by Spain, U.S.A and Japan (in that order) in the past, and has a mix bag of other traditions from China, Malaysia and Indonesia, among others. With that colorful history, our local Halloween tradition may be seen as a derivative of those influences. While upper-end neighborhoods and villages practice the trick-or-treat tradition, it's far from the norm.

What usually happens is that families camp out in cemeteries and mausoleums where their dearly departed were laid to rest. Food (some are even profesionally catered), booze, gambling and karaoke are common sights you would see. They put up candles, flowers and/or incese near the tombstones or grave markers, then spend the night chatting and having fun. Some talk about the deceased for a short time, while some try to avoid the topic. Basically, the occasion becomes an annual family reunion.

Cars are forced into a funeral march because of the sheer number of vehicles heading into the memorial parks. I remember one year, we parked 30 blocks away and were forced to walk in a muddy, garbage-littered sidestreet. To think, we were considered lucky. Many others were hauling tables and chairs while they journeyed towards the cemetery. Anyway, I digress.

My favorite part, especially when I was younger was when we huddled together and told scary stories. Wooo! Nowadays, TV series, movies, science and the internet has ruined me. I mentioned this practice because that's at least a common global practice that almost anyone can relate to.

"Scary" is Subjective

What's scary for me doesn't necessarily mean that it's scary for anyone else, and vice versa. My fears have evolved over the years. When I was a kid, I was scared of the usual vampires and monsters (aswang, in the Philippine context). They were used to scare us from doing bad things, and for that purpose, it actually worked for most of us. Over time, I eventually outgrew those fears. For a time, I was afraid of heights, until I got over it (pun intended). Then it became deadlines, rejection, missing out ... you get the point.

Apart from the normal fears (dying, not leaving a legacy), one irrational fear that I can't seem to outgrow is ghosts. I don't know why. Strand me in a zombie apocalypse that has an eternal night, where there are more vampires than birds and more werewolves than dogs, I don't care. Teleport me to the corpse city of R'lyeh in the middle of a fight between kaiju and a fully-awake Cthulhu, I'll just ask you to send popcorn my way. Just give me something to hit. Problems with aggression aside, I just can't stand things that I can't hit.

Sure, on a good day, I consider ghosts as quantum beings, but when I'm alone in the dark and a chill comes over me, I get struck by lightning more times than the Speed Force actually emits. That's the thing though, I'm only scared when I'm alone. When I'm with at least one other living, tangible person, I just laugh it off. Maybe it's the hormones? Maybe it's an alpha male response?

Story Time

With all that being said, here's one of the scariest things that have happened in my life. It's the first time I've ever written this, so excuse my grammatical errors as I might not be able to read through this post again.

It was 2008, and I was busy coding linked lists using C on Notepad++. Man, 2008 feels like a long time ago. I was listening to two songs on loop: FM Static's Tonight and Cake's Short Skirt Long Jacket. It was Chuck's heyday back then, okay?

I live in our ancestral house, which used to be a hideout for the revolutionary guerillas (Katipuneros) of the Philippine Revolution. It has been renovated in 2001, if I recall correctly, and the current iteration has a small "library" room where all the old medical and legal books were kept. I belong to a family of doctors and lawyers, so sue me. Ahhh! But, seriously, don't. I use humor, however corny it may be, to stall. So, please don't beat me up over it. Doesn't matter if you do though, I'd be stitched up in no time. Ohhh!

Anyway, let's get on with it. The library was well-kept, the books were aligned properly. I was alone, with only a whirring electric fan to keep me company. Until suddenly, BAM! A thud reverberated across the room. I stood up to check it out, thinking it might be some random artifact that fell out of place. Perhaps a passing rat bumped into it, or maybe there was an earthquake that I didn't notice. Whatever it was, I was more suprised than scared, at the time.

As I walked towards it, I found an open book lying on the floor. I figured there were only two positions a book could land to: closed (faced up or down) or opened. No big deal. I picked it up and read the page it opened to. Goosebumps went up and down my body. I threw the book to the table and ran to wherever my feet took me. The lights were left open, and the lists were left unlinked.

I was petrified. It took a while before I came to. I only came back when I was asked why I left the light open. There had always been an eerie presence where I lived, movement in the corner of the eye and the sort. Some people have seen stuff here and there. I took solace thinking that they were just stories to scare us when we were kids, but I was unnerved when they told me that they were telling the truth.

The book was entitled The Thunder of Justice by Ted and Maureen Flynn. While I've tried to start to read it before, there was always some event that prevented me from advancing further. To this day, I haven't gone beyond page 30, I think. It's a religious book about apparitions and Catholic warning. At the time, I had flirted with being an atheist, so that was a very chilling warning. Nowadays, I identify as an agnostic, but I still lack the courage to finish the book. The book opened on this page (seen below).

You see, I was raised in a deeply devout Catholic household. Atheism is extremely frowned upon, and the Antichrist figure is kind of a big deal. Considering the chief figure of Christianity is named Jesus Christ, being the "anti" says a lot about its position in the religion's belief system. It's disturbing when you think about the book's topic being about signs and apparitions. As a firm believer in science, I hate it when I can't think of a scientific explanation to justify a phenomena.

I eventually returned to investigate how the book could've fallen out. It was strange because the library was usually well-kept. The books were arranged neatly, and everything was generally in order. I returned it to its proper place to see if it would happen again, but days and weeks went by without anything strange happening. Everything went back to normal, and I pulled the book from the shelf, replacing it with a different one. I keep the book in my drawer, hoping to read it one day and understand what it all means.

It's not all bad though. I don't know why it is, but I've had a lot of closed calls in my life. I was an inch from getting my head cracked open, I was dragged by a motor vehicle with only a scar as a reminder, and I have tons of other near-death experiences where I walk away unscathed. Have I not served my purpose? Is there really something safeguarding me? Whatever it is, I always find the unexplained frightening.

"Scary" is subjective, and I don't blame you if you found my tale funny. Or, did you get equally creeped out by what happened to me? Chime in the comments section. If you have a spooky personal story to tell, I encourage you to post it and link to your post in the comment section. Let's fill Steemit's first halloween with wonderfully colorful stories.

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