An Irish Ghost Story

Some of the best memories from my childhood are being at camp and telling ghost stories. Sitting on the porch or around a campfire, listening to a well woven tale of the supernatural when all of a sudden my father would yell or toss a pan, anything to do to scare the bejesus out of all the kids. One of my favorite scenes in the movie "Meatballs" is when Bill Murry takes the counselors on an overnight camping trip and as they sit around the fire he tells the story of the escaped killer with a hook for a hand. Of course the story ends with everyone screaming and then laughing. So when a friend recently sent out this ghost story I knew I had to share it.

An Irish Ghost Story

This would sound like an Alfred Hitchcock story if it were not true.
John Bradford was a student at Dublin University traveling back to the city. He found himself standing on the side of a lonely country road late one night hitchhiking. The night was dark and rain was coming down. Not a car in sight. When the storm reached the point where you could barely see two feet in front of your face John saw a car approaching very slowly and stop right next to him.
In dire need of protection from the storm, John jumped into the car and closed the door behind him be fore he noticed that their was no one behind the wheel.....and the engine was off. The car started to move forward and John was paralyzed with fear. Looking ahead John could see a the car approaching a curve. John prayed , begging for his life. A hand came in the window and at the last minute turned the wheel. several times the hand appeared never touching John or causing him any harm.
Soon John saw the lights of a pub ahead and summoning all his courage found the strength to jump out of the car and run to the pub.
Wet and out of breath, John Bradford started to tell the patrons of his horrible experience. A silence enveloped the pub as the people realized that John was crying....and that he wasn't drunk.
The door of the pub opened and two more travelers came in. Both in the same condition as John, soaking wet and out of breath.
The men looked at all the people staring at them. When they saw John sobbing at the bar, the one man said,
"Hey Paddy! There's the fecking idiot that jumped into the car when we were pushing it"