I was in a band in the early 1970’s. We pooled our money and rented this old house to practice and store our equipment. Naturally, the house became the hangout for our circle of friends. One of the people who hung out with us was a pretty good photographer, but had was pretty much perceived as a real weirdo. Nothing real bad, but he liked to hang around old cemeteries, and talk about the macabre. He quickly acquired the nickname of “Vlad”, after “Vlad the Impaler”, aka Count Dracula.
One night, we decided to pull a prank on him. One of his favorite cemeteries was an old abandoned cemetery on a hill by a river. So we set up some equipment and got some recordings of chains, moans, groans, etc.
Meanwhile, Tony and I invited Vlad to ride with us to visit the old cemetery, since the moon was full and the night was clear, and there would be some great opportunities for photos.
We pulled up to the entrance of the cemetery. It was totally quiet, except for the calling of the frogs at the riverbank. The moon was full and bright, and the sky was clear. The trees in the cemetery cast appropriately eerie shadows on the walkways. As we walked up the main pathway, up the hill, Tony said he needed to relieve himself, and disappeared (to check the preparations). Meanwhile, Vlad and I proceeded up to a particularly interesting tombstone, and he got his camera ready. Suddenly, there was a noise coming from the left. Vlad asked me, “Did you hear that?” I replied, “That must be Tony.” To which Vlad replied, “No-o-o, he went the other way.” Then he called for Tony. Then the sound effects started, at first very faint, but increasing in intensity. Then Tony screamed the most blood-curdling scream I had ever heard. He then called for help (still acting)! I didn’t think Vlad could turn any paler in the moonlight, but he did! Then suddenly, Tony came running from the overgrown shrubbery, his shirt torn, running down the path. “Let’s get out of here!” he shouted. Vlad turned and started running, and stumbled on Jim, who was hiding in the bushes. Vlad screamed, jumped over Jim, and kept running to the car. I followed, keeping with the prank, jumped into the drivers seat, and sped out of there. Once Vlad recovered his breath, he said, “I almost got grabbed by something out there.” I could hardly keep from laughing.
We stopped at a store on the way back to the house (about 10 miles away) to give our co-conspirators time to get back and look innocent. Vlad never was the wiser until we told him a couple days later.