From: martyp@engin.umich.edu (Martin Pochmara)
Subject: Moody's Light
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 92 18:08:50 EDT
Organization: University of Michigan Engineering, Ann Arbor
Distribution: na
Keywords: Ghost, Modern, Weird

Some years back, during my first few years in college, there was a story
about Moody's Light. I was always skeptic of ghost stories, especially
ones that you could see, but now I believe. I saw this ghost, and
I haven't been the same since.

Legend has it, that some fifty years ago there was a farmer named 
Moody who lived outside a small town in Indiana. With him was
his wife and his two children whom he was very close to and loved
very dearly. Often, he would ride into town with his horse-drawn
carriage to get supplys for his farm. One October day he went on one of
his normal trips to town and returned about an hour before dusk.
He was surprised to find that his family wasn't around. He checked
around the house, in the barn, and called their names out to the fields
in all directions. 
Soon it became dark and he continued his search with the aid of an
oil lantern. He searched all the fields (there were no neighbors
within five miles) and up and down the road to his house. As he was
walking down the road near a large oak tree with a tire-swing attached
to it(his kids used to play on it), he noticed a trail of
blood that led into a cornfield. This was not less than 100 ft from
his farmhouse. Fearing the worst, he ran into the 
field frantically trying to find his family. And, sure enough,
he found his wife and his two children murdered in cold blood. Their
throats had been slit, and they had been stabbed numerous times.
Seeing his family slain in front of him, poor old Moody was terrified
and threw down his lamp. He must have gone crazy, because the next
thing he did was hang himself on the swing. Their bodies were found
a week later, but no one ever found out who killed the family or
farmer Moody for that matter. Some say he did it, others say
it was a person who was passing through the town after escaping
from prison near Chicago. Whatever the case, today, many people
claim to see the ghost of Moody walking up and down the road with
his lantern.
I went there a few times, the first time, I stood right next to the
oak tree (now a rather large stump) where everything had happened,
but I saw nothing. After hearing a few stories from some others
not too long after that, I went back with a friend. I stood for about
fifteen minutes seeing nothing, but then just as I was about to leave,
a saw a light about 100 yards away hover across the road. It stayed there
for a few seconds, but then started to slowly move towards me and my
friend. I thought I was seeing things, but my friend verified exactly
what I was looking at. It took about five minutes, but sure enough,
it came within fifty feet of us. At this time, I could make out a
human-like figure that seemed to glow from the light given off from
the lamp it (?) was carrying. The light from the lamp was definately
not fake, I saw it, and I saw it clearly. The figure never got brighter
than a dull (very dull) midnight blue. At about fourty feet, it 
disappeared into thin air. Needless to say, I got out of there very 
fast! I went back a few days later, but only with a large group of
people. We waited patiently for about fifteen minutes, and again,
about 100 yards away, the light appeared. It started moving
towards us, but stopped a good 50 yards away this time. I got into
my friends jeep and drove at the light. About twenty five yards from 
the light, it disappeared...we shined our flashlights everywhere, but
found nothing. I have gone back a few times since, and I have seen
the light again, but usually not closer than fifty yards. I have
heard many people tell stories of their encounters with Moody's Light,
and I believe them. I saw it too!

					Marty



Newsgroups: alt.folklore.ghost-stories