Paranormal Story Archives
October 2001 – Page 11

The Bradford Witch
by Paul H.

This story is true and happened to me about 10 years ago in north central Arkansas, approximately three miles northwest of the town of Bradford. It was approximately 3 a.m. and I was working the night shift. On my way home, my car broke down on the interstate. My grandmother lived close by, so I decided to walk to her house and call my wife. About a mile from my grandmother's house, I had to walk past the house of an old man who had several dogs. I decided to turn out my flashlight and walk in the sandy ditch to keep from alarming the dogs. After passing the house, I left the light out until I started into the hollow (holler, if you're from Arkansas). After turning on the light, I walked through the hollow, and while coming up the other side I heard something that sounded like a witch laughing or cackling, except it sounded like it was on a megaphone, extremely loud. The old man's dogs started going crazy. After getting over the initial shock, I decided to turn off my light and get out my pistol (which I always carry in my vehicle). As I walked, I could hear something behind me, somewhere on the gravel road, but I would stop and turn on my flashlight and not see anything. I made it up to my grandmother's driveway and saw her looking out the window at me. When I got to her door, she asked me if I had been around back beating on her back door. I told her no and that she had watched me walk up. She said someone had been beating on the door on the second floor. Knowing that there was no way to get up there, because the deck had rotted the year before and had to be removed, I told her that I would have a look. I went around the house and there were no footprints in the dew, and no way to get to the second floor - no trees, nothing. Instead of having my wife drive over there alone, I called her and told her that the car broke down and I was spending the night. I was raised in the woods and have spent many, many hours in the woods at night by myself, and I have never heard anything like I heard that night. I have never heard it again, but years later, while on the subject of ghosts, my aunt told me that two of my uncles heard the same thing while building the house that my grandmother lives in. I spent one week every year deer hunting this place and always camp on my grandmother's land, but I always take someone with me; I never go alone. To this day, I have spent many nights out there, but never alone. I'm not trying to imply that it was a witch, but I don't know of anything else it could be.

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