#not paranormal but pretty scary

My Childhood: Frogs at the Vaile

This was a terrifying night at my favorite haunted site. It was 2000, and my mom decided to take me, my brother, and one of my school friends who was staying the night on a spooky drive without my dad. We started at the Vaile Mansion and parked in the lot so we could walk around the house grounds at night. I was walking ahead with my friend, talking and giggling, approaching the front of the house, when we heard a tree frog croak.

Then another tree frog answered from the trees. It was dark over there. Then the front tree frog croaked again and the one in the tree answered. My mom, who was several paces behind us. Called out “Girls,” and electricity shot down my spine. Her voice was filled with dread and immediately I stopped and turned back to her. She waved emphatically for us to get back to the van, now, with her other hand raise with a finger to her lips. We ran quietly.

Mom floored it and whipped around to the front of the house. There we saw a man dressed in dark clothing crouching behind the bushes at the front, and a man in similar gear leaning against the tree we had heard the croak from. My mom drove so fast I thought we would crash. She explained to us that she noticed that the croaks were identical and figured out it was a recording of frogs, not a real frog, and knew we were in danger. She called the police once we were a safe enough distance away hat she could calm down and think. To this day I heavily question the validity of natural sounds when I hear them repeated or answering each other, and listen for variances in tone or melody before letting my guard down.