WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:04.259 Now I tell you there's places deep in them woods 00:00:04.259 --> 00:00:07.540 where the quiet don't feel peaceful It feels 00:00:07.540 --> 00:00:10.699 like it's listening like the trees themselves 00:00:10.699 --> 00:00:13.960 got ears and something just out of sights watching 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:19.760 your every step back in 2012 a woman named Linda 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:23.460 Artega got turned around in the Ozark Mountains 00:00:23.460 --> 00:00:27.440 Gone missing for five whole days. She come out 00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:32.179 barefoot scratched up shivering But alive. What 00:00:32.179 --> 00:00:35.359 she said happened out yonder. What she claimed 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:38.939 was watching her from the shadows. Well, now 00:00:38.939 --> 00:00:41.780 that's stuck with folks ever since. Some reckon 00:00:41.780 --> 00:00:44.880 it was just the heat messing with her head. Others 00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:48.060 say it was something older. Something that don't 00:00:48.060 --> 00:00:51.159 belong to this world. Just standing there in 00:00:51.159 --> 00:00:55.579 the dark, waiting. This here's the bone -chilling 00:00:55.579 --> 00:00:59.679 true tale of Linda Artega. and the silent watchers 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:04.780 of the Ozarks. Welcome to Kentucky Melodies America's 00:01:04.780 --> 00:01:07.980 Scariest Stories, where we bring you ghostly 00:01:07.980 --> 00:01:11.879 legends, spooky haints, and bone -chilling tales 00:01:11.879 --> 00:01:15.359 from all over this great land. These stories 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:17.540 will have you looking over your shoulder all 00:01:17.540 --> 00:01:21.379 night. So pull up a chair, dim them lights, and 00:01:21.379 --> 00:01:25.969 let's dive into the eerie and unexplained. It 00:01:25.969 --> 00:01:29.829 was the early part of September back in 2012, 00:01:30.450 --> 00:01:34.329 and Miss Linda Artega, 53 years old and living 00:01:34.329 --> 00:01:37.849 in Blackwell, Oklahoma, sure wasn't looking to 00:01:37.849 --> 00:01:40.890 wind up in no newspaper or be the kind of name 00:01:40.890 --> 00:01:44.409 whispered round a fire pit. All she wanted was 00:01:44.409 --> 00:01:47.769 a little peace, you know? Just some quiet time 00:01:47.769 --> 00:01:50.409 out in God's green earth with her brother, Eddie 00:01:50.409 --> 00:01:53.569 Huff. They'd set their sights on a hike near 00:01:53.569 --> 00:01:57.329 a place called St. Joe, Arkansas, tucked way 00:01:57.329 --> 00:02:00.109 back in the Ozarks, where the hills roll like 00:02:00.109 --> 00:02:03.409 the backs of sleeping giants and the forest grows 00:02:03.409 --> 00:02:06.590 so thick it feels like the trees lean in to listen. 00:02:07.790 --> 00:02:11.830 Now, them Ozark mountains, they ain't like your 00:02:11.830 --> 00:02:14.889 local park with clear signs and neatly trimmed 00:02:14.889 --> 00:02:19.800 paths. Nah, this here's deep country. Rough land 00:02:19.800 --> 00:02:22.860 full of gullies and drop offs, old animal trails 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:25.960 that fool you, and hollers that echo your own 00:02:25.960 --> 00:02:28.439 voice back at you like the woods is trying to 00:02:28.439 --> 00:02:32.639 mock you. The ridges twist and turn, and the 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:36.219 hollers run so deep you'd swear they got no bottom. 00:02:36.939 --> 00:02:40.199 Folks have gone missing out there before, and 00:02:40.199 --> 00:02:43.479 more than a few of them. Well, they just never 00:02:43.479 --> 00:02:47.379 did come back. Linda and Eddie weren't no strangers 00:02:47.379 --> 00:02:50.310 to the outdoors. They'd spent time in nature 00:02:50.310 --> 00:02:54.189 before, sure, but they weren't trained survivalists 00:02:54.189 --> 00:02:57.210 neither. They'd figured they'd take a stroll 00:02:57.210 --> 00:03:00.490 down one of them trails, breathe in some of that 00:03:00.490 --> 00:03:03.949 crisp mountain air, maybe be back in time to 00:03:03.949 --> 00:03:06.930 catch supper. Just a simple little adventure 00:03:06.930 --> 00:03:10.710 between kin. But the thing about them mountains 00:03:10.710 --> 00:03:14.530 is, they don't much care what you planned. Out 00:03:14.530 --> 00:03:18.500 there all it takes is one wrong step. One turn 00:03:18.500 --> 00:03:21.979 down the wrong deer trail one moment of thinking 00:03:21.979 --> 00:03:25.280 you know better than the trees and before you 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:30.319 know it the forest just closes in Swallows you 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:34.419 up like you was never there and That's just what 00:03:34.419 --> 00:03:38.280 happened to Linda and Eddie By the time the Sun 00:03:38.280 --> 00:03:41.919 had started leaning low in the sky Linda and 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:44.539 Eddie come to the quiet realization that they 00:03:44.539 --> 00:03:50.530 was off trail Good and lost, in fact. Every direction 00:03:50.530 --> 00:03:53.949 they looked it was just trees and more trees, 00:03:54.590 --> 00:03:56.990 thick as thieves and standing shoulder to shoulder 00:03:56.990 --> 00:03:59.990 like they was hiding something. There weren't 00:03:59.990 --> 00:04:03.930 no signs, no blazons on the trees, no worn path 00:04:03.930 --> 00:04:07.289 to follow. It was like the woods had folded in 00:04:07.289 --> 00:04:10.210 on itself, swallowed the trail whole and left 00:04:10.210 --> 00:04:14.069 nothing behind but shadows and silence. They 00:04:14.069 --> 00:04:17.269 kept on walking. hoping maybe they'd make a loop 00:04:17.269 --> 00:04:21.089 back around to something familiar. But that forest, 00:04:21.470 --> 00:04:25.050 it played tricks. Every tree looked like the 00:04:25.050 --> 00:04:28.730 one before it. The ridges all sloped the wrong 00:04:28.730 --> 00:04:32.209 way. No matter which way they turned, it felt 00:04:32.209 --> 00:04:35.029 like they was being gently pushed deeper in. 00:04:35.550 --> 00:04:38.990 Not by hands, mind you, but by the woods itself. 00:04:39.910 --> 00:04:42.870 Then the sun dropped behind them hills like it 00:04:42.870 --> 00:04:45.850 was in a hurry. and with it went any sense of 00:04:45.850 --> 00:04:49.810 direction they had left. The light faded fast 00:04:49.810 --> 00:04:53.870 out there, faster than it does in town, and pretty 00:04:53.870 --> 00:04:57.589 soon they was standing in that dusky dark with 00:04:57.589 --> 00:05:00.569 the kind of stillness that presses on your ears. 00:05:01.509 --> 00:05:05.230 That first night they had no choice but to hunker 00:05:05.230 --> 00:05:08.430 down on the bare ground, wrapped in nothing but 00:05:08.430 --> 00:05:12.610 their own clothes and uncertainty. It got cold. 00:05:12.920 --> 00:05:15.500 the kind of cold that creeps in through your 00:05:15.500 --> 00:05:19.459 boots and settles in your bones. No tent, no 00:05:19.459 --> 00:05:23.439 fire, no flashlight, just the sound of the crickets 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:26.500 cutting off all at once now and then, like something 00:05:26.500 --> 00:05:30.040 was passing through the trees nearby. They weren't 00:05:30.040 --> 00:05:34.519 just lost out there. They were alone, deep in 00:05:34.519 --> 00:05:37.040 a place that felt different than any woods they'd 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:40.600 ever stepped in before, like the air was thicker. 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:44.459 like the ground itself was watching, like something 00:05:44.459 --> 00:05:47.839 ancient had turned its gaze their way and didn't 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:52.519 intend on looking away. Come the second day, 00:05:52.779 --> 00:05:55.259 after another long night of staring up at the 00:05:55.259 --> 00:05:57.959 black sky and wondering if they'd ever find their 00:05:57.959 --> 00:06:01.240 way out, Linda and Eddie figured they'd cover 00:06:01.240 --> 00:06:04.980 more ground if they split up a little. Not far. 00:06:05.339 --> 00:06:08.439 Just enough to scan the hills and hollers for 00:06:08.439 --> 00:06:12.319 a trail, a creek, a worn path, anything that 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:14.639 didn't look like the same tangled mess they'd 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:18.620 been wandering through. That's when Linda started 00:06:18.620 --> 00:06:22.540 feeling it. Said the air changed on her, got 00:06:22.540 --> 00:06:25.360 heavier somehow, like it was harder to breathe, 00:06:25.879 --> 00:06:28.100 like the woods themselves were holding their 00:06:28.100 --> 00:06:31.500 breath. She was making her way around a bend 00:06:31.500 --> 00:06:34.120 in the ridge when she stopped dead in her tracks. 00:06:34.970 --> 00:06:38.550 There, standing in the trees just ahead was a 00:06:38.550 --> 00:06:43.129 figure, tall and still, not moving, not saying 00:06:43.129 --> 00:06:45.990 a word, just standing there between the trunks 00:06:45.990 --> 00:06:49.689 like it belonged to the forest. At first, she 00:06:49.689 --> 00:06:53.209 figured it was a hiker, maybe even someone out 00:06:53.209 --> 00:06:57.329 looking for him, a ranger or a local, but something 00:06:57.329 --> 00:07:01.069 about it wasn't right. She hollered out, called 00:07:01.069 --> 00:07:05.189 for help, waved her arms, And it didn't move, 00:07:05.790 --> 00:07:08.930 didn't shift, didn't answer, didn't even twitch 00:07:08.930 --> 00:07:12.329 like it had hurt her. Just stood there like it 00:07:12.329 --> 00:07:15.850 was carved out of the shadows. Then she noticed 00:07:15.850 --> 00:07:20.129 another one, standing a few trees off. And another 00:07:20.129 --> 00:07:23.709 a little ways past that. All of them spread out 00:07:23.709 --> 00:07:26.889 in a strange kind of pattern, like they was placed 00:07:26.889 --> 00:07:30.509 there. She said they wasn't solid folks, not 00:07:30.509 --> 00:07:34.660 exactly, just. Dark shapes, darker than the trees 00:07:34.660 --> 00:07:37.300 behind them, almost like they was made out of 00:07:37.300 --> 00:07:41.860 smoke or mist, but darker still. No face, no 00:07:41.860 --> 00:07:47.079 color, no detail, just watching. That stare went 00:07:47.079 --> 00:07:50.540 down her spine like ice water. She turned to 00:07:50.540 --> 00:07:53.439 yell for Eddie, but when she spun back around, 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:57.819 they was gone, just the trees again and that 00:07:57.819 --> 00:08:02.790 heavy listening silence. Now that same day while 00:08:02.790 --> 00:08:04.930 Linda was seeing things that shouldn't have been 00:08:04.930 --> 00:08:08.470 there Eddie had his own kind of strange spell 00:08:08.470 --> 00:08:11.790 come over him He was making his way through a 00:08:11.790 --> 00:08:14.329 low hollow when he caught sight of something 00:08:14.329 --> 00:08:18.189 just up ahead Something that made his heart near 00:08:18.189 --> 00:08:21.709 jump out of his chest There was a house sitting 00:08:21.709 --> 00:08:25.569 quiet and a little clearing playing his day with 00:08:25.569 --> 00:08:28.629 an old wooden porch sagging a bit to one side 00:08:28.920 --> 00:08:32.700 And right there, rocking, gentle on a swing, 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:36.740 was Linda. She was smiling at him like nothing 00:08:36.740 --> 00:08:40.320 had ever gone wrong, just sitting there, peaceful 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:44.179 as a Sunday morning. Eddie took off running, 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:47.580 shouting her name, boots slapping the ground 00:08:47.580 --> 00:08:51.500 as fast as he could move. But the closer he got, 00:08:51.799 --> 00:08:56.100 the more things didn't feel right. And by the 00:08:56.100 --> 00:08:59.299 time he reached that clearing, There wasn't nothing 00:08:59.299 --> 00:09:05.179 there, no house, no swing, no Linda, just trees 00:09:05.179 --> 00:09:08.019 and shadows like the woods was playing some cruel 00:09:08.019 --> 00:09:12.159 trick on his mind. Later on, Eddie would say 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:15.179 he must have been seeing things, likely from 00:09:15.179 --> 00:09:17.580 eating them bitter wild berries they'd found 00:09:17.580 --> 00:09:21.320 early on. Might have been poison in them or something 00:09:21.320 --> 00:09:25.000 close to it. He was sure his sister had found 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:28.250 her way out. and he convinced himself she was 00:09:28.250 --> 00:09:32.250 safe somewhere. So he kept wandering, thinking 00:09:32.250 --> 00:09:35.730 he was just trying to find a road. But Linda 00:09:35.730 --> 00:09:39.110 hadn't made it out. They'd gotten separated in 00:09:39.110 --> 00:09:42.509 all that thick timber, and only one of them had 00:09:42.509 --> 00:09:46.350 stumbled their way back. Eddie came out dazed, 00:09:46.590 --> 00:09:50.210 barely able to speak, worn down from thirst and 00:09:50.210 --> 00:09:54.710 confusion. Linda, though, Linda was still out 00:09:54.710 --> 00:09:58.110 there. and she'd remain missing for three more 00:09:58.110 --> 00:10:02.129 long days. After they pulled her out of them 00:10:02.129 --> 00:10:05.710 woods and got her some water and warmth, Linda 00:10:05.710 --> 00:10:09.929 finally started talking. Not all at once, mind 00:10:09.929 --> 00:10:13.769 you, but in bits and pieces. Mostly to her kin 00:10:13.769 --> 00:10:17.070 at first. And what she said chilled them deeper 00:10:17.070 --> 00:10:20.450 than the cold nights she'd spent out there. She 00:10:20.450 --> 00:10:23.129 told them how she'd stayed alive drinking from 00:10:23.129 --> 00:10:26.539 creeks. Chewing on watercress and nuts she'd 00:10:26.539 --> 00:10:29.159 scrounged up and nibbling more of them bitter 00:10:29.159 --> 00:10:32.440 berries, the same ones Eddie reckoned had messed 00:10:32.440 --> 00:10:36.539 with his mind. Said her stomach hurt near constant, 00:10:37.220 --> 00:10:40.759 but hunger was the least of her worries. Because 00:10:40.759 --> 00:10:43.759 it wasn't just the cold or the ache in her bones 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:47.940 that haunted her out there. Them figures, they 00:10:47.940 --> 00:10:51.809 come back. She said, as soon as the sun dipped 00:10:51.809 --> 00:10:54.269 behind them hills and the dark came stretching 00:10:54.269 --> 00:10:58.730 in across the trees, they'd be there. Tall shapes, 00:10:59.070 --> 00:11:01.909 lean and still, just barely lit at the edges 00:11:01.909 --> 00:11:05.110 of the little fire she tried to keep going, if 00:11:05.110 --> 00:11:08.350 she could even get one started. They never walked 00:11:08.350 --> 00:11:12.370 up, never said a word, just stood there, right 00:11:12.370 --> 00:11:15.190 where the shadows get thickest, like they was 00:11:15.190 --> 00:11:19.159 part of the trees themselves. Sometimes she'd 00:11:19.159 --> 00:11:21.960 feel them before she saw them, like a shift in 00:11:21.960 --> 00:11:24.879 the air or a tingling on the back of her neck. 00:11:25.740 --> 00:11:28.639 She'd spin around quick, sure someone was there, 00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:31.460 but all she'd catch was movement slipping behind 00:11:31.460 --> 00:11:35.799 a trunk always just out of reach. They didn't 00:11:35.799 --> 00:11:39.000 answer when she hollered, didn't move when she 00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:42.480 cried, didn't even flinch when she sang hymns 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:46.169 loud into the night. Begging for mercy or company 00:11:46.169 --> 00:11:49.590 or something to drown out the silence. But they 00:11:49.590 --> 00:11:54.090 stayed, night after night, watching. Not like 00:11:54.090 --> 00:11:58.970 a person watching another person. No. Linda said 00:11:58.970 --> 00:12:02.210 it felt more like the woods themselves had eyes. 00:12:02.669 --> 00:12:04.850 And those things were just the shape the forest 00:12:04.850 --> 00:12:08.409 took when it decided to look back. And no matter 00:12:08.409 --> 00:12:13.360 what she did, they never left. Hoods like they'd 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:16.980 built walls round her she couldn't see. She was 00:12:16.980 --> 00:12:20.399 barefoot, feet cut up from briars and sharp rock. 00:12:21.019 --> 00:12:24.720 Her skin was red and raw from the sun, arms covered 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:27.179 in scratches like she'd clawed her way through 00:12:27.179 --> 00:12:30.720 thickets. But all told, she was in better shape 00:12:30.720 --> 00:12:35.620 than anyone expected. No broken bones, no frostbite, 00:12:35.960 --> 00:12:40.159 just worn down and quiet. And that's what struck 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:44.019 folks most. She wasn't screaming or crying when 00:12:44.019 --> 00:12:47.360 they found her, wasn't panicked, wasn't even 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:50.799 asking for much, just water and a moment to sit. 00:12:51.419 --> 00:12:54.580 Said she was grateful, said she prayed every 00:12:54.580 --> 00:12:57.139 night, called on the Lord to keep her from being 00:12:57.139 --> 00:13:01.000 alone, and that somehow she knew she wasn't. 00:13:01.340 --> 00:13:04.039 But when it come to the rest of it, the shadows, 00:13:04.539 --> 00:13:07.460 the things that stood just out of reach, she 00:13:07.460 --> 00:13:10.990 didn't say much, not to the newspapers, not to 00:13:10.990 --> 00:13:14.049 the TV cameras, not even to most of the folks 00:13:14.049 --> 00:13:18.250 who asked. She'd shake her head, change the subject, 00:13:18.389 --> 00:13:20.769 or look off like she was watching something move 00:13:20.769 --> 00:13:24.909 in the trees behind you. Her family now, they 00:13:24.909 --> 00:13:27.769 heard more, enough to believe there was something 00:13:27.769 --> 00:13:30.850 out there with her. They've spoken up in bits 00:13:30.850 --> 00:13:33.509 here and there, saying she saw things no one 00:13:33.509 --> 00:13:36.330 should ever see, and that she came out changed 00:13:36.330 --> 00:13:40.799 somehow. But the whole truth, that's hers. and 00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:44.820 she ain't letting go of it. Now folks will argue 00:13:44.820 --> 00:13:48.159 about what really happened to Linda. Maybe it 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:51.580 was the berries. Maybe the heat and thirst twisted 00:13:51.580 --> 00:13:54.539 up her mind made her see things that weren't 00:13:54.539 --> 00:13:58.320 there. That's what science might tell you. But 00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:01.179 if you sit a spell with the old timers from around 00:14:01.179 --> 00:14:03.879 these parts, the ones who still remember the 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:07.139 old ways, who've heard whispers passed down from 00:14:07.139 --> 00:14:10.320 their grand folks, They'll tell you plain as 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:13.820 day. There's places in them woods that don't 00:14:13.820 --> 00:14:17.440 take kindly to strangers, and if the forest don't 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:21.220 want you there, it'll let you know. Might not 00:14:21.220 --> 00:14:25.720 speak a word, but it'll sure as hell watch. See, 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:29.120 in the stories of the Cherokee, the Shawnee, 00:14:29.559 --> 00:14:32.360 and others who lived on this land long before 00:14:32.360 --> 00:14:35.600 any settler set foot here, there's talk of spirits 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:39.620 that roamed the forest. Some are guardians, keepers 00:14:39.620 --> 00:14:43.940 of balance, but others, others just watch. They 00:14:43.940 --> 00:14:47.279 don't chase, they don't guide, they don't offer 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:50.740 no comfort. They just stand there in the dark, 00:14:51.080 --> 00:14:54.740 quiet as death, staring from the trees with eyes 00:14:54.740 --> 00:14:58.000 you can't quite see, but you feel them all the 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:02.059 same. Folks call them the watchers. Sometimes 00:15:02.059 --> 00:15:06.019 they show up to warn. Other times, no one ever 00:15:06.019 --> 00:15:08.960 figures out what they wanted, just that they 00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:13.659 were there. And Linda, she didn't come back talking 00:15:13.659 --> 00:15:17.379 about no wild man, no monster covered in hair, 00:15:17.820 --> 00:15:21.580 no fella lost in the woods like her. What she 00:15:21.580 --> 00:15:26.279 saw was something else, something older, something 00:15:26.279 --> 00:15:29.919 colder, and she ain't the first to see it, not 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:34.509 by a long shot. Linda Artega made it out of them 00:15:34.509 --> 00:15:38.509 woods after five long bone -cold days, her body 00:15:38.509 --> 00:15:43.090 held up, battered but intact. But what she carried 00:15:43.090 --> 00:15:47.570 out in her mind, and down in her soul, well, 00:15:48.029 --> 00:15:51.250 that part ain't so easy to mend. She went in 00:15:51.250 --> 00:15:54.070 with her brother, they walked the same trail, 00:15:54.570 --> 00:15:57.970 breathed the same air, heard the same night sounds, 00:15:58.590 --> 00:16:02.000 but only Linda saw them. Only she felt their 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:05.039 eyes quiet and steady, pressing down on her from 00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:09.559 the dark. And maybe, just maybe, they're still 00:16:09.559 --> 00:16:12.720 out there. Still standing silent at the edge 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:15.700 of some lost traveler's sight, waiting for the 00:16:15.700 --> 00:16:19.759 sun to go down, waiting for the fear to set in, 00:16:20.159 --> 00:16:24.840 watching, always watching. Now, I gotta ask y 00:16:24.840 --> 00:16:27.799 'all something. What do you reckon Linda saw 00:16:27.799 --> 00:16:31.309 out there in them woods? You ever had a moment 00:16:31.309 --> 00:16:33.590 in the forest where the hairs on your neck stood 00:16:33.590 --> 00:16:36.870 up and you just knew? Something was watching? 00:16:37.929 --> 00:16:41.830 You believe in spirits? Forest guardians? Or 00:16:41.830 --> 00:16:45.090 maybe something older? Something that don't take 00:16:45.090 --> 00:16:48.710 kindly to being seen? We want to hear it. Your 00:16:48.710 --> 00:16:52.730 stories, your thoughts, your theories. Drop us 00:16:52.730 --> 00:16:55.990 a comment down below or send us a message over 00:16:55.990 --> 00:16:58.950 on the Kentucky Melody website or one of our 00:16:58.950 --> 00:17:02.580 socials. We love hearing from folks who've felt 00:17:02.580 --> 00:17:07.240 the woods looking back. If you enjoyed this story, 00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:10.319 hit that like button and share it with a friend 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:14.200 who loves creepy forest tales. Don't forget to 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:16.859 subscribe for more stories of the strange and 00:17:16.859 --> 00:17:20.779 unexplained. Until next time, keep your eyes 00:17:20.779 --> 00:17:24.420 open in them woods. You never know what's watching 00:17:24.420 --> 00:17:25.420 from the trees.