Newbie here - had a strange encounter last Halloween and still thinking about it

Right, so I'm probably going to sound mental, but last Halloween (31st October) I had something happen to me and my mates that I've not really discussed with anyone until now. We were out doing a "haunted pub crawl" thing in Pendle, Lancashire - just for fun, not seriously expecting to encounter actual paranormal stuff. Obviously.

Anyway, we stopped at this old pub (name escaping me, but it's near Pendle Hill proper) for a drink around 22:00. Outside the pub, in the car park, we all saw something move past the street lamp. It was tall, too tall, and the way it moved was... I don't know how to describe it. Not quite right. Like someone in a costume, but my mate swears it moved in ways a human couldn't. One of our group, Claire, got genuinely frightened and we all went back inside immediately.

Everyone's been taking the piss out of me for months, but I genuinely want to know if anyone else has reported similar things in the Pendle area around Halloween. Was it a person messing about? A cryptid? Mass hallucination? Or am I just a gullible git who saw someone in fancy dress?

Happy to share more details if anyone thinks this is worth investigating.

The Pendle area has genuine paranormal history - witch trials, hauntings, cryptid reports stretching back centuries. Halloween, specifically, sees increased activity reports in that region. Not saying what you saw was definitely supernatural, but Pendle's a genuine hotspot. What did Claire describe afterwards? Sometimes the scared witnesses catch details others miss.

The "wrong movement" description is interesting. This comes up repeatedly in cryptid reports - witnesses say it moves like something familiar but *off* somehow. Could be witness misidentification of normal movement in poor lighting, or could indicate something genuinely outside normal animal/human behaviour. Worth documenting seriously. Any chance you remember which pub? Local history societies might have records of previous reports in that location.

Like someone in a costume, but my mate swears it moved in ways a human couldn't.

Classic misidentification: someone literally was in a costume (Halloween was happening, after all), and adrenaline plus peer-group hysteria transformed normal movement into something anomalous. That's not to mock you - genuine psychological phenomenon. But worth considering before jumping to cryptid explanations.

Welcome to the forum and thanks for being honest about the context. The Pendle area specifically has reports of Spring-Heeled Jack-type entities dating back to the 1800s, plus more recent cryptid sightings. If you've got any photos or video, that would be valuable evidence. If not, just detailed witness statement is still useful for pattern analysis.

Don't worry about sounding mental - paranormal forums are *literally where you go* to discuss this stuff. That's the whole point. Post in the Mystery Animals forum with as much detail as you can remember: time, exact location, weather, what you were wearing, lighting conditions, distances, everything. Even small details help. And get Claire's statement if she's willing - multiple witness accounts are way more valuable than single testimony.