The Haunting of Preacher’s Rest
Note: This isn’t my story. I find true stories from comments all over the internet and rewrite them for clarity changing as little as possible. I am looking for patterns in paranormal encounters.
This remains my only truly eerie experience.
Despite my usual skepticism towards the supernatural, this encounter from early 2006 continues to baffle me. As a college student at VCU, I found myself on an impromptu ghost-hunting trip that turned into the weirdest night of my life.
It all began with a visit from an out-of-town friend. With nothing better to do, we decided to indulge in the ghost-hunting craze that was sweeping through TV at the time. I recalled a place called Preacher’s Rest in rural Tappahannock, VA, where I had previously gone with friends. The lore suggested it was an old house in the woods where a church once burned down with people inside. Intrigued, my friend agreed to check it out. We picked up another friend and her boyfriend, and the four of us set off for Tappahannock, an hour’s drive from Richmond.
Navigating the empty wooded roads was more challenging than expected. I hadn’t driven during my first visit and only remembered a general store with a strange Elvis statue out front. With my friend as the navigator, and the couple bickering in the back, we eventually reached a road that stretched out straight for about a quarter of a mile, dipping in the center before rising again.
As we descended into the dip, I spotted a deer on the opposite side of the road. Slowing down to avoid a collision, I immediately noticed something was wrong. The deer’s legs were twisted and knobby, and its posture seemed unnatural. As we drew closer, the creature lifted its head, and both my friend and I screamed in unison.
The deer had a man’s face. Its neck transitioned from fur to human skin, and its eyes were wide with surprise, as if caught off guard by our presence. Every detail of its face was disturbingly clear.
“Did you see that?!” I shouted to my friend.
“Yeah, it had a dude’s face!”
The couple in the back, preoccupied with their argument, missed the sight and struggled to grasp the bizarre scene we described.
After reaching a dead end, we had to turn around, meaning another pass by the spot where we saw the deer-man. This time, we were all on high alert. As we approached the dip, we saw something emerging from the trees on the passenger side — an adorable basset hound puppy. The couple urged me to stop for the puppy, but my instincts screamed that it was a trap. There was no way I was slowing down.
The question that haunts me isn’t just about the deer-man, which could perhaps be explained by disease or trick of the light, but why the puppy appeared in the exact same spot. What would have happened if we had stopped? I’ll never know, and perhaps it’s better that way. Some mysteries are best left unsolved.
Before you leave
- Did you know the clap counter goes up to 50?
- Check out my work on:
Twin Flames
Past Life Regressions
Human Design
