On this fine Halloween afternoon, Bizzy took it upon itself to investigate one of the most infamous hauntings of Silicon Valley, the haunted Toys R Us. Turns out that Bizzy headquarters is exactly 1.1 miles away from Toys R Us, so the pull was undeniable, some may even say irresistable.
*thunder clap*
As background on this place, some among you may have had your childhood irrevocably scarred by a segment on a television show called "That's Incredible" that featured this haunting. It even included a ghostly photograph said to show the specter in all his glory, leaning against some shelving while a seance was performed in the store. Sidenote: It always seemed odd to me that his pants had the sillouhette of current fashion at the time, but I digress. It was a GHOST caught on FILM.
*photo from the old That's Incredible TV series.
We ventured out today to get a glimpse of the ghost, or perhaps see some people fleeing from the scene as we parked. What follows is the true story of what occured.
It seemed innocent enough as we approached. There were no signs of trouble, and no inkling of what was about to happen. As we approached, however, we caught sight of an unmistakable example of symmetrical stacking, which you might be familiar with from the film, Ghostbusters, where books were stacked in the New York Public Library in a way in which no human could possibly be responsible.
This stacking was more sinister in nature, mostly because it involved the horizontal stacking (much more rare) of blue shopping carts.
Once inside, we were confronted by what would appear to be a perfectly peaceful scene. To the trained eye, however, you may be able to just make out what appear to be several aisles branching out from this one central avenue inside the building.
This is a classic paranormal technique meant to confound earthly humans into wandering aimlessly, perhaps getting lost, and accidentally staying past closing, when it is dark and therefore much, much more scary inside. Had we not been so deeply entrenched on our mission, we may have been lost, like so many before us. Luckily, we were able to pull ourselves out of the trancelike state that the labyrinthine aisles induced, but not before we saw what we believe to be, incontrovertable evidence of the ongoing haunting on the premises.
This may be too intense for more delicate readers. Proceed with caution.
First, we found this.
Clearly, whoever was working atop this ladder was chased away by unseen forces. In high school, friends that worked at this store regaled their fellow teenagers with tales of working late at night on these ladders, and feeling a distinct tapping on their shoulder, only to turn around and find no one was there. It must still be happening. Obviously.
There were several examples of toys that had been flown off of the shelves into the middle of the floor. You almost didn't need to look for them. The evidence was everywhere.
I can only imagine what terror overwhelmed a child enough to make them drop their bottle and flee the area. On second thought, I mustn't try to imagine. I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it.
The bottle was just too much. We were overwhelmed by the need to exit the store, but on the way out, we saw the first actual ghost of our adventure. It was more colorful that we expected, and thankfully we were able to back away slowly and make it to the exit.
Once outside, we collected ourselves in the parking lot. As we tried to shake off the events of the previous hour, a strange sound arose nearby. Looking around, we found the source. A black crow sat perched on the edge of the building and proceeded to menace us, crying at us and shuffling it's wings in our direction.
Coincedence? Maybe.
Maybe not.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Comments [14]