Hello Steemit,
Today started like a typical Tuesday.. but surely didn't end that way. We had no idea that we would be spending the majority of the night in the emergency room....but I digress
Anyways...my fiance and I are both free on Tuesdays and usually spend the day going on an adventure of sorts. After doing some research we found a few articles about a place called Satan's Hollow..
The story is that a huge storm drain in Blue Ash Cincinnati Ohio was once the meeting place of a Satanic cult. It is rumored that human sacrifices may have occurred here. Also, it is said that the cult successfully opened a portal to Hell. Let me add that it was now supposedly hidden in the woods of some private property and all visitors could be arrested on sight.
With some apprehension, we decided to take small road trip. The drive was about two hours, give or take. While on the way there, I had a vision of an accident. I couldn't shake the thought of freak accidents..I don't know any other way to explain it. It's like when you randomly think about something horrible happening for no reason...except it was a persistent though. I even had a quick discussion about freak accidents with Jenna during the ride. I suggested that anything can happen at any apparent time..she made the comment that maybe we should turn back and go to the safety of a bedroom..Netflix and Chill? Obviously that was not in the cards for today.
The thought didn't make me feel too well..
THE ARRIVAL
We arrived at the approximate location and decided to park at a nearby Taco Bell. We didn't know exactly where it was located but we knew that it was close by. Looking towards where we suspected it was located, we saw a small dense forested area near some new condos and a stream running through the middle. We hiked down behind the condos and walked along the stream until we found an opening into the storm drain..
Water was flowing rapidly out of the drain and I knew immediately that my shoes were about to get wet. We didn't drive all the way here for nothing.
We approach the threshold of the entrance and it is covered in vibrant graffiti.
The majority of the messages are suggestive of dark or satanic themes.
We both enter the drain and start walking into the abysmal darkness..
The first things I notice besides more graffiti are stalactites hanging from the ceiling. The condensation from the flowing water has formed small droplets on the top of the tunnel. These droplets tend to accumulate in the same areas and over a period of time, start to form crystals called stalactites (as opposed to stalagmites-which grow from the floor up). These crystals were small but numerous.
As we ventured further into this dark chasm of a tunnel, we noticed there were words spray painted on the wall. The first words that caught my eye read "This Way -------->" with never ending line leading into the blackness. It was inviting us to follow it into the tunnel. We obliged..
On the left was more graffiti that read "Don't Turn Around"..
We decided to bust out the camcorder and start recording some video. Unfortunately we do not have night vision yet but we did our best to light the way as we moved along. We kept moving forward until we reached the end of the first tunnel. On the left was another tunnel leading into more blackness... And directly in front of us, the graffiti line was disappearing into another tunnel.. We decided to follow the line..
Before we proceeded any further, we decided to do an EVP session at the entrance to this new tunnel. To anyone unfamiliar with EVP or Electronic Voice Phenomenon, it is a simple technique of capturing audio that can only be picked up by an electronic device.. It is thought that an electronic device can pick up frequencies that we cannot normally hear but when played back becomes audible.
I pulled out the recorder, plugged in my headphones and hit record. After a few moments, I spoke the words "Is there anyone out there who wishes to speak to us"? I didn't hear anything at first so I spoke a similar phrase again. This time I started to hear what sounded like voices through the headphones. I couldn't make out any of the words at this point and truthfully I wasn't convinced that it couldn't be the flowing water and traffic overhead. We keep the recorder going but we press on.. As I look into the darkness, I felt like I could see something, maybe it was more of a feeling that something sensed our presence.. We walked on as the shadows enveloped us from every angle. I started to find it harder and harder to take steps forward. My bones were telling me to turn back but I knew objectively that I must keep moving.
We entered into the tunnel which was smaller than the area we were in previously. It was only big enough for us to walk single file. The water was running through the middle so I had to walk with my legs spread wide. The uneasiness was building with every step..
I actually wanted to turn back at one point.. which is not like me at all..
I rarely get frighentened to the point of wanting to turn back and not press forward..
I kept my mouth shut though and pressed on. Within a few min, the temperature felt like it was dropping and I was getting cold, uncomfortably cold. I mean, we were in a dark tunnel, so I'm not saying it was necessarily paranormal but knowing now what I was about to see.. I think most of my feelings were accurate.
We reached another split where we could either go left or go right.. We decided to enter the left tunnel and follow it until it deadended. When we reached the end there was a ladder. The ladder led up to a a manhole cover that opened into the street adjacent to the ladder was another tunnel. The tunnel was about 10 feet up in the air, built into the dead end wall...
If we went up the ladder a few steps, we could look into the tunnel.
Jenna decided to go up first..
I told her to take the sound recorder up with her.
Open reaching the tunnel opening, she looked in..
After a few moments she came back down.
It was my turn..
I took the cam corder and the sound recorder and climbed the ladder to the best of my abilities with my hands full.
I gazed into the tunnel.
Jenna looks up at me and says "what?!"
I mumbled some incoherent words resembling something like "I think Umm.. There's ah some.. Thing......... Holy Shit!!!!!
Let me just pause for a moment and objectively describe what I saw.
For one, I only document what is tangible, viewable, and recordable.. I want to be a believer but I'm often the skeptic.. If someone told me what I'm about to tell you.. I wouldn't believe them. I would think to myself that the person probably think they saw something but there was a reasonable explanation...but I digress
I noticed that the end of the tunnel had a light shinning down, illuminating a small area. I saw the light rays wavering and flickering as if there was some movement off to the sides.. For a moment I just assumed it was probably running water..
But...
Then I saw it.
Let me remind you that the legend states that the shadow man guards these tunnels like a hall monitor from hell, sent here to guard a portal created by mindless humans that didn't know what they were getting into.
I'm Not saying that I saw the shadow man.. But what I saw is still haunting the darkness beyond my eyes..
Around the corner of the distant tunnel end came a black figure...
Now it wasn't a shadow or another flicker...
A huge humanoid shape emerged from the darkness and walked into the light... Immediately I told myself that I was seeing the impossible.. There was no way that I was looking at a... A monster? A demon? A ghost?
I leaped off of the ladder and grabbed Jenna's hand and basically said "let's get the Fuck out of here"..
This is where we had a unexpected twist to the story..
Jenna turns to run and bashes her head into the wall...
Fear turns to panic quickly as she yells out"i hit my head really hard, I think I'm bleeding".. Unbeknownst to me, blood started dripping down her face occulding the sight of her right eye
... Now she's stunned and yelling that she can't and I can hear the fear in her voice.. I was in fight or flight mode and grabbed her hand harder and pulled her towards the exit... We needed to get out of there..
I wasn't about to wait for the shadow man or his brother to make a face to face....
We emerge from the Satan's hollow and the light strikes her face
At this point we decided that we needed to go to a hospital... We even Considered calling an ambulance... She was in pain.. And we had to walk in public back to the car.. It may have looked like a just beat the hell out of my fiance and that we were just walking along like nothing happened... Right as we start heading out of the woods, I see a young man and woman.. Here for similar reasons.. Minus the recording equipment. They were nice and offered their help and support. We struggled getting back up to the side walk as the ground was slippery and muddy. We rushed back to the car and headed to the nearest hospital.
This story ended with my now wife- having a severe concussion and being scarred for life... I don’t know that she’d ever go back to those tunnels.
But I would..
Those tunnels are still out there waiting to be explored... do so at your own risk!
Thanks everyone,
