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February 22, 1928

He was merciless and kind.

 

On February 22, 1928, the stranger walked in from the direction of Gods’ Hollow.

At shortly after 9 AM, he walked down the center of the street. He was a tall man, his clothes worn and ragged, and he looked at the buildings as if searching for something.

When 9:17 AM came about, he stopped and opened his jacket, revealing a pair of old, Colt Navy revolvers carried in high-hip holsters.

As the police were fetched, a trio of large, black Fords rolled into town, coming to a stop at the Cross train station. 26 members of Samuel Mariner family, traveling from Westford to ride the train into Boston, exited the vehicles and walked towards the station’s doors. The youngest member of the Mariner clan was Silas, age two, and the eldest was Samuel Mariner senior, age 77.

Before the first member of the family reached the station’s steps, the stranger drew his weapons and opened fire.

According to the official police report on the incident, the stranger fired a total of 48 rounds in the space of two minutes. He used fully loaded cylinders to serve as quick reloads, and when he was finished, every member of the Mariner family was dead or dying in front of the station.

As the police and the residents attempted to find a way to stop him, the stranger reloaded his weapons, walked up to the downed Mariner family, and proceeded to put a bullet in the head of each one.

Three Cross police officers and nine residents were wounded when they sought to stop the butchery.

Finally, when all the violence seemed to be over, the stranger walked up to Samuel Mariner senior and said in a loud, clear voice, “I told you I’d kill you all.”

The echo of the final shot followed the stranger back to Gods’ Hollow.

#CrossMassachusetts #fear #scary #death #secrets #murder #writersofinstagram #history #nightmare #horror

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February 21, 1939

Where do nightmares come from?

 

Do they come from our thoughts and fears? Perhaps memories or experiences, both real and imagined, supply the fodder.

Or perhaps there is something far more sinister at work than base reality and chemistry.

On February 21, 1939, the citizens of Cross found a possible answer.

It came in the form of an abandoned building, one they had never seen before, and which sprang into existence on an island in Blood Lake.

Lead by Duncan Blood, a group of twenty men and women crossed the lake on foot, climbing up the steep sides of the island’s bank. Each was armed with a rifle and a handgun, and no one knew what to expect.

Cross, as they all knew, had a way of surprising everyone.

The building they explored did not disappoint them.

It had once housed a mail order business, although from what concurrent timeline they did not know. But what they discovered was that the business supplied nightmares. A sample catalog found in a foreman’s office listed nightmares from the mundane to the terrifying, ‘a nightmare for every price range,’ as the advertisement went.

Children could buy nightmares to terrorize classmates and peers. Adults could assail their enemies with sleepless nights and thoughts of suicide.

Deep within the storerooms of the business, the group from Cross found some of the nightmares. These boxed terrors were carried outside and burned, and upon the group’s return, the town kept watch on the building.

The abandoned business remains, and somehow nightmares continue to appear in their neat, cellophane wrapped boxes.

Not all the nightmares are destroyed, and not all who suffer from them survive.

#CrossMassachusetts #fear #scary #death #secrets #murder #writersofinstagram #history #nightmare #horror

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February 20, 1873

Do you wonder who’s knocking within the walls of your home? 

In February of 1873, Theodore and Alice Cook were more than curious about the knocking they heard in the parlor’s walls. 

They had purchased the home in January of 1872, and there had been no trouble previous to February 1 of 1873.
On February 20, after 19 days of incessant knocking, Theodore – a normally calm and sedate gentleman – lost his temper and began to tear apart the parlor. He began on the southern wall, tearing the horsehair plaster down in his quest to discover the origin of the noise. 

As he moved from one wall to the next, the sound increased in tempo and volume, until it drowned out the sound of the hammer Theodore used. 

Finally, when he reached the eastern wall, Theodore found the source. 

A small door, hidden beneath the plaster. 

From the opposite side of it came the noise. 

Alice entered the room and stood among the debris with her husband, staring at the door. In silence, she reached forward, took hold of the small doorknob, and opened the door. 

Beyond it, in a narrow room, was a small child who was cheerfully banging blocks and toy animals around.  

The room was windowless, and there was neither food nor drink for the child.  

When he looked at the Cooks, he smiled, laughed, and continued to play. 

They named him Alexander, and he lives in the Cook home still. 

Those few who know his story wonder if he will ever die. Some have even been brazen enough to ask. 

Alexander merely smiles, winks, and replies, “I’ll out live you.” 

#CrossMassachusetts #horror #death #missing #fear #scary #nightmare #newengland #secrets 

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February 18, 1927

Books are doorways to new worlds.

But what if they’re doors which should never be opened?

Mary Sebastian was a precocious and intelligent child of 9 when she received a book titled, A Child’s History of Cross from her Aunt Fiona. Mary’s father found the book to be a strange gift since there wasn’t any sort of book written about Cross.

His sister, with whom he had a poor relationship, had included a note to Mary. Simply put, the note told Mary not to share her book with anyone. Especially not her father or mother.

Mary was devoted to her aunt, and always cherished the presents the woman sent. So, when Aunt Fiona said not to do something, Mary’s parents knew better than to attempt to countermand the woman’s statement.

The following morning, Mary packed the book to share with her class at Cross Elementary, despite her father’s wish that she didn’t.

When Mary arrived at school that morning, February 18, 1927, she called her classmates over and showed them the book. Several of the children let out pleased screams, and one little boy burst into tears before running away.

Concerned, Mary’s teacher went to see what the issue was, and she saw that Mary held a pair of snakes in her hands.

According to Mary, the snakes had come from the interior of the book, where they lived.

When her doubting teacher demanded that she show her, Mary opened the book and placed the two snakes upon a page titled, The Snakes of Cross.

The two reptiles curled around one another to form a ring, and Mary closed the book as though there was nothing in the way.

Shocked, her teacher took hold of the book, opened it to the same page, and saw the snakes printed upon there.

A moment later the teacher screamed as the snakes crawled up and out of the book, curling around Mary’s small hands.

#CrossMassachusetts #fear #scary #death #secrets #murder #writersofinstagram #history #bad

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February 15, 1931

Imelda Mae was a brilliant artist.

She was one of the few female artists invited to teach at the Cross branch of Miskatonic University.

Her use of colors and space on her canvases was a wonder to behold. There were times when viewers felt as though they could reach out and touch her subjects, whether those subjects happened to be still-lifes or – her preferred – the portraits of children.

While Imelda was unmarried and childless, she was able to draw upon a deep, maternal vein within herself. From there she painted with a poignancy few could match.

Imelda’s private studio was in an old barn off Northwood Road, a road often traveled, but one that had only a few homes upon it.

At all hours of the day and night, she could be found working in her studio, one canvas or another in the process of being completed. Imelda never minded an interruption, nor did she ever turn away a hungry guest or inquisitive student. She always showed any who asked how she went about preparing her paints and cleaning her brushes, the best way to use light to draw out the subtle nuances of a piece of still life.

Imelda Mae was one of the university’s finest acquisitions in the art department, and she blended in seamlessly with the other staff members.

It was shocking to all, then, that Imelda vanished on February 15th, 1931.

Concerned that she might have injured herself, several of her students hurried over to her home and never recovered from what they witnessed there.

In a room over her studio, they found where Imelda mixed her paints, and what she mixed them with.

Ground bones were in a small mortar and pestle while blood was carefully gathered into sealed containers.

The half-finished portrait of a child stood by her work table. On the floor was a pile of bloody children’s clothes, which matched those upon her painted subject.

On the counter was a small index card which read, Nathan, age 5, taken in Boston.

#CrossMassachusetts #fear #scary #death #secrets #murder #writersofinstagram ##history #bad

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February 14, 1940

Love is a dangerous emotion.

Lincoln Verne could readily testify to that fact.

Born in 1919 on March 3rd, Lincoln was undeniably the most handsome man in Cross. In addition to his good looks, Lincoln was genuinely pleasant and mild-mannered. He had literally given the shirt off his back to a man in need, and he would cheerfully do so again.

It was with some disappointment, then, that the young ladies – and some of the older ones – received the news that Lincoln had found himself a beau. Who the mysterious woman was no one knew, all they did know was that he was completely and utterly enamored with her.

At the end of January 1940, Lincoln began preparations. He intended to propose to his beloved on her birthday, February 14th. He purchased a ring and a gold necklace to celebrate her birthday.

On February 14th, he greeted the early morning train from Boston, where a young woman, clad all in white, walked arm and arm with him to his small apartment above Von Epp’s Books.

Shortly after lunch, the young woman was seen leaving the building and returning to the train station.

Once the train had departed, several customers and one of the clerks in Von Epp’s heard a moaning sound from Lincoln’s rooms. Concerned, they went up the back stairs and found the doorway open.

Lincoln was at his table, the gifts spread out before him, and a look of horror on his face.

Not only had she refused his proposal, but she had stolen his youth.

According to Lincoln, she had said no, and then gave him a conciliatory kiss. When their lips met, he felt his energy drain from him, and within minutes he was left exhausted and defeated.

When Lincoln was later examined by the doctor, that esteemed physician stated that Lincoln was no longer a youth of 20, but an old man of at least 92.

Lincoln lived long enough to see his 22nd birthday, and a beautiful young woman in white attended the burial.

#CrossMassachusetts #fear #scary #death #secrets #murder #writersofinstagram ##history #bad

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February 11, 1925

Cross breeds survivors.

There is no other way to put it.

Dark and fell creatures emerge, trying the intellect and strength of the townsfolk. Some people survive the experience; others do not.

Ian Dylan survived.

Born in 1880, Ian left his home in Cross at the age of 15 and traveled the world. Eventually, he returned to Cross, working as a cook.

On the rare occasion when out-of-towners arrived to hunt some tract of land or hike the wilderness, Ian Dylan would be called upon to cook their food for them. He was a master of creating dishes from what seemed to be nothing more than wild herbs and whatever was brought into the camp.

On February 11, 1925, Ian was with members of the Wheeler family at their basecamp near the edge of Gods’ Hollow. The elder sons and fathers had gone off to hunt for dinner, leaving the younger boys with Ian. Ian had cooked for the Wheelers in the past, so they were familiar with him, and they trusted him.

An act for which the boys’ mothers were eternally grateful.

At five in the evening, when the hunters had yet to return, Ian gathered the younger boys – ten in all – to him, and he spoke of his life to keep them entertained.

It wasn’t until seven that the first of the fathers returned, and he came back dead.

The man’s throat was slashed, and his lips were a bright red, and when he saw the boys, he charged straight toward them.

Ian removed the father’s head with a cleaver, and before the body hit the forest floor, the rest of the hunting party arrived.

For nearly an hour, Ian fought the undead members of the Wheeler family, beating them back and removing heads whenever possible. By dawn, only he and the boys remained.

The fathers and elder sons, all of them, were dead.

Ian Dylan’s body is buried in the private graveyard of the Wheeler family, and it bears a single inscription.

Protector.

#CrossMassachusetts #fear #scary #death #secrets #murder #writersofinstagram ##history #bad

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