Day 3

Diggs, Virginia - Old House Woods

Though the paranormal activity in these woods seems a little too fantastic, the reports were given by credible witnesses who have lived near-by the woods for years. Much of the lore is based on actual historical events that took place in or around White’s Creek, which is just beyond the woods. At the edge of the woods is a house, long ago abandoned that was said to have caught fire and then put itself out. There are just TOO many stories to relate but some of the characters attributed to this forest are headless dogs, a shrieking woman that comes out when it rains and floats above the trees, old merchants and pirates who had hid their stolen goods in the swampy woods, revolutionary soldiers, and last but certainly not least a large hole, possibly a swirling pond in the middle of the forest where people and animals are reported to disappear when they approach (which we now call The Void.)
We again had time to research the accounts and history of the woods during the day, which is where we learned much of this information in more detail in several books. I felt that the number of publications about the woods gave reasonable validation to the accounts. And then we were off!! The directions brought us to back-roads America, a few houses on each road, some wealthy houses, some broken-down houses, some trailers, some burned down houses with trailers in front all with a share theme of cluttered junk and/or car with varied disrepair. We suddenly became clear to us that local shotgun-toting hillbillies were as much a risk as malevolent spirits.
The remoteness of these woods, the stories and the incredibly creepy appearance set in my mind and Dave’s that we might not possibly survive this adventure. The night before I had a strange dream in which Dave and I encounter a woman spirit dressed in a black blouse and white dress on a beach....before I knew about the beach and before I knew about the shrieking woman. Running didn’t seem much an option against hostile forces with some ominous hole about ready to swallow us up. And reports also stated that many people had gone into the woods and were not seen again. We ate dinner, rested a bit, suited up and returned. We decided to take a beach route up north and then cut into the woods, that way we’d hit a haunting hot spot and avoid attention from the locals. Unfortunately the beach turned out to be private property, so crosses became just as risk, a risk we accepted. We quickly figured out that deep swamp was in our way of entering the woods and so we continued up the beach, looking for an entry way. At one point we could hear this strange sound, something in between the sound of dogs and birds, a relentless noise, coming from the forest. Though a little unsettling we continued. It actually made me more curious and in turn more anxious to see what the fuck was going on in these woods. Sensing nothing at White’s Creek, we took the one and only trail-way leading off of the beach. As we continued down the path suddenly the air became colder and then just as quickly Old House was there before us. I will admit at this point I was creeped out. Nevertheless we cut into the house’s yard and circled it until we were in the back. There was little chance of getting into the woods, because the yard was outlined with swampiness. Still we made a brief attempt, but the woods were so dense with brush we couldn’t get more than 20 feet in. I was getting frustrated now and asked Dave if he wanted to check out the house itself, which had been creeping the fuck out of me. I walked up and pointed my flashlight into one of the windows. Inside there was space heater. I inspected further to find a Rubbermaid trash can on the otherwise spooky porch. We left the house after that and walked the very long way back to the car. Upon walking back we saw something of a trail that lead into the woods and decided to return with the car, park nearby and enter. So there we were. Midnight. Full moon. In the middle of a haunted forest with big and small blades, a bottle of holy water and each a pentacle necklace. Asking the spirits to come out. Then mildly insulting them by telling some of the spirits that had been reportedly killed by Blackbeard there, that we had visited Blackbeard, and that he said they were pussies. And NOTHING! (Though we did come across a pond-like body of water that COULD have been the mysterious Void.)We left disappointed, but knowing we had done everything in our power to encounter the ghosts of Old House Woods. They just weren’t around. So much for the Old House Woods.

Also went to a run down airplane museum and jumped on a wing for photo op.