keeping-an-eye-out

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UPDATE:

Scratch that on the Gainey sheep hunt. He’s been found, and uhhh... it ain’t pretty to say the least. I’m no park ranger, but I’ve never seen a wild animal make such a mess of their prey before. 

image source: Earnest S. Caterwaul Park Patrol.

If you have livestock or plan to raise ‘em in Gloaming County, invest in a couple of good, burly guard dogs. There’s something nasty in the woods, probably a bobcat or maybe my feral cousin from Florida. On a serious note, though, my uncle has chickens, and he keeps two Rottweilers outside of their pen to ward off those darn wildcats and foxes.

This has been Cain Mosni with your daily scoop of neighborhood drama. Stay safe and stay nosy, my friends. 

Brr, chills. I’m going to go make some tea. 

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BREAKING NEWS: Sheep on the loose.

At 12:30 AM yesterday, Miriam Gainey’s sheep Muffin was liberated from his pen late by an unidentified person. She is offering a fresh baked sweet potato pie and a cash award to anyone who can find and return him. Wanted ALIVE, of course. 

Miss Gainey claims that there’s no way her prize ram could’ve jumped the fence, as she just had a new and improved fence system installed after her goats learned to stack on top of each other to scale the old one. 

She awoke to a distressed bleat in the dead of night, and saw what appeared to be a tall man leading Muffin by the horns. This morning, Miriam looked for footprints or other signs of a disturbance, but found only fresh hoof tracks that ended abruptly at the woods. 

Suspects for sheep thievery include: 

- A large bird (evidence pending)

- pranksters from Gloaming High

- Jeremy Oats, state fair nemesis (”He could’ve snatched up old Muffin with his crop duster in the dead of night. Lord knows he needed a strong, healthy sire for next year’s competition. Oats works in mysterious ways...”)

If you see a big ol’ sheep where he shouldn’t be, please call the Gainey household landline. Contact Gloaming PD if you have information regarding suspects.

Most importantly, contact me with your story! Farm animal hijinks never get old.  

This has been your daily annoyance, Cain Mosni, with the Neighborhood Watch. 

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Yikes, Gloaming PD!

A missing person and three wild animal complaints in just the last month. That must be a lot to handle. If only someone were doing something about it.

Deputy Craven told our highly skilled and professional reporters quote: 

“We're dealing with the Fennel case, I assure you. But wild animals? That’s the park patrol’s problem, not ours. We deal with local crime, not rabies.“ 

I don’t know about y'all, but if something big and nasty takes a chunk out of my baby terrier Rusty in the safety of my own backyard, I’m not waiting for those fine park rangers to scoot their way over from the station with a have-a-heart trap or what have you. 

Whatever you say, officer. Y'all have your work cut out for you, so we won’t interrupt. Get back to catching folks in the speed trap on Main or confiscating skateboards. You’re doing our community proud.

And about the missing woman? Apparently her car was found parked on one of the backroads, but everyone’s yet to see her. Curiouser and curiouser. 

This has been Cain Mosni, signing off for now. 

Sleep tight, stay safe, and keep your eyes peeled. 

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"Every day I wake up and this place is still here."

~ Mayor Mallowood

It’s ok, Rex, we’re all in disbelief too. 

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Your boy's gone pro!

Sorry to leave y'all hanging. Totally forgot this account existed till I was cleaning out my password manager the other day. Hope you didn't miss me too much.

Guess what? I just got a sweet gig working for The Man. The powers that be. That's right, folks. I have an honest true nine-to-five journalism job with the Gloaming County Watch. Never thought I'd be saying it, but thanks a lot, Gloaming County. I know Sheriff Nelson's gonna hate seeing my column in the papers. Suck it, Randy, I'm the real deal!

Can I say that anymore? I suppose I should keep things more civil now that I'm a published journalist. No promises.

Ah well. Signing off for now,

Cain Mosni

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On the 2021 incident

Ok, I've gotta come clean. Remember all those posts about "uncovering the truth," talk of trespassing on abandoned properties, and spooky ghost photographs back when I was active a few years back? How you all were sending lovely notes hoping for my wellbeing and recovery? I appreciate all of the responses I got to those posts (even the hate).

The truth is, I love a little drama. I was in a bad place mentally after my IP ban, and my online following was dying. Naturally, I created my own news, so to speak.

So, here it is: the ghost sighting posts were all a social experiment. A "hoax" though that word is a bit harsh. Gotcha!

I deeply apologize if I hurt anyone or betrayed your trust as an audience. I hope you all understand that I will be an honest man and changed person moving forward.

I will be returning to covering local news and drama shortly. There are plenty of mysteries afoot, don't get me wrong! I'll be there every step of the way. In short, let me make it up to you! I'm turning over a new leaf.

Hope you didn't miss me too much.

Signing off for now is your host,

Cain Mosni, pure of heart and journalistic integrity, starting now.

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Y’all already know that Gloaming, SC is #1 on that list! Come visit. There’s so much more than meets the eye.

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Happy New Year!

Howdy hey, Gloaming residents. Another year and our wonderful town is still on the map. Hard to believe, I know. 

This is just a quick check in, because I’ve been a bit occupied with some things. Just got out of the ER for a broken ankle actually, and I’m seeing a psychiatrist for reasons only partially linked to the occurrences at the end of last year. 

I will be taking a quick break from this account. I need to lay low. Don’t go too far.

Much love to my wonderful neighborhood snoops for sticking with me. Keep your eyes peeled. All of them.

This has been Cain Mosni with the Gloaming Neighborhood Watch, signing off for now. 

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BRO you used to be funny. This hoax crap is getting stale lmao

You won't have anything left to laugh off once the  ████████ gets to YOU next!

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BREAKING NEWS: It’s all true.

Hey y’all, long time no see. Sorry I’ve been so sporadic with updates on this new account. I’m rusty, what can I say? Plus, I’m a little, uh, shaken up as it were.

So, funny story. Personal anecdote this time, not an interview like usual. Y’know the ▇▇▇▇▇▇’s ▇▇▇▇ folktales and such, like the one I shared back in October? It’s all true.

Let me explain.

So I was hanging around at the corner store, as per usual, when I noticed it was getting dark. It gets dark real early nowadays, with the change of seasons and such. Anyway, I grabbed my slushy and chili dog, and I was heading back home to get some writing done.

I live on L▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇ Rd. (yes, where all those disappearances happened in the 80s, it’s my parents’ property) a little ways past the r▇▇▇▇▇ station. Point is, it doesn’t take long to bike from the corner mart to my house if I don’t mind cutting through some sketchy backroads and dirt paths. As I was biking, I thought, “Huh, this feels oddly familiar.” Then it hit me: this was the SAME PATH that my interviewee had described when he had his close contact with that creature. The W▇▇▇▇▇.

Well, from then on, to say I was real creeped out would be an understatement. I was maybe two thirds of the way home, so I figured I’d just commit to my life choices and throw caution to the wind. Typical Cain style. The ride was smooth and almost pleasant. I tried to focus on the sound of the cicadas murmuring and the cool breeze on my face. Then... just off the path, I heard a ▇▇▇▇▇ voice calling MY NAME in the dark, a little ways off the path.

Being the curious idiot I am, I stopped. I think I said something stupid and cliche like “Hello?” You know, when you’re really in this type of scenario it’s hard for your mind to work to its full capacity. Suddenly I didn’t feel so superior to all those braindead horror movie protagonists. I did pull out my phone though, just in case...

Long story short, what greeted me was WAY too close to my interviewee’s description for my liking. I’d hazard a guess and say it was the same darn thing. It kind of slithered out of the dark, into the light of my phone’s crappy built in flashlight. Like an unwrapped mummy, but really long and thin. Inhuman. Long, white hair like corn silk. Longer fingers. A heaping pile of NOPE.

Well I turned tail and SPRINTED straight out of the woods as fast as I could. Something about the trees made me feel trapped, like an animal. Forget the bike. I booked it outa there.

I crashed out of ▇▇▇▇▇▇’s Wood and onto the paved road, which was thankfully devoid of traffic. All the while, I swear it was still calling my name. When I turned to look, the ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ was still looming there behind me... but it wouldn’t step onto the pavement beyond the trees. Almost like it was being pulled back by an invisible leash.

Seeing this, I laughed in its face. I was euphoric. I was ALIVE, and the beast was helpless. I snapped a quick picture and ran home along the road. 

This has been Cain Mosni Keeping an Eye Out: your daily dose of local gossip and living, breathing nighttime horrors, apparently. Cheers, friends. Stay safe, stay cozy, and keep your eyes peeled.  

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Awe shucks, thanks. You'll make me blush. - Cain Mosni, your humble local reporter and friend

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this time last year you were going for mayor Mallowood's throat lol - now your hunting ghosts or something? idk dude but if you're having fun ..

Y'all there are so many more of these types of comments in my inbox right now. Don't want to dignify them with a response but YEAH, I am having fun. I wouldn't call these leads ghost stories, necessarily. More like... intriguing mysteries. There are some strange forces at play here, and us common folk aren't always aware. Takes a keen eye, such as that of yours truly, to see the truth.

And friends, have I ever spoken anything but the truth?

- Cain Mosni

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Gloaming needs the truth!

Image posted by V. Egress, then seemingly hastily deleted. Enhanced by yours truly for your viewing pleasure.

Hey, V, my message box is open if you ever want to give us the scoop on what’s going on here. You know something that you’re not spilling. I can feel it.

This has been Cain Mosni with a brief and sporadic update. Stay nosy, folks. You never know what you’ll find. 

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Oh boy, I swear these posters get scarier every year. The interns discovered 3D word art this year, to some mixed results. And are they trying to give the kids nightmares? I gotta say, those clown pumpkins will be in my dreams tonight.

Anyways, it’s OCTOBER! Y’all know what that means. Pumpkin competitions, eating fried dough and puking it up on the Gravitron, pot-bellied hog races, and Mayor Mallowood’s uh, questionable DJ-ing skills. Yeah baby, the Gloaming Harvest Festival is back full swing, and you bet I’ll be winning that costume competition. Those third-grader Spidermans and store-bought Among Us cosplayers don’t stand a chance. 

Bring your friends, your family, your dog, your uncle, whatever. And you better come find me near the Main St. fountain on the 31st for an interview or anonymous tip-off about any juicy drama about town. I’m dying for some dirt. Come chat, grab some candy. What have you. Meet my dog, Creepypasta (Pasta for short.) She’s a very good girl. Follow my podcast, grab a copy of my zine, et cetera. [Shameless self-promo over.] It’ll be a fun time. 

‘Tis almost that “very witching time of night, when churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out Contagion to this world” - Willy Shakes. Aka SPOOKY SEASON!

As we say here in Gloaming, good tidings be with ye, and See y’all there!

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"Just blame the geese. Works every time."

~ Rhoda Riggs, local picnic basket thief.

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Wow, so you've resorted to hoaxes now? Some folks will do anything for attention.

Yeah, I suspected this response. I know I'm not usually one to pander to superstitions and the paranormal. But listen, a freak of nature chased me in the middle of the night and it was really scary. I almost died. Am I supposed to NOT write about it? Believe what you will, my guy.

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EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT: “ I survived the ▇▇▇▇▇▇'s ▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇”

The fellow who submitted this story declined to give his name, claiming I would “sell it to the spirits in the woods” or “give my personal, private information to the government,” so we’ll call him Gary for now. This is some interesting stuff. Gary’s been through it. 

---- Witness Statement Begins ------ 

Have you heard of the ▇▇▇▇▇▇'s Wood ▇▇▇▇▇▇? If you're searching for the work of the devil at play this town, that's your best bet.

I mean, of course you have. You live here too. Well, young man, listen close.

I work a maintenance job at the power plant. Been at it since the plant started up. I'm a native to Gloaming, born and raised in this town. I was biking back from work one night. Three years back it must’ve been. I usually take a shortcut through the woods, down ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ Path, because it's a smooth ride despite the name an I like to be home before 9:00 to feed the dogs and say goodnight to the wife before she’s off to bed.

This night was especially dark. The moon was hiding her face, and the ground was all muddy, as it just had rained. I was making good time when my tire hit a mud patch and I skidded into a tree. Fell tail over teakettle. When I got my bearings again, my bike was all bent out of shape.

As I was checking the damages, could hear a tune, music, in the distance in between the cicada calls. It was something unholy, indescribable, but music all the same. It sounded familiar, too, like a hymn, or a lullaby my mother used to sing to put me to bed. Almost relaxing. Mind you, I was still terrified. Shaking. I’m not ashamed to admit it.

Just then, by the light of my headlamp, I saw it. Nasty thing. Long and tall, with a neck too thin and tall for its body. Stringy, whitish hair like corn silk. A face that might've been human, might’ve been animal. It was cracked and wrinkled like a corpse left out in a field. Its eyes were not eyes, but holes with little specks of light shining out at me.

And the hands, oh those hands. Hands like rakes, and fingers like knitting needles.  

Well I thought, surely I’d breathe my last breath tonight, so I might as well go out with a bang. I shook my lamp in its face and yelled at it to get back to hell. It just stared. Then, it reached out its long, long arms past me and grabbed my bike. Yes. Not me, my bike.

Then it twisted the metal back into place like it was made of wax and set it back on the path. Then it was gone, back into the dark.

Still don't know what to make of it. 

It's all true. I promise you. Don't care if the guys at the plant laugh it off. There's some dark force at work in this town. Not of earth or heaven. I tell you that much.

----END OF STATEMENT----

Now personally,  I don’t believe in the big bad ▇▇▇▇▇▇, but who am I to tell Gary what he really saw with his own two eyes? Of course, this town does have dark and evil forces at work, I’ll give him that much. They wear badges, eat at the diner, and bust me for tagging telephone poles.

Signing off for now,

Cain Mosni, your best nightmare