The Brighton Beach boxes are a cluster of 81 little hut like boxes painted in bright, gay colours, located along a sandy beach in the upmarket seaside suburb of Brighton, in Melbourne. These beach boxes go back a long way. Apparently the first one was built by an unassuming gardener, Mark Hollow, way back in 1860. He built the first beach box as a place to get shelter from the elements of nature. Now the trendy folk of Brighton lease out the boxes from the council to store their swimming gear, alcohol, stereos and other such modern necessities used on the beach. But the boxes don't just serve that purpose alone. They are also Brighton's biggest tourist attraction. There's just something unique about a bunch of gay huts of all shapes and sizes sitting right on the beach, just yards from the ocean. Tourists come from all over the world to take snapshots of the boxes and of themselves, perched around these gaily painted huts. But locals say there's more than meets the eye here. But to find out what the added attraction is, is tricky business. You have to have a trained eye. In Singapore you might well say you would have to have a 'third eye' to sample this more sinister attraction. Many Melbournians believe a ghostly male character stalks the area. There are many theories as to who he is and why he haunts the area. But let me rehash the experience of some unsuspecting victims before I get to that.
Bussinesswoman, 38
I go down to the beach as often as I can after work, in the evenings. The sound of the waves crashing on the shore and that mass of clear, blue water often helps me to unwind and relieve all the tensions that have built up over the day. I also have a huge, hulking german sherpherd, Tilly, who simply loves to romp around on the beach. It is great exercise for her. But there's another reason I like having Tilly with me. Brighton's beach is very private, more so in the colder months. Tilly is a fearless companion; she is afraid of nothing and I feel really safe with her. She doubles up as my bodyguard on that deserted beach.One evening in the autumn of 1986, I went down to the beach with Tilly for our usual stroll. I remember it was quite a cloudy day, and the beach was even more deserted than usual. With the exception of a couple of other regulars who walks their dogs there in the evening and the odd jogger who passed me by, that long stretch of beach was completely empty. I was halfway down the lonely beach, wondering how long the weather would hold out before it rained, when something unusual happened. Tilly, who was just ahead of me, suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, turned around and stared at something behind me. But that was not all. She let out a very long, high pitched eerie howl. I had never heard her howl like that in all the six years I had had her and it really gave me the shivers. I instinctively whipped around to look at what had upset her. A hideously ugly man was not far behind.
I don't mean to be cruel when I say that, But he really did look extremely ugly. I remember being repulsed when I first caught sight of his face, although I tried hard not to show it. He honestly had a face that looked like a dried lizard. His clothes were vary shabby and I remember thinking that was odd, no one around Brighton normally dresses like that. The other strange thing I noticed about him was the way in which he carried a rather large plastic bag. Instead of carrying the plastic bag by its handles, he cradled it in his arms like a baby. There was something about him that made me very uncomfortable. But I realised he was eyeing me squarely in the face and my immediate reaction was to blurt out 'hello'. But just as I was about to, it suddenly hit me why I had such an ominous feeling. The evidence was there in the sand as the man walked towards Tilly and me. He did not leave a single footprint in the sand. Yet, he was walking on the sand. I simple froze when I realised this. The man seemed to have sensed what I had just realised, and he picked up speed. It looked like he was trying to catch up with me. But out of the blue a tremendous bolt of lighting flashed across the sky. It blinded me for a split second. And what happened next left me completely cold. The hideous looking man had disappeared. One minute he was almost catching up to me and the next he was nowhere in sight on that vast, empty beach. I was so stunned by it all, I had let go of Tilly's leash. My huge dog took off like the wind, her tail between her legs. I don't know which one of us was more scared at that point, because I was not far behind her.
I didn't dare go to the beach after that. I was petrified I would run into that sinister man again. But a few weeks later I happened to pick up a local newspaper and the leading news item on it caught my attention. The lead story was about the body of a man that had been found on the beach. The police were baffled with the discovery. You see, the body had been found in a busy area near the beach boxes, yet it was badly decayed. He had been dead for quite sometime. I shuddered at the news because I somehow instinctively knew the body they were referring to was that of the man I had seen. But what I read next confirmed my suspicions he cradled a plastic bag in mould. I now know why the man looked so frightening, he possessed the abnormal ability to hang on to his body some days after death had already claimed it.
Teenager, 16
'I had wandered away from the shore towards the beach boxes, looking for a particular type of purplish shell I like to collect, when it slowly dawned on me something strange was starting to happen. I distinctively felt 'something' start to surround me. It is hard to describe it, but it felt like a bit like an invisible force was trying to wrap a wet, cold blanket around me. I got really scared and my natural instinct was to get away as fast as possible. But it all happened so quickly that when I tried to move, this wet 'blanket' got in my way. It was frightening because I couldn't see it and yet it was there, surrounding me. It felt cold and clammy, the way lizard's skin would feel. I was wearing a necklace given to me by my grandma. She handed it to me before she died three years ago, and I had been wearing it ever since. She was a devout Catholic, and the locket on the necklace had a holy inscription on it. When the blanket started to wrap around me tightly, the locket shattered into tiny pieces. At that point I freaked out and started yelling out to my friend. But by the time she got there, the whole horrible thing had disappeared. But I could not stop shaking for awhile after that. I honestly believe the holy necklace protected me from the Unknown that day on the beach.'
Bank Executive, 41
'Everything was normal until I got to the end of the south side of the beach boxes. All of a sudden I felt as if I run into something. It touched me physically although I could not see it. It felt cold and wet and it resisted my passage. And there was one other thing, I could hear someone breathing. I say 'someone' because it sounded like a human being. It was very rhythmic, in and out and in and out. Yet there wasn't a soul around. The whole thing was quite creepy. It definitely was not my breathing, because I could hear that too. My breath came out in short, irregular intervals because I had been jogging for quite awhile and I was forced to stop so suddenly because of this invisible thing that had blocked my path. For awhile I was so stunned I just stood there, paralysed, not knowing what to do. But when I heard that breathing, god I was scared. I did the first thing that came to me, I blurted out a holy verse I had been taught years ago at Sunday school. It worked like a charm, the thing just vanished. Just like that. I have jogged in that area many times since but I have never had that experience again. But still, I can't help wondering what the hell it was I experienced that day. Whatever it was, it totally creeped me out.'
I don't mean to be cruel when I say that, But he really did look extremely ugly. I remember being repulsed when I first caught sight of his face, although I tried hard not to show it. He honestly had a face that looked like a dried lizard. His clothes were vary shabby and I remember thinking that was odd, no one around Brighton normally dresses like that. The other strange thing I noticed about him was the way in which he carried a rather large plastic bag. Instead of carrying the plastic bag by its handles, he cradled it in his arms like a baby. There was something about him that made me very uncomfortable. But I realised he was eyeing me squarely in the face and my immediate reaction was to blurt out 'hello'. But just as I was about to, it suddenly hit me why I had such an ominous feeling. The evidence was there in the sand as the man walked towards Tilly and me. He did not leave a single footprint in the sand. Yet, he was walking on the sand. I simple froze when I realised this. The man seemed to have sensed what I had just realised, and he picked up speed. It looked like he was trying to catch up with me. But out of the blue a tremendous bolt of lighting flashed across the sky. It blinded me for a split second. And what happened next left me completely cold. The hideous looking man had disappeared. One minute he was almost catching up to me and the next he was nowhere in sight on that vast, empty beach. I was so stunned by it all, I had let go of Tilly's leash. My huge dog took off like the wind, her tail between her legs. I don't know which one of us was more scared at that point, because I was not far behind her.
I didn't dare go to the beach after that. I was petrified I would run into that sinister man again. But a few weeks later I happened to pick up a local newspaper and the leading news item on it caught my attention. The lead story was about the body of a man that had been found on the beach. The police were baffled with the discovery. You see, the body had been found in a busy area near the beach boxes, yet it was badly decayed. He had been dead for quite sometime. I shuddered at the news because I somehow instinctively knew the body they were referring to was that of the man I had seen. But what I read next confirmed my suspicions he cradled a plastic bag in mould. I now know why the man looked so frightening, he possessed the abnormal ability to hang on to his body some days after death had already claimed it.
Teenager, 16
'I had wandered away from the shore towards the beach boxes, looking for a particular type of purplish shell I like to collect, when it slowly dawned on me something strange was starting to happen. I distinctively felt 'something' start to surround me. It is hard to describe it, but it felt like a bit like an invisible force was trying to wrap a wet, cold blanket around me. I got really scared and my natural instinct was to get away as fast as possible. But it all happened so quickly that when I tried to move, this wet 'blanket' got in my way. It was frightening because I couldn't see it and yet it was there, surrounding me. It felt cold and clammy, the way lizard's skin would feel. I was wearing a necklace given to me by my grandma. She handed it to me before she died three years ago, and I had been wearing it ever since. She was a devout Catholic, and the locket on the necklace had a holy inscription on it. When the blanket started to wrap around me tightly, the locket shattered into tiny pieces. At that point I freaked out and started yelling out to my friend. But by the time she got there, the whole horrible thing had disappeared. But I could not stop shaking for awhile after that. I honestly believe the holy necklace protected me from the Unknown that day on the beach.'
Bank Executive, 41
'Everything was normal until I got to the end of the south side of the beach boxes. All of a sudden I felt as if I run into something. It touched me physically although I could not see it. It felt cold and wet and it resisted my passage. And there was one other thing, I could hear someone breathing. I say 'someone' because it sounded like a human being. It was very rhythmic, in and out and in and out. Yet there wasn't a soul around. The whole thing was quite creepy. It definitely was not my breathing, because I could hear that too. My breath came out in short, irregular intervals because I had been jogging for quite awhile and I was forced to stop so suddenly because of this invisible thing that had blocked my path. For awhile I was so stunned I just stood there, paralysed, not knowing what to do. But when I heard that breathing, god I was scared. I did the first thing that came to me, I blurted out a holy verse I had been taught years ago at Sunday school. It worked like a charm, the thing just vanished. Just like that. I have jogged in that area many times since but I have never had that experience again. But still, I can't help wondering what the hell it was I experienced that day. Whatever it was, it totally creeped me out.'
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