Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Sometimes Real Life is More Scary Than Fiction (Guest Post from Michelle of Castle Macabre).

I want to thank Michelle from The True Book Addict and Castle Macabre for guest posting.  Michelle has a true to life horror story.  Warning: This story is not for the faint of heart!


In May of 2003, I ran down to my van to load the diaper bag and stroller. My sons were still upstairs and I was trying to hurry. I opened the tailgate of the van to put the stuff in and I caught a whiff of a rotten smell. I sniffed at the inside of the van, thinking it might be coming from in there, but I soon realized it wasn't. I stepped to my right where an SUV was parked and noticed the smell got stronger. I thought to myself, "I bet they left some fast food in there and it has gone off." I'm not really sure why, but I walked up to the window to confirm my theory. What I saw before me will be forever burned into my memory.

As my eyes moved from the back of the SUV toward the front, the shock of what I saw sent me staggering backward. There, in the back seat, wrapped in a blanket and shoved down behind the driver's seat, was a dead girl. I could tell she had been there for days (not just from the smell) and that she had died a violent death. The blanket was splattered with dried blood. What most horrified me was the way she looked, like she had died in terrible agony.

Of course, I screamed and then I started crying. It was then that it dawned on me how violent people can be and how their utter cruelty can end someone's life. It's something we think we know, but we really don't until we're actually confronted with the reality of a violent death. Needless to say, I was absolutely hysterical. I called the apartment office and was screaming to them that I had found a dead body (they would be the ones to call 911). Then I ran upstairs and was on the phone with my husband, screaming and crying. My sons were upstairs during all this, but it really only happened in a matter of minutes, so when I burst in the door in tears and freaking out, they started freaking out too.

When the police finally came, I was told not to leave until I was questioned. Okay, there's more horror...worrying if you'll be considered a suspect. Silly to think that, I know, but it still enters the mind. Too many episodes of CSI, I guess. So, that was my horrifying real life experience. It's terrible to have your apartment parking lot turned into a crime scene and that horrific smell lingered for days, long after the body and vehicle were removed.

It turns out that the victim was not a girl, but a small woman, and her death was drug related. She got in with some bad people and was beaten to death in front of her 13 year old daughter. So sad. I will never forget that day. Once a person sees something like that, it's very hard not to remember. What I always think about when I am remembering is that no one deserves to die like that, no matter what they've done or what kind of life they've led. I saw that day how fragile is a human life and how the violence of another human being can take that life away, just like that, and then throw the body away like garbage. Again, so very sad.


Thank you for sharing that experience and I'm sorry you had to see that.  I think situations like this are exactly why we need Halloween and Horror movies/books.  They are a way to deal with the real horror that surrounds us.  I find it interesting that certain groups are against Halloween when there are other, valid terrors around us.

11 comments:

Michelle Stockard Miller said...

Thanks for having me! I hope my story doesn't scare people too badly!

Kate @Midnight Book Girl said...

Oh my God! That would freak me out, for all the horror loving book girl in me, real life stuff destroys me. And that fact that I misread the beginning and thought the poor woman was put into your car!

Michelle Stockard Miller said...

Kate, THAT would have been way, way more to handle! Yes, it was quite freaky!

Savannah said...

OMG! I would have totally freaked out. That must have been...just wow. Michelle, glad you made it through. I think I would have nightmares for weeks.

roro said...

OMG! I would have totally freaked out.

Bonnie Wilkerson said...

That WAS an awful moment in time. You had also called me at work in hysterics. I remember going by your apt. after work to check on you. The police were no longer there & the car had been towed away. You could still smell that horrifying smell. Not easy to forget such a thing!

Robin M said...

That was scary and a horrifying experience. However, all the elements to write a very scary fiction story. If you haven't already.

Midnyte Reader said...

This is not something anyone would expect to see. Definitely a scary *and* upsetting moment.

Michelle Stockard Miller said...

Thanks to everyone for stopping by and for your kind words. =O)

Ryan said...

Wow! I actually think you handled this way better than I think I would have. I can't imagine even having the frame of mind to call for help. What a horrific thing tohave happen around you. You continue to amaze me with your strength.

Michelle Stockard Miller said...

Thanks, Ryan! It was definitely a terrible experience. I guess I handled it well, but I didn't think so at the time. I know now to never approach a vehicle, or anything for that matter, with the smell of rot coming from it. Lesson learned!

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