10-31-2021, 06:48 PM
Greetings all! I have a scary but true story that happened almost 30 years ago that involves witches. These were not your friendly, run of the mill Wiccan witches but something else altogether!
Growing up there was a road north of town called Four Oaks Ranch Road- it still exists today, and I know several people who live down that road. The road follows part of the Neches River in SE Texas. There used to be a beautiful old pre-Civil War house along a previously deserted stretch of the road that at different times served as many things: main ranch house, make shift field hospital, prohibition speak easy, fine dining and event center, etc., but most of the time remained deserted. Many people and organizations put lots of time and money into refurbishing the old house only to walk away from it in the end. Now the house is gone, which is part of my story.
Growing up there were always rumors of a coven of witches who held their rituals and ceremonies in the old house. I never thought much about them. In a small town the rumor mill can get pretty wild, also for years my mother was a practicing Wiccan so I figured if there WERE witches they were probably harmless and honoring the goddesses and gods of nature. No biggie, right?
In the Summer of 1992 I got an unexpected weekend without the kids. My boyfriend (now ex-husband) and I didn't have any money but what we DID have was a case of beer, a couple of joints and a brown paper grocery bag full of fireworks that my dad had brought back from a trip to Mexico. Since we couldn't pop off fireworks in the city limits we decided to head out to Four Oaks Ranch Road as there are a couple of small day parks along the river, one being cat-a-cornered across the road from the old ranch house. We had just enough gas to barely get there and back in my old 1966 Chevy truck. We iced down the beer, grabbed the joints, fireworks, a small boom box, lawn chairs and a can of Deep Woods Off and headed out.
We smoked part of one of the joints on the drive out there, windows down and music playing. When we got to the ranch house there were two cars there. Odd, but didn't think much of it. As soon as you pass the house on the left the road makes a sharp turn to the left and the drive to the day park is in the middle of that turn but on the right and dips sharply down to a small clearing- if you didn't know the area you couldn't find it, and also you would possibly drive off straight into the river if you didn't stop in time.
We stopped, unloaded our stuff and began to have fun. Popping fireworks over the river, dancing in the moonlight, getting our buzz on, just having a good time. But every once in a while we heard car doors. This was really strange considering we were in the middle of the country on a one lane, barely paved road. We couldn't see what was going on because we were so far below the road but we were hearing more and more cars stopping and car doors slamming like they were parking closer and closer to where we were. Then came the headlights and we could see cars parking on the edge of the road right above us, followed by people walking through the trees coming downhill toward us.
Suddenly I looked at my boyfriend and brought up the stories we had heard growing up about the witches and he said that we should leave before they get pissed off and quickly loaded our stuff. We jumped in the truck and got up the hill to get on the road before the people coming through the trees made it to us. As we pulled onto the road there were cars and trucks bumper to bumper lining both sides of the road and the front yard in front of the old ranch house was full of cars. We had to drive extremely slow because there was barely enough room to drive between the vehicles and since we were nearly out of gas gunning the motor might have left us stuck in the middle of them.
There were people standing beside and between the vehicles, some wearing hooded black robes, some hoods up and some down, and people in front of the ranch house in robes as well. They all stood silently staring at us with looks of pure hatred on their faces- and some were holding large knives! It was walking (or rather driving) the gauntlet in the truest sense- these people radiated hatred and loathing toward us and many we passed within mere inches! As we got directly in front of the ranch house we could see the doors and windows were flung wide open and the front, southernmost room was lit up with hundreds of candles and we could see a large, black pentagram on the floor of the room. The hair was already standing up on the back of my neck but when I saw that I got the most horrible feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. I knew these people were not Wiccan but something dark and evil!
Fortunately we made it out of there but the fear we felt followed us. My truck was highly recognizable because besides being a "66 it was also every color of the rainbow. I had bought the truck from my dad who used it to test out different colors of spray paint for his other projects. In a small Texas town it stood out like a sore thumb. We were afraid those people might come after us later. We took back roads all the way home, there was no way we were driving through town where anyone could follow us home. We spent a long and frightful night, peeking out of the window every time we heard a sound. We eventually fell asleep after the sun finally rose.
When I woke up it was around lunch time. I turned on the television and the news at noon report was on. When I saw what was on I quickly woke my boyfriend. The old ranch house had mysteriously burned down to the ground- nothing left but a few concrete foundation blocks! We both started freaking out! One of my boyfriend's buddies showed up right then knocking on the door. We told him what happened and he told us not to tell anyone else and to trust no one! He said he knew someone who had a run in with them and they made his life a living Hell with one bad thing after another happening- including his house burning down and his children being taken away. We knew immediately who he was talking about (small town) and knew the guy had even gone to prison after being framed as a drug dealer (he wasn't one).
We kept our mouths shut for years afterward and even after years only told a handful of people, including our children when they got older so they would be aware of how evil can thrive even in a small town in the middle of the Bible Belt. For years afterward we experienced a lot of bad things including being harassed by the police and by Child Protective Services even though we had done nothing wrong just to name a few. I wont even get into the paranormal stuff, it still gives me nightmares occasionally.
The stories we all heard growing up contained tales of babies being sacrificed. I never believed those tales until I saw on the news that the house was burned to the ground, from then on I believed it. I think they were afraid we would talk and burned it down to cover any evidence. Funny thing is we didn't recognize anyone which is extremely odd for such a small town. To this day I wonder if they somehow disguised their appearances using some kind of magic because all we could remember was if they looked male or female and the look of pure hatred on their faces.
The land was sold several years later and now houses and mobile homes full of families occupy the land where the house used to sit. The ancient live oak trees the ranch was named for were still standing last time I drove down that road but due to hurricanes may be gone now. I hope not, they were beautiful!
About a month ago one of my daughters found a Youtube video that mentions the witches at the old ranch house toward the end. She asked me why didn't I contact the makers of the video and tell them my story but I replied that I never would. I may have moved far away but I have many loved ones still in the area and it is better to be safe than sorry. Someone could find the story here at RN but the chances are very slim, hopefully if they do they will understand that we remember no faces and no official report ever was nor ever will be made.
So now you know my story. While most witches work for good there are also a minority out there who work for evil. If you ever happen to run across them get the heck out of there as fast as you can and keep your mouth shut! I can only imagine the things that might have happened if we had gone public with the incident. As it stands it was just a "mysterious fire" of a historic building that was never further investigated and has faded into old memories.
The video:
The day park (pic current not as at time)
Four Oaks Day Use Area
![[Image: Day-Park.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/QPgMd8M/Day-Park.jpg)
Sorry but could not find any pictures of the old ranch house. It burned down before the internet was even available in my hometown. I thought maybe someone might have uploaded an old pic from before the fire but if they have I couldn't find it.
Happy Halloween everyone!
Growing up there was a road north of town called Four Oaks Ranch Road- it still exists today, and I know several people who live down that road. The road follows part of the Neches River in SE Texas. There used to be a beautiful old pre-Civil War house along a previously deserted stretch of the road that at different times served as many things: main ranch house, make shift field hospital, prohibition speak easy, fine dining and event center, etc., but most of the time remained deserted. Many people and organizations put lots of time and money into refurbishing the old house only to walk away from it in the end. Now the house is gone, which is part of my story.
Growing up there were always rumors of a coven of witches who held their rituals and ceremonies in the old house. I never thought much about them. In a small town the rumor mill can get pretty wild, also for years my mother was a practicing Wiccan so I figured if there WERE witches they were probably harmless and honoring the goddesses and gods of nature. No biggie, right?
In the Summer of 1992 I got an unexpected weekend without the kids. My boyfriend (now ex-husband) and I didn't have any money but what we DID have was a case of beer, a couple of joints and a brown paper grocery bag full of fireworks that my dad had brought back from a trip to Mexico. Since we couldn't pop off fireworks in the city limits we decided to head out to Four Oaks Ranch Road as there are a couple of small day parks along the river, one being cat-a-cornered across the road from the old ranch house. We had just enough gas to barely get there and back in my old 1966 Chevy truck. We iced down the beer, grabbed the joints, fireworks, a small boom box, lawn chairs and a can of Deep Woods Off and headed out.
We smoked part of one of the joints on the drive out there, windows down and music playing. When we got to the ranch house there were two cars there. Odd, but didn't think much of it. As soon as you pass the house on the left the road makes a sharp turn to the left and the drive to the day park is in the middle of that turn but on the right and dips sharply down to a small clearing- if you didn't know the area you couldn't find it, and also you would possibly drive off straight into the river if you didn't stop in time.
We stopped, unloaded our stuff and began to have fun. Popping fireworks over the river, dancing in the moonlight, getting our buzz on, just having a good time. But every once in a while we heard car doors. This was really strange considering we were in the middle of the country on a one lane, barely paved road. We couldn't see what was going on because we were so far below the road but we were hearing more and more cars stopping and car doors slamming like they were parking closer and closer to where we were. Then came the headlights and we could see cars parking on the edge of the road right above us, followed by people walking through the trees coming downhill toward us.
Suddenly I looked at my boyfriend and brought up the stories we had heard growing up about the witches and he said that we should leave before they get pissed off and quickly loaded our stuff. We jumped in the truck and got up the hill to get on the road before the people coming through the trees made it to us. As we pulled onto the road there were cars and trucks bumper to bumper lining both sides of the road and the front yard in front of the old ranch house was full of cars. We had to drive extremely slow because there was barely enough room to drive between the vehicles and since we were nearly out of gas gunning the motor might have left us stuck in the middle of them.
There were people standing beside and between the vehicles, some wearing hooded black robes, some hoods up and some down, and people in front of the ranch house in robes as well. They all stood silently staring at us with looks of pure hatred on their faces- and some were holding large knives! It was walking (or rather driving) the gauntlet in the truest sense- these people radiated hatred and loathing toward us and many we passed within mere inches! As we got directly in front of the ranch house we could see the doors and windows were flung wide open and the front, southernmost room was lit up with hundreds of candles and we could see a large, black pentagram on the floor of the room. The hair was already standing up on the back of my neck but when I saw that I got the most horrible feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. I knew these people were not Wiccan but something dark and evil!
Fortunately we made it out of there but the fear we felt followed us. My truck was highly recognizable because besides being a "66 it was also every color of the rainbow. I had bought the truck from my dad who used it to test out different colors of spray paint for his other projects. In a small Texas town it stood out like a sore thumb. We were afraid those people might come after us later. We took back roads all the way home, there was no way we were driving through town where anyone could follow us home. We spent a long and frightful night, peeking out of the window every time we heard a sound. We eventually fell asleep after the sun finally rose.
When I woke up it was around lunch time. I turned on the television and the news at noon report was on. When I saw what was on I quickly woke my boyfriend. The old ranch house had mysteriously burned down to the ground- nothing left but a few concrete foundation blocks! We both started freaking out! One of my boyfriend's buddies showed up right then knocking on the door. We told him what happened and he told us not to tell anyone else and to trust no one! He said he knew someone who had a run in with them and they made his life a living Hell with one bad thing after another happening- including his house burning down and his children being taken away. We knew immediately who he was talking about (small town) and knew the guy had even gone to prison after being framed as a drug dealer (he wasn't one).
We kept our mouths shut for years afterward and even after years only told a handful of people, including our children when they got older so they would be aware of how evil can thrive even in a small town in the middle of the Bible Belt. For years afterward we experienced a lot of bad things including being harassed by the police and by Child Protective Services even though we had done nothing wrong just to name a few. I wont even get into the paranormal stuff, it still gives me nightmares occasionally.
The stories we all heard growing up contained tales of babies being sacrificed. I never believed those tales until I saw on the news that the house was burned to the ground, from then on I believed it. I think they were afraid we would talk and burned it down to cover any evidence. Funny thing is we didn't recognize anyone which is extremely odd for such a small town. To this day I wonder if they somehow disguised their appearances using some kind of magic because all we could remember was if they looked male or female and the look of pure hatred on their faces.
The land was sold several years later and now houses and mobile homes full of families occupy the land where the house used to sit. The ancient live oak trees the ranch was named for were still standing last time I drove down that road but due to hurricanes may be gone now. I hope not, they were beautiful!
About a month ago one of my daughters found a Youtube video that mentions the witches at the old ranch house toward the end. She asked me why didn't I contact the makers of the video and tell them my story but I replied that I never would. I may have moved far away but I have many loved ones still in the area and it is better to be safe than sorry. Someone could find the story here at RN but the chances are very slim, hopefully if they do they will understand that we remember no faces and no official report ever was nor ever will be made.
So now you know my story. While most witches work for good there are also a minority out there who work for evil. If you ever happen to run across them get the heck out of there as fast as you can and keep your mouth shut! I can only imagine the things that might have happened if we had gone public with the incident. As it stands it was just a "mysterious fire" of a historic building that was never further investigated and has faded into old memories.
The video:
The day park (pic current not as at time)
Four Oaks Day Use Area
Sorry but could not find any pictures of the old ranch house. It burned down before the internet was even available in my hometown. I thought maybe someone might have uploaded an old pic from before the fire but if they have I couldn't find it.
Happy Halloween everyone!
"As an American it's your responsibility to have your own strategic duck stockpile. You can't expect the government to do it for you." - the dork I call one of my mom's other kids
![[Image: Tiny-Ducks.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/10JR2fC/Tiny-Ducks.jpg)
![[Image: 14sigsepia.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/9yxWwxj/14sigsepia.jpg)
