In The Realm of the Eerie & Unexplained: Volume 2: In The Realm of the Eerie & Unexplained, #2

By Cindy Parmiter

If true tales from the world of the unknown get your blood pumping, you've come to the right place. This collection includes accounts of cursed objects, a haunted cemetery, a doll that assumed the characteristics of its deceased owner, real-life encounters with sea monsters, an underground quarry inhabited by the spirits of those who once lived but live no more, ominous dreams that proved terrifyingly real, a phantom hitchhiker that stalks an isolated desert highway, mysterious creatures, a stretch of road that defies gravity, communications from beyond the grave and much, much more. As you peruse these pages, keep in mind that everyone's a skeptic until fate gives them a reason to believe. With that being said, let your journey into the eerie and unexplained begin.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cindy Parmiter
• Release date: May 24, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201429409

Book preview

Prologue

Strange events occur around us nearly every day, whether we choose to acknowledge them or not. This book features stories in which these instances were too chilling to ignore. Among them are accounts of cursed objects; a haunted cemetery; a doll that assumed the characteristics of its owner; sea monsters; an underground quarry inhabited by the spirits of the dead; ominous dreams that proved frighteningly real; a phantom hitchhiker; mysterious creatures; a stretch of road that defies gravity; communications from beyond the grave and much, much more.

As you peruse these pages, please do so with an open mind. Just remember that everyone’s a skeptic until fate steps in to change their mind. With that out of the way, let us begin.

Chapter 1:

The Thing on Applewhite Road

The area around the Old Applewhite Road Bridge in San Antonio, Texas has long been rumored to be the stomping ground of an ominous presence that strikes fear in the hearts of those unfortunate souls who cross its path. Those who have encountered it claim that, from the neck down, this otherworldly entity presents as a human female. Her head and face, on the other hand, are said to be those, not of a woman, but of a donkey.

The stage was set for this morbid tale in the 1950s when a farmer living on the outskirts of town suffered a complete mental breakdown. In the throes of a psychotic episode, he burned the family home to the ground, but not before trapping his wife and children inside. Unable to face up to what he had done, the man had then taken his own life.

Despite his best efforts to the contrary, the farmer’s wife managed to escape the raging inferno of his creation. Although she had survived, many who saw her afterwards whispered that she would have been better off dead.

Her features were said to have been so horribly disfigured by the incident that she was barely recognizable as human. As the story goes, her misshapen head, elongated by the unnatural tightening of what was left of her skin resembled that of a donkey. To add to her devastating injuries, she had also lost all of her fingers.

Following the tragedy, local lore has it that the lone survivor returned to the plot of land in Elm Creek where her family’s house had once stood. Having been condemned to die there by her spiteful spouse, she had settled in the debris, vowing to remain there for the rest of her life.

A pariah in the community through no fault of her own, the woman who could hide neither the physical nor emotional scars of her ordeal spent the ensuing years secreting herself away from those who treated her as an object of ridicule. It was only after her passing that she came out of hiding.

For reasons only she would truly know, in death, the withered soul adopted the role of guardian over the Old Applewhite Road Bridge. Time and again, travelers told of being run out of the area by a half-woman/half-donkey who would attack their vehicles, screaming all the while.

Some claimed that after they had put some distance between themselves and the crazy woman, they would get out and survey the damage. It was then that they discovered what looked like hoof prints in the metal.

Once word got out that a monster stood watch over the bridge, curiosity seekers went out of their way to provoke her. It was soon discovered that if one idled their car and laid on the horn, the woman, or whatever it was, would often emerge from the shadows in a rage. Her appearances became so frequent that the span was unofficially renamed Donkey Lady Bridge.

While many who had heard of the madwoman’s exploits dismissed the stories outright, others attempted to get to the bottom of who she was and why she was there. As a result, two accounts surfaced that may or may not explain her motives.

Evidence was uncovered that suggested that the badly scarred farmer’s wife had been set upon by a group of ruffians one day as she was leading a donkey she had raised across the bridge. After some words were exchanged, the men had proceeded to slaughter the animal. When she tried to stop them, they turned their spite on her, throwing her into the water below where she was believed to have drowned.  

In another version, the donkey was said to have bitten the son of a local businessman who was held in the highest esteem. When the man found out, he was allegedly so incensed that he killed the beast and when the family protested, he dispatched them as well. After completing the bloody deed, he had dragged the bodies inside the residence and set it ablaze. If this was true, then it hadn’t been the farmer who had murdered his family, but the irate pillar of the community.

Although the accounts differed, the end result was the same. In the chaos and confusion that followed their untimely deaths, the woman’s soul and that of the donkey had merged into a single entity hell bent on vengeance. If that was indeed the case, her fury has yet to be sated.

In 1987, a group of high school chums with nothing better to do decided to pay a visit to the bridge. Hoping for a little excitement, a handful of them piled into the car of a boy named Jim while several others opted to stay put.

Six hours later, the car returned. When those who had remained behind went out to greet their friends, they found the vehicle empty except for the driver whose face was as white as a sheet. They also noted, even in the darkness, that the vehicle had taken quite a beating.

Besides being covered with dents, the car’s windscreen was cracked in several places. Upon closer inspection, they found something even more disturbing. Smeared across the hood and running down the front end were copious amounts of what appeared to be blood.

Jim remained perfectly still as his friends surveyed the damage. Seemingly in a state of shock, he remained behind the wheel in a stupor. When he was finally able to speak, he explained that he and the others had set off walking into the woods shortly after arriving at the bridge. As they did so, they noticed a pair of eyes watching them from the tree line.

The girls who were present immediately thought better of the plan and high-tailed it back to the car with their male companions not far behind. As they were running along the path, a piercing scream erupted from within the woods.

No one dared turn to see what had let out the anguished cry; it was so animalistic that they didn’t want to come face-to-face with the source. Once they reached the car, they jumped in and locked the doors while Jim fumbled for his keys.

As they sat waiting for him to get them out of there, the sound of hooves pounding on the roadway could be heard coming straight for them. It was at that moment that the driver started the ignition and peeled out towards home. They thought they had dodged a bullet, but their ordeal wasn’t over just yet.

In the headlights, they could see a figure standing in the road in front of them. Jim said that he knew he had two choices. He could keep driving and risk running over whatever was blocking their path or stop and wait for it to move. He chose to barrel forward; come what may.

In a split second, the car struck the creature head-on. The impact had sent it hurtling over the roof. Having no desire to check on the condition of the injured party, Jim kept right on driving. Glancing into the rearview mirror, he was horrified to see that the looming form had righted itself and was in hot pursuit.

He floored the gas and got safely away from the irate thing on the bridge, but the events had left the teenagers traumatized. After hearing the story, those who hadn’t witnessed the happenings firsthand wanted to get a look at the mysterious being for themselves.

The foolhardy youths asked Jim to join them, but he informed them in no uncertain terms that nothing they could say or do would ever persuade him to return to those woods.

Determined to rub elbows with the Donkey Lady, they armed themselves with a shotgun and headed for the bridge in a pickup truck that was equipped with off-road lights powerful enough to illuminate the woods. Once they arrived at their destination, the boys scanned the area around the bridge. Although they didn’t see anyone or anything moving about, they did notice a large pool of blood on the road.

Setting out on foot, they found what appeared to be the impressions of hoof prints in the dirt. Other than that, the area was quiet. It was evident that if there had been a crazed donkey woman at the site earlier in the evening, she was gone now. With nothing there to see, they gave up and went home.

In another instance, a man told of a time when a teenage acquaintance