I'm Bored with Talking About Traffic. Anyone in the Mood for a Local Ghost Story? (Reston: real estate, new home)

[Fairfax Mom]

I love ghost stories. More please.....

[Alicia Bradley]

Yes, keep 'em coming, normie! I may add some I remember from the Alexandria ghost tour if I have time over the next couple days.

Regarding "Bunnyman Bridge" in Clifton, there's a pretty good pseudo-historical 'documentary' on YouTube:


YouTube - The Legend of the Bunny Man

(Like, dude, it's the Bunny Man!)

[normie]

Beware the Haunted Traffic Cop on Fairfax County Parkway

Every day officers ticket the speeders on Fairfax County Parkway. They target the folks driving 60 and above. So if you get a ticket for driving 51 mph, take a close look at the name on the ticket. Chances are it's signed "I. M. Aghost" and you've just met the Haunted Traffic Cop of Fairfax County Parkway!

One night the Haunted Traffic Cop pulled over VRE332 for making an illegal turn. VRE got ticked off and spent the next day protesting about it on city-data. When the Haunted Traffic Cop saw this he became very angry. "A ghost is supposed to scare people," the ghost grumbled to his spectral self. "This guy isn't scared of me at all, he's just calling me an infestation. Like I'm no more scary than a bunch of ants in the kitchen."

And so he called a meeting of the other ghosts who haunt Fairfax County Parkway. There were ghosts of drunk drivers and ghosts who had run into deer, and a ghost who got hit one day while putting political signs up and down the median.

Together they went to VRE's house and woke him up with the warning "VRE.... VRE.... you will be attacked by 100 wolves!"

But VRE simply laughed. "Ha! And ha! And ha ha ha! There are no more wolves in Fairfax County."

That made the Haunted Traffic Cop angry. Not only was VRE not scared, but he was laughing! The ghosts decided to try again. They waited until VRE was in a deep sleep. Then, as the clock struck 3 a.m. they woke him up with loud screechings. "VRE.... VRE.... you will be attacked by 100 wolves!"

VRE looked the Haunted Traffic Cop right in the eye and laughed even more. "Ha! Now that I know you're nothing more than a ghost, go ahead and write all the tickets you want. They won't hold up in court because you can't make an appearance!"

That made the Haunted Traffic Cop very angry indeed. So the next day he pulled over VRE again. VRE took the ticket and began to tear it up... and as he did the other ghosts pulled up the political signs from up and down the median and began throwing them at VRE. One sign struck his head, another hit his chest, and soon signs were hitting him all over his body.

In minutes he was up to his waist in signs...and then a few minutes more VRE was completely buried. He died in that pile of political signs, which meant the ghosts' prediction had come true. He was indeed attacked by 100 signs sayings "Vote for Frank Wolf."

[juniperbleu]

Originally Posted by janie01

I would love a thread about local ghost stories, or any stories anyone may have about strange, spiritual, psychic etc. phenomenon that they have encountered.

My college roommate worked as an intern/ranger/don't-know-her-real-title at the Fredericksburg battlefield, which involved giving tours at the battlefields in Fredericksburg, Wilderness, Chancellorsville, and the Jackson Shrine. During the summer she would live in a park-owned house in the battlefield that was supposedly haunted. She didn't really think much about it, since older houses have their creaks and groans. That is, until she woke up in the middle of the night to see a man in grey staring at her. It really freaked her out, especially since the summer interns hadn't moved in yet so she was pretty much all alone. I think she said she might have seen him again, but she figured it was just curiosity over what some strange woman was doing sleeping in a battlefield.

She also lived in a house that is right in the cemetery next to the battlefield Visitor Center. It's supposedly haunted, but she didn't have any really bad experiences and shared a room with another intern just in case.

In college at Mary Washington we heard all kinds of stories, both from the town and the campus. Don't know how many of them are necessarily true, but they make good stories

[Samara11]

Originally Posted by normie

Beware the Haunted Traffic Cop on Fairfax County Parkway

LOL.

Thanks Normie for the other ghost stories, enjoyed them a lot.

[janie01]

juniperbleu, I love stories like that! I remember a few years back we were at the Gettysburg Battlefield with our two kids, one being a toddler at the time. We were in an area with many huge rocks that people were walking on and a stone tower. I was a nervous wreck because it didn't feel like a safe place for a toddler to run around. I kept yelling at my husband because he wasn't sharing my concern and I really felt my kids could get hurt. Finally I had enough and said we had to leave but my husband wasn't listening. My husband was standing still on one of the rocks when suddenly he just fell and sprained his ankle. I couldn't believe it and asked what had happened. He said someone pushed him! Well, no one was around him. We left immediately because he was so freaked out. We attributed the incident to a ghostly soldier who wanted to show my husband a lesson and say "listen to your wife and keep your kids safe!" This story isn't local but I thought I'd share anyway.

[ScranBarre]

Someone rep Normie for me for this uplifting thread on a night when I've been feeling horribly depressed! It won't let me! I think the moderators hate me now! WAHHHHH!!!

[normie]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

Someone rep Normie for me for this uplifting thread

Awww, thanks!

[normie]

The owner of Tarara Winery told me this story. It took place in Lucketts back in the 1960s.

The Haunted Rocking Chair

Back in the mid 1960s, a strange man arrived at the annual Purcellville flea market. He was driving an old truck that was overflowing with colorful, yet decrepit items. There were many boxes of rusty metal goods such as springs and old irons, twenty bundles of old magazines, a coat rack that had obviously once been broken and then poorly repaired, a rocking horse, a paint-stained shelf, and a rocking chair.

The man running the flea market was named Stanley. From the moment he checked the old man in, Stanley was attracted to the rocking chair. Something about the sight of this chair surrounded by so many decrepit goods gave Stanley a deep feeling of sadness. But very few customers stopped by the booth. Finally, Stanley could no longer bear it. He purchased the rocker himself.

Soon after that the vendor packed up his goods and left the flea market. "Why is he leaving so quickly?" Stanley wondered.

To be continued.....

[normie]

Stanley took the rocker home and placed it in his family room, near the fireplace. Later that night, he fell asleep on his couch while watching tv.

He awoke suddenly when the television turned off. Startled, he looked left and right, trying to figure out what had happened. Had there been a short circuit? No, the clock was still giving the correct time. Everything else seemed to be working.

Then he heard an odd creaking sound coming from near the fireplace. The hairs on his arms prickled, and he felt a cold sensation pass over him. The rocking chair was rocking on its own.

To be continued....