| abstract | - Joshua Coffin was born to Theosophist and Mary Coffin in their tiny farm in the 1830’s. They lived a small life selling milk and homemade bread to the nearby township, making just enough to get by. The small family was well loved by their neighbors and acquaintances. Young Joshua was especially known to be a gentle, gracious boy, often seen playing with animals in the nearby forest and playing hide and seek with the children from town. He was always sure to help his mother cook dinner and his father chop firewood. Though, things began to change in the early 1850’s. The Coffin family began to notice the house was extremely cold, even on warm summer nights. Objects would often move, even disappear in the house. They would also hear a peculiar scratching noise similar to an animal somehow trapped in the walls. They also began to notice strange changes in their teenage Joshua. He would lash out at his parents for no apparent reason and refuse to do chores. Some attributed this to his rebellious adolescence. This began to change when he began to talk in languages he knew nothing of, having never gone to school, and speaking in what his father would call “jabbering double talk”. He is even said to have thrown the kitchen table clear across the room. It is then that the Coffin’s concluded that their son was possessed. The town priest was called to the Coffin’s house shortly after. By the time the Father had been requested, friends and family had already seen Joshua contort and bend his body in an impossible manner, roar and hiss at holy objects, and demonstrate clairvoyance, disclosing several secret things about which he had no means of knowing. After the priest was convinced of the possession, the exorcisms began immediately. The rituals were long and grueling for everyone involved and is claimed to have lasted for six years. The last ritual of deliverance was conducted in the town church, in front of the whole town. As soon as the prayers were conveyed, Joshua began to scream and curse. He threw the bible out of the priest’s hands and attempted to strangle him with his stole. When he was asked what demon possessed him, he claimed he was occupied by 666 devils. During the height of the ritual, witnesses claimed to have seen him bleed from the eyes and vomit up a belly full of snakes. After hours of praying and the invoking of God and his angels, Joshua roared one last time and slumped to the floor. Several townspeople ran to his aid, expecting the demons to have finally left his body. But, instead, he wasn’t breathing. He died that day before the ritual could be finished, never having the 666 demons removed from his body. But the story doesn’t end there. Sightings of Joshua Coffin continued. But they were far from the boy seen playing with small animals in the forest. Witnesses in his home town claimed to have seen him walking the streets at night, evilly laughing, crawling up walls and looking into second-story windows, and calling children out to play. His father soon threw himself off the church steeple and his mother gave in to insanity and spent the rest of her life in a sanitarium. The sightings soon grew outside of the small town. He has been witnessed all over the world, doing unspeakable things. They continue to this day. It is said that since Joshua died before the exorcism was finished that day in the small church, his soul was tainted by evil. It is said that he can appear in any form but generally uses a corrupted version of himself with paper-white skin, terrifyingly evil eyes, and a large grotesque smile, sometimes emitting a faint white or grey glow. The scariest thing about Joshua Coffin is his ability to adapt with the times. He likes to prey on people at their most vulnerable. He has been picked up hitchhiking, only to terrify the driver by crying blood, spewing blood or snakes onto the windshield in a pool of bile, then disappearing. He is said to be the one that causes babies to spontaneously begin crying and dogs to stare into seeming nothingness and to mysteriously bark. There have been sightings of him looking into windows in the darkness of night, with his impossibly large smile and demonic eyes. There are claims of people driving down an empty road alone, and looking into the rear-view mirror to see him, looking back at them, sitting in the backseat. He is sometimes even seen with his old axe he used to help his father chop wood with or a large knife he used when cooking dinner with his mother. They say he will prey on you when you’re in a public restroom when you’re alone. As soon as you get into a stall and sit down to do your business, you will hear the bathroom door open, and someone will walk in and enter the stall next to you. You may peak under the partition but you will see no legs. It is then that you’ll hear a dark voice ask you “would you much rather wear blue or red?” If you answer “red” your head will be cut off right then and there, covering you with your own red blood. If you answer “blue”, you will be found drown in your own toilet water, your skin with a blue, airless, pallor. Most importantly, the number one rule is to never confront Joshua Coffin. If you do, he will grow extremely angry and transform into a terrifying demon-like form and attack you in the most violent way you can think of, such as ripping your face off, scratching your eyes out, cutting your head off, cutting your neck open, driving you insane, and swallowing your soul. It seems that as soon as he’s had his fun with you he will go away on his own if you just ignore him. Though, he has been known to take a proclivity to some of his victims and continue to haunt them. It is said that the only way to stop him is to find his grave, dig up his bones, and finish the exorcism. But, the location of his village has been lost to history. It is not known why Joshua Coffin continues to be a cruel soul bent on terrorizing the living. But, whatever reason, he continues to roam the world, looking for more victims to terrify. One thing is for sure, you should always be on the lookout for Joshua Coffin.
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