This bookstore turned thrift store is the talk of many conversations in Killeen, Texas.

Not only do people think it is haunted now, but there are some who believe it has been haunted for quite some time by something evil.

It all began when the thrift store still operated as a books shop.

Updated 2/11/2020 – According to local legend, there was a day when rain was pouring down all over Killeen.

A middle aged woman, said to be a psychic medium, wandered into Hastings Books to seek shelter from the downpour.

As the woman stood in the lobby, looking out into the storm, everyone else resumed what they were doing.

Until the woman shot herself, that is.

The shop goers roared with panic and fear, as the employees tried to regain control of the situation.

The woman did not survive the wound.

Since then the building has been converted into a thrift store, but no matter what merchandise is sold therein, the building has a set of accessories that always come with the purchase price.

Spirits.

Or one, at the very least.

Attacked in the Aisles

Joel had found his way into the thrift store one Saturday morning because he was bored, and antsy.

“You know, avoiding chores and whatnot,” he smirked.

“I was walking down this aisle full of men’s clothing when I felt something make hard contact with my foot.

“I stopped and looked under the thick row of blue jeans, but I didn’t see anything.

I figured I ran into one of the support poles underneath,” he said with a nonchalant gesture.

“I wound up walking into the men’s shirts section, and I started to dig around for some sweet button-ups.

“I was standing by a round circle display of them when I felt that same sensation of something hard knocking into my foot.

This time I didn’t even bother to look, I just turned around and started to walk in the other direction.

But the thing followed,” he added, looking down into his lap.

“I saw the hand, reaching out from beneath clothes, before I had time to react.

I saw it clutch at my ankle and use gravity to pull me down to the ground.

As I lay on the cold peach colored tile floor, I vaguely wondered why the fall hadn’t hurt.

“And then out of clothes comes this little girl with long red hair.

She slowly began to climb on top of me, beginning at my legs, that I couldn’t seem to move.

When her face finally appeared above mine, I wish, more than anything, that I could un-see what I saw,” Joel whimpered.

“She began to snarl at me with sharp, pointy and bloody teeth.

She was insanely strong, but I fought against her, knowing that deep in my mind she was a servant of the devil.

Exhausted, I closed my eyes and just lashed out at her over and over again,” he said, flailing his arms out in front of him.

“That’s when I heard my name being said over and over again by a store clerk.

There were several of them all around me—one of them mentioned that an ambulance was on its way.

I turned to hide my face, I was so relieved that the dead woman hadn’t been real.

“But when I looked flat underneath all the rows of clothes, I swore I saw her crawling away, on the opposite side of the store,” he said, looking upset.

“Ultimately, I don’t know who she is or what she wants, I just know that she is dangerous to everyone in Killeen.”