31 August 2020 | Haunted locations, Your Stories, Your True Encounters
When I was 16, I got into a wreck in my Dad’s truck. I’d had my license for just 1 week when this happened and the truck was my Dad’s work truck. He had his own business. I was in deep trouble. Luckily for me, the guy who came to tow the truck was someone my dad had known from his teenage years. The man’s name was Otto. So my Dad rode with Otto since he wanted the truck towed to our house. When my Dad had cooled off enough to talk to me he told me about Otto and how they had both been street racers (was that a term used in the late 60’s?). Anyway the main street in Salt Lake is State Street and weekend nights teenagers would cruise up and down state street until they made it illegal. They also went to a local drag strip so they didn’t risk speeding tickets. (one more ticket and no more license). He told me Otto started a business called Otto’s Auto and Marine where he would fix cars, boats, build race cars and towed cars. His shop was very successful. He was the only one who could test a boat engine under load at his shop. He basically had a big pool you could back a boat into and tie it down and run the engine, better than anyone else could do. He could have been considered a “local Legend” in certain circles. Obviously not to lawyers or white-collar guys but anyone with an auto shop, marine shop, raced cars or ran tow trucks knew about him. had a good shop, wish I had a shop like that. One kid in Auto shop would wear an Otto’s T-shirt and I thought it as cool.
Fast forward 15 years or so I was working as a small engine mechanic. The building we were in was being sold and we had to move. We moved across the street. That is when I found out where Otto’s shop was, we were moving onto Otto’s building. I did not know if Otto’s was even around anymore or not. I thought it was cool. This is also when I learned I knew more people that knew who Otto was. I was rebuilding the engine to my truck and took it to a machine shop which is which is owned by a guy my Dad and I know and have used before. Talking to him one day I told him that we were moving into Otto’s old shop he got kind of quiet and told me it’s too bad what happened to Otto. My work had hired a new delivery driver. Turns out he had married into Otto’s family (he married Otto’s niece). Between the 2 of those guys I found out what had happened to Otto. Things were not going well in their marriage and Otto killed his wife and himself it was a shock that someone who seemed to have it all would…. well I guess the grass isn’t greener on the other side and you don’t know what other people are really going through, whatever the reason it is sad.
The building faces North the very west end of the building lower floor is breakroom, salesman’s office, and shop office (my office) which is directly right off the shop. Directly upstairs from that is where Otto and his wife had their office’s. We did not use this area for anything other than storage, it was in disrepair and had basically been stripped down. I worked in the shop which was of course right below the upstairs there were windows that would allow people from upstairs to see into the shop. I could also see upstairs from the shop. Well sometimes the lights would be on upstairs and the other guys I worked with would try to freak each other out saying that it was Otto’s ghost. I just chuckled to myself that someone just forgot to turn off the lights. And that it’s funny when people try to freak each other out. Now in the shop we had some shelving (rivetier shelving) for storing parts for the machines that were in for repair. Have you ever seen a bus boy using those grey plastic totes to collect all the dishes from the table? Well we used those bins on the shelves to make sure all the parts for a machine would stay in the same spot all together and wouldn’t get messed up with parts from another machine.
I mentioned that off the shop was an office. At the end of the day I would go into the office and enter my time and labor descriptions onto jobs, file for warranty emails etc. I was usually the last person to leave as well.
I don’t remember what day or month it was but it had to have been in the winter because it had gotten dark outside and I never stayed late enough in the spring, summer or fall months to be there when it was dark. Earlier in the day a front wheel assembly came in for one of the riding mowers I was working on (a complete assembly tire, rim bearings, shaft etc.) and I put it in the bin. Now the tire was big enough that I couldn’t just slip it into the bin with the limited space between the top of the bin and the bottom of the next upper shelf. I had to pull out the bin, put the tire in the bin and push the bin back. So it was the end of the day I was the last one in the building, it was locked up (I never liked being there alone without the doors locked) I was in my office doing the end of the day work when I heard a bang in the shop which scared the crap out of me so I got up and went out to the shop and found the tire that I had put in the bin earlier on the ground, the same tire that was big enough that I had to pull the bin out to put it in there. That tire was on the ground. I hurried and checked to see if anyone was in the sales office or front parking lot, nobody was, I checked the rest of the building and the main parking lot nobody was there, everything was locked. So, what did I do? I went and put the tire back in the bin, I figured if I put the tire back that Otto’s ghost wouldn’t think I was scared, but I was, I was freaking out. I went into the shop office to log out and shut down the computer (I could have gotten in trouble if I left the computer on overnight. Updates you know) and I went home. I told my wife and family what had happened, but I never told anyone at my work about it until I quit. I didn’t want Otto’s ghost if that’s who it was, maybe it was his wife’s ghost, but I am sticking with Otto’s ghost. Anyway I didn’t want Otto’s ghost to know that he had really scared me (and it really did scare me) if he knew maybe that would have encouraged him to do more and I don’t need that. I didn’t quit because of that; I just got a better job opportunity.
Now I have never had any weird experiences, never seen a ghost or anything like that. I would roll my eyes about people saying that something scary or paranormal would happen to them. (not literally that would be rude I was rolling my eyes in my mind) I’m not saying there aren’t spirits or ghosts or something out there. Too many stories, too many things that are unexplained for there not to be something out there. I just question the integrity of the people telling me that’s all. So, if people roll their eyes at what happened to me and don’t believe me that’s fine, I deserve it. But it really did happen. And it scared the crap out of me. I just wonder why nothing else happened to me or the others at my work. And I can’t think of any other explanation of how that happened. Can you?
Submitted by Dave Barton to Weird Darkness and My Haunted Life Too
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