1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,080 Y'all ever stood out in the woods at night when the air so still it feels like the earth's 2 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:13,520 holding its breath, when the dark ain't just something you see but something you feel watching 3 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:15,920 from the trees? 4 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:22,480 Some say it's just the wind or a trick of the light, but I know better. 5 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:27,200 Cause one night, long ago, I looked into the eyes of something that weren't meant to be 6 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:34,400 seen, and once you've stared into the dark and had it stare back, well, you don't never 7 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:36,920 forget. 8 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:43,400 Welcome to Kentucky Melody's Scary Stories from Kentucky, where we spin yarns about ghostly 9 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:49,000 haunts, creepy hollers, and spine-chilling legends from deep in the hills. 10 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:55,480 So grab a chair, dim them lights, and let's dig into something spooky. 11 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:59,280 Come on, y'all, pull up close to the fire. 12 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:03,440 The night's thick as molasses and the woods are listening. 13 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:08,520 Makes it the perfect time for a story that'll chill you clear to the bone. 14 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:14,560 This hears a tale from Kentucky soil, one that still clings to my memory like a shadow 15 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:17,880 that won't let go. 16 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:20,120 I weren't born in Kentucky. 17 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:27,080 Nah, I grew up in a little town up in Michigan, not too far from Detroit. 18 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:31,520 But my roots, they run deep in the hills of Kentucky. 19 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:37,560 My daddy was born and raised here, and my mama hailed from Arkansas. 20 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:45,200 Back in the 1950s, both their families headed north, chasing work and a better life. 21 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:50,080 That's where they met, fell in love and built a life. 22 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:55,000 But you know how them hills have a way of calling folks home. 23 00:01:55,000 --> 00:02:01,720 By 1978, daddy started longing for the place he grew up, so they sold what they had and 24 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:05,320 moved us all back to Kentucky. 25 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:11,040 Mama wasn't too keen on the idea at first, but she went along for daddy's sake. 26 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:15,240 They bought a little farm about four miles outside town. 27 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:16,920 Nothing fancy. 28 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:22,640 Just an old two-story farmhouse built back in the late 1800s. 29 00:02:22,640 --> 00:02:25,320 It was a shock for me and my sister. 30 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:30,920 I was seven, she was six, and moving from the suburbs to the middle of the woods felt 31 00:02:30,920 --> 00:02:34,200 like stepping into another world. 32 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:39,960 No running water, no electricity, just the sounds of the land and the stars so close 33 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:43,400 you could almost touch them. 34 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,640 Life on that farm grew on us quick, though. 35 00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:51,080 There's a kind of magic in the woods if you know how to listen. 36 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:57,640 At night, the coyotes howl from the ridges, frogs and crickets had hollered their songs, 37 00:02:57,640 --> 00:03:02,800 and the mournful call of a whipper-will could send chills up your spine. 38 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:08,200 Come dusk, the whole forest would wake up at once, like every critter was calling out 39 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:11,520 to let the night know they was there. 40 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:17,360 Then, just as quick, it had fall silent, leaving you wondering what might be lurking in the 41 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:18,960 shadows. 42 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:23,960 Now, I reckon it's time to tell you about that night. 43 00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:29,800 Five years after we'd moved in when I was twelve years old, it was late fall, air crisp 44 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:34,600 enough to sting your lungs in the leaves dry as old bones. 45 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:39,040 Sometime past midnight, the dogs started barking out back. 46 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:44,480 We had two young beagles, Annie and Dandy, brother and sister. 47 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:48,760 They'd grown up together on that farm and passed within weeks of each other when their 48 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:50,760 time came. 49 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:54,560 We buried them side by side near the old oak tree. 50 00:03:54,560 --> 00:04:00,720 But on this night, their barks weren't the usual yippen they did when chasing rabbits. 51 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:09,840 Nah, this was different, sharp, frantic, with a tremble of fear that made my blood run cold. 52 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:15,920 I slipped out of bed and crept through the house, careful not to wake nobody. 53 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:21,840 Stepping onto the back porch, I found Annie peeking out from her doghouse, eyes wide as 54 00:04:21,840 --> 00:04:28,800 saucers, while Dandy crouched under a chair, his ears flat against his skull. 55 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:33,200 Both of them stared toward the tree line about a hundred yards off. 56 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:39,120 The porch light threw long shadows across the yard, but I couldn't see nothing out there, 57 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:43,000 just the faint crunch of leaves carried on the breeze. 58 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:49,200 Curiosity got the better of me, so I dashed inside and grabbed a flashlight from the cabinet 59 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:51,560 by the back door. 60 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:56,040 Lucky for me, the batteries still had some life in them. 61 00:04:56,040 --> 00:05:02,240 One back outside, I caught a whiff of something foul, like meat gone bad thick and heavy in 62 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:04,040 the air. 63 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:09,760 The dogs had gone quiet, but they still cowered in place, eyes fixed on something just beyond 64 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:12,160 the light. 65 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:18,280 I raised the flashlight, sweeping it across the yard, past the flowerbed mama had built, 66 00:05:18,280 --> 00:05:20,760 toward the edge of the woods. 67 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:28,400 At first, I didn't see nothing, just bare trees and fallen leaves, but then, then my 68 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:34,400 light caught something that made my breath hitch in my chest. 69 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:38,480 Standing in the raised flowerbed at the edge of the yard was a figure. 70 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:40,880 No, a creature. 71 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:46,280 I say, creature, because there ain't no better word for what I saw. 72 00:05:46,280 --> 00:05:48,960 It looked like a man, but wrong. 73 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:54,520 One pale as moonlight stretched tight over bones so thin you could see every rib. 74 00:05:54,520 --> 00:06:02,040 It was naked, filthy, with stringy dark hair hanging in clumps around its face. 75 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:09,280 And the way it stood, down on all fours but not like no animal I'd ever seen, its legs 76 00:06:09,280 --> 00:06:15,800 bent backwards at the knees and its fingers, long and bony with yellowed claw-like nails 77 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:18,520 dug into the soil. 78 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:24,680 It made this sound, like a low wheeze mixed with a faint grunt, like it was struggling 79 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:26,760 to breathe. 80 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:32,200 Blood dripped slow from its chin, glintin' dark in the flashlight's beam. 81 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:37,040 Its eyes caught the light, reflecting back like an animal's. 82 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:41,400 Cold, empty, and wrong. 83 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:43,280 Time seemed to stop. 84 00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:47,920 I stood there frozen, heart hammering in my chest. 85 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:54,080 The creature didn't move, just stared at me with one hand lifted slightly off the ground, 86 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:56,480 as if poised to spring. 87 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:00,280 My fingers clutched the flashlight so tight it hurt. 88 00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:05,920 I could hear my own breath, sharp and shallow in the silence. 89 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:09,440 Then, slow as molasses. 90 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:14,960 Its tongue slid out, long and thin, licking the blood from its lips. 91 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:17,800 That's when the fear hit me full force. 92 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:23,160 Moving as slow and steady as I could, I backed toward the door, watching that raised hand 93 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:24,760 the whole time. 94 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:29,480 My mind screamed a run, but my legs felt like they was moving through mud. 95 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:36,120 Finally, I reached the threshold, ducked inside, and slammed the door shut, throwing the lock 96 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:39,080 with a shaky hand. 97 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:40,840 Appeared through the window. 98 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:43,800 Heart pounded so loud it echoed in my ears. 99 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:46,360 But the creature was gone. 100 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:48,240 Just like that. 101 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:53,040 I scanned the yard with the flashlight, but there weren't no sign of it. 102 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:57,760 Annie and Dandy had come out from their hiding spots, sniffing the air and staring toward 103 00:07:57,760 --> 00:07:58,760 the woods. 104 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:02,920 I didn't sleep much that night. 105 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:07,680 Come morning, after the sun had chased away the night's shadows, I made my way to the 106 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:09,320 tree line. 107 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:15,120 About ten feet into the woods, I found what I reckoned that creature had been feeding on. 108 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:20,160 A half-eaten rabbit carcass, fresh blood, dark against the fallen leaves. 109 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:26,600 I saw deer tracks scattered round, but nothing else to explain what I had seen. 110 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:31,760 I never told nobody about that night, not till now. 111 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:36,160 Over the years, I've questioned whether I'd dreamed the whole thing. 112 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:41,720 But every fall, when the air turns crisp and the leaves start to rustle, I remember those 113 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:45,240 eyes staring back at me from the dark. 114 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:51,640 You'll think I saw something supernatural that night, a when to go, a skin walker, 115 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:54,600 or maybe even a night crawler. 116 00:08:54,600 --> 00:09:00,680 I've heard tales of all three, but this thing didn't quite match any of them. 117 00:09:00,680 --> 00:09:02,680 So what was it? 118 00:09:02,680 --> 00:09:04,720 What do y'all think? 119 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:09,280 Was it something from the other side, or just a trick of the mind? 120 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:15,000 Maybe I was dreaming, though I swear, come morning, that memory clung to me like a nightmare 121 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:18,440 that didn't fade with the daylight. 122 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:21,120 Drop your thoughts down in the comments. 123 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:25,440 And if you've ever had a brush with something that don't belong in this world, something 124 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:29,960 that stared back at you from the dark, share your story. 125 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:34,600 I reckon there's more folks out there who've seen what they weren't meant to. 126 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:39,720 And if you got the nerve for more tales that'll keep you up at night, make sure you subscribe 127 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:41,200 to Kentucky Melody. 128 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:46,520 We've got plenty more stories waiting in the dark, and who knows? 129 00:09:46,520 --> 00:10:06,080 Maybe one of them's waiting for you.