An Entity by Day

This experience I rarely share with anyone, and was only motivated to talk about it once before here on ATS because someone was having a problem of a somewhat similar nature, and I had never heard of anything along these lines before. I have decided to make a dedicated thread now to my own experience. Please be advised that I might be prone to getting a little testy while discussing it, since it was a very personal experience which still haunts me today.

I was in my late teens, still living at home, on a Summer day. My girlfriend and I went out for a walk barefoot around the suburban neighborhood. It was getting later in the day, but not dark or even shadowy yet. My house was a split-ranch like every other in the neighborhood, and sat on a bit of a hill on the same size lot as everyone else. Coming down the street I had line of sight to it, though it was just around a corner. Not an intersection, just a 90 degree turn. I could see it over the bit of hill that was a neighbor's front yard on the inside of the turn, or the right side, where my house would be on the left just around the turn.

Anyway, we were walking slowly and chit-chatting about nothing in particular really. Just about how nice the day was after the heat-wave had broken. I can still remember the warm pavement under my feet. Looking up ahead, I saw something on the turn, from a distance of maybe 50-yards I'm guessing. It looked like an oil slick on the street, like someone had ruptured a vital component to their vehicle. My next-door neighbors (who's house did not come into view until one rounded the turn) usually had an old car or two that they were tinkering with at any given time, and beat up their cars pretty well too. I was good friends with the whole family, and knew that one of my buddies had just gotten another car recently, so I figured it was him who left the slick all over the road, and actually said something along those lines to my girlfriend. There wasn't a break in our step, or any eerie inclination that anything unusual was about to happen.

As I said, sunny day, meaningless conversation, and a very casual pace to our stroll. Not the setting for anything bizarre whatsoever. As we got closer, obviously I was looking at this "oil slick" ahead of us. The first inclination that I had that something was odd, was that this stain in the road was darker than oil. Black, and did not glimmer with wetness like the sheen of fresh oil. By this point we had gotten quite close to it. Before I could process the thought really, the truly bizarre event unfolded.

The dark spot moved. Like something coming up out of the ground. Like a man pulling himself up out of a manhole where there was none. There was form, but no depth. I could see the arms, the shoulders, pull this thing up out of the hole, but the "hole" actually" formed this thing. By the time it got to its feet, there was no mark left on the pavement. It was short, 4 and a half feet tall maybe. Other than the outline, there were no distinguishable features. The head was little more than a bump between broad, shaggy shoulders. It paused in a stance of forward intent. Imagine the shadow of a little troll warrior, with his head hung low, wearing shaggy furs, and a shape indicative of massive upper-body strength. No other features though, no face or anything, just the 2D profile, yet somehow it did seem to have depth almost, since it didn't really have edges either, like eve a shadow does. I guess it's just really hard to explain what a completely black 3D shadow looks like.

So it pulls itself out, gives a little hop, and pauses for as I see the shoulders move up and down once or twice as if it is breathing heavily. It emits no sound. Then it steps forward, quickly. Not a charge or a run, but as if with direct purpose. Almost like stomping forward, right at us. This all happened in less than five seconds I would say, and we were only steps away from the "stain" when it moved. It took four, maybe five steps directly at us.

Now here's where it gets really weird. My girlfriend and I spun in and let go of eachother's hand, as it seemed to be going between us. But it didn't go exactly between us. It was slightly more toward me, but it actually moved through both of us. I was instantly nauseous and cold. It's almost impossible to explain what it felt like. Imagine you actually had the sense of feeling in all of your internal organs, and then imagine what it would feel like if they were all packed with cold clay. That's sort of what it felt like. My girlfriend only got clipped on the side and limbs. She wasn't nauseous, just cold. As we spun and this thing moved through us, it stepped down, back into the ground, and completely disappeared.

We looked at eachother, the shock settling in. My brain raced to make sense of it. I was sure I was dreaming for a second. No, I could clearly remember everything about the day, nothing ethereal in my surroundings. I must have been hallucinating? I don't know what was more scary, the event itself or the looking into my girlfriend's eyes and sharing a mutual realization that this did just happen to us.

We barely made it to my house, just drained of energy. We briefly tried to explain to my mother what had happened before passing out on the living room floor. We slept through the rest of the day, that night, through the next day, and into the following night, without even bothering to drag ourselves to bed upstairs.

For a few days we talked about it with eachother. Trying to understand and accept that this really had happened to us as much as trying to figure out exactly what had happened to us. Then as days turned into weeks, life went on, and we completely forgot about it. There was nothing there to ground the memory in reality I suppose. But then one day, about a year later walking down the same street, the memory came rushing back to us at the same time. I trembled, her eyes welled up, and we swore to eachother to never forget again.

Jack, thankyou for sharing your story. Totally creeps me out. It will be interesting to see if anyone else has had this kind of experience.

reply to post by jackinthebox


I would say you had a shadow being encounter. I've seen them before, usually out of the corner of my eye. I don't think I've ever had one walk into me, and definitely never seen one come out of the ground.

Here's a few threads that may help you:

The Mysterious Shadow People: What are they?

Shadow men

Characteristic of the Shadow People


I hope you find what it is you are looking for.

reply to post by biggie smalls


Thanks, but I don't go looking for them. The only other time I've spoken about it outside my family, was when another member brought up their experience here on ATS. I never even knew such a phenomenon existed, so I really never knew how to talk about it. This wasn't a ghost. I would have been able to relate to something like that easier I think. Not much scares me, but this still does.

Been watching to much Spider Man?

reply to post by jca2005


Never saw it, besides, this took place loooong before that came out.

Nice story. This reminds me of a story my buddy told me once when he was a kid growing up in my area. Him and a couple of his childhood friends were riding their bikes around an empty parking lot in my neighborhood, after a good while, they all stopped and was resting behind the back wall. When all of a sudden, from what my buddy describe was but a face was forming out of the wall, from what he describe to me was that, this thing was dark green almost formless, like the shadow void thing in your story. Anyways, the 5 childhood friends watched in horror as this thing was forming out of the wall a couple of feet in front of them, He told me they all jumped on their bikes and rode out of there like if the devil was chasing them. Didn't even bother to look back, after riding off for a good while, they stopped and the first thing that came out of everyone mouth was, "did you see that?"....He told me they never bother telling anyone, adults probably think they were high or something. But the way he told me the story I could tell he wasn't lying. Anyways thought you guys might enjoy this story as well.

Great post Jack.

It reminds me of a True Tales story I read a few years ago. A lady and her mom were sitting on a porch swing one afternoon in front of her house just kind of chatting and enjoying the afternoon when this shadow man jumped from the roof and went straight into the gound feet first. There was no hole in the ground!

Spooky, just like your story.

I never forgot it because it scared the bajeebees out of me.

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), Hamlet, Act I, Scene 5

Daylight spooky!

Reminds one of the evil spirit in the Peter Jackson directed "The Frighteners"

Good movie!

Have you ever exhibited any other extrasensory powers, jack?

I once accurately predicted my winning of a door prize out of a theater full of people moments before my ticket was drawn.

I just had this overwhelming feeling that I was about to win and I told my friends, "I'm gonna be the next to win, I know it!"

I think I was as flabbergasted as my friends when my number was actually called.

It was a ten dollar gift certificate to a supermarket, which was really handy 'cause I was a starving student, and ten bucks went a lot further in the seventies.

Sorry for the off topic meandering, hope you never saw this thing again.

reply to post by goosdawg

Have you ever exhibited any other extrasensory powers, jack?

I have. I also have found that I am feared and avoided by people who have been witness to it, though I have no control over it or any particular advantage that might be applied in everyday life.

reply to post by jackinthebox


Damn straight, I wish I could predict Saturday's lotto numbers.

The old adobe house I recently leased had some strange activity, but it was mostly benevolent, actually playful at times; it liked to tickle the bare feet of the sleeping.

Although it never happened to me, motherofsquirrelkiller can vouch for the feet tickling; she was the first to be tickled.

Wow! What a creepy story. I would have really freaked out. Do you still talk to your friend?

Creepy.. The fact that two of you saw it only reinforces the proof that it really happened.

I have had paranormal experiences growing up in my parents house, which I now believe is haunted. I never saw a shadowman, but when something unexplainable happens theres no words to describe it. Im sure you seek answers for what happened only knowing you will never get them, as do I.

It is something you will never forget. It probably shaped the person you are today in one way or another, and hopefully that is a good thing.

The world is a mysterious place sometimes...

reply to post by Monteriano


I do not. It was a girl I came close to marrying, but we went our seperate ways after the breakup.

Actually I just posted an experience a buddy and I had as a kid on one of the other threads...

Basically I saw one of these "shadow people" when I was a little guy. My buddy Robby and I were riding our 4-wheelers around in some woods behind my grandfathers farmhouse in Arkansas. We stopped at a pond to skip rocks, and throw sticks and thing, and after a little while of doing this I saw this extremely black "man" watching us. I froze stiff. Robby noticed me and looked, he froze as well. After what seemed like hours(probably just a minute or so in actuality), it took a few steps toward us...we ran like little girls ...

We eventually went back and got our 4-wheelers and tore-ass back to the house. My dad tried to convince us it was just a shadow, or we were making it up...but to this day it still kinda spooks me...

I have never found, or even heard of anyone else having experienced this...I am so relieved that there are other people that have seen these things. I don't remember having the feeling it was malicious, but I know I was immediately terrified, and I'm sure Robby was as well. I have always thought it was a demon or something like that. I was pretty sure I was not supposed to see it, and for a long time I looked out for it to prove that I saw something. I have not seen one since...and Robby was killed in a car accident, drunk driving. I don't know if he ever saw another one either....

reply to post by daddymax


Thanks for posting. I think I stated above, that I had never heard of anything like this either until fairly recently.

I can't say wether or not this "thing" deliberatley meant us any harm specifically, or even that it was even necessarily aware of us. I can say though that it was not good, whatever it was.

The person who saw it with me went off the deep end so to speak, and I never see her anymore. Very bad story there. I hate to use the word "posession" but I can't help but think that incident sort of rubbed off in more ways than one. Our realtionship became violent and downright malevolent.

Weird... have seen these a few times but not usually directly. I can feel when they're there often... 'chills etc'. Best sighting I had was a shadow that moved directly in my vision (viewed through a 10-20cm gap in a door), only lasted a second or so and there was noone in the room (my girlfriends bathroom)... hehehe. Sometimes catch them in the corner of my eye but that could be a illusion/trick of the eye.

Hey Jack,

Did you feel an electric charge when it went through you? I ask because I had a similar event happen to me but it was invisible and made all my hairs on my body, face, and back shoot up. I also sensed it before it went through me and I also knew exactly where it went after. I felt negative emotions while this occured and it was almost like it was floating/hovering over the ground.

I am wondering what type of being this was because it had a high electric vibration. When it went through me it sounded like deep waves of energy.
Yours sounds like it was another type of being. Very interesting.

I was sleeping, and well.. I woke up randomly or I could still be sleeping and dreaming of waking up but it was in the night something like 3:00 (always 3 in the night... still freaks me out these days a few days back my laptop randomly played a song called cop killer at 3:00 scared the bejasus outta me even more cause the batteries actually were empty) anyway so i look around i see these small black things one sitting on my closet on playing with my pen and stuff and the other on my bed and ...I forgot... what happened after tthat but 1 thing they weren't bad things, more likely little kids if i think back and if i think like a retard, brothers and sisters of eachother i think there were like 7 of em.. sorry guys i forgot the rest.. since i couldnt have the balls to tell anyone else and seeing this made me think if it was real or not...

reply to post by lseekingtruthl


I could have sworn I posted a response to you at least a week ago, and now I come back to find it gone. Weird.

Anyway, no. I didn't get any sort of "electrical" sensation really, though I would certainly say that it was a very negative being, whatever it was.