In this edition of True Scary Stories, Backpackerverse and Paranormal California reader, Yisus Tayler Cordova, recounts his terrifying experience with evil inside the Witch Tower at Presidio Park in San Diego, Ca.
Photo credit left: flickr/Tom Moyer right: heptagram
Updated 2/10/2020 – Are you ready to be afraid?
True Scary Stories: The Witch Tower of Presidio Park
“It all started a couple of months ago when, after sitting at home bored out of my mind, I decided to hit up a friend to go exploring around town with me.
Before I go very far into this, let me mention up front that both my friend and I smoke recreational marijuana – so as usual what we really wanted was to go find a place to smoke.
We’re both fascinated by the paranormal, and we had heard that there were several hot spots in Old Town.
We didn’t bother researching any history, though; we just decided to sort of feel it out upon arrival.
We asked a local, and he pointed us in the direction of Presidio Park.
We decided to take advantage of the fact that it was still day, and walked through the trails of the park to map it out (read: look for a place to perhaps smoke.)
Nothing seems particularly odd about the park, so we decided that we would go grab a bite to eat and then come back.
When we returned, though, things were different.
I got this creepy, eerie feeling – it was like something was watching us.
We followed the dark trails to the parking lot, where we came across a strange place that looked like it might be a storage room of sorts.
We found some stairs that led to the top, and once we got there we noticed that it had a very nice view of the park; what we also noticed was that there was a pentagram etched into the floor beneath our feet.
Nothing new there; people put crazy stuff on buildings all the time after all, and we decided that we would chill there for a bit.
The park was empty, and the top of the tower seemed like the perfect place, so we lit up.
Now keep in mind that I’ve been an experienced smoker for years: I have never experienced something like the really bad vibe that I started to get up there.
Sometimes In Presidio Park Your Body Is Not Your Own
Photo credit: heptagram
It just came out of nowhere, this kind of heaviness, and it was accompanied by a burning sensation which went all over my body.
I told my friend that I thought we should leave, but he refused.
As the sensation continued, I started having really violent thoughts all of a sudden.
I became angry, bashing my fists on the walls and breathing hard as I did.
Just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped; it felt like something pulled out of my body.
“Dude, what the fuck was that about?” my friend asked, and at that very moment the lighter he had been holding flew out of his hand and skidded across the roof.
Without another word, we grabbed our stuff and got out of there.
But I happened to look back as we were leaving, and for just a moment, I swear I saw a cloaked figure receding into the darkness.
I’ve done some research since then on the park, and I found out that the structure we encountered is called Witch Tower by some.
There are other people who have had paranormal encounters up there; we were not alone.
I’m not entirely sure what I experienced, but I found some haunting similarities in the things that other people described.
They talk about paranoia and anger, which I definitely felt; but that wasn’t what really scared me.
The other thing they talk about is being possessed.”
– Yisus