Cursed Michigan – The Shoe Tree
Steve and I were exploring the local countryside when he spotted it. “Holy cow!” he said. “Look at all of the shoes in that tree.”
I was over the moon. “We found it! The cursed shoe tree of Belding!”
Steve thought I’d lost my marbles. “What’s a shoe tree?”
So I told him the story. According to local lore, a youth who worked in the field during the Great Depression went several winters without shoes, a situation which led to frostbite and then to infection. Just before he died, the youth cursed the fact that something as important as shoes didn’t grow on trees. On the anniversary of his death, a pair of shoes appeared on one of the tree’s branches. Since then, more have appeared every year.
The place is supposed to be cursed, but the locals don’t seem to worry about it. Most people say the shoes have been there for as long as they can remember, but the number of shoes waxes and wanes according to the whim of some unknown force.
I’ve said it before – I’m a skeptic when it comes to the supernatural. However, this sad legend intrigues me. I want to know more about the youth who died because he couldn’t afford shoes. I want to know who or what put that first pair of shoes in the tree. And since I won’t ever know for certain, what I am sure of is that this will probably end up being more inspiration for another one of my scary stories.
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[image error]All her life, Claire has searched for the supernatural world she knows exists behind the mundane one, but she’s never been able to find it. Then she meets Barry, a handsome, fiery-tempered man whose passion for the paranormal equals her own. When Barry finds a way into the hidden, mystical world, Claire is desperate to learn his secret. No matter what it might cost her to get it.
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