The Villagers Always Warned Us About The Big Black Dogs That Came Out At Night.

BBR Listener Earth Smoke: "I had a weird experience myself on New Year’s Eve in 1999 that I’d like to share with you Deborah. That year I went home to Ireland to spend Christmas with my family. It was nothing unusual, the typical family stuff. Anyway, New Year’s Eve came around and I got a bit bored with the TV, so just before midnight, I fancied going outside for a walk. I didn’t walk that far, I just trudged through the snow down to the little crossroads about 100-200 yards from my parents house. When I got there I could’ve heard a pin drop. It was gorgeous to just stand there taking in the silence. To give you an idea of how quiet it was in rural Ireland that night, when it struck New Year, I could clearly hear the cheers, celebrations and fireworks from a little town 8 miles away! 

After I’d been standing there for a period of time, I don’t know why, but I got the urge to pray to all 4 cardinal directions, North, South, East and West. I said the prayer and changed direction to face each direction as I prayed and I’d just began the third prayer - not sure which direction I was facing - when, about 10 feet away from me, I heard the foot steps of a VERY big, very heavy animal appearing out of nowhere. Let me explain better, I didn’t hear these footsteps coming from a distance, you know, starting quietly, gradually getting louder and louder as they approached, oh no, these footsteps BEGAN 10 feet away from me like they had just landed there. 

Remember, I could hear the New Year celebrations from 8 miles away that night. I cannot stress how disturbed this sound made me feel to my very core. As soon as my mind registered those sounds something took over me and I didn’t stop running until I was at my parents front door again. But here’s another freaky thing, when sheer reflex action combined with blind panic got me out of there, as I turned to run, I heard sounds behind me like this “thing” was trying to slow itself down and change direction. I also heard jowly, saliva-laden sort of jaw sounds like a really big dog makes when it’s trying to slow down to catch a ball, for instance. Anyway, it was too late, I was gone.

When I got back inside the house, my mum literally said “Jesus, you look like you just seen a ghost”, I replied, “I think I fucking have” and recounted the whole story. While I was telling them the story, I noticed my dad was listening VERY intently, but he wasn’t looking at me directly, kind of giving me the side-eye, kind of thinking about what I’d said. My dad, an areligious, die-hard sceptic, always said he didn’t believe in anything except the pound in his pocket, so I thought, I bet dad doesn’t believe me, but! I left it and went to bed. 

The next morning we’re all eating breakfast and my mum asked me to tell her again what had happened the night before and I retold the story. And AGAIN I noticed my dad was giving me a kind of side-eye vibe. I said “Dad, do you think I’m crazy? Do you not believe me?” He said, “Oh no, no, no, you’re not crazy”. He went on, “when we were kids, the adults in the village always warned us not to go and play in the back fields after dark or the big black dog will get you” !!!!! He thought they were just taking the piss until he heard my story. My parents lived about a mile outside the village my dad grew up in, and their house is on the other side of what would have been called ‘the back fields’ when my dad was a kid.