ATRD Ep. 147 - Scary In The Woods & Paranormal Stories
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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. So, I feel that I should preface this by saying that I only ever dealt with the paranormal as a child, mainly in my room.

I don't know if something had happened in my room before I lived there, but I do remember that I had multiple unsettling experiences. On this night, I remember going to sleep easily, but at some point I had gotten woken up to hearing a dull tapping from under my bed, which is surprising since I used to sleep like the dead. But somehow, when I had awoken, I felt that something was off.

I wasn't fully aware and had assumed that I just woke myself up for no reason. Maybe the tap was in my dreams. As I started to drift back to sleep, I felt the slats supporting my mattress shift. I was surprised but assumed it was my sister hiding under the bed trying to scare me. I wanted to get her back and started to slowly lean over the side. Wait, did I just hear a tap against the opposite side of my frame?

Was my sister going to try to grab my leg from the small gap against the wall? I still played along and dipped over the edge of my bed. Huh? Where was Renee? Is she actually on the top bunk sleeping? My eyes started to adjust to the dark and I noticed... feet. Right as I noticed the feet, I felt the bed dip behind me. I went rigid. I didn't dare move. I could tell that the bed was dipping on either side of my feet like someone's palms were pressing in.

I'm wide awake now, and that's when I hear it. I can hear my sister softly snoring from above me. This isn't my sister. I should have known. There's no way she could have crawled up onto the bed from there. There's no breath, either. I should be able to hear the thing hunched behind me, or at least hear it scratch the wall. Right? How can it even be sitting like that?

"'It can't be on its knees if I can see the feet. "'Bones just don't work like that. "'I don't know why seven-year-old me just accepted their fate. "'What was I going to do? "'Run? "'I was basically upside down, as vulnerable as I could have been. "'The only thing I could think of was to reason with it. "'Shakily?' I whispered out. "'I get my bed and you get under the bed. "'I won't bother you if you stay there, okay?'

I felt the weight shift again as I watched the calves come into view. At least, I think they were calves. I couldn't really tell what it was made of, but I averted my eyes because I really, really didn't want to see it look back at me. When I felt the weight leave my bed, I crawled back up until I was a pile of limbs and blankets in the middle of my bed. I felt comfort in knowing it wouldn't be able to touch me now.

It was probably more of that I wouldn't be able to feel it through all the layers. I squeezed my eyes shut, just hoping I would wake up at any moment. That it would just be a dream within a dream. Well, I did wake up the next morning, relieved feeling that it was just a dream, even though I still made it a habit to leap into bed or tie my shoes from the floor so that I could see under my bed. Later that week, I made the mistake of telling my sister my dream.

She told me that a couple of nights ago she heard a tapping and not on the bed frame. She heard something tapping the heater. She told me that when she looked to see what it was, she saw a hand. A thin, needle-like hand tapping the heater to almost mimic the sound of it heating up. Needless to say, I begged my sister for months to let me sleep on the top bunk, and eventually she let me.

Over time, I sort of pushed the events to the back of my mind. It still sticks with me to this day. It just feels a little too real. But I feel that I made an agreement on that day, and I guess that ghost or entity was kind enough to respect my boundaries. I'm just glad that I don't live there anymore. Hello, Raven. This is my first time ever making a Reddit post, so please excuse any mistakes on my part.

By the way, to anyone listening, my subreddit is r slash theravensdream. I have always had paranormal encounters since childhood, and have always believed in the unseen. The earliest experience I can recall is when I was about six years old, during a storm when a flash of lightning filled my room, when I saw a small girl on my dresser looking back at me. However, that's not what I'm here to share.

My first story takes place in the house that my mother currently lives in. When I turned 18, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to get out of my small Midwestern town and live in Hawaii for two years. By the time my living situation had fizzled out there, and I had no choice but to move back to my small hometown, my mother had moved into an old house on the east side of town, a house completely unknown to me.

The house is currently around 115 years old and has sat solemnly there through the development of a larger part of the town.

By the time the day in question occurred, I had experienced such things as hearing my name being called when no one was there, growls across the couch from me, hearing footsteps across the floor when I was home alone, and many other small paranormal experiences, and was well aware the house is haunted. It was my best friend's 23rd birthday, we'll call her C.,

and we had decided spur of the moment that we were going to point the car in a direction and see what we can see. Being from the Midwest and not having too many exciting places around, we decided that we would drive to Des Moines, Iowa, as there was many little thrift shops and good places to eat. We headed to my mom's house so I could get ready and pack a bag. I chose a Black Nightmare Before Christmas t-shirt and a pair of blue jean shorts to wear.

This will be relevant to the story. C sat in the living room watching TV and messing around on her phone waiting for me to be ready to go. From my perspective, I'm sitting there at my dresser straightening my hair listening to music, excited to finish up and hit the road. When all of a sudden C comes into my room pale as a sheet, I asked what was wrong.

She just stated over and over to get my bags and other things together, and that she wasn't going to tell me what was wrong until we were the hell out of this house. Confused, I gathered my belongings and followed her out to her car. She began to tell me that she was scrolling on her phone when I walked by and stated in my own voice that I was going to get something out of her car. She looked over her phone long enough to see that I was wearing a white band t-shirt and black shorts.

She stated she heard the front door open and close, even seeing the light flood the room as it does when a door is opened. She waited for a while, and when I did not come back in through the living room, she assumed I was smoking outside without her, after cussing me out under her breath for a little for not grabbing her as we always asked if the other wanted to smoke.

When she went outside to join me, and didn't see me, she became confused, as the back door to my mom's house is fully blocked off with plastic, and always has been. When C came into my room and saw me there still, wearing a completely different outfit, she realized it was obviously not me she had seen and talked to. She was thoroughly creeped out, as I was. I mean, that thing used my voice.

It's a story we tell often and are able to laugh about it now. I have so many other stories, including the time a spirit ripped me down the bed by my ankles in the same house. As I do believe I am a magnet for the paranormal, I will more than likely share that story and others sometime. Thank you for creating a space where people can share such stories. Much love.

This episode is brought to you by United Airlines. When you want to make the most of your vacation, book with United. They're an airline that cares about your travels as much as you do. United is transforming the flying experience with Bluetooth connectivity, screens, power at every seat, and bigger overhead bins to help fit everyone's bag. And with their app, you can skip the bag check line, get live updates, and more. Change the way you fly. Book your next trip today at United.com.

As for my story, I've always had an inkling that stuff is attracted to me. Or that I sort of attract stuff. The unknown and strange has always piqued my interest, so a part of me is always looking for it. On to the story...

When I was younger, around 10 to 13 years old, strange things were frequently happening around me. I'm not sure if it was a specific entity that likes to follow me around, or that I was just more sensitive to the paranormal at the time, but those were truly strange times. My stuff would disappear and then reappear in places that I have searched. That feeling of being watched, shadows dancing at your peripheral,

Things just straight up moving without prior intervention. The most notable of these events happened around other people, part of which I think it was something following me. I had two friends that I would regularly hang out with at school, and they were the other people that saw... it. One time was in the restrooms. Cliche, I know.

Being young and dumb, we were scaring each other by turning the lights on and off, and making weird noises ranging from shrill singing to bird noises. So, here we are, me and my friend laughing our back ends off, and in front of us is those big mirrors you typically see in public restrooms. I was, mid-joke, probably making an impression of whatever cartoon show we were watching at the time, when my friend screams, points, and runs out.

To note, the lights were off at this time, and I was just confused. I thought they were messing with me, thinking that I walk out pointing at them, chuckling at their attempt to scare me. When I catch up to them, they were outside the hallway, white as a sheet. I jest and ask them was the ghost scary, and she asks me if I did not see the thing. I think the room was dark, so stuff was pretty blurry. Then I remember.

As I was walking out, the wall behind me had a weird shadow cast on it. With how the room is put together, sunlight still went in the part where the big mirror was, so that shadow that stretched throughout the space behind me was just impossible. The other incident involved two of my friends, same one from the restroom. I was walking down the stairs, and they ran down, leaving me at the steps.

At the end of the stairs, there's this big bulletin board inside an acrylic case, so it reflected light. At their angle, the staircase was visible as a reflection. So was I. And another figure behind me. They described it as this big, tall, blurry thing just behind me. Thinking that a teacher was going to find us hanging around after class, they turned to face the staircase, only to find me at the stairs walking down still.

We left after that. They did ask if I saw someone, which I did not. We still talk about these stories from time to time, and so far it's been consistent throughout the years, so they definitely remember. I would tell more, but just typing these out creeps me out. Like there's someone just looking over my shoulder type of creepy.

Stuff does still happen to me, although incidents definitely have lessened, so perhaps I'm not that intuitive about them anymore. Can't say that they've mellowed out, though. I have always enjoyed and even preferred hiking solo. You didn't have to stop for someone else or speed up for them. You could go at your own pace and truly have your own experience."

But then I went on one of these hikes that now has me hesitating before I trust people. I had planned a small hiking trip somewhere that I hadn't been, in a smaller state park in Iowa. I was planning on getting through it within two days, and by the route I had planned out, it was doable. I was going to stop about halfway through, maybe even two-thirds of it, set up for the night, and then finish the next day.

I usually kept my load pretty light with only the necessities. I brought along a sleeping bag and a hammock, hoping to find a nice set of trees. The hammock was my favorite way to sleep, getting to gaze at the stars until I drifted off. I arrived on Friday afternoon in late July. As I was doing one last check on my supplies and adjusting the tightness on my boots, a man approached me wearing the normal ranger uniform you might expect.

He was probably about mid-forties, wearing khakis and a dark green shirt with a matching hat, and a small scarf tied around his neck. He also had a badge pinned to his shirt that said "Chuck". He had some stubble on his chin and either had really short hair or was bald, because I couldn't see any with his hat on. He nodded and asked me if it was my first time here, and I confirmed.

He seemed to be thrilled by this, and began asking me questions about what I was looking for or hoped to get out of the trip. I explained that I was just doing some hiking alone, and just wanted to see what all the park had to offer. Chuck was very clearly passionate about his job. He immediately pointed out some of the best trails to take, and even some of the off-the-path ones to get some of the best scenic views.

Before I knew it, he was walking alongside me, and we were chatting about different parks and forests we'd visited in the past. We had been walking and chatting for a good portion of the trail, until I decided to take a trail that had a steep incline. Chuck had pointed it out to me, and suggested that I check it out, then said he had to stay near the base. I thanked him, and we parted ways.

I took the trail and quickly understood why it was rarely taken. The trail started as just dirt and grass, but the higher I went, the more it turned to loose rock and dirt, which became a bit more hard to walk on. But the view at the end was absolutely worth it. There was a small ledge that overlooked the lake, and the reflection on the water was just breathtaking. I stood there taking it all in for several minutes before I finally walked away.

I then walked back down the trail and continued on my path until I could tell that I needed to rest. The sun was starting to set, so I decided to stop and set up for the night. After walking around the trees, I finally found a set and tied up my hammock. As I lay there staring up at the trees and sky, I started thinking about all I had seen that day. I thought about the view on the inclined trail, and it made me want to see the same with the moon.

I wanted to get that contrasting view of day versus night. It wasn't going to be the exact same view because I would have to walk back quite a bit, but I knew if I walked a little to the west, I would find the lake again and get to see a similar view. I kept my bag and hammock where it was and just took my camera and headlamp with me. I walked through the trees and the chill in the air confirmed that I was getting close.

but I was apparently not alone in my thoughts. As I got closer, I saw someone standing near the edge of the lake, but as soon as I saw the scarf around the neck, I knew it was Chuck. He had his back to me, arms to his side, staring out at the lake. His shirt was unbuttoned and waving in the slight breeze. I didn't want to startle him, so I just called out to him. Hey, Chuck, you were right about that view. Chuck did not move.

He didn't even budge or turn around when I spoke. I thought maybe he didn't hear me. Maybe he had bad hearing or possibly even had earbuds in that I couldn't see. If so, I still did not want to startle him, so I thought I would make a wide circle around him until I was within his view to spot me. As I started walking to his left, I noticed Chuck finally start moving, but all he turned was his head. Something was off about the way he moved.

His head slowly turned to the left, but he kept turning it almost unnaturally. It was like he was really struggling to turn it when it wouldn't turn anymore. Like you're trying to look at something behind you that's just out of view. And once his head was turned as far as it could, he then slowly moved his torso to match the direction of his head. But again, it was just his torso. His legs stayed in an A-form while his torso now slowly moved.

It was uncanny and unnatural and just... creepy. Why didn't he just move his whole body to look behind him? I stopped in place as I watched him turn like that, and then he leaned his head to the side and stayed in that position for several seconds. He was really freaking me out, and I was about to back away back to my camp when he finally spoke.

He flashed a very wide grin that looked nothing like the friendly smile I got at the entrance. And then he said in a mimicking tone, "Hey Chuck, you were right about the view. He literally just repeated what I said. It was definitely his voice, but he just repeated me. Why? Why would he just repeat what I was saying? Why was he being so creepy and what was he even doing out here in this exact spot? Something was not right.

and I was not about to stick around to find out, so I made a mad dash back to my stuff. Looking back every once in a while to make sure he wasn't following me, I didn't really sleep that night either. I was too paranoid that he would come find me. I don't know if he would have done anything, but he was already being creepy, so I wasn't going to take my chances.

It was also way too dark in those woods, and I didn't think it would be any safer to walk around with all my stuff, so I just stayed where I was. The next morning, I finished the rest of the trek without any run-ins with Chuck. I unfortunately didn't get to enjoy most of it because I was looking around for him, so I'm glad that I got to experience what I did the day leading up to that night.

When I got to the entrance, I thought about finding another ranger and telling them about it, but I was also worried about how they would take it. Yeah, one of your rangers was in the woods turning weird and copying what I said. It's not like he physically did anything, so what could they even do? I just decided to keep it to myself and left, and I haven't returned to that park again.

I've told some people I'm close to and posted this in other places, and the consensus is that he was probably just trying to mess with me, or maybe there was something messed up with him upstairs. Either way, it left a lasting impression on me, one that I don't care for, and once again, has confirmed that I would rather do these things solo.

but maybe a camcorder or a GoPro wouldn't be such a bad idea to take with me. Hello Raven, I found your podcast on Spotify and usually listen while I'm at work, and also sometimes to go to sleep at night. Thank you. I know that I put that this is paranormal, however, in my mind, this was not scary in any way, and all I felt while going through this was love.

So, here I go. I'm a 44 year old female and this happened when I was 25. So, in 2005 and into the year 2006. As my mom has always loved old houses and would buy them to fix them up, I've had several paranormal experiences. And so these types of things have stopped being scary.

This story started when I met my very best friend in 2000, as my oldest daughter started Head Start. My bestie had a son who started at the same time. From the day we met, we essentially spent every day together. We were both stay-at-home moms, and so she was either always at my house or vice-versa.

Fast forward to the year 2005, and I now have three kids. Two who were in school, and one who's at home, who spends his day with us while we take our walks, go swimming, run errands, eat in the little diner in our small town, etc. As she could not have any more kids, she loved my little one to pieces, and would play with him all the time.

He would bring her toys and say play, and she would sit in front of his toy box and play while we visited. She spent a lot of time doing this. On July 18th of 2005, she drove her husband to work so she could run her errands, when she was struck by an 18-wheel dump truck and killed. Her son survived, thank God. I don't remember a whole lot after this until probably September, when I finally came out of my depression.

but I started to notice my son, who was still playing in the way that he used to. He would take toys to the couch, say play, and then proceed to walk back to the toy box and pull all of his toys out. He would sit in his high chair and make funny faces and then just giggle to himself. Then he would continue to do that talking babble that kids will do, and parents will talk back to them, even not understanding a word.

I started asking, who are you playing with or talking to? And he would say her name. Or at least his version of her name. To add some other points, after she passed, we started going through lightbulbs like crazy. We couldn't keep a lightbulb longer than a couple of weeks to a month. And I know most will say that's not evidence of anything, but I know that she was here. I had an extremely hard time with her death.

For almost eight months after her passing, at least twice a week, I would dream of going to the little diner, the one that we would often eat at almost daily when she was alive, and I would watch as she came over, sat down, and in my dream we would talk and catch up like nothing had ever happened. We would also spend hours on the phone to a point where it drove my husband crazy.

After she passed, our phone would ring but no one would be on the other end, and the screen would just say private. In the end, I realized that she was hanging around wanting to make sure I was okay before moving on. So, I came to the conclusion that I had to let her go. It was so very hard, but I also did not want her to be stuck.

I'm not an expert by any means, but you hear the stories of ghosts who don't move on and get stuck. So I sat on my bed and had a very emotional talk, letting her know that I would be okay. That it would be hard, but that I wanted her to be safe with God, or wherever her heaven may be. I truly feel that day she did at least leave us.

Still, to this day, at least once or twice a year, I will have our diner dream, and we catch up. I like to think that she remembers me and is just dropping in to say hi. Like I said before, this was not scary, but loving. Maybe one day I'll sit and write out some of the paranormal stories from my childhood, but until then, thank you Raven for keeping us all sane. Hi, I'm Star.

This story sounds like a nightmare, and I wish it was. For a bit of context, me and my boyfriend, we've been dating for four-ish years now, live together and like to camp on weekends. Also, I have diagnosed schizophrenia, but I was on meds the whole time. My boyfriend does not have schizophrenia, and he experienced everything that I did too.

Lately due to work, we haven't been able to do much, but we finally got a gap to do so, and we jumped on the chance almost immediately. We decided to pick a campground in the mountains near us, about an hour and a half away, and an hour from any roads or people. Now, looking back, we should have seen some warning signs due to there being no one else booked there near the end of August. We didn't think anything of it, and just got our permits to camp there.

The next day, we were all packed up and in the car. I had one of my stuffies/plushies with me. I take it with me whenever I can because it brings me comfort. I have trauma from a lot of stuff from when I was a kid, and this plushie somehow gives off a calming aura to me. Anyway, we got there and set up a few hours before nightfall, and everything was okay.

We were going to stay there for four nights. We brought two sleeping bags and a two-person tent, as well as some other camping gear. We got everything set up and were making dessert when the first weird thing happened. One of our apple pie things just wasn't in the coals anymore. It's possible that we couldn't find the little ball of tinfoil that it was all wrapped up in, but it was right next to the other one, and that one was there.

Strange, but we both laughed it off and made another. We put out the fire and cleaned everything up so no bears would attack us or eat our food. It's happened before. And it's not pretty. We got into the tent and set up the sleeping bags. I got the plushie from the car. For context, it's a 4 foot or 1.22 meters in non-freedom units. Axolotl pillow slash plushie. It was odd trying to sleep.

I couldn't fall asleep even holding the plushie close. I couldn't get the feeling of being watched out of my mind. It wasn't my boyfriend because it was around 3:00 a.m. and he was asleep, holding me close to his chest. After another half hour, I realized that the calming aura that my plushie and boyfriend usually gave off was gone, just vanished.

This hasn't happened in the four years I've been dating my boyfriend and having the plushie. I woke up my boyfriend to tell him this, and he just looked at me confused. He never really understood what I meant about the calming feeling that I get from them. He just held me closer and hummed softly while I held on to the plushie tighter. Eventually, I did fall asleep. In the morning, when I got up, before my boyfriend, I was in the exact same position that I fell asleep in.

But the plushie wasn't in my arms. In fact, it wasn't anywhere in the tent. It was right outside the tent. This was odd because I didn't wake up and much less, I would never leave Axel, the plushie, yes, I gave him a name, outside like that. He could get stolen or taken by a wild animal. Everything was normal through the day and even during our hike. The only odd thing is that we didn't see any wildlife or hear any at all.

Odd, but again, we just played it off. The next two nights and their days were normal as well. As normal as it could be. Again though, there was no wildlife, only the birds circling the woods above us. The final night was... off, to say the least. We both felt like we were being watched, and there was an unfriendly presence in those woods.

We kept hearing a person, not an animal, but a person or something human-like walking around, scratching the tent, snapping branches. Suddenly, it all stopped. The feeling of being watched went away, and that presence also went away. I was crying. My boyfriend was shaking, scared. That was odd, because it takes a lot to scare him.

We both didn't sleep, and when we got up in the morning, we packed up as fast as we could and left. When we were packing up, there was a pile of snapped branches in piles of 10-20 sticks, and they were in a triangular pattern if you connected the dots. When we got home, that calming aura/presence of my boyfriend and plushie were instantly back, and a little overwhelming.

I'm just glad that we were back home safe and unharmed. I'm sorry if this isn't clear or doesn't sound real, but it did happen, and we were both a little shaken from it almost a few weeks later. This took place in 2020 in Wadsworth, Illinois. There's a cemetery called Old St. Patrick's Cemetery,

and behind there in the woods, it is known as Devil's Pool. It was rumored that they held satanic rituals back in the 80s and early 90s. And supposedly, Bloody Mary is the name of the witch who was hung around the Civil War, to give a little background. So, one night, me and my friend Ivy decided we wanted to find where her house was in the woods behind the cemetery,

and as we were getting ready to go back there, a group of teenage boys asked if they could join. We agreed, so it was me, 21 at the time, Ivy, 19, and I can't remember how old the boys were, but there were five of them. Anywho, we started walking into the woods, using our phones as flashlights. We were walking maybe about 100 feet from the back of the cemetery when I heard something say, ''Turn back.''

Me being me, I was thinking maybe one of the guys said it to mess with us, so I said, Hey, why did y'all say turn back? They all said that they hadn't said it. And I just said, sure. I decided to take pictures so we could all look back at them, and we continued on. We got to these little trees, and there were four of them in a circle, with triple sixes spray painted on them.

We were all laughing, saying, "Wow, how scary." I walked in the middle where the smaller tree was and something was hanging in it, but I couldn't quite make out what was on there. Then, all of a sudden, I fell into the ground, and this small tree started falling on me. I started panicking, and one of the boys had to drag me out, and I was all like, "What the hell was that at that point?"

I wanted to turn around, but they all still wanted to find this house. So, we continued on. Then I noticed that we ended up back in the middle of these four trees. We were all freaking out at that point, because how did we end up back there? It didn't make any sense. So, I decided to look on Google Maps to see how far we were from the cemetery, and my phone wouldn't work. It kept glitching and giving me this random address.

I took a screenshot. So the guys in Ivy tried their phones, but their batteries drained. And one by one they died. So I said screw this, we are not staying here. And I made all of them go in front of me and then something grabbed the back of my shirt and yanked me backwards. Choking me. We were all panicking and we all heard someone screaming in the distance. It wasn't like a person screaming. It was the most wretched thing I've ever heard.

but I was trying not to freak out too much. I just knew that I needed to stay calm and get out of there. I then said out loud, ''We don't mean you any harm. We just want to go home.'' And we then all started running. We finally made it back to the cemetery. I was bleeding and my shirt was ripped in the back. I kid you not, I had three deep cuts on my back. It looked like claw marks.

We all went to the road and were talking about how messed up it all was. We looked back at all the pictures I took and they all came out blurry. You couldn't make anything out besides for this dark figure behind me. Me and Ivy went home and decided to go back in the daytime. We couldn't find the trees anymore, but we did end up finding the house. More like cottage that was torn down.

Only the basement level was left of it, and all around it was baby doll heads with symbols painted on them. It was creepy, and there were animal bones scattered everywhere. There were other encounters that happened there as well, but I'll have to share those another time. Many people probably won't believe me, but I can wholeheartedly tell you that I am telling the truth, that something or someone was there that night with us.

and caused that crazy phenomenon. Last summer, right after I finished my junior year of college, my girlfriend Nikki and I decided to take a camping trip with another couple, our friends Lisa and Jason. We were planning on staying for the weekend to just eat, drink, talk, and have fun. I'd been there multiple times in the past with not only my family as a kid, but my girlfriend and I had been there together too.

Lisa and Jason were also very familiar with the area, so it wasn't going to be anything new for any of us. This gave us a chance to still enjoy our surroundings and appreciate nature, but we could also focus more on our time together and just enjoy each other's company. Once we arrived, we signed the logbook, and the ranger reminded us to stick to the marked paths and be mindful of the wildlife.

We nodded in agreement and walked off. We were always respectful of the wildlife. Jason and I were not hunters, and even if we were, I think the girls would have taken us out if we tried anything. But as for the trails, sometimes we liked to push it to see things you were likely to miss if you stayed on the designated ones.

After some walking, Nikki spotted an almost perfectly smooth and almost circular spot that she thought would be a good place to stop. I was hoping to go a little further into the woods, but I was outnumbered and we set up camp there. We all discussed if we would leave our tents there and continue to explore, or if we should pack up and set up again further along. After hiking and pitching tents, we worked up an appetite and settled into our hot meal.

We brought a small cooler big enough to carry that held some brats and condiments to enjoy for the night. We sat around our small fire, enjoyed the slight breeze and talked until we were too tired to continue. We went into our tents and settled in for the night until we drifted off. But the next day was when things started to get weird. I woke to switch sides, but I couldn't fall back asleep. It was probably around 5 or 6 in the morning.

The sun was just starting to come up, but it was still pretty dark deep in the trees. As I lay there, trying to sleep just a little bit longer, I started hearing whispering. I couldn't make out what was being said, but I assumed it was Jason and Lisa trying not to wake us up. I could not fall back asleep, no matter what I did, so I decided to just get up and let Nikki sleep a little longer.

But when I got out of the tent, Jason and Lisa were nowhere around, and their tent was still zipped up. I assumed that they were still asleep and that maybe I just heard the wind. I sat on the ground by our makeshift fire pit, now completely out, and rubbed my eyes, trying to get myself to wake up and focus. While I sat in silence staring out into the trees, that's when I realized that it was silent.

We were in the woods. Being this early, there's usually crickets chirping or birds singing, or maybe even an owl hoot. But there was nothing. Not even the sound of wind blowing between the tree branches. I stayed seated and looked around the area, trying to see if I could spot anything. Was there a predator in the area? Was that why? Was there a bad storm coming in? But I saw and felt... nothing. Nothing.

Everything looked normal. Then, I heard the whispering again. It was so faint that I almost missed it. I held still and tried to discern where it was coming from, but I could not pinpoint it. It was like it was circling me. How was that even possible? Once again, I couldn't make out what was being said, but I knew that it was whispering.

It wasn't the wind. It wasn't an animal. It actually sounded like a person whispering, but they were so fast that I couldn't make out the words. I called out, "Hello?" to see if there was someone nearby. Maybe they saw our tents and didn't want to disturb us. Maybe they were not all there, and that's why they were whispering in the first place. The whispering seemed to stop like it heard me, but then I heard tree branches breaking.

Like someone was walking over them. But just as soon as that started, the whispering started up again too. This had to be a person, right? They stopped like they heard me and then continued. So, where were they? And what were they doing? I stood up and started looking around more and suddenly, I started getting the feeling of being watched.

You know when you're on your phone or computer and you can just feel someone watching you? So you look over and the little kid at the coffee shop is staring at your screen? Yeah, that feeling. Minus the annoyance, since I'm out in the woods. It's more paranoid than annoyed.

I stood in place and looked around, trying to again determine where it was coming from. I walked towards the tree lines, but as I walked to the trees behind our tent openings, I started getting this sense of dread. Something told me to not go any further, but yet all I heard still was the whispering. I was honestly ready to get the hell out of that area. I went back to the tents to wake up Nikki, so we could at least start getting our stuff packed.

We didn't normally set alarms for ourselves when we went out here, but we were typically pretty good at naturally waking up around this time. So, it was pretty weird to me that no one else had woken up yet. I went into our tent, woke up Nikki, and started picking everything else up. The whole time I was doing this, I could still hear the whispering. While she was in the tent changing, I felt a hefty blow of wind.

and then like a switch, the birds and crickets started up. I assumed that Nikki saw the look on my face and asked me what was wrong. She looked at me perplexed as I explained what I had just experienced. She didn't hear any of the whispering, and said she also didn't notice anything strange with the birds or the crickets. Shortly after, I heard our friend's tent open, and Lisa came out, looking around.

She asked where Jason was. I never saw him leave. I thought he was still in the tent. That meant that he had to be out of the tent prior to me leaving mine, and was out here the entire time, but where did he go? I thought maybe he went to relieve himself, so I just shouted for him and told Lisa to get dressed, so we could at least start getting ready to leave. As I broke down our tent, I heard someone walking and turned to see Jason coming out of the trees on my right.

The look on his face made me think that he heard or saw something that didn't make sense either. He nodded at me, went to Lisa and said something to her, and then came over to me. He explained that he had woken up needing to use the bathroom, but while he was out there, he too heard the whispering. He thought someone may have just been screwing with him, so he started following it. He explained how it seemed to lead to nowhere.

and that it didn't seem to be getting any louder or quieter. That's when he also started getting the feeling like he was being watched. That's what made him go back to our camp. He was feeling the fight or flight and wanted to get back to us to make sure that we were okay and to get the hell out of there. I told him what I experienced and explained how Nikki didn't seem to hear the whispering either. None of us had any explanation as to what we did and didn't experience.

but Jason and I had the sense that it wasn't good. We quickly left and moved on, much further into the woods. We found another place to stay in those same woods, to stay for the next night, and we all shared our experiences. That's when we learned that Lisa had been awake since she heard me say hello. However, she also didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. No silence, and no whispering.

So how was it that Jason and I were the only ones that heard it? And what was watching us that made us feel like we were in danger? I won't lie, it took me a while to finally fall asleep that night. And I woke up early again, but this time there was nothing off. I woke up to crickets, and there was no whispering. Same with Jason. We finished the rest of our trip with no further weird events, but it was burned into my memory.

We had been there many times prior to that trip, and never experienced anything like that. We've also gone back since then, just Nikki and I for a day trip, and with the others. And still, it hasn't happened again. Even though it freaked us the hell out, I'm glad that it didn't do anything to us, and that it didn't stick around.

I've had a few paranormal experiences throughout my life, but this one terrified me. I was a teenager in 2010. I lived and still live in northern Wisconsin. Near the border of Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan, down a quiet little road, lies the ruins of Summerwind Mansion. Official stories of the mansion only note how many times it burned down, and that there had been a strange murder there in the 1800s.

There are reports that one of the owners had found a small corpse while remodeling, but that it disappeared as quickly as it was seen. The story I had always heard was that, in the early 1900s, a wealthy man lived in the mansion with his wife and daughter. For unknown reasons, the man killed his wife and daughter, put his daughter's body in one of the lit fireplaces, and then took his own life.

Only a staircase and two tall chimneys stood in 2010. My friends all said that they had seen the little girl float from chimney to chimney. I did not at all believe in ghosts or anything of the sort. One sunny summer day, my friend and my boyfriend at the time decided to take a trip up to Summerwind. The vibes were great on the way up there. Good music, laughing, talking. When we got to Summerwind, nothing changed.

We explored a bit, being the first time any of us had been there in the daylight. Eventually, we made our way under the remaining staircase. Being a skeptic and suffering from angry teenage angst, I went on a rant how I didn't believe in ghosts. I called the little girl ghost every name in the book, daring her to show herself. I also said that I would believe it when I see it. The vibes changed.

I didn't know until later, but we were all feeling uneasy. The ride back to my house was nearly silent and uncomfortable. My friend was sleeping over. I had a futon bunk bed. She took the top bunk. I had the futon below. The uneasy feeling began to skyrocket steadily as we were trying to fall asleep. I remember we also went to bed unusually early, probably trying to get rid of our unease.

Eventually, my heart was racing and I couldn't figure out why. Concerned, I told my friend what I was feeling. Her voice cracked as she said she was feeling the exact same way. Fear sank into me. I told her not to mess with me. She then started crying and said that she wasn't. I had been lying on my side facing the wall. At that moment, I rolled over, now looking away from the wall.

I saw a small shadow figure standing in the middle of my room, with a bright light emitting from behind it. I felt paralyzed in fear, and I asked if she could see it. She gasped and sobbed as she said yes. My childhood home was no bigger than a trailer home. My parents were incredibly light sleepers. I screamed bloody murder for my mom while the shadow figure stood still in the middle of my tiny room.

With no response from my mom, I was now crying, ready to crawl out of my skin. Overcome with dread, I jumped out of my bed and bolted to the light switch. I flicked it on and shakily said that I believed. I was so sorry for everything I said. I believe now. As soon as the light was on, the figure and other mysterious light vanished. The fear and dread immediately left my body.

Wiping tears, I told my friend to tell it that she believed and that she would feel better. I still don't know why, but she refused to. She didn't sleep that night or the next at her own house. Since this event, I have never returned to Summerwind. Hey Raven, great channel, one of the best. Thank you. During lockdown, I got involved in spirituality.

dabbling in all sorts of traditions and most I let go of afterward. One thing I kept going with was a regular outing in the woods near my home that I had previously never really bothered with. I never consider myself to be a nature person other than looking at beautiful scenery pictures. I really didn't care for it. Bugs have always irritated me and I didn't like being outside.

That was until being cooped up inside for months on end came around, and then I had a change of heart. I got to get out of the house without having to deal with large amounts of people. I became more observant and learned what was normal for the forest. What kind of trees tended to grow where, even if I didn't know their names. I started to notice smaller differences. Some bark would only grow on some of the trees and not others.

how there were occasionally stone circles or fallen trees, and I would wonder if it was the power of nature who would place it there and why, and if it had any particular meaning. I walked down to the creek, nearly, watching the water flow by, and it was rare for me to be disturbed by anybody. You know how birds would go quiet, or you'd have the hair stand on the back of your neck? That didn't happen.

The shrubs near the waterline began to move against the wind, and I thought it was an animal. A deer came out and made its way toward the rest of the herd. I noticed a few deer nearby. They were grazing and would look in my direction. I didn't bother them, and they didn't bother me. I sat down on a rock, my usual spot that I would always spend time at. I closed my eyes and took a moment to relax before I started meditating.

Judging by my watch after the event, what happened didn't take that long. I heard a weird, bellowing sound. I ignored it until I heard the same sound again. One thing that initially unsettled me was the strange sounds that animals would make. I opened my eyes when I heard the deer running through the forest, and looked around to see what had startled them. I couldn't help but let out a tiny giggle at my reaction, until I saw a lone deer walking through.

There were some strange growths over its body, and it was moving weird. Like it was stiff, but somehow erratic. With sharp movements. I stood up and stared at it. It started walking in circles in the water, making that strange bellowing sound that scared me. I stepped backwards, unsure of who to report this to, and not knowing what to do, but I figured it was best to leave.

A branch snapped whenever I stepped backward. I know, kind of cheesy, but that's what happened. The weird deer stopped still and looked in my direction. There was something about its vacant eyes that scared me. It didn't feel normal. I remember its sides were moving in and out as if it was breathing really heavily. Its head kind of flopped around while it did so.

I don't know if I had been watching too many movies or TikToks, but it looked as though this thing was going to stand up on its hind legs. Finally, it started making several steps in my direction. I had actually heard about walkers taking the form of animals in order to get close to people. Maybe that's why the other deer ran away when it got close? Because they knew what it was? Or maybe it could have been something else that was weirdly supernatural.

I'm not afraid to say that I was too scared to stay there. I screamed, turned and ran as fast as I could back home. What was relaxing for me had turned into an incredibly stressful experience, and I didn't want to ever relive that again. I haven't gone back to that creek since, or even that forest. I still do go for walks around my area, but not into the woods themselves.

I was browsing YouTube Shorts, and a video of an infected deer came up. Some of them looked similar to what I saw. I heard that there was a fungus or a parasite that can affect deer like this. Or maybe it was something supernatural. I did report it to Wildlife Services, but I haven't heard anything back. If the deer was sick, then I hope that they could help it. Who knows? Maybe it could have been rabies or something.

I don't know, Raven. Maybe your listeners can help me work out what that thing could have been. Hi, Raven. Love your channel and decided to share one of my stories with you. This is a story that happened to me some time ago, but it still gives me the creeps. During my medical residency, I was transferred for a brief two-week stint at a different hospital. Because of my short stay, I wasn't assigned my own locker.

Instead, I was told to find one on the second floor, a floor that was mostly deserted, used only for lockers, cleaning equipment, and sterilization rooms. The silence up there was unnerving, as if the floor had been forgotten by time. The only "guest" locker room was number 219, inside a long array of empty lockers stretched out before me.

From the moment I stepped into that room, I couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that I was being watched. The sensation was so strong that it made my skin crawl. To make matters worse, the motion detection light had a mind of its own, flickering, often taking their sweet time to activate, as if deciding whether to leave me in the dark or not.

I chose a locker further down the row, trying to ignore the unease that prickled at the back of my neck. For the first few days, nothing out of the ordinary happened, though the flickering light continued to give me the creeps. I told myself it was just an old building, probably in need of some maintenance. But then, on one of my last days there, something happened that I can't explain. I was in the locker room, already changed into my scrubs.

but I lingered to read through the cases that I had been assigned. The room was silent, except for the soft hum of the building's systems. Suddenly, that silence was shattered by a loud, constant noise, a metallic clanging that echoed through the empty room. Startled, I looked up, my heart pounding and my veins tightening in my neck. The sound was coming from one of the lockers. Despite the fear twisting in my gut, I forced myself to approach it.

As I opened the door, I saw a coat hanger inside violently banging against the metal walls of the locker. But there was no one there. I wasn't moving, and the air was still. No drafts, no vibrations, nothing that could explain the movement in that precise locker. My mind raced, trying to find a logical explanation, but there was none.

The hanger continued to thrash before my eyes and I just stood there, waiting for my fight or flight system to kick in. Finally, my brain chose flight. I quickly shut the locker and backed away, my heart still hammering in my chest. I left the room as fast as I could, not bothering to look back. I was so shaken that I never returned to get my clothes or shoes. I went home in my scrubs that night.

Even now, I'm certain that that locker room was haunted. Something was in there with me 100%. If anyone has an explanation for what happened, I would love to read it. I have more stories from hospitals that me and my colleagues have experienced, and maybe I'll share them some other time. I had a dear friend named Marie. She lay in dire straits in the oncology unit in a hospital she'd worked at a good many years as a doctor.

I had planned to visit her after work, and was going to take my friend Oscar from Paraguay to go with me to pray for her. He was very spiritual and faith-filled, and I had seen literally miracles from his mother's hands as well. His mother had died, so I latched onto him to bring help to her. An out-of-the-blue strangling tumor on her spine had given her less than two months to live, but yet she had four years.

Every single doctor who'd read her chart, opening diagnosis, commented that after reading the first line, the chart should have ended in death. But it didn't, and was laboriously heavy with four years of unbelievable happenings. My friend Oscar talked to and then prayed for my friend. It was difficult because a man next door was mentally challenged and very ill, constantly shrieking and hollering.

My friend Marie was so nervous and upset with it that she was nearly crazy. Oscar excused himself and took me with him next door to this man's room. His old mother was with him, and I would say he was in his fifties, and maybe her in her late seventies. "'May I pray for your son?' Oscar asked kindly. "'Oh yes, please,' she responded. He did so all in either Guarani or Spanish.'

He was half German and half Wurani Indian. When he finished, the man was silent and seemed peaceful, and everyone in that unit sighed in great relief. But the next several days, when we both returned to check on Marie, the mother of the man in the next room sought Oscar out angrily. "'What did you do to my son?' she demanded. He told her that he had prayed for him, and that's all. She kept insisting now he didn't speak at all, and the whole unit was blissfully quiet."

It was crazy that she was acting angry with Oscar. We wanted to get out of the woman's wrath, and my friend was much improved, so we left then. In my car, as I drove up Broadway towards the suburbs, we were both quiet, until I said, ''What was that woman so mad about? Why was she crazy acting?'' He said, ''I prayed that if he was possessed with a demon, to silence him in Jesus' name.''

He never wailed again the whole time Marie was there, nor cursed loudly, shrieked or hollered loudly, and that's the truth. Hey Raven, I love listening to all your stories. This is my first time submitting. A few years ago, my husband and I went to a luxurious hotel in Florida. We arrived Friday afternoon and got settled in.

A few minutes later, we decided to take a trip around the city, and as we were leaving, we noticed that the hallways and the big mirrors were just like the ones in the movie The Shining. This was a little funny to us. We did everything we were going to do in the city and came back to the room. We then took showers and went to bed. My husband likes to get up early in the mornings to run at every city we stay in to see what's around.

This morning he was up around 7am. I ended up waking up as well as I heard a bunch of construction from upstairs, right above us. It sounded like hammering, drilling, the whole nine yards. I was upset because I came here to rest, not to be woken that early from construction. I called downstairs and asked why there was construction at 7 o'clock in the morning, when people were trying to sleep.

The front desk told me they were going to check it out. An hour and a half later, when my husband came back from his run, I was still awake and upset because the noise was still happening. I told my husband that I called downstairs, and he told me that when he came in, he asked about the noise to the front desk again, and they told him that there was no construction anywhere in the building, but that they were getting several phone calls about the noise.

This kind of scared the crap out of me, but it's a beautiful hotel and we continued to stay there when we traveled to the city. After that, we haven't had any type of other mysterious sounds or anything. So, is it haunted? I was a park ranger in Frederick, Maryland, dutifully patrolling the state park one fateful night. The air was crisp and the forest was eerily silent, save for the occasional rustle of leaves.

As I made my rounds, I stumbled upon a heart-wrenching sight. A black bear, grievously injured, likely struck by an elk. The bear was in agony, its labored breaths echoing through the stillness. With a heavy heart, I knew what had to be done. I raised my gun, and with a single shot, ended its suffering. I radioed in the incident, my voice trembling slightly as I relayed the details.

Suddenly, a deep guttural howl pierced the night, sending shivers down my spine. It was close, no more than a hundred feet away. My eyes scanned the darkness, and then I saw it. A hulking figure moving towards the dead bear. As it came into view, my blood ran cold. This creature stood upright, towering at least six to seven feet tall.

Its body was a grotesque blend of a wolf's head and the muscular frame of a bodybuilder, covered in jet black fur. Its eyes were a menacing red and I was paralyzed with fear, my gun useless in my now trembling hands. The beast approached the bear's carcass and began to devour it with a ferocity that was both horrifying and mesmerizing.

I estimated that the bear would be completely consumed within two hours at the rate it was going. Slowly, I regained my composure and began to back away, inching towards my golf cart. Just as I thought I was safe, something heavy struck the seat beside me. The bear's head. I started the cart and sped away, the creature howling, echoing behind me. I didn't stop until I was far from the park with my heart pounding in my chest.

The next morning, I handed in my resignation. As I write this, I can't help but wonder why the creature threw the head at me. Was it some kind of warning? A message that I was lucky the bear was there? Or I would have been its next meal? I now believe that we have an alpha male werewolf lurking in the woods of Maryland. I was always a skeptic of cryptids, but that night changed everything.

Hey Raven, I just wanted to say that I'm a huge fan of the podcast and love your voice. Thank you. Now on to the story. Just a bit of context before I get started. I live in a super tiny town in the middle of nowhere Nevada, with a population of about 300 people. This doesn't really matter too much, but does kind of come in later on in the story.

I'm not really too sure about ghosts and all things paranormal, but I do believe there are things that we will never understand in this life. So, in my town, there is a tiny community building called "The Square". Supposedly, it has had some rumors of it being haunted, but I really didn't believe it until this story happened. The layout of this building is a bit confusing, so I'll try to explain it as best I can.

Running through my town is a north and south running highway. Going south through the town, and on the right, is the building. There's a little back road that turns right and goes right in front of this building, and the building's main entrance. In front of the building, there is a tiny parking area where you can park your car, but it's not like a full parking lot.

Me and three of my friends are sitting in this little parking area facing the highway at around 11:30 to 12:00 AM, deciding what we should do next. As previously mentioned, our town is super tiny, so there's absolutely no one else around, especially not at this time of night. Anyways, we're sitting in my car and I have my driver's door open because it's hot and I want to stretch my legs out.

All of the sudden, there is this loud scream that sounds like a kid screeching. I turn to my friend, we'll call her H, who's in the passenger seat of my car, and I ask her if she heard the screaming too. She said yes, so I turned back and asked my other friends if they heard the screaming too, and she said yes, that she heard it as well. So, a little freaked out, we're still just sitting there talking,

when all of a sudden I hear these footsteps coming from behind my car, sounding like they're sprinting at me. I look over at my friend H and she looks at me with a concerned look, so I look out my door, see no one, slam my door and drive away super fast. We look behind us and see no one, and the way we were facing on the road made it possible for there to be absolutely nowhere for someone to hide.

Mind you, we don't drink or do any kind of drugs, so that rules that out. And in our town, no one but us was even awake at this time, let alone out and about. It was my first ever real paranormal encounter, if you even want to call it that, and it still freaks me out to this day. Hi, it's me again, the 13-year-old Finnish boy. In this story, you will hear three sightings of my dead grandmother.

One, we were at my family's cottage in the north. I had just come out from the sauna. When I got inside, I ate and went to bed. From my bed, you can see the door. Around 2am, I woke up to an old woman's voice saying, ''Hello.'' I came back. I couldn't move. I didn't know what to do. I was in a panic. So, that's when I opened my eyes and saw my grandma.

I was in absolute shock. After I blinked, she disappeared. 2. I was at home all by myself when I heard the doorbell. As I went to open the door, I looked at a mirror. And as I did, I saw my grandmother standing behind me. I got scared and called my mom. She was scared and called my dad. And then my dad told me not to worry. So, I didn't. 3. This one happened yesterday. 4.

I was at school walking through the hallways when I saw my grandmother roaming around the cafeteria. I told my friend to look, but as he turned around, she disappeared. Man, I hate when ghosts and spirits disappear. But anyways, thank you for reading. I love your podcast, and hopefully you and everybody listening has a great day.

Hello Raven, I love your content and your channel. Here is my story about... well, something. Me, my dad, and my brother named Jack were camping, and we went there and got greeted by an old guy who was in his 70s or 80s, and he told us that he hid toys and marbles by a creek that runs down the campsite. My brother got super excited about this because at the time we were little kids.

I really didn't care all too much, but when he told us, it was between 9pm and 12am, when it would be pitch black and creepy. My dad asked if he could set it at an earlier time, and the old guy flipped out. He gave us a card and just ran away. When me and my dad set up the tent, it was like 7pm, and Jack wondered if we could go check out the toy scavenger hunt. So, we did.

The old guy was in an old lawn chair, just smiling at everyone, finding tiny army figures and shiny rocks. Jack ran and I chased him, and he found a Spider-Man action figure. My dad put two big thumbs up, and we ran around trying to find toys. Two hours pass, and we're cooking s'mores, and we hear an animal, and we then found a big elk. It looked cool until it walked toward us.

My dad told us to go in the tent, but the elk just wanted some food. We decided to call it quits for the night and go to sleep. I then woke up to crunching outside of our tent. So I thought it was just the elk that we saw earlier, but no. It was the old man walking around at least midnight. I woke up my dad and he got protection ready while I kept my brother quiet. He ended up disappearing that night and went missing.

As I get older, I remind myself of how stupid that was. Going to that old man's party? If it was in a house, like a house party, it would be normal. Like an old man just spreading joy around to his neighbors. But in the middle of the woods with no cell service? It was just... crazy. Hi. I'm not sure where this story goes, but feel free to edit or pad it out.

When I was a teenager, I was in my bedroom and my mom shouted through if I wanted dinner. I had only gotten home from school, so I didn't know what there was in the house to eat. I decided to go and chat with her to see. As I left my bedroom, I had to pass the kitchen to get into the living room. As I did this, I saw my mom bent over the top of the cooker with her hands on either side, wearing something I had never seen before.

It was like a 50's style baby blue twin set, with the skirt and jacket to match. I already thought that was weird as this was the 90's. So while I'm thinking this, my mom turns her head to me from over the cooker and gives me the creepiest smile. It gave me goosebumps all over. I continued into the living room where my mom was sitting in a chair in a red jumper and black trousers. She saw my face and asked me what was wrong.

I explained everything that just happened, and my mom very nonchalantly said, "Oh, you saw Frances." Never having heard this name before, she explained to me that she had a twin sister who had died at birth in 1950, and she was given the name Frances, which was then given to my mom as a middle name. I never saw Frances again, and after that smile, I never wanted to.

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.