Channel 72

As a child, my parents always went on business trips. They would leave me with my uncle who lived in some town I can't remember in western Maryland, pretty much the middle of nowhere. All he had in his small run down house was three rooms: the kitchen, his room, and a guest room. His guest room had only a bed, a window, and an ancient television. I remember always having trouble setting up the television.

On one summer day when I was only 11, I asked my uncle to help me with the television. He asked me if I was sure I wanted to watch it. Confused by his question, I simply answered "Yes". He kept on saying "It's a waste of time." or "There is never anything good on." This only made me more curious as to why he was stalling. I spent all that night trying to mess around with the cables until I was greeted with a loud ring followed by static and the number one in the top left hand corner. When I heard the ring, I jumped. It was not the average ring a TV makes when turned on; it was much louder and higher pitched; unlike anything I have ever heard. I was surprised to find out that my uncle was still sleeping.

I continuously clicked the "channel up" button, only getting a high pitched squeal every time, until I reached Channel 72. What was showing was an old episode of "Looney Tunes". This was in horrible quality, almost as though somebody was filming their television. There was little to no sound, except for a muffled scream in the background. After what seemed like hours, it faded to black. All I could hear was what sounded like the crackled humming of a woman from the television. It did not seem like a song, but just random notes scattered about.

Suddenly, a woman with a somewhat distorted face appeared on the screen. Her mouth was at a slant and her nose was curved slightly to the left but there was one part of her face I would not forget. Her eyes. They just could not have been human eyes. They were a dead black. My heart sped up at an uneven pace. Her lifeless eyes just stared for minutes and minutes. She was humming the previous song but in a higher tone. She then grinned. Once again it faded to black for a few seconds and then zoomed in on her eyes. I screamed and passed out.

When I woke up, I was on a hospital bed with a horrible headache. I couldn't get the sound of the humming or the picture of the woman's eyes out of my head. I was surprised to see that my parents were at my hospital bed. My uncle was in the papers the next day. He was found hung in the guest room next to the television. The picture in the paper showed my uncle with the same warped face. The same eyes.