The Haunting of Old Cliff Path

Since it's Halloween, here's another ghost story I wrote, inspired by a hike through Howth and the evil birds I swore were going to eat me. Have fun.



“Some people say this Old Cliff Path is haunted.”

“Who says that? There’s no warnings in this book,” Kelsey said, eyeing the guide in her hands.

“At that pub by the train station, some old guy started talking to me, told me a story.”

“A scary story?” Kelsey asked.

“Yep, about this very path we’re hiking on and planning to camp on. We shouldn’t be here after dark.”

“I didn’t see signs,” Jake said.

“Isn’t everything in Ireland haunted anyway? And here, one wrong step and you land with a smack on those rocks,” Ella said.

“Then those creepy seagulls eat out your eyes.”

“Eww!” Kelsey screeched.

“There’s something about how those things fly in circles by the cliffs, dive into the water to catch food, or sit, stacked on top of one another, that really makes my skin crawl,” Ella said.

“Actually, those birds are part of the story,” Kyle said.

The four briefly stopped talking of ghosts to pitch their tent and grill some food.

“Get to that story,” Jake said.

Kelsey whined, but Ella didn’t care either way. It was now dark and of course the boys wanted to scare them.

“Well, many years ago, on this path, someone fell and died. What was weird about this was that the young woman who died wasn’t someone the locals knew. In fact, no one seemed to know her. There had been no news of someone missing, so when she came up dead, people were stunned. When she was found, her body was bloated from seawater and half eaten by birds. Her identity was never discovered and her death was never solved. Was it suicide? An accident? Murder? No one knew.”

“Where did this happen?” Ella asked.

“I think the body was found near some place called Lions Head.”

Kelsey gulped. “We’re near that place! That’s what this map says!”

“It’s just a story,” Ella assured.

“So, after her body was found, strange things started happening. The birds around here started acting weird. When it’d get dark, they’d start stalking people still on the path, watching like they were hungry or something. One day, there was one local out, heading home from fishing. He saw the birds watching, and when he got to Lions Head, heard a woman screaming. He looked around, but saw no one. He called out, but no one answered. The scream came again, but then turned into a shrieking hackle. At that same moment, the birds started cawing and flapping their wings. The man hurried along, scared by all he’d seen, but before he got far, noticed something ahead. He stopped and called out, but the shape didn’t respond. As it moved closer, he realized that it was a woman – soaking wet, with hollow eyes. But he could see through her.”

As Kyle spoke, Ella realized that it felt like someone was watching them. When she peered around though, there were only dark trees.

“Though too petrified to move, he asked her what she wanted, but she was silent. When she was only feet away, her lips turned into a snarl.”

As Ella’s eyes adjusted, she could see shapes in the trees.

“And though scared stiff, he finally demanded to know what she wanted. Her face turned to hate, and she growled back in a low voice, ‘Revenge.’ With that word, birds came at him from all directions, screaming, clawing, and pecking.”

Ella finally realized what surrounded them. Birds – in every tree and bush around them, on every little branch – were watching, waiting, their eyes glowing red.

“And nothing was ever the same after that.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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