ATRD Ep. 146 - Scary Childhood Stories & Other Scary Stories From Subscribers
01:14:37 Share

If you have a true scary story you'd like to share with the podcast, go to astheravendreams.com and click the button to send it my way. Also, if the platform you're on has the option to rate the podcast or leave a comment, please consider doing so. And as always, thank you. I, 32, female, absolutely loved visiting my great-great-grandma. I called her Granny, and she was my grandma's grandmother.

She lived to be 99 years old and was just 6 months shy of turning 100. She was the sweetest little lady and I would ride with my papa or grandma or parents to go visit her to take her food or just spend time. She had the smallest little house with the smallest couch and TV. Her stove and fridge were all so tiny.

She loved those dry and crunchy oatmeal cookies that have the crunchy icing on top of them. If you know, you know. But she would dip them in her coffee. Not relevant, but bringing her up just makes me want to paint a picture of who she was. Just so you can understand how precious she was. She couldn't hear for crap though, so when you pulled up to her house, you could hear her TV from the front yard. Most of her things were very old.

She kept many knickknacks, but they all had a place and were very organized. She had a curio cabinet with back lighting and mirrors that displayed some really nice dolls. I played with Barbies, so I just thought Granny knew how to have a good time. I never asked her about them, though, but I remember she had names for them, and she took good care of them. I remember her referencing one of them by name and smiling and pointing.

I thought it was kind of weird, but I was just like, whatever, she's old. When she got to be 99, I don't really remember her being sick or anything. She lived on her own until the very end, and took care of herself. It's like her body just quit working, and one day she was in hospice. I was about 15 years old, maybe, and I'd been reluctant to go see her and say my goodbyes.

I was keeping busy with friends and activities, and I had my head held high and was acting tough and just telling people that I didn't want to see her like that. My dad picked me up and we were on our way home one night and he says, ''Are you sure you don't want to go see her?'' We just passed her house as he said that. She lived a mile away from us. The timing of that question and the sound of his voice made me reconsider. And I said yes.

I want to go see her, while holding back tears. My dad whips the truck into a faster speed and takes me up to hospice, until we're at the hospital. My entire side of the family is there. All of their eyes are wet. There's people in the hallway, doorway, and they all look at me with such despair that I felt ashamed that I was not there before.

I walk in and the lighting is so dim, and many people are gathered around my granny saying prayers for her. I get there and the crowd opens up. I walk up to her and touched her body. She's not on a ventilator. I know now that they were waiting for her to pass. She looked so still and peaceful. What scared me was her feet though. It looked like she didn't have control over them and they curved inward like they were lifeless.

She was snuggled up in a blanket, and her glasses were off. Her hand was by her side, and I go to grab it, and I whisper, so quiet that I don't even know that anyone could hear me over their own crying, I'm here, I love you, Granny, and I hold her hand for a few moments, until I hear her take one last deep breath. She was gone. I was shocked that she passed in my hands. It truly was heartbreaking to experience that.

Some time passes, and we have the funeral, and honestly, it was a celebration of life. And probably one of the funnest funeral potlucks I've ever been to. It's like her youthfulness and fun-heartedness filled everyone in our family.

My aunties had office chairs, races in the hallway. We ate that potluck dinner and ate all the food we would get for her birthday. Fried chicken, baked beans, deviled eggs, sweet dinner rolls, potato salad, little smokies, cheesecake, pie. The weather that day was so sunny and beautiful and the perfect temperature. It was like we could forget how much we missed her because her spirit exuded enough joy in every part of our lives that day.

Now, here's where it gets uncomfortable and scary. Some of the adults start fighting over Granny's stuff and her house, and what should be done with it. I respected and loved her so much that I was disappointed with how they were treating each other and her things. I didn't know the whole situation, but basically I heard that some of the family held a garage sale and sold off all of her things, and wanted to sell the house right away.

While, for others, I think it was too soon and too hard. As an adult, now I can look back and recognize that everyone grieves differently, but when my mom asked me if I wanted anything, I knew that I wanted to stay out of it. After some days passed, though, I started thinking of her home and missing her, and I recalled a yellow pillow where the entire front was one giant rose. The ruffles in the square pillow spiraled into a flower shape.

and I remember going over there and holding it. I asked my mom if there was any chance it might still be there. She said that no, it was probably sold in the garage sale. It sucked, but what could you do? But I think my mom reached out and asked if there was anything left. She came home with four stone dolls. They looked like they were lawn ornaments, but I had never seen them before. Each one was about a foot tall.

One of them kind of resembled Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Yellow dress, brown hair updo, one blonde with a blue dress holding an umbrella, and a redhead wearing a pink dress, and the fourth was a blonde wearing a white/gray dress. Keep in mind the entirety of them were like stone. They looked like they were young. Their faces resembled maybe 12 to 13 year olds.

They were somewhat realistic looking too. I frowned when my mom gave them to me with a "huh" kind of expression and said "thanks". They immediately creeped me out, and I was so frustrated that this is what I got to remember her by. Some dolls I have never seen before. They'd probably been outdoors and they were water damaged or sun dried.

I'm sure months went by, and from time to time, one of them would catch my eye.

If I'd see the back of their dress and just get mad all over again. But I would try to ignore them. One night, I'm home alone. I'm an only child if you haven't gathered. And I think my parents went to dinner. Or they were at work. It was pitch black outside. It was winter at this point, but no snow yet. I just got off work from my mall job, and I wanted to shower.

We had two bathrooms and I usually use the girls bathroom. But because it was so cold in the house and I hadn't built a fire yet, I wanted to shower in my dad's bathroom because it was closer, cleaner, and honestly my favorite bathroom. I take a shower, maybe 15 minutes, but even with the hot water I get out because the cold air becomes just so intense that I can't take it anymore as it hits my entire body.

It feels like the outside air is right in the bathroom with me. So, in my towel before I could even wrap my hair, I run to my bedroom because I wanted to get warm and get dressed and build that fire. It was so cold that I couldn't stand it. Like, shivering hard. Then, as I run the three feet from the bathroom to my bedroom, I open my door.

but it was like I walked in on something and interrupted something that I shouldn't have been walking into. Before I can even react or register what's happening, my heart drops, and my stomach drops, and I scream, and at that point I'm screaming my head off. Every hair on my body is standing up. I'm covered in goosebumps. What I'm seeing is each of the dolls, spaced out, away from the wall,

and now facing me. They were still in the closets, and to the left I see my window blinds pressed down open like you do when you put your face up close, and use your finger to press a couple of the blinds down so you can see out. Except, when I walk over to it, it's up higher than my height. So it couldn't have been me, and I just forgot. It was about half a foot higher than my line of sight. I'm pretty short, so I noticed this right away.

There's no comfortable way for me to have done this and forgotten. I didn't have any pets that could have gotten into it, and I was just in my room and obviously everything was in its place. I'm so scared that I want to fall to the ground and cry, but I don't let myself. I try to stay quiet because what if I'm not alone? I frantically look in all directions of my room and see no one except for the stupid dolls.

Clutching my towel, I go and smack my hand against the blind to get them closer. I have unexplainable and unexpected anger. I keep thinking, "Stupid dolls! I never wanted them in the first place! I hate them!" I run to the kitchen where our washer and dryer are, and I grab clean clothes and throw them on to get dressed. I wrap my hair up, and I'm so annoyed because it's still so freaking cold.

I rip open the cabinet where we keep the trash bags. I grab one and I stomp off to my bedroom. I'm fuming at this point, and I run up to these dolls and I start to feel like I might throw up, but I'm also scared to touch them, but also so annoyed that I'm having to deal with any of this. I grab them all, and I throw them in the trash bag. I throw on my shoes, and wet hair and all, I run them out to the dumpster.

I'm so freaked out and the fear is unsettling as it's starting to set back in. I run back inside, I grab a knife from the kitchen, a big one, and I stomp around the house feeling mad and scared, and I yell, "I'm not afraid of you!" I walk through the house turning on every light and making sure each room is cleared. I finally felt alone, and not in the scary way. I was used to being home alone. There's a difference.

I tried to calm down, I start to build the fire and I just sit there staring into the flames in front of the wood-burning stove, feeling the warmth, and I disassociate for probably a couple of hours. Almost like a sleepy/alert trance with a fleeting thought of "What just happened?" But I would let that thought pass me by like traffic because I didn't have any answers.

My parents finally got home, and I hugged my mom, and she could tell that I was upset. She tried to ask me what was wrong, but I knew that no one would believe me. I just told her I missed her and that I was tired. She helped me get something to eat, and I was able to calm down completely. I slept with my door open that night. I never told my parents what happened. A few days or weeks go by, and I had basically forgotten all about the whole night, until I get home one night from work.

I take my coat off and hit my light, and instantly my eyes locked eyes with the redhead doll in that pink dress. She was in my closet, facing me from that top shelf. I screamed, but this time both of my parents were home and they came in racing to me. I covered my face. "What's wrong?" they ask. I stutter out. "The dolls! Did you put them there?" They look confused and they were like, "No, what are you talking about?"

I plead to my dad to please take them out of here. Without even asking, he runs to my closet and grabs them from there. But there's only the three. The redhead in pink, the blonde in the blue, and the blonde in the white slash grey dress. What happened to the brunette one in the yellow dress, I thought? Was she the only one that wasn't evil? I tell my dad that I didn't care what he had to do but to just destroy them or break them. But I never wanted to see them again.

For some reason, he didn't ask questions and he just did it. My mom looked so concerned and she said, "What's wrong? Tell me what's happening." I tear up and I tell her what happened. She said that she knew something was wrong but that she didn't know what. She didn't even really seem surprised. I tried to ask her where the dolls came from and why this was happening and she said she didn't know. Then she hugged me and I finally stopped crying. My mom and I are indigenous women.

"'Our people come from the Dakotas.' She smudged the house and cleansed it with oil. "'I don't remember talking to my dad about it ever, but my mom did open up to me and let me know that she has also had some things like this happen. "'Not with the dolls, but sometimes with other things. She said she thought they were spirits, good and bad. "'She told me that I could just be sensitive to these things too.'

She brought up things that I could actually remember happening, but I didn't know that it had anything to do with spirits. There are a few stories, but I'll have to share them later as this one was quite long. I will just never understand how someone so good, like my granny, could have such mean dolls.

Hi Raven. Firstly, I've got to say that I love your podcast. I found it about a year ago when I was a delivery driver for a flower shop, and now I still binge listen while out driving. Thank you for giving people an outlet. I have a few stories of my own that I've been meaning to share. I came from a fairly normal family. However, a few of us have a special gift. The ability to see people passed on from the other side.

My mother, myself, and my younger brother in particular. My mom and me having the strongest ability to connect with spirits, and being highly intuitive. When I was young, around five years old, we lived in a small town that was surrounded by desert, and a few ghost towns. This town that I grew up in was also known for being quite haunted.

My brother and I can recall being visited by a woman in an old-timey dress with red hair, pulled back into a bun sitting in the rocking chair of his nursery room. We believe this to be one of our ancestors, but have never had any confirmation. The house was never haunted, and when I think back to that time of my life, I get a strange feeling. Eerie, yet comforting at the same time. Like it only confirms that this was our bloodline.

In the same town, I had a friend who lived in an apartment building on Main Street. We would drive past this building every single day on our way to drop off the older kids at school. I would see the same old woman in the top window of this apartment building. She didn't look scary, just rather old and almost see-through, like how they portray ghosts in the movie. I told my mom about the woman, but being a child, I didn't think much of it.

I honestly thought that she was just a cute old lady that lived there. I would even wave at her sometimes. One day, my mom and I went to this building to visit my friend. We asked the property manager if we could go to the top floor. To both of our surprise, he informed us that the top floor had been uninhabited and quite frankly structurally damaged for many years.

I guess this was the first time my mom and I realized that I had this gift. The Shining. I don't know how long my mom has had the Shining, but she hasn't told me stories like this from her own childhood. But we lived with it together. Eventually, we moved to a new town in the same state, but that didn't change our experiences. My mother got very into family history.

following bloodlines as far back as they could go, discovering old family legends, and more recently has even found two long-lost relatives that are still alive because of her obsession. When she first started getting into this, she would be visited by spirits in her room at night. At first, my father thought that she was having bad dreams.

She would wake up in the middle of the night, staring into her closet and seeing whoever it was waking up my dad saying, ''Do you see that? Do you see that little boy standing there?'' Terrifying my dad and my mom too at first, but it happened often enough for her to get used to it. Afterwards, she would jump on her computer and be able to find these people that she saw, whether by old photo or by matching the name to the feeling she got when she saw them.

She felt like it was her calling, in a way, to help them pass on or something. That kind of trickled out over the years, and she didn't talk about it much, so as to not scare us kids. Meanwhile, just a floor below my parents, I had a visitation in my own room. I'll never forget this experience, as it was both equally terrifying and strangely comforting. I was 14 years old, and always a little rebellious.

Earlier that week, a friend and I had planned to hang out after school and smoke weed. Still being pretty young and the first time for both of us, we had to plan this out. I walked over to her house, and we ended up asking her older brother to help us do it. Having no paper and no clue what we were even doing, we ripped out a page from an old bible. I'm probably going to hell for that one, but it's kind of a fun story for a first time.

Then, every night for the rest of that week, something odd happened in my room. I felt my feet being tugged as I was laying in bed. I chalked it up to it could have been my cat, but I would have known if my cat was up in my room. He was pretty vocal. And this didn't feel like paws kneading on the blanket. It was a tugging at my feet. One at a time, this sensation would go on for three nights in a row.

Then on the fourth night, I was laying in my bed watching The Notebook, great movie by the way, on one of those 2000s box TVs that would go to static if you didn't have it set to any specific output. I had watched it all the way to the end right before the credits started rolling, and all of a sudden my TV turned to static and extremely loud, then to black.

My room is in the basement, so at night, with the lights turned off and no other light source, it was pitch black in there. This freaked me out considering all the other things that had happened that week. I felt like I was in trouble with God for smoking the Devil's Lettuce. I jumped up from my bed and quickly flipped on the light switch, only to find a huge handprint across my TV in dust.

I started thinking back to the weird stuff that had been happening all week, and realized it wasn't just nothing. The static, the tugging on my feet, it all scared me enough. I tried to just go to bed and not think about it, because what else could I really do? Laying there struggling to fall asleep, I started getting a feeling that I wasn't alone. My eyes were almost forced open to see the figure of a man standing beside my bed.

Like the first spirit I had seen, he was slightly transparent. He had a plaid shirt and jeans, short brown hair. He looked kind of young, maybe in his twenties. He stared at me. The expression he wore was one of concern. He wasn't angry, didn't speak, didn't do anything. He just stared. I stared back in complete and utter shock.

It felt like forever, but it was probably only around three seconds or less that we made this connection. The only thing I could think in my head was, ''Who are you? What's your name and who are you?'' In my head, he answered, ''Robert.'' And then he vanished. This scared the living hell out of me. I booked it upstairs to my little sister's room, and I swear that I didn't sleep in my own bed for weeks after that. I did tell my parents about seeing him, though.

I asked my mom if we had anyone in our family history named Robert, and to my surprise, she said that we didn't. Over time, this just became a memory and another spooky story, until one day, years later, I was telling this story to my dad who acted like he didn't know about it. Though, I remember telling him I saw a ghost in my room, and that's why I wouldn't sleep in there for a month.

He said, "Robert? That could be your great-uncle Bobby. My paternal grandmother's brother who died at a young age due to impaired driving. This would have been in the 60s, which matched up to his attire and overall appearance. I had never even heard of this guy. No one in my family really knew him besides my grandma because he died long before any of us were alive. But for some reason, it felt right.

I told my dad about the pot and how I had smoked for the first time that same week. I believe that my great-uncle Bobby visited me as a warning to what could happen if I kept on that path. It's why he looked so concerned. That's why he kept pulling at my feet. All of it made sense now, years later. He was looking out for me. Thankfully, I haven't gotten into any incidents or near-death experiences. Unfortunately, however...

Even some years after this conversation with my dad, my older sister did die in a tragic accident, where alcohol was involved. I think somehow spirits know what happens in the future and in the past. They don't live between the constructs of time that we do. But if that is the case, I wish my sister could have been the one visited instead of me.

It's been three years since she passed, and I haven't been visited by her in person, but many times in dreams. My husband's grandfather died the same year as my sister. He was the last person to visit me from the other side two years ago. Like the others, he didn't say anything, he just stared at us. Quite contently, though, while we did yard work when his grandma was away to kind of surprise her when she got back.

I didn't really know how to tell my husband that I just saw his dead grandpa watching us pull weeds, so I waited until after we had left, and then of course had to tell him all of my other stories. The ones that I just shared with you. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, and I'm sorry that it was so long. It just made sense to share it all in one story. Thank you for your time, and for those of you out there, keep on shining.

I wasn't much of a party. In fact, I consider myself an introvert. Nonetheless, I was invited to a party. I didn't want to go, but my girlfriends coerced me into it. "I need to get out and meet people," they said. They promised me that they were going to be there and would stick with me. They said it was more like a small get-together anyways. Despite my better judgment, I agree. I spent the next hour or so getting cleaned up and picking out the perfect top to go with my jeans.

I finally decided on a light blue silk blouse. I donned the perfect pair of heels and, as ready as I would ever be, I headed out to my little truck. I set the GPS on my phone and headed off. After some trials and tribulations, I found the place. There were a few more cars than I expected, so I sat in the truck and watched. Not sure now about my decision,

Even though I kept my circle of friends small, I did know most of the people that arrived after me. The crowd, however, was getting far too big for my comfort level, but I finally built up my nerve enough to head in. I got out of my truck and stood beside it, watching the going-ons inside the house through the picture window in the living room. I was just about to climb back into my truck and leave when Anne and Sue came running out the front door calling my name.

They ran up one on each side of me, knowing exactly what I was about to do. They took me by the arms and started leading me to the front door. Initial greetings were stressful, but I made it through. As the evening went on, I was mixed with both feelings of anxiety, high and low. All in all though, it was a fun evening. I was proud of myself for making it through. As the evening went on and people left, strangely enough, my anxiety got a little worse.

No hiding in the crowd, I guess. During one of the harder spells, I decided it was time to say my goodbyes. I gave Ann and Sue a big kiss and hug and headed out to my truck. About halfway to my truck, I heard my name being called. I turned to see a guy named Randy running up to me. I had seen Randy around at school, passing him in the hallways and so forth, but I never officially met him until tonight. He was nothing special, but seemed like an okay guy.

He had an average build. His brown hair was a bit too long and needed a wash. His brown eyes were kind of dull and lifeless. His complexion could use some work, too. No, he was nothing special at all. I didn't want to appear rude, and anyway, he seemed harmless, so I stopped and let him catch up to me. He looked hot and sweaty and stuttered a little. "'Hi, Aaron. I was thinking that maybe we could go out sometimes?'

I was shocked, to say the least. I had never even talked to him, so I answered as politely as I could. "No, Randy. I'm focusing on school, so I'm not into dating right now at all." It was his turn to look shocked. "B-but we have a connection. When we saw each other in the hall, you stared at me." I had no idea as to what he was talking about, so I told him, "I'm sorry, Randy, but I really don't know what you're talking about."

I put my hand on his shoulder. You're a nice guy and all, but I'm simply not interested. I started to turn, and he grabbed my arm, preventing me from leaving. Red light started flashing through my mind. He blurted out, But I have feelings for you, and I know you have feelings for me. I can see it in your eyes. I tried to pull away, but he was too strong. Randy, stop. You're hurting me.

"'But, Karen, we are meant to be together. You know it,' said Randy. I pulled and pulled, but he was far too strong. I started to scream. "'Let go of me! Let go of me!' He only held on tighter and tried to grab my other arm. I managed to keep it away from his grasp and punched him in the face. Rage seemed to wash over his face. "'We are meant to be together. You know it as much as I do.'

Now, you're coming with me. I tried to kick him, but only fell down. He didn't stop, but started dragging me toward his car. You will see, it's me and you forever. I started screaming at the top of my lungs. Help! Help! I was crying now, with tears streaming down my face. I heard someone yell out, Hey, leave her alone! And the next thing I know, Anne was pounding on his back.

He was pulling me across the gravel. It was cutting into my back. He kept pulling and shouting, "She loves me, and I love her!" Through my tears, I saw that two more girls that I didn't know had joined into the fight. He now had his arms across his face trying to protect himself, but he kept right on pulling. "She's mine! Leave us alone!" "Stop! You're hurting her! If you love her, then stop!" I heard one of the girls yell.

"'You effer! Try this one on for size!' I heard Anne yell as she then kicked him squarely in the jewels. He stumbled and then fell over. Now holding my hair, my head bounced off the curb and I saw stars. When I refocused, he was still holding on to me, but all three girls were kicking him relentlessly. It took what seemed like hours, but was probably only seconds when he finally released me. I rolled back onto the driveway and my back felt like it was on fire.'

My fear had now changed to anger, maybe even rage. I jumped up and joined the foray, kicking him with all my might. He rolled onto his stomach and started to crawl away. The girls and I kept kicking and kicking as he dragged himself along the ground yelling, ''Stop! Stop! Stop!'' He made it to his car and dragged himself up by the door handle.

He managed to open the door despite the barrage of kicks. All three of us were now pounding him with our fists. He pulled himself into the car and managed to close the door. He started his car, put it in gear, and sped away. Now the girls were yelling, ''You better take off! We don't want your kind around here!'' as they started picking up rocks and throwing them at his car. The girls came up to me and started hugging me. That hurt my back terribly.

Seeing me cringe, Anne pulled up my shirt, exposing my scraped raw back. Girl, you're gonna need stitches. I'm taking you to the hospital. Despite my protests, three girls loaded me into the car and drove me to the hospital. Amazingly, after one look at me, the intake girl sent me right in. The nurse came in, looked me over, and then left to get a camera. She took lots of pictures. Another nurse came in and started cleaning my back.

After I was cleaned up, it wasn't that bad, however. Three cuts had to be stitched up. The rest were gauzed and bandaged. They made me stay through the night, as I also had a concussion. The police arrived sometime during the excitement. Apparently the hospital had called them after talking to my friends about what happened. They took all of our statements, took more pictures, and advised me that they were going to charge Randy and issue a restraining order.

They also told me that I would have to go to court, which scared me. I had never been to court before. Other than those court dates, I never saw Randy again. And I guess he learned what happens when you mess with us girls. In the early 1990s, I was known as the weird kid at school. I often wore X-Files shirts and embraced all sorts of quirky interests that set me apart from my peers.

During a science class, we were studying rats, and our teacher announced that they would need a new home for one of them since the term was ending. Everyone turned to look at me, knowing I would be the one to volunteer. True to form, I eagerly raised my hand. I didn't realize at the time that Luna, the rat, was pregnant. When I brought her home, I set up a cozy corner in her cage with plenty of bedding and toys.

Over the weekend, Luna adjusted to her new environment, and I eagerly watched as she gave birth to a litter of tiny, squeaking babies. They were so small and delicate, like little pink jelly beans. On each day, I marveled at their growth, and among them was a particularly special baby, an albino rat with pure white fur and striking red eyes. I named him Snow.

Snow was the only albino in the litter, and his unique appearance made him stand out even more. I was captivated by him, and spent hours just watching him and the others. A few days later, my excitement turned to panic. I noticed that Snow had somehow escaped from the cage. My heart raced as I searched everywhere, under furniture, behind curtains, and through every nook and cranny of the house.

I was a whirlwind of anxiety, flipping over cushions into dark corners and even checking behind the appliances. My search turned into a frantic and desperate quest. I even moved the entire furniture in my room, hoping snow might have found a hiding spot, as the thought of losing snow was unbearable. In my desperation, I decided to involve Luna.

I gently held her, looking into her small, beady eyes. With tears streaming down my face, I focused all of my energy on asking her for help. Despite my odd reputation and my willingness to try anything, no matter how strange it seemed, I was ready to give anything a shot, even telepathic communication. To my astonishment, a voice echoed in my mind, clear and calm. The voice instructed,

"Go to your parents' room and look under a box at the bottom of their wardrobe cupboard. You'll find my baby." I followed the instructions immediately, my heart pounding with hope and fear. I dashed to my parents' room and threw open the wardrobe cupboard. I spotted the box exactly as described and opened it with trembling hands. When I looked inside, I couldn't believe my eyes.

There was Snow, a tiny albino rat with red eyes, nestled safely inside. I was overwhelmed with relief and joy. Tears flowed freely as I gently picked up Snow and cradled him in my hands. To this day, I'm still amazed by how I was able to hear Luna's voice in my mind. It was a one-time experience that I've never been able to replicate, despite my efforts to communicate with animals."

This extraordinary moment remains a cherished memory, a mysterious and heartwarming reminder of special connections that we can have with the animals that we love. This was in summer of 1997. I was seven, and it was when two memorable things happened that year. I had a ghost speak to me from the stairs to my bedroom, and Princess Diana passed away in Paris, France that summer.

The stairs went straight up to two bedrooms. My sister's was on the right and mine was on the left. My parents, sister, and I were going to go out for dinner. My mom gave me the task to hurry my older sister up from upstairs. I said sure, excited to go out with my family to dinner as it was a rare occurrence. My mom left to wait in the car with dad. I went to the washroom and when I came out, I was at the bottom of the stairs looking up. The washroom was right beside the bottom of the stairs.

I smiled big and yelled so Carrie could hear me. Mom and dad want to leave, Carrie. They started the car, let's go. I listened very briefly. Nothing. Hey, Carrie, let's go! Still nothing. Is she deaf or just listening to music? For some reason, I didn't want to go upstairs to check on her. Carrie! I said it in a silly but come on, hurry up kind of way. Still nothing. I sensed that someone was up there and was confused as to why my sister was ignoring me.

"'Hey, Carrie!' Then finally I heard a whisper from upstairs. "'Yes?' I paused because it didn't sound like my sister, but more masculine. I thought maybe I heard my sister wrong and continued on my happy-co-lucky way. "'Mom and Dad want to leave now, Carrie. Let's go!' My mom was suddenly behind me. "'What are you doing, Krista?' I jumped, surprised to find my mom there. "'I'm getting Carrie down as you asked from upstairs.' Mom responded. "'What?'

"'Carrie's with us in the car. She's waiting for you.' I was confused. I told Mom I thought she was up there, but I didn't tell anyone that something spoke back to me. I definitely heard a yes, and it sounded like it came from the top of the stairs. I didn't see anything or anyone, but something did respond to me from the top of the stairs. Luckily, being a kid, I totally forgot about it and went up to my room after supper like normal.'

Later, when we moved from that house, I later remembered the experience. I'm slowly moving in with my girlfriend, and a few nights ago, we were picking up items to take to her house. While going through things in the kitchen, I saw a noticeable shadow move on my basement stairs. For some context, my house, I've noticed, is on a dimensional rift.

The space between dimensions is very thin, and I have previously caught glimpses of another house while upstairs. When I moved in, I had noticed a presence. It never felt uncomfortable or that the presence was malevolent, but while taking things outside, I became very aware of the feeling of being watched. My girlfriend asked me what was wrong, and I told her I saw something inside. She told me that she had seen it too. We both noticed a shadow in the window.

She asked me how freaked out I was, and I told her not enough not to go back inside, since I had to use the bathroom. After getting inside, she stated that she noticed the presence, and as well as a second one. I sat on the couch while my girlfriend states that she wants to talk to it. Being raised to never mess with spirits, I was very apprehensive. She lit a candle and asked for them to make their presence known.

I was getting anxious and was not prepared for the possibility of things in my house being tossed around, but that's not the kind of contact that proceeded to happen. I got this overwhelming surge of emotions and could make out the figure of a woman. I mentioned this to my girlfriend, who said that she could feel the spirit of a child.

Suddenly, the flame on the candle starts to flicker and I can make out the figure of a young girl, about six, with puffed up cheeks trying to blow out the candle the same way you would blow out a birthday candle. Eventually, my girlfriend blows out the candle herself and comes and sits by me. I see the little girl's shoulder drop in disappointment, in an aww man fashion. My girlfriend begins to ask the spirit questions. She speculates that there was a tragic death.

to which I am suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of grief that I know is not my own. She asks the spirit if she lost a child. Again, another wave of grief. She speculates that the spirits are from the depression era. The word yes comes out of my mouth before I even have time to think about what is happening or what is being asked. She asks the spirit if she was married. Again, I say yes, but that he was no longer around.

I get this conflicting feeling that she's sad her husband is not around, but also grateful. My girlfriend asks if he had hurt her. Again, I'm told yes. To which my girlfriend asks her, "Did he cause you to lose the baby?" I immediately start crying. My girlfriend asks her if she was Catholic, to which I hear the spirit laugh and say no. I speculate and ask if she was Protestant. She says no to that as well.

My girlfriend asks if she was not religious, to which I'm told no they are not. At this point I'm overwhelmed, excited and yet feeling very calm. My girlfriend asks why she was there. I started to feel sad and conflicted. I'm getting that her baby that she lost is not like the little girl she has there with her. I ask her why she was there in my house. I feel a hand on my cheek and see her smile. She says, ''For you.''

I look at her confused and ask what she means. She says, "You have no one watching over you." My girlfriend is now nervous because she's afraid that I may be opening myself up to a possession or being followed by the spirit. But I feel only calm and caring and peace from this spirit. My girlfriend tells her that she will keep me safe and not let anything happen to me. Again, I feel her hand on my face and see her smile. She says, "I know."

I thank her for watching over me while I've lived in this house. She smiles and just nods. She then starts making her way towards my closet door. I see her daughter run up to her and take her hand. They then walk through a slip of light, and suddenly it all makes sense. I've seen their house before. I've had glimpses of a house that's not mine, but that is there. I felt her for a while after moving there, but I didn't always feel her.

At that time, we decided that we needed to get home, but felt like it had been only a matter of minutes. However, when looking at our watches, we see that it's been over two hours. It's now after 4am. My spirits had shown up in the witching hour. I would never have approached the spirit on my own. I was invigorated by the experience, however, and I will never forget talking to the mother from another dimension that has been watching over me.

Just a heads up, this story does need a content warning, as it does contain a predator of that kind. The story is about 11 minutes and 54 seconds long, so after this warning, if you do not wish to listen to this type of content, this specific topic, skip around 12 minutes. Hello Raven, I enjoy your channel, and I wish to share with you a true disturbing story that happened to me when I was a kid.

This story involves a minor and an adult, and has adult sexual situations in it that may not be suitable for all people. So, please skip this story, folks, if this stuff bothers you. And thank you. My name is Sasha. I'm a Jewish lady who was born in Brooklyn, New York, Brighton Beach. The largest Russian-American communities in New York City are located in Brighton Beach and Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn.

Brighton Beach is also nicknamed Little Odessa and Little Russia due to its population of Russian-speaking immigrants from the Soviet Union. Many Russian Jewish people immigrated to Brighton Beach especially. The Atlantic Ocean nearby reminded them of the Black Sea. My mother came to America for a better life from the Soviet Union and became a school teacher, got married, and had a child called Sasha, which is me.

I loved living in Brighton Beach. It's a neighborhood located in southern Brooklyn, and it's famous for its seaside location, iconic boardwalk, and bustling nightlife. One of the most popular attractions in Brighton Beach is the New York Aquarium, which provides visitors to witness the exotic marine life from around the world. I also love going to Brooklyn, New York's Coney Island Beach, and amusement parks too.

In both places, my friends and I loved to eat the pizza, french fries, ice cream, and other yummy things to eat, along with the attractions. My girlfriend Olga and I even found an old gun in the Coney Island weeds once. I was 12 years old in 2011, and school was out for the summer, so my mother and I planned to go to Brighton Beach together. My father had to work that day.

I did not know then that this was to be the beginning of a nightmare for me. When my mom and I got to the beach, we set our blankets down. As soon as we did, my mom told me that she had to go to the bathroom. I told her I would wait for her on the beach since it was so close to the bathrooms. This was a mistake, thinking back about this now. I was not thinking about stranger danger too much back then. It was almost like clockwork. Like his eyes were on me as soon as I hit the beach-

Because once my mom set off for the bathroom and I was looking in the beach blanket for the sun tanning oil, I saw a stranger hover right above me. The stranger asked me if I wanted any company. I looked up at him as I shielded my eyes from the sun and noticed he was a handsome African-American man with a black mustache at six foot tall in height. The stranger was around 25 years old. He must have worked out with weights because he had a professional bodybuilder's physique.

and reminded me of Ronnie Coleman, who won Mr. Olympia a multitude of times. The man was bulging with muscles from head to toe, and was quite a sight to behold, and even more so because I was only a little girl at the time. The man asked me again if I would like any company, but before I could answer, he gently took the sun tanning lotion from my hands, and sat right next to me as he started to tan my body with the lotion.

The suntanning lotion made my whole body tingle as he introduced himself as Jimmy, as I then introduced myself as Sasha. I then told Jimmy that my mom would be returning from the bathroom shortly. As soon as I said this, he had a worried look come across his face. Jimmy then told me that he had to leave soon, but made arrangements to meet up the next day at one in the afternoon. But wait, Jimmy, what did I tell my mom? I asked him worriedly.

Jimmy just smiled and looked at me. ''Just tell her you're with one of your girlfriends on the beach,'' he responded. ''She won't know what's really going on,'' he continued. Boy was a young and naive little girl back then. I was falling for this enormously built, bodybuilding adult man who was way too old for me to be seeing him to begin with. But Jimmy was so charming and sweet.''

I ignored all this. Jimmy then looked at me. ''I can see that you enjoy looking at my muscles.'' He said smiling as I nodded my head in agreement. ''How about this, Sasha, honey?'' He said as he flexed a big round bicep muscle for me. ''Wow, Jimmy, that's big.'' I exclaimed excitedly. As Jimmy then squeezed harder as his round bicep soared into an enormous mountain peak in size.

As soon as he did this, Jimmy allowed me to feel his flexed bicep, which, I must admit, I enjoyed. Jimmy then surprised me as he got closer to me sitting on the blanket, as he put his left brawny arm around me and kissed me lightly on the lips. This made me shiver with excitement. I'd been kissed before by guys, but never by a muscle-bound he-man like this. Being the silly and naive girl I was, I got lost in the moment.

As I lay my back on the blanket and put both hands on the back of my head, as I pursed my lips waiting for another kiss, which was longer this time, Jimmy then asked me, ''How was that?'' But before I could answer, I saw him dart away. I then looked back and I could see my mom coming. Thank goodness she did not see all this, or there would have been hell to pay. My mom did not only go to the bathroom, but got us some chicken to eat and soda to drink.

I was a pretty good actress and pretended nothing had happened when she was gone. But looking back, I was just hurting myself in the long run not telling her about this pedo man hitting on me. The next day I showed up at the beach at the time Jimmy had set for us, and lo and behold I saw him waiting on the beach for me. I sat down close to him on the beach blanket as he put his left arm around me. I giggled as I waited for my kiss to come.

I looked down to see that Jimmy was excited because his swimming trunks were much too small for him. After the kiss, Jimmy then raised my face gently to his as we looked into each other's eyes. ''I like you, Sasha. Do you like me?'' He said as I nodded my head happily. ''Do you want to leave the beach and have some more fun with me?'' He asked. ''We could go to a nearby hotel together and enjoy our time.''

"'You do know what that is, and how to do it, right?' Jimmy asked, smiling. I foolishly nodded my head to everything that Jimmy was saying to me. I'd had a few boyfriends who kissed me, but had never gone all the way yet. "'You see, honey, once I saw your face, hair, and body, I knew I had to have you for my own.' He continued, smiling. "'I was thinking to myself that I did hit puberty early.'

My chest was large for my age, and I was curvaceous, and I looked about 18 years old, even though I was still 12. Many boys my age were attracted to me, and apparently, older guys like Jimmy were also. I looked at Jimmy and tried to return his smile. This all sounded exciting, but I didn't know if I was ready for romance with an adult male, and it was against the law to boot. I thought to myself...

Jimmy was looking at me smiling, but this time I could see that it was a fake smile. He just wanted to have his way with me in bed and probably throw me away like an old pair of shoes. Nor, even worse, kill me. Some pedos do kill children. I thought this to myself with a shiver. How could I not see his true intentions before? I then thought fast to myself.

I could see now that Jimmy was just a wolf in sheep's clothing, trying to take advantage of a young, minor girl, who he thought didn't know any better until it was too late. But it wasn't too late for me yet. As I then told Jimmy I would get a hotel room at Blue Sky Guest House. As I said before, I looked older and I told Jimmy that I could get a room there and be in bed when he arrived.

I told Jimmy to meet me in room 12 at 6 o'clock sharp tomorrow, and I would be waiting at the hotel. A big smile crossed Jimmy's face as he agreed. He then kissed me and left. This last kiss from Jimmy left me with a cold and sour aftertaste because I knew now what a snake in the grass he really was. The next day, at 6 o'clock sharp, I peeked out the window of the hotel room and I saw Jimmy walking up briskly to the hotel.

When he got to the door and knocked, I told him the door was open. This hotel had a few rooms, and I told Jimmy I was in the bedroom waiting for him. Jimmy called out to me to hold on a second as he got ready. I was peeking through a closet in the bedroom hiding when I saw Jimmy come in, naked and ready. Just as I thought, Jimmy was hot and ready. Not only was he ready, but I could also smell the liquor on his breath.

He'd had a lot of alcohol to drink and was really liquored up for this, probably just thinking he was going to have his way with me and not caring at all what I thought. But I had a huge surprise waiting for him. As soon as Jimmy entered the bedroom, I had my Russian friends from my neighborhood, Ivan, Boris, Dimitri and Vladimir, waiting for him.

with brass knuckles and baseball bats, as they soon beat Jimmy to a mess. These Russian mafia members were all young and tough as nails. They did not like predators, and they wanted them out of their neighborhood. I asked them to not kill Jimmy, but to beat him up pretty badly.

Jimmy got the point, and he left my neighborhood, badly beaten, but still alive. I was greatly relieved that I had escaped with my own life. Who would have known what would have happened alone with this massive man? My friends from the neighborhood saved my bacon, and I was forever grateful to them. You see, we decided to handle this pedo-problem ourselves, and not call the police.

Some would say this was small-town justice. Although I escaped this pedo's wrath, I did not escape my mother's wrath. My mom gave me a strong lecture on predators, which I took to heart. I tell you that I was one lucky girl to escape this pedo, knowing that some children were not so lucky. I just hope that I never see the likes of Jimmy ever again.

I've written in once before recently, but was just reminded of an event that occurred a few years ago. I don't dream often, but when I do, the dreams are usually very vivid. A couple of years ago, I went through a period where I had dreams every night for about two weeks. The dreams were fairly normal, nothing out of the ordinary, except that the same woman appeared in every dream. She appeared to be in her mid-fifties with blonde hair,

She did not play a part in the dreams, but could just be seen standing off to the side or in the background, watching what was happening. I live in an apartment complex, and after a few weeks of the dreams, a new neighbor was moving into the next building, right near my assigned parking spot.

I was getting out of my car as the new neighbor walked out of her apartment, and it was the woman who had been appearing in my dreams. She dead stopped and just stood there staring at me, just like in the dreams. I was kind of freaked out and hurriedly walked to my apartment. I never saw her again, and about a week later, somebody else was moving into that apartment, which had apparently still been vacant.

She never appeared in my dreams again, nor did I ever see her again in real life. I have no idea who or what she was, and if anyone has any thoughts, I would love to hear them. I grew up in what I believe to be a haunted house. When I was a child, I would often wake up in the night to see shadow people and other things walking around in my bedroom.

These things would terrify me to the point that, when I would scream, nothing would come out at first. My mother would tell me that I was dreaming. I would ask her how I was dreaming when I'm wide awake. I saw a ghost that looked like a kid wearing a sheet over their head. The sheet was so white that it glowed. I woke up to a miniature person walking on the edge of my bed. I once saw a giant seven-foot-tall man in my room walking straight towards me.

He stopped at the edge of my bed and just stared at me, and I had scratches on my neck. My mother still kept saying that I was dreaming, and that I had scratched myself. I pointed out to her that I was wide awake and my hands were on top of my pillows, so I couldn't have scratched myself. I also saw a woman rocking in a rocking chair. Again, my mother said that I was dreaming.

The next day, I overheard her talking on the phone, saying that she saw the woman in the rocking chair too. I immediately said loud and clear that I wasn't dreaming, because other people can't see your dreams. My sister walked by my room one night and swore that she saw a pirate ship on my wall. Also, my dog avoided my room like it was the bubonic plague.

I do have more stories about other rooms in the house, but I'll get into that at another time. I recently started listening to your podcast and I'm hooked. I'm not sure whether this counts as a glitch in the matrix, but I'm sure it was a weird experience. This was a couple of years ago at around 8.30pm. I was laying in bed falling asleep when I realized that I couldn't move.

There was no sleep paralysis demon, as some people claimed to see, just an overwhelming sense of fear. It stayed like this for a few minutes. Suddenly, my ears started ringing, but with a really high-pitched noise. Not the usual ear-ringing people experience. The sound was almost painfully loud, and just as it reached the loudest point, I was awake. I was able to move again, and sort of just lay there, confused.

I felt weird, like I was still asleep. I closed my eyes and, well, I don't know how to explain it. There was this pressure in my head that I was able to increase if I really focused on it. With the pressure increasing, the deafening ringing started, and it kept getting louder in my head. Then there was silence. I couldn't move. I was back in sleep paralysis. However, I was still awake. I was fully awake and was completely aware of what was happening-

It felt unreal that I was able to put my body into a temporary paralysis. The only downside was that I wasn't able to control when it ended. I laid there for a few minutes trying to understand what was happening, and poof, I was moving again. This happened multiple times, and it felt like it had been this weird sequence for hours. My mom then knocked on my door to check whether I was going to sleep.

I explained what just happened, and she sort of just agreed that it was weird, but didn't pay much attention to it. After she left, I couldn't do it anymore. I've tried multiple times since then, but to no avail. I should add that I lucid dream a lot. Many of my dreams are incredibly vivid, but I have no doubts that I was awake during this experience.

With the lucid dreaming, it's more that halfway through the dream I'll realize that I'm dreaming and suddenly my dream there will be a water bottle. If I pick up the water bottle and pour the water on my head, my dream version of me will fall onto the ground from a first person perspective and I'll wake up. Pretty cool trick, but it was weird the first time it happened. Also, my mom told me that when I was younger, I had major night terrors.

In the middle of the night, I would suddenly start screaming bloody murder and kicking around in fear. According to her, my eyes were wide open, but I wasn't awake. Again, I don't know if this is really a glitch, but it's more just my unusual experiences with sleep. This is the reason why our former roommate left our house in such a hurry.

"'The story isn't about me, but a friend of mine. "'For the sake of this story, we will call her JD. "'She's a roommate of ours, "'and this story happens to her during her time at a nightclub. "'She was busy dancing when a man walked up to her "'and asked her if she wanted to dance with him, "'but she kindly rejected his gesture. "'She continued dancing. "'The song soon ended, and she was just getting ready to leave "'when suddenly she felt a hard shove from behind.'

She fell to the ground and stared at the source of the push. It didn't take her long to realize that the man that offered to dance with her had angrily shoved her over. She was terrified, but luckily a couple of people came to her rescue. She pointed at the guy who had pushed her, and those kind people shoved him over in return and then beat the living crap out of him. Needless to say, she had serious trauma after that incident.

Hey there, friends. I hope that you enjoyed this collection of scary stories on this episode of the As The Raven Dreams podcast.

If the platform you're on has the option to follow podcast and you enjoyed my work, please do consider doing so. Also, leaving ratings and reviews are super important for the algorithm to support the growth of the podcast. I'm just one guy doing this. I don't have a team. It's literally just me doing everything. So any support like that is greatly appreciated. Never expected, though. So if you go above and beyond with that, I do appreciate it.

Some platforms also allow you to leave comments, and if you feel inclined to do so, please do. I would appreciate that. I do have a Patreon and a merch store that you can also check out if you want to support a little further. The Patreon side of things gets you early access to all of my content. It is formatted differently as it goes in line with what my YouTube channel is, but it is the same stories, just different collections.

There is also a website, astheravendreams.com, where you can check out pretty much everything about me, my social media platforms, fiction stories I've written if you want to read those, as well as submitting your own stories, which there's a big button on the front page you click to do so. And those stories basically keep the podcast alive, to be honest with you. So, yeah.

All that said, friends, I do hope that I see you again here very soon. Until then, remember that you are loved, that you are valid, that you are important. You're the best you that you can be. Don't forget it. And until next time, much love and sleep well.