Strange News

The Strange News Broadcast is a scary urban legend from Japan about a person who sees something odd on television at night. This story is quite famous in Japan and many people believe it is true. They often send it to their friends and relatives by email and SMS.

Five days ago, I came home from a long day at work and sat down in front of the TV. I was so tired that I fell asleep. By the time I woke up, it was around 2:30 AM.

The television was still on, but all that was on the screen was the test pattern and an annoying high-pitched tone. I was about to turn it off and go to bed when something very strange happened.

Suddenly, the colored bars disappeared and the screen was filled with static. Through the white noise, I could make out an image. It gradually became clearer and I realized it was news footage of a train crash.

In the corner of the screen was a caption that read “NNN News Broadcast”. I had never heard of it before and I wondered what was going on. A long list of names scrolled slowly down the screen while gloomy music played in the background. A low, monotonous voice read out each name, one by one.

Just then, I thought I heard my name being read out. A chill ran down my spine.

This went on for at least five minutes or so, until finally the voice announced: “These are tomorrow’s victims… Goodnight…”

The music stopped, the picture faded back to static and I sat on the sofa wondering what I had just seen.

That night, I was too disturbed to sleep. All night, I tossed and turned, thinking about the strange news broadcast. When morning arrived, I called my boss and told him I was too sick to come in for work.

Shortly before 9 AM, the train I usually take to work came off the rails. I saw the news report on TV. Almost 60 people were killed in the crash.

Ever since then, I’ve been too scared to leave my house and I can’t bring myself to watch TV at night.