# There's something dying on my attic steps. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 28, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-something-dying-on-my-attic-steps/491118 "2009-03-28T20:45:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-something-dying-on-my-attic-steps/491118/41 "2009-04-03T07:11:38Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Does the OP happen to live near a prison? No. I don’t think I could have overlooked an escaped convict up there. ---
**Author:** ![Wheeljack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@Wheeljack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheeljack)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-something-dying-on-my-attic-steps/491118/42 "2009-04-03T09:32:08Z")
I wonder what Madison Hurd’s parents would think if they knew that almost 200 years after their son’s death, thousands of people would still be reading about him. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-something-dying-on-my-attic-steps/491118/43 "2009-04-03T19:12:35Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Sound like this? > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVLvw-LhWyQ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVLvw-LhWyQ) Yeah maybe. It certainly is similar. Keep in mind that it was the middle of the night, I wasn’t fully awake and my memory of the event is fading. Still, I think that the mystery is solved. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-something-dying-on-my-attic-steps/491118/44 "2009-04-03T19:36:54Z")
I thought maybe it was a Raccoon and went looking for a sound file. Rule 34 sickeningly and grotesquely proven once again. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-something-dying-on-my-attic-steps/491118/45 "2009-04-03T19:43:09Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Rule 34 sickeningly and grotesquely proven once again. I _knew_ [that](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Rule%2034) would be it. ---
**Author:** ![Orpington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cc9497/32.png) [@Orpington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orpington)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-something-dying-on-my-attic-steps/491118/46 "2009-04-03T19:55:56Z")
> [@Clivas](#): > > In the attic something stirred > And filled my heart with fright > And turned my crimson blood to curd > One fateful sleepless night. > A slapping, flapping, whisping sound > Like naught i’d ever heard > Had brought to mind the tombstone > Of the poor Miss Maddie Hurd. > A century or so ago > As is the tale heard > A family left a lonely child > Upon this land, interred. > I knew within my heart of hearts > (no matter how absurd) > The thing within the attic > Was much more than beast or bird. > “It’s nothing” say the neighbors > Or so I’m oft assured > But poor Miss Maddie lies in wait > Of that I’m undeterred. Nice. Very Poeian. Poeish. Poesque. Oh, whatever! (Maybe Poetic…) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-something-dying-on-my-attic-steps/491118/47 "2009-04-03T20:07:23Z")
> [@Orpington](#): > > Nice. Very Poeian. Poeish. Poesque. Oh, whatever! > > (Maybe Poetic…) The Rhythmic Creation of Beauty. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-something-dying-on-my-attic-steps/491118/48 "2009-04-03T21:24:47Z")
lovely poem. perhaps it soothed the restless soul. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-something-dying-on-my-attic-steps/491118/49 "2009-04-03T23:23:31Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > lovely poem. perhaps it soothed the restless soul. Or attracted it away from… ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-something-dying-on-my-attic-steps/491118/50 "2009-04-03T23:39:52Z")
Ah, who IS Maddie Hurd? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-something-dying-on-my-attic-steps/491118/51 "2009-04-03T23:52:55Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Ah, who IS Maddie Hurd? [Post 6](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10983238&postcount=6) > [@](#): > > If it’s a ghost, it’s probably Madison Hurd. Shortly after my family moved into this house, in 1958 (I was 13), I was digging for something in the back yard, and unearthed a tombstone from the early 1800s. It bore the name of Madison Hurd, age 10, and the names of his parents. I checked with the Historical Society, and learned that the family was moving out west, and the kid died when they were in this area. > > So yeah, it’s probably a ghost. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-something-dying-on-my-attic-steps/491118/52 "2009-04-04T00:05:44Z")
D’oh! Sorry I missed that. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Clivas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@Clivas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clivas)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-something-dying-on-my-attic-steps/491118/53 "2009-04-04T00:25:05Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > [Post 6](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10983238&postcount=6) Hmm. First time I noticed that Madison was a he. Oops. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2009, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-something-dying-on-my-attic-steps/491118/54 "2009-04-04T14:39:59Z")
perhaps that is what soothed the spirit? he felt he should have been a she? and a bit chilling for a 13 yo to find the stone for a 10yo. those sort of things do keep you up at night wondering at the universe. did the hist. society know the cause of death? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2009, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-something-dying-on-my-attic-steps/491118/55 "2009-04-05T04:21:45Z")
> [@](#): > > did the hist. society know the cause of death? He heard a strange noise in his attic and went up to investigate it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-something-dying-on-my-attic-steps/491118.md?page=2)