Scary Stories For Dark Dreams - Volume 19 | ATRD Podcast
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Start before you get there. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms apply. Learn more at americanexpress.com slash with Amex. 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. If you have a true scary story you'd like to share with the podcast, go to AzTheRavenDreams.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. Summer has always been my favorite season.

I loved the heat, I loved playing baseball with my friends, going swimming, hiking, camping, and just about anything that involved me being outdoors. It typically put me in a better mood no matter what I was doing, including work. Admittedly, I didn't have the best luck with jobs though. I never seemed to hold one longer than a year, but it was always odd circumstances.

One place had been shut down for code violations, but most of us lower-level employees saw it coming. A local business went under, I was laid off from one, and one I had to quit because the managers were very toxic and abusive. So, until I found a long-term job, I worked a lot of places and experienced even more. One summer, I got a job working at a local tourist attraction.

It was at a popular park that had a long trail that could easily take you a few hours to go around the whole thing. You could also rent bikes to go around it, or even pay for a reserved shelter for celebrations. I worked at the front booth, which basically involved ringing people up that bought passes, bike rentals, or the random snacks and souvenirs that we sold.

It was great, because I could take my breaks or lunch outside, or even stroll around at a discount on my days off. Hell, even when I was working, I would be standing outside, taking out the trash and such if there were no customers around. So, even though the atmosphere was great, people can still be crappy or just weird. I've had my share of those, but this one really messed me up.

and I'm still trying to figure out how it's possible. So, we stopped the bike rentals around 6:00 because the park closed around 8:00 or 9:00 when it got dark. We didn't want to rent out bikes and then not be back before then. The park is still open in the meantime, but the people that are left there are usually the parties or just people passing by wanting a quick trinket or restroom break before getting back on the road.

One night, it was myself and another guy working that we'll call Steve. Steve was sweeping up the lobby so we could prepare to mop, and I had just walked out the trash from the restrooms. The sun was just starting to set, and it looked gorgeous. You could see the pink and orange colors in the sky with the silhouettes of the trees in front of it, and it was always one of my favorite sights to see.

As I started walking back towards the building, I paused, watching the sky. I seemed to have zoned out because I didn't notice when a car pulled into the parking lot. It wasn't until I heard the door open, since it had a bell attached to it, then I came back to reality. I suppose I looked around and noticed the car in the driveway, and I could tell that there was someone in the driver's seat, but because of the glare, I couldn't make out anything about them.

Not thinking it was important, I went back into the building thinking maybe it was Steve trying to see where I had gone. However, it wasn't Steve that I saw when I entered, but a kid. I will always remember because of the way he was dressed. He looked about 9 or 10, I think, and had on shorts that were blue with white stars on one pant leg, and the other had red and white stripes. Think like an American flag.

He was also wearing a green tank top with a Minecraft creeper on it, and when he turned around, I noticed the face painting he had on, which looked like it was supposed to be a Spider-Man mask, but it wasn't done very well. I remembered this because I was thinking he must have come from a party or some kind of festival or fair, and was beginning to wonder if there was one going on nearby that I wasn't aware of.

I loved going to our state fair, but that usually wasn't for a few months. Around September. He was looking up at the shelf lined with the stuffed animals that were holding our state flag. As I approached him, that's when he turned around and I saw his face. I said hi and asked him if he wanted one of the bears, as the shelf was pretty tall and he smiled and nodded, pointing to the blue one.

As I grabbed it for him, I asked if blue was his favorite color, and he said yes. He stood there for a few minutes talking to me about how he just came from a party with his mom, and he wanted to get something for his little sister since she was sick and couldn't go with them. He then told me details about the party, like the cakewalk and winning a donut, and that his mom had to use the restroom and just rambled on about whatever came to mind.

While we were talking, or more so he was talking and I was listening, Steve walked out from one of the offices, saying my name and asking where I'd been. I explained that I had been standing there for some time and talking to this kid, as I motioned towards him. He looked over and they both made eye contact and smiled. Steve looked confused, but his only response after was asking me to take out the trash. Cue my turn to be confused, as I told him I already did.

and that I started talking to the kid when I came back inside. He argued with me that I hadn't done it yet, so I walked away, leaving the kid to stare at the bears, and I followed him back to the restrooms. Color me surprised when I went back there, expecting to prove him wrong, and the trash cans were still full. I was confused. If I hadn't taken out the trash from the restrooms, what trash did I take out?

I grabbed the bags and walked by the bins in the office, behind the register and by the doors, and they all had trash too. It was like it never happened. While walking towards the front, I saw the kid walk out of the lobby again by himself. I looked over at the bears to see if he took it, since neither of us were at the register at the time, but not only were there no missing bears, it was even back on the shelf, right where I had grabbed it from.

I continued to walk out the door to see if they were leaving, kind of feeling bad that we may have ruined their chance of buying something, but to my surprise, the car was gone. I didn't see it on the road, pulling out, anywhere which again I found odd because there was not enough time for them to get in and drive away. It was already a weird day so I just continued my way to the dumpster to toss the bags.

And no, there weren't any bags in the dumpster either. But, as I headed back into the building, that's when things got weird. I saw the exact same car pull up to the building. Thinking maybe they did want to buy something, or maybe they forgot something, I watched to see them get out. This time, I saw the boy get out of the rear driver's side with the same shorts, shirt-

and face paint on. At the same time, a woman got out of the driver's seat and that was it. I watched as they walked by me, smiled, and entered the building. I followed behind them, looking around the lobby for Steve, and I noticed the boy walk over to the bears, giving me this weird sensation of deja vu. As he stared up at them, I took a gamble and reached for the blue bear, and I asked if that was the one that he wanted.

He nodded. I asked him if it was for his little sister, to which he responded yes. This time, he walked over to his mom, explained that he wanted to get it for her, and she agreed. I went around the counter to wait as they made their selections, when Steve came over and was talking to me about something. However, he trailed off as he saw the boy and the mom approach the counter.

He greeted them, as I did, and as I was ringing them up, he asked them if they had ever been here before, and the mom said that this was their first time, and that they were in the state for a family reunion, but her daughter stayed at the hotel with her dad because she wasn't feeling well. After we rang them up, the mom used the restroom and they left again, and I watched them both get into the vehicle and drive off.

I immediately turned to Steve and asked him what was wrong or what he saw, and he agreed that that was the same little boy that was just in here, but the parent was nowhere to be seen. That's when I explained to him that I had taken out the trash already and how I knew about the car. He seemed like he wanted to believe me, but was still skeptical.

What we did agree on was that there was no way we saw that kid arrive, leave, and come back within that time frame. Not to mention that I knew what the kid wanted and why. I still have no explanation for it, and that happened a few years ago. All I can think was that it was some kind of glitch and that the time frame started over. Maybe because the kid wasn't supposed to be alone?

I don't know and I don't think I'll ever know. Ryan Reynolds here for, I guess, my 100th Mint commercial. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I mean, honestly, when I started this, I thought I'd only have to do like four of these. I mean, it's unlimited premium wireless for $15 a month. How are there still people paying two or three times that much?

I'm sorry, I shouldn't be victim blaming here. Give it a try at midmobile.com slash save whenever you're ready. $45 upfront payment equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first three month plan only. Taxes and fees extra. Speeds lower above 40 gigabytes. See details.

To start,

I am one of those annoying people that has always been super into fitness and setting personal goals. I bought a fitness tracking watch, the kind that does the whole heart rate monitoring, the sleep tracking, and most importantly, tracks steps. This, of course, meant that I had another goal to hit each day. 10,000 counted steps. No excuses.

Of course, I work in an office behind a desk, so I had to be creative sometimes with how I got there. Some nights, this meant that I had to bundle up and go out into the darkness for a trip around the block, possibly two if it was a particularly lazy day. That night, I was a couple thousand steps shy, so I figured why not take a quick walk, knock out those last steps, and then call it a day.

I laced up my walking shoes, grabbed my phone, and headed out into the night. It was a chilly night, but not too cold. Perfect walking weather in my mind. The roads were deserted, and I was ready to just spend some time in my head and get that number up to my goal. I was about five minutes into the walk when I noticed a car creeping along at a snail's pace, just dragging down the road in the opposite direction of the way I was going.

Now, I've seen slow drivers. I've driven at half the speed limit trying to find a house when going down the road. I used to be a delivery driver, but this was something else. This car could have been part of a really slow parade. It was going slow enough that it could have just been in neutral and was coasting on a straightaway that was my road. I stood there and watched as it inched to near where I was standing, and then it got even with me...

And it stopped. I half expected the person to roll down the window and ask me for directions, but they didn't. They just sat there. I'm assuming they were staring at me, but I couldn't see through the tint of the windows. I waited for a moment and decided that I didn't really want to test this and see what the hell this person was doing. And I didn't want to be a part of whatever they were planning, so...

I turned and kept on walking, planning a quick route through a neighbor's yard to get back to my house. When I started walking again, they started once more inching forward at about one mile per hour. They continued going the opposite direction of me, so I assumed that whatever that moment they paused was just going to be an awkward moment that we shared, and that was that.

I kept going, thinking I was going to be able to hit my goal after all and not cut my walk short. Then, I heard what sounded like a transmission shifting. I turned around and this car was now doing a full k-turn at that same 1mph pace. At this point, I booked it down the road, making my turns into an easement and up into my backyard.

I walked around the house to my front door, thinking that there was no way they would have seen me, because I had come up the back way. My walk was ruined, sure, and I wasn't going to hit my step goal, but I wasn't going to worry too much about it. Then, it got worse. About four to five minutes after I'd gotten home, I was sitting on my couch and watching some TV, when I heard a car horn honk.

I jumped a bit because it sounded close, but I didn't think much of it. Until I heard it again, and then a third time. I opened the curtain in my living room to look outside, and sure enough, that same car was sitting in my driveway, still running, still with its headlights on, and whoever was driving it was just sitting there randomly hitting the horn. I sat there freaking out, thinking, how the hell did they figure out where I lived?

I came around the back. There is no way they saw me enter my house, with my thoughts being interrupted randomly by the sound of honking. This guy was hitting the horn at seemingly random intervals, holding it for a couple of seconds and then just letting go. I guess to get my attention? Or make himself seem threatening? I really don't know what he was doing. Like I said, I was freaking out inside a bit.

I had no idea who this was, what they wanted, what they were trying to accomplish. I decided to take action, as much action as I could bring myself to take. I turned on the porch light, hoping that it would scare them off, and I guess that was enough, because after I did that, I watched as this car backed out of my driveway at that same snail's pace, and just kept on down the road slowly.

This guy never sped up. He never revved his engine, he never did anything but go down the road at a literal single mile per hour. And strangely enough, it was probably the scariest thing that I have ever encountered on a night walk. It's almost funny how being outside in the dark can make even the most innocuous things seem unsettling. If this was during the day, I would have assumed that it was just some random old person trying to find a house.

but at night, it was seriously terrifying. I didn't call the cops or anything, because it was one of those situations of me thinking that this guy hadn't done anything criminal, he was just driving slow. Sure, it was suspicious, and sure, he parked in my driveway and honked, which was annoying, but I don't think that was worthy of getting the police involved. Thankfully, that was the only time I ever saw that car.

They may have ruined my walk for that night, made me not reach my goal for the day, but I didn't let it get to me in the overall grand scheme of things. I guess the only thing to say is, if you are ever out at night, and you feel uncomfortable with the situation, do not ignore it, and don't assume that it's nothing. Stay aware and stay cautious, because you never know what other people are considering doing.

It started in October of 2018, at a surprise birthday party. The party was for a good friend of mine, and all her closest friends and her parents were invited. A few days before this, I'd had a muscle injury and was taking painkillers for the same, which is why I could attend the party but had to decline drink. A man at the party who was a friend of one of the people invited noticed me turning down a drink.

He asked me why and I explained, and we made small talk for a few minutes. I spent the rest of the party with my friends. A few days later, I got a text from an unknown number asking how my injury was. It was the man from the party, who had taken my number from the group chat where the invite had been sent. I thought it was nice of him to check up on me, so I said I was better and thanked him for asking.

After this, he struck up a conversation about something else. I spoke to him for a while and then ended the conversation as I had to go out with some friends. The next day, he tried to make conversation again and asked me where I usually partied, what I liked to do for fun, etc. I answered honestly, because I didn't perceive this as threatening and thought if my friend was friends with this man...

He would be nice. I was 21 at the time and in college, so I quickly became swamped with assignments soon after, and started sending shorter and later replies to his texts. At this point, along with the random questions about my opinions on various things, he started asking me to meet him, at bars that I used to frequent or at a cafe nearby. I told him I had a lot of work to do for college,

and he said I could just meet him for a silent hangout, or I could work on my assignment and he would sit silently next to me doing his own thing. I thought that sounded strange, so I declined. Also, keep in mind that this was a man who was a few years older than me and working, so I was also wondering why he was trying so hard to hang out with a college student.

I started ignoring some of his texts, post his repeated suggestions to hang out, and would only reply in monosyllables. I blocked him from viewing my stories on Instagram after he kept replying asking me where I was partying. This didn't stop him from texting me often, worried that he was trying to pursue me romantically.

I started replying to his texts that said "What's up?" with messages where I said I was spending time with my boyfriend, which he would ignore or say "Oh, that's nice," and then go back to asking me questions or asking to meet. A few weeks later, I ran into him at a party. I was slightly tipsy and hanging out with some male friends, and he saw me across the room and texted "Is that your boyfriend?"

I was drunk enough to reply back denying this and made a joke about it, and then went back to talking to my friends. At the end of the party, I started to head out to book a cab for myself, and he came up to me and asked if I was going back alone at 2am. I said yes, and he insisted on dropping me back in his car. I denied as I was uncomfortable with the idea of being in a car alone with him,

He told me his friends would be coming too, that it wouldn't be just the two of us. I hesitantly agreed to wait for them, but his friends called soon after and informed him that they had decided to stay longer. I said I would book a cab, and he insisted that he would book it for me so that I would be safe. He asked for the address, and since I wasn't comfortable revealing my partner's address, I gave the name of a restaurant nearby.

He asked me if the house was close, and insisted on a more specific address, but I said it wasn't on maps and that I could walk to it. He booked the cab, and as we stood waiting for it, he said something like, You know, you really know how to make people feel bad about themselves. Like, they can't befriend you. The cab arrived, and I got in, confused about his statement.

When I got to the restaurant, I instructed the cab driver to drive into the lane where my partner's house was, and I ended the ride there. The man immediately called me and asked me if I was safe. I said yes, and we ended the call, and once again, I wondered if I had misjudged him, and if he had been trying to take care of me.

After this, he went back to texting me often, sometimes even after I didn't reply, saying hi or asking me what I was doing on Saturday. One day, I was going to meet a friend at a bakery near my house. As I entered the place, I got a call from him saying he saw me from the bar right next to the bakery, that he was there with friends on the balcony and that I could join them if I wanted. I declined.

stating that I was there to catch up with a friend. The friend cancelled soon after, so I left the place, but as soon as I did, he called again, asking me why I was leaving so soon and if I would come join him and his friends now. I said I had a presentation to work on, and I went home, wondering if he had been keeping an eye on the bakery long after I'd entered it. The thought was chilling.

I decided to talk to our mutual friend about his behavior, and she said that his personality was just off-putting, but he was harmless, and she would tell him off if he made me uncomfortable again. This pacified me for a while. Sometime after this, at another party, I found out that another girl he had met through my friends had had a similar experience with him and had been creeped out.

I can't remember exactly what happened between them, but she said that he'd kept his distance after she told him she didn't want to befriend him. I wasn't a confrontational person, and furthermore, I was afraid of confronting men, so I hoped that ignoring his messages would stop him from reaching out. The frequency decreased, but the messages did not stop.

He also wished me on my birthday for four years straight, even when I didn't respond. During the pandemic, he was relatively quiet. When he ran into me at a bar two years into the pandemic when they had lifted restrictions, I had my mask on and looked away when he made eye contact and mouthed something at me. I disappeared into the crowd and got a text soon after saying,

"Hey, did I see you at the place?" Which I ignored. So far, he hasn't tried to reach out, but I worry that he might text me again on my next birthday. I still don't think he's dangerous, but I definitely do not want to meet him again. This was 30 years ago. I will never forget this. I was sleeping over at my friend's house.

He was on his bed, and I was on the floor. His room is at the end of the hall upstairs, and right next to his bedroom door is the door to his mom's room, the master room with the bathroom. On the other side of the hall is a door to the bathroom. Down the hall, near the top of the stairs, is his sister's room, and there's nothing else upstairs. The distance from the top of the stairs to my friend's bedroom door is maybe 15 feet.

Not very far. Okay, so we're lying down to go to sleep. His mom has already gone to bed with their two giant poodles. They slept in her bed every night. His sister is out of state at college, and there's no one else in the house. Parents are divorced. So we're finally getting quiet and not talking. And it's quiet when I hear someone walk up the stairs.

then walked down the hall to the area right in front of our door, his mom's door and the bathroom door, and then nothing else. I thought it was just an old house thing, cause this was an old Victorian with hardwood floors throughout. No biggie. I was kind of getting sleepy, and then I heard it again. Same exact thing. So, now I'm like, what the hell? And I'm laying there on my side, my head tilted to watch the door and listening.

I'm wide awake. It happens again. Then, a few minutes later, again. I'm like, what the actual hell? I'm kind of freaking out, and I turn my head to look at my friend in his bed, who I thought was asleep, and he's looking at the door too. He then looks at me with that WTF look. We both quietly get up and stand up closer to the door. It happens again. We're just staring at each other,

We wait, hold our breaths basically. A couple minutes later it happens again, and we both reach for the door as the steps come to the area right outside his door, and he swings the door open. Nothing. There's nothing there at all, the house is just quiet. We step out and look into his mom's room as she has the door open. Both dogs and the mom are passed out asleep in her bed.

In fact, one of the dogs lifted his head, looked at us, then laid his head back down. We walk over to his sister's room, and no, she's not there. The bed is made, and no one's there. We kind of stand there for a minute, and whisper things to each other like, what the hell, that was steps, right? Footsteps, yes? The house is still quiet, so we go back to his room, and sit there chatting for a while, just kind of freaked out.

Then we settle in and go to sleep because it's getting late. As soon as we get quiet and start to settle, footsteps again. This time my buddy leaps out of bed, grabs the doorknob and flings open the door. Nothing. But this time we were loud so his mom wakes up like, what was that noise and what's going on? We just told her nothing and to go back to sleep. And then we go back to his room.

We sit there and just kind of talk to each other about what we're feeling and what happened. Talking quietly, and it keeps happening. Every few minutes, we stop talking and listen until it stops, and then go back to whispering. It got to the point where we were laughing or giggling quietly because it was ridiculous. I mean, it was shoes on footsteps.

like dress shoes or boots, loud in the wood creaking along with the steps as they came down the hall. I spent many nights in that house, in that room, and this did not happen every time, but it did happen often. So often that we got used to it and just slept. Same house, at some point hanging out in the backyard with my buddy and a couple of friends drinking wine coolers or some stuff.

His mom wasn't home, sister was at school, and we were out on the deck in the middle of the day, maybe 3pm. I glanced up at the second story window as I'm taking a swig of my wine cooler, and I see a woman in his mom's bedroom. I did a double take, and she wasn't there. I look at my bro, and he's looking at me. I was like, did you see that? He says, yeah, I saw something move, I looked up, and then saw nothing, maybe a woman?

So we literally jumped up and ran in and ran upstairs and searched. Nothing. No one. Same house. My bro's mom was down in the basement. We were upstairs in the kitchen. She was getting food out of the freezer down there to cook for dinner for us. She's only gone a couple of minutes, and we hear her scream. We ran down there, and she was on the floor in front of the freezer, looking around and clearly scared.

She sees us, and she says, ''Who else is here?'' We looked at each other and her, and we're like, ''No one. It's just us,'' and you screamed. She was feeling out of it. We all go to the kitchen, and after she settles down and is making dinner, she tells us that she was kind of bent over, looking in the lower part of the fridge for something, and she clearly felt two hands on her back push her into the fridge.''

And same house again. As a kid, my bro was being chased by his sister through the house, around the dining room table, and he tripped and fell headfirst through a big mirror on a big credenza type thing. His head is through the thing completely. The mirror is broken, clean above his neck, the studs below shattered, and the part above is just hanging there, in the wood like it should I guess.

but it's a big mirror, as tall or taller than an adult. His mom is freaking out. She pulls him out, and the second his head comes out, that giant piece of mirror slides down, just like a guillotine, and it shatters, like a split second from decapitating him. First, I must give some backstory. When I was younger, I worked for my lake community during the summer season, for as long as I remember.

The jobs ranged from dishwasher, maintenance worker, and boat tender. My last job, and the longest one, was beach security. The lake had a small beach with a building that had a game room, a deck overlooking the beach, a restaurant, a small motel, and a lobby for guests of the hotel and restaurant.

I was assigned to check in guests of the beach, and make sure they were members in good standing who paid their community dues, and also to enforce the rules beset on the whole area. I would get a lot of flack from this job from Karens, Krusty Teens, and other idiots who were up for the summer. It came with all the drama that you would see on a CW teen drama show.

The story took place during the summer and fall of 2011. I graduated college and I promised myself that this would be the last year that I would work for the community. I was tired of the drama and ready to find a real job. To bank more money this year, I also took the position of doing night duty as beach security.

For this, I would monitor the property for three more hours after the game room and restaurant closes at 11, and I would make sure that no one was trespassing on the property. I would mostly walk the property and then stay in the lobby area, watch TV, and play on my Nintendo DS until my shift was over. 98% of the time, it would come and go, but sometimes I would see the occasional deer, raccoon,

Fox, and Black Bear walk the deck. I would also have to ask people to leave and or call the community security for assistance. I should mention, I am an unarmed security guard, and I don't own anything for self-defense at this time of the story. One night in July, I was watching adults swim on the TV with a sliding glass door behind me that led to the deck.

The show I was watching goes to commercial break, and the screen goes black. When that happens, I see on the reflection of the TV screen, someone standing on the deck looking into the door and looking at me. I immediately jolted up and turned to the figure and just stared at him. The guy was about 5'8", wearing a dirty black hoodie with a white Adidas logo on it, navy blue basketball shorts, and white sneakers.

With his hood up, I couldn't make out his face, but I can tell that he was a white male with bright red dyed hair that was underneath his hood, and he seemed a bit younger than me at the time. He was just standing there swaying slightly, and he had his hands in his pockets. He was staring at me, but also, it was like he was looking through me.

It took me a second to collect myself, and then I walked to the glass door and slid it open. "'Hello, sir. I'm sorry, but the beach and deck are closed for the night. I'm going to have to ask you to leave the property and come back when we open up in the morning.' Then he says, "'When is that?' He was very monotone, and he seemed tired but jittery. "'That'd be eight o'clock in the morning.' "'Okay.'

Can I come in and use the bathroom? At this point, I felt something much more off about this guy. I've dealt with drunks and people being super high, but this guy seemed to be on something else, and I didn't want any part of it. I am sorry, but no one's allowed to be here unless they're a guest of the hotel or restaurant, which are both closed for the night. Now, please, sir, can you please leave the beach?"

He seemed to get a bit annoyed by that, but his body language barely changed. "Fine. I guess I'll have to find somewhere else to go." He then walks off. I made it a point to follow him off the deck and watch him walk away to make sure he left. Instead of heading up the road, he veered off into the woods. He was out of my sight, but I could hear him dragging his feet through the brush and sticks.

After that, I walked back into the lobby and locked the door behind me, and called the dispatch and reported the incident, and asked to keep an eye out for the guy. 2 AM came, and I locked everything up. I armed the security system and left. I started to drive out of the beach area, and as I started to turn left, a balloon full of this red liquid stuff...

flew from the woods and slammed against my passenger window. I got startled and floored it out of there. I wasn't going to get out to see what happened there, and I only lived five minutes from the beach. I got home and checked out the damage. My passenger door was covered in red paintball paint. The impact was enough to dent my door. I called it in and asked them to keep their eyes out and check the area for the guy.

The next day, I was told they didn't see anybody there, but got reports of the same thing happening to other residents' cars or houses. I was pissed, but also unnerved that happened to me in the first place. Time had passed, and it was fall. The beach closed for the season, but they still needed a night guard to make sure no one vandalized the property. It was the week of Halloween, and it was also my last night.

I'd got a job working at a much better job, and this was the last of my two-week notice. I also went to the Halloween party during the day, and went all out as Jason Voorhees with the machete from Walmart as well. I was wrapping up for the night, and I was just sitting outside of my car, talking my friend's ear off on my cell phone. As I was talking, I could hear some leaves rustling and twigs snapping in the woods behind the dumpster.

I told my friend that I had to go and I hung up. This was my dumb white person in a horror movie moment. I walked slightly closer to where the noise was coming. It was dark, but slightly lit from the parking lot's lights. As I was looking from behind the dumpster, out comes the same guy that I saw back in July.

His hood was down, and I could see his hair was longer with his natural brown hair roots being longer than the red dye that was left. He began to fast walk up to me, growling, and his face was plastered with rage. He had a black iron pipe in his right hand, and he was swinging it a bit while he came at me. He covered a lot of ground quickly. I ran to my car and I opened my back passenger door that I was facing.

I grabbed the machete that I bought for the party, and I raised it over my head and stood my ground. I don't remember what I said to him. I was filled with so much adrenaline, but I know that I cursed a lot. He seemed to stop, and he stood there for a bit. After I yelled and shook the machete a bit more, he simply turned around and went back into the woods from where he came. As soon as he cleared the dumpster, I got the hell out of there.

I was going way too fast for the windy roads that my community had. I called not only security, but the police as well. By the time they got there, he was nowhere to be seen again. Four years later, I moved away from my community and haven't heard anything new about the man or anything related to the incident. I now carry a knife with me, and I still have the same machete in my car, just in case.

I work as a caregiver in some of the neighboring cities that I live in. I'm an RN, but I really enjoy working with patients in their own homes. Most of the time they're a lot nicer and personable with you, but that makes sense. Hospitals are cold and lonely, and you typically don't know many people there. It's not a place that someone would want to spend longer than, say, a normal appointment in, right?

So, being able to make people comfortable at home while they heal or spend their last days means a lot to me. Now, some of the people I cared for lived in sketchy places, and even some of the people could be sketchy themselves, so I still had to be aware of my surroundings and keep myself safe, as well as my patients.

I wanted to share one of my experiences with you, because I like how you mention these can be entertaining as well as educational, because even though you may have the best at heart, it doesn't mean that everyone else does. It was the beginning of spring of 2018. I was caring for a gentle old lady that I'll just call Mary. Mary had suffered a stroke and was going through PT in order to walk again. She was able to talk for the most part,

and had control of her arm, but we were still working on walking and building up her strength again. I was there four to five times a week, and a PT nurse was there twice a week when I was to help me. Most days she was a trooper and was willing to put in the effort, but everyone does have their off days. It didn't happen often, so when it did, we tended to go a little easier on her.

We may only go half the time or do something different, something that she wanted to do. On this specific day, Mary was feeling a little under the weather, so we didn't want to push her if she physically was not feeling well.

I called the PT and told her to reschedule, and I went about my normal tasks in the meantime, such as delving out her medication in the daily containers, changing the bedsheets, doing laundry, running a bath for her, just things like that. Mary was sitting on the couch watching TV when I went to the window to open the curtain. As I did so, I saw someone standing on the other side of the street.

Mary lived in a condo, but it was like a retirement home because it was just seniors that lived there, but they weren't considered assisted living. So, anyways, this man was a bit off putting at first. You see, he wasn't some normally dressed guy. His face looked very pale and he was wearing what looked like a very baggy white jumpsuit and was holding a briefcase.

He wasn't doing anything else, but just standing there and watching as the cars drove by. My first thought was, huh, that's kind of weird. But I moved on with my schedule. After some time, I had forgotten all about this person. It wasn't until I was wrapping up for the day and heading out the door after a family member arrived that I was reminded of him.

I walked to my car, which was facing right towards him, so I spotted him quickly. This time I watched him slowly turn his head in my direction and smile and wave. Now that I was a little closer, I could tell the jumpsuit that I saw was actually what looked like a really old clown costume. It was baggy, and it had buttons or a design going down the front center, and the sleeves were puffy.

Again, I thought it was weird, maybe a little unsettling, but I was hopeful to keep the peace. I just waved back and quickly got in my car to leave. I was going to Mary's the following day, so as I pulled up, I noticed our clown guy was sitting on the bench on the same road as the condos. There was a single bench that had a sidewalk next to it that led to the front office doors.

There was a tree next to the bench, as well as a small flower bed that was there as a type of memorial. The residents used it mostly, but you would occasionally see joggers or other people passing by using it, so it wasn't odd seeing him sit on it. It was odd seeing someone dressed like that and sitting there. I got out of my car, locked my door...

and I headed towards Mary's condo trying to keep an eye on this guy as well. Unfortunately, he noticed me and immediately smiled and waved again. Instead of a full hand wave like he had done the last time, this one was a simple lift of the hand and wiggling his fingers. Almost in a flirtatious way, I suppose. It was odd, but this time I kind of just faked a smile and approached the door.

When I heard the buzz, I entered the door and proceeded with my day as normal. Towards the end of my shift, I looked out the window again and saw him still standing there. I asked Mary if she had seen the guy before. She confirmed that she did, but that he had just been sitting on the bench so she didn't see his face. She said that she hadn't seen him do anything else and wasn't particularly worried about him, so...

I figured I would just drop it, thinking at most maybe he was just trying to play some stupid prank. It was the following day that I started getting a little worried. It was a Saturday, and I was off Sundays, so I picked up some items that Mary asked for from the store, or picked up takeout for her or small errands like that. When I got to the condos, I again saw the clown guy by the bench.

But as I got out of the car, I noticed that he started walking towards me. Not knowing what to expect, I tucked my keys in between my fingers and made my way to the trunk to get the bags. When I closed it, the guy was then making eye contact with me and still walking towards me. I tried to ignore this and walked towards her door when this man let out the most blood-curdling scream that I had ever heard.

It made me jump to the point that I also yelped and dropped one of the bags. I quickly tried grabbing the bag and ran towards the door as the guy stopped moving and just continued screaming, right there in the middle of the parking lot. This time, instead of knocking first like I usually do, I immediately twisted the doorknob praying that it was unlocked. Mary must have known that I was going to be there soon and unlocked it.

As I dashed in, I quickly closed the door, locked it, and then realized that Mary was on the couch looking a little startled as well. I explained to her as calmly as I could what I had witnessed. She seemed confused and suggested that I call security to look for them or have them patrol the area. I didn't hesitate, and I called them explaining what had happened. After about five to ten minutes, security knocked on the door to talk to me more about the situation.

They told me that a few other residents had reported it too, but since he hadn't technically done anything yet, they couldn't do much but patrol the area. They also said that when they would start their rounds, he was seemingly nowhere to be found. It was like he knew when he was being looked for and managed to hide. The security guy that night was always really nice, and he was open with me, so...

He actually mentioned that he was concerned the guy might know their scheduled rounds, or could have even been on the same radio frequency, and just knew when to flee the area. He told me to be careful when I come and go, and to call for an escort if needed because he wasn't sure what this guy's intentions were. So, as I mentioned, I can usually handle my own, but that certainly did not make me feel any better about the situation.

especially from Mary and her neighbors. When I left that night, I told her to keep her alert button and phone on her wherever she went, just to make sure she had some way of alerting someone. Lo and behold, when I got back to my car, he was back across the street, smiling and waving. This time I drove around to that side of the road, rolled down my window and asked him why he was there.

Again, he just smiled and started his piercing screaming. So I drove away and called the main office again to tell them he was out there. It was pretty alarming knowing that he was around a bunch of seniors, some of them not being able to defend themselves. So I called Mary when I got home and even that Sunday throughout the day to make sure she was okay. Thankfully, she had no contact with the guy, but security never found him either.

Unfortunately, when I went there on Monday, he was there again. This time, I quickly made my way to Mary's door without even looking at the guy and quickly went in, alerting security. Everything else went as normal until the PT nurse, Sarah, showed up. I forgot that she hadn't really encountered this guy until she was knocking at the door. I immediately went to open it and asked her if she saw the guy, but she said that she didn't.

I was hopeful that security got them, but was also worried that he just ran off again. It wasn't until the next day that things took a bit of a turn for the worse. When I arrived on Tuesday, I didn't see this guy and was relieved that he had realized his pranks weren't funny anymore. However, today was going to be a half day for me, so after I got Mary settled in for a nap, I decided to wait in the living room until her daughter showed up.

I thought I would clean up and dust a bit for her, so I went to open the curtains and there he was, staring right into the window. I screamed, jumping backwards, trying to catch my breath as my heart plummeted into my stomach. The fact that he didn't budge within this time also snapped me back and caused me to get a hold of myself. If he was there to break in, why didn't he take off?

or even try to come in, break the window, anything. So I approached the window to get a better look at his face. As I mentioned, he looked pale, but the wrinkles or creases in his face, I could tell he had caked on makeup, like a clown. There were some that was wiped off or faded around his mouth and eyes, almost dripping, like he'd been crying and drooling, maybe.

maybe just spilling liquid from his mouth. He continued to smile as he slowly lifted a piece of paper that said SMILE on it. At this point, I closed the curtain and double checked to make sure the door was locked and went and grabbed my phone. I called security first when they asked me if he was still at the window. I went to check. Slowly, I pushed the curtain aside, but he was gone. I'm not sure if I was relieved or more worried about that.

After getting off the phone with them, I called 911 as well. It was kind of trespassing, with them trying to look into the window, right? At least, that's what I told myself. They both showed up and were patrolling the area for a few hours at that point. They even went to the condos around the area asking if anyone else had contact with this guy. Several of them did, but it was never more than in the parking lot.

I was the only one that experienced him screaming or even approaching the actual homes. From that day, they had a cop patrolling the area throughout the day, but the guy never showed back up. In fact, he was never seen again after that. I know this may sound wimpy, but it was truly a terrifying situation, and sometimes the less you know makes things even worse. I've talked to my friends and parents about this before, but...

No matter what, I still have no idea what this guy's motives were. If it was a prank, it was a terrible one. He could have easily caused someone to have a heart attack or worse. I also don't understand the suit or the briefcase. I still wonder what could have been in it, if anything, and why the sign with the word smile on it. And, of course...

How the hell was he able to get away so quickly every single time, without anyone ever catching him? All I can say is, I'm glad he never came back, and that everyone there was okay. I just hope he didn't try to do it to anyone else. To paint the picture, it was my freshman year at Portland State University. October-November time period.

It was cool and breezy, a perfect night for sneaking some alcohol past the RAs in the Broadway resident hall. A handful of friends that I created a friend group of decided to gather in a new mate's dorm while her sister was away, and pass the night's time with rosé angry orchards and sour apple for locos. See, at Broadway, they did a few rounds nightly to assure the noise levels were down,

that no lower classmen were in the upper floors, no alcohol drinking or drug partaking was occurring, etc. At this time, it was about 9pm, and being the klutz that I was, I spilled my 4 loco over a blanket sheet, causing the smell to attract the RA on their rounds. Long story short, we all got written up, had to dump what we had left, and called it a night.

Well, a friend and I, call her Dee, went down to the notorious Mac's shop downstairs to chain-smoke our American spirits and rave about how the night was still young and it was a damn shame the fun had to be ruined so early on. We were met with an older 30s to early 40s man who seemed nice enough to greet us, as they all do.

He overheard how the night was just as young as we were, and if we were down, he would pull some cash for beer, and we would all drink together in his penthouse. Now, D and I chalked up his penthouse talk to being BS, but the promise of free beer already had us all in. We walked to the Wells Fargo on Southwest 5th and Hall, and he grabbed his funds and got some PBR and angry orchards at Mac's.

We head to the dark park blocks. D and I hyped up, we can continue our buzz and get drunk for free. Now, if you live in Portland and have college friends, or went to PSU, you know of The View. Heading to the direction of the art museum, he unlocks the front door to The View. D and I now convinced he wasn't blowing smoke up our back ends about having a penthouse.

There we go to the elevator with this stranger, and lo and behold, he presses the P button atop a long list of numbers indicating each floor, and we head up to the penthouse. We get to his door, D and I holding each other's hands in companionship and excitement that we're in a dang penthouse getting drunk. We sit in the center of the man's living room, having the smallest of small talk about law and order,

He tells Dee and I how he affords the penthouse through his fish and chip food cart in the South Park blocks by the PSU library, etc. We're basically working our way through as many beers as we can before we admire the cityscape from the balcony, before leaving. We pay most of his words and talk no mind.

We head out to the balcony and look overhead, smoking and raving to our group chat about what we got ourselves into, and enjoying ourselves. Now, the whole time we were at this man's table, and on his balcony, he was texting or calling somebody, or several people, on his phone. We consider it to not be an issue, until after about 20 minutes into basking in the penthouse views...

We notice a lady that's not too well kept and tidy sitting on his couch, talking with him. He tells us to take a seat. We hesitate, but sit down. I sit on the farthest end of the couch from the mysterious lady. Dee sits next to the guy as she tries rushing through her beers and texts in the group chat for someone to call in a few minutes with an excuse for us to dip, now that we've had as many beers as we could and we want to leave.

The penthouse predator leans in towards Dee, tells her how beautiful her eyes are. He dives quickly to her face for a kiss, in which she dodges amazingly fast. She mumbles how she isn't okay with that, and that our friend, T, is actually her girlfriend. I ramble on about how that's true and how I have a boyfriend. Also a lie, but it sounded good at the time.

The man then puts his hands in his face, stands up aggressively and swiftly enough to bump his table, knocks over all the beer cans and glasses on top of it, and angrily says, "'What. The. Hell. You have five seconds to run before I rape you all.' Dee and I exchange frightened looks, her saying, "'What?' before I yank her arm, grab our phones and bags as we run to navigate to the elevator."

We frantically run down the hall, scared, making it into the elevator before we remember there's a poor lady in there now alone, and locked in with him. We contemplate calling the police, or our friends for help, or saving the lady first. Dee and I decide simultaneously to run down to the lobby, where I leave three maximum capacity voicemails to our aforementioned friend, T, who did not answer.

Once we realized it was now 3:00 a.m. and none of our friends were awake, we decided to tiptoe back to his door and overheard the two laughing. Apparently the lady is a regular of his, either an SW or his own personal sex buddy, and he had called her over to convince us to have a threesome, or foursome, but he exposed that he wanted to keep Dee around a little longer.

That was enough for us both to hear to run back to the elevators, run back to our dorm building and try to sober up to piece together how we got ourselves into that situation and what exactly we got ourselves into. The next morning, our group chat blew up over what happened, us not recalling much after the alcohol and our brains trying to block out what we did comprehend but did not want to discuss.

Our friend T played my voicemails over and over to the friend group, with it being laughed at over time once the seriousness died down. I'm unsure if that man was the guy that ran the popular fish and chips cart right outside of the PSU library, or if the food cart is still there to this day. I dropped out of college after just one semester,

So, I paid no mind during that time to ever verify if the man was telling the truth. I still bounce back between Portland and whichever new state I choose to reside in, and I might just go one day to see if it's there. To see if he is still there. All I know is I never wish to see that penthouse predator in Portland, Oregon ever again. I have always been a night owl.

I don't like it particularly, but it's just how I operate. I would much rather be the kind of person that wakes up at 5am and is able to do everything I need to do in those three hours before I need to be at work, but I've literally always been the type that just stays up until 3am and likes to sleep until almost noon, unfortunately. I also live in a very comfortable neighborhood.

One where nothing really ever happens, if that makes sense. It's the kind of place where a lot of people can leave their doors unlocked, for the most part. And it's really not an issue. Everyone here knows everyone else. Everyone knows everything that happens. And no one steps out of line. So, naturally, I never thought twice about going out for walks late at night. It was my preferred way to stay fit, get my exercise in,

I would go for a walk around the block, take the path around the park, and then head home. Usually this would take about an hour or so, and it was kind of nice to do so in the middle of the night. This event happened late on a Wednesday. I didn't work that night, and I had spent most of the day cleaning up my place, so I wanted to get out of the house and get some fresh air.

I let my roommate know where I was going, grabbed my phone and my ID, and I headed out into the cool autumn night. It was pretty dark out. The moon was covered by some fluffy and silver clouds, and the street was pretty much empty. I was doing my usual loop around, earbuds in place, and music playing in my head. I was pretty well lost in my thoughts,

when I looked up and saw a random guy sitting on the concrete half-wall, a retaining wall I think it's called, under the glow of a streetlight. He looked to me in his thirties. He had longer and slicked-back dark hair, dressed in a pretty standard black shirt and pair of blue jeans. He was just sitting there and staring up at the stars. Now, this wasn't too terribly creepy or anything, just a dude enjoying the night, but I know all of my neighbors...

And this guy was not one of them. I didn't think a whole lot of it at first, but I thought maybe he was just a drifter or a family member of one of my neighbors, possibly. However, something about this situation kind of just felt off. Maybe it was him being outside this late at night that was weird to me, but hey, I was out there too, so I guess that would have made me weird as well.

As I got closer, he turned to look at me and smiled for a moment, before looking back up at the sky. I, again, didn't think much of it at first, nothing about him other than the fact that he was out here like that sitting under the light giving me any red flags. He had a pretty gleeful smile, and part of me assumed that this guy might legit be having a late night trip, and he was absolutely in love with the universe right at that moment.

It was a bit of a weird mix of emotions. I think is how I should put it, I was a bit unnerved, but also thinking this guy was chill based on how happy he looked. As I was walking towards him, he lifted his hand in a friendly wave and kind of motioned for me to stop. I was a bit hesitant, but I did pause, about six or so feet from him, and I pulled out my earphones to see if he had something to say.

and he did have something to say. "'It's a beautiful night, isn't it?' He glanced back up as he made this comment. I laughed slightly and agreed, saying that the weather was perfect. Then he looked back at me, and he patted the wall next to himself, as if to ask me to sit there by him. I started to decline, saying that I was just out for a quick walk, and he kept that same smile and responded with, "'Just for a minute.'

I would like to just spend a minute with you and sit as brothers, watching the universe around us drift away at a speed unfathomable to our sad little brains. At this point, I decided that this guy was definitely high. That was the kind of philosophical mentality one of my friends would start to have when he got stoned.

I thought about it, and figured, if nothing else, this dude just needed some companionship for a couple of moments while he tripped. So, I sat down. I was a couple inches away from him. He smiled and nodded, as if I had done the right thing, and we both kind of looked up at the night sky for like 45 seconds. He chuckled a few times, and then around that point he said, It's crazy how our lives are nothing more than the outcome of our...

seemingly random choices. I chose to sit here, you chose to take a walk, and now we are choosing to enjoy each other's company for just a moment. Again, a bit heavy, but it did seem nice to think about. After another minute or two, I mentioned that I really should go ahead and get going, that I needed to get around the block and get home, before my roommates started thinking something happened. I stood up,

and he thanked me for spending the moment with him. I said it was no problem, and started to walk away towards the corner. And that's the minute when everything went black. I have no memory of anything beyond standing up and walking towards the corner, and then the next thing I remember seeing was the flashlight shining in my eyes and hearing someone say, ''Hey, you're gonna be okay. Can you hear me?''

It took what felt like a very long time for me to realize that I was lying on the concrete, and that this was a paramedic kneeling on the ground next to me, and that there was a flashing light right next to me on top of an ambulance. The world slowly spun around me, and my brain was struggling to come back fully to the world of consciousness. The paramedic kept talking to me, kept trying to get my focus and asking me if I could talk to him,

if I could feel my legs, etc. I just kind of stared at him, and I thought I was talking to him, but I was apparently just staring in silence. They got me on the stretcher, and they took me to the hospital, which I will say was the most expensive 10-minute ride that I've ever taken. I think I finally came back fully when I got to the hospital, and the pain on the back of my head was unbearable.

I was very confused about the questions that started coming at me from the police. Why were they questioning me? And how the hell did I end up unconscious on the ground like that? And why did my head hurt so bad? After a little bit, things did kind of fall into place. Based on my injuries, I was likely hit in the back of the head with a rock or a brick or something like that. Thankfully, the hit didn't damage my skull or cause any major brain damage.

It was just enough to knock me unconscious and leave me with a really gnarly scar on the back of my head. As for who, well, there was only one possible answer. The guy that I sat with for a few moments. I really don't know why he did it. I don't know why he had gone from this loving-the-vibe kind of guy to just knocking me unconscious with a rock as I walked away. He didn't take anything.

All I had was my phone and my ID, and I still had them both when the medics came and got me. My pockets hadn't even been turned out. So, robbery certainly was not the motive. I told the cops all that I could. I described the guy, told them about the quick conversation, and everything that I could recall. I gave them my info so that they could contact me with any other questions or whatever, and that was it. I'll say that I never heard from them again,

so I don't think they ever caught this guy. It is terrifying to know that this guy had done this for seemingly no reason. For all he knew, I was going to die there on the sidewalk, within mere moments of having that conversation that we'd had, and he didn't care. I think this guy was seriously a psychopath of some kind, and I was a victim of opportunity. I never saw him after that night, and I never heard anything about him.

I'm grateful that the hit didn't do any permanent damage beyond the mental trauma that I was left to deal with. It was crazy to me that something so violent had happened in my calm little neighborhood, and that this seemingly happy dude was such a violent individual. But I guess it just goes to show that appearances can certainly be deceiving. This happened to me over several years when I was a kid.

I'll try to keep them in order the best that I can, but I'm also trying to list out some of the worst events that I can remember. I've told a few close friends and my spouse, but I won't be using real names because I don't want my experience to cause others to look for the house. It's really not worth the possible trauma, in my opinion. As a kid, my family lived in this old house.

It was a single story, with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a basement. It was my parents, myself, and my little sister. When we moved in, I was walking and talking on my own, so around five or six, I believe, and my sister was still an infant. I remember when we moved in, I felt off, like something just didn't feel right.

I always felt scared being in there, especially alone. I remember trying to explain it to my parents, but they told me it was just because it was a change in something different and that it would pass, and I would be happy about having more room, etc. etc. I tried to let it go, but that sense of fear never went away. It was always the worst at night while I slept.

I started seeing a dark figure standing in the corner of my room, and most nights I felt paralyzed with fear, and all I could do was cover my head, close my eyes, and hope that it went away. Sometimes, I would just be frustrated that I couldn't sleep with it, and would whisper things like, ''Go away,'' or ''Leave me alone.''

At one point, I even threw my pillow at the corner, which seemed to make things worse, as I could see the whole room go pitch black, like it just shrouded me with its darkness. There was usually light coming in from my window from the moonlight, but when this happened, my eyes were wide open and I could not see anything. At the same time, I felt like I couldn't breathe, like I was choking.

I managed to let out a scream, and the next thing I knew, my mom ran into the room, turning on the light. I sat up crying and screaming, and she comforted me. I told her what happened, and she told me it was probably a bad dream. I told her that it had happened for a few nights, and she actually slept in my room with me that night. I actually fell asleep and stayed asleep after that. However, the shadows did not stop.

I kept seeing them almost every night, but I stopped trying to anger them. Sometimes I would fall asleep in the living room or my sister's room, hoping they would let me sleep there or carry me to my room without waking me so I didn't notice it. When that wouldn't work, I would sleep with my light on so the darkness couldn't get me. However,

I would wake up feeling like someone was watching me, and to my surprise, my light would be off, and I would see it in the corner. The part that I really hated was when it would attack me. I would have accidents. This happened for years, and I hated myself for it. It was embarrassing, and I hated that my mom would have to clean it up. I started doing my own laundry just so she didn't have to.

My mom didn't really deny my claims, but she didn't support them either, for the longest time. My dad, however, always made sure to make me feel pathetic. He was verbally abusive to no end, but it was just to me. He wasn't like that to my sister, nor to my mom, unless she was trying to defend me. He told me I was far too old to be wetting the bed, to be afraid of the dark, things like that.

So I did my best not to talk about those things around him. My mom and I seemed to have a code after some time to get around it. The thing is, my dad wasn't always like that. I remember before we moved there, and even when we first moved, he was very kind and supportive. I originally wanted to do everything with him,

and it quickly flipped and I became more and more distant with him. And I was attached at the hip to my mother. She just couldn't understand what I was going through, or at least maybe didn't want to admit it. As I got older, I tried living with it the best that I could. I would have things move around in my room, I could feel something tugging at my ankles or my hair when I slept, I could even feel a presence when I was taking a shower.

But as soon as I left the house, I felt this huge weight lifted off of me. I loved school. I stayed there as much as I could because it was an escape from the house. I wasn't really into sports, but I even asked to be on the softball team just to be out of the house more, but my dad said no because I wouldn't take it seriously and he didn't want to waste his money. So I did anything I could to stay out.

I went everywhere I could with my mom, but as soon as I came home, it felt like a parent standing in the doorway, seething with anger towards you, and you just knew you were going to get an earful as soon as you went in. The basement was probably the worst place. I wouldn't go down there alone, and it was even a struggle to go down there with my mom. The first time I went down there was after I followed my mom,

The basement was used mainly for storage. Thankfully, there was actually a laundry room upstairs with the hookups, and even built an ironing board so there wasn't much of a reason for me to go to the basement anyways. So, she had to get something from down there, and after we came back up, I realized I had left a toy and wanted to go get it.

I turned on the light, ran down the stairs, and as I started making my way back up the stairs, the light went out, causing me to trip on a stair and scream. For some reason, I was frozen in place and I didn't know what to do when I felt that presence again. I screamed again for my mother when I felt something pull me backwards, causing me to lose my balance and fall down the steps.

Shortly after, the light came back on and my mom was running down the stairs. I just remember trembling and screaming to get me out, and my mom picked me up and brought me back upstairs. She finally got me to calm down, and I tried to explain to her what happened. She said I probably fell when the light went out, throwing my balance off, and that she would have my dad check out the light. That confirmed for me that she wasn't the one to turn it off either.

I knew that it was that same dark figure. It was the same feeling I got when I went to bed, and I vowed to never go back down there alone, fearing it would do something worse to me. As I got older, I started getting more and more used to this presence. The accidents stopped occurring as well as the screaming, but it was traded for full sleep paralysis. I would see the figure, but I couldn't move or scream anymore.

I could only lay there and cry, hoping that it would go away. My sleep schedule was completely screwed. I eventually got a lamp that I kept on at all times, and when I would wake up to it being off, I would immediately try to turn it back on. Sometimes it worked, other times it wouldn't. I found myself falling asleep on the bus, going to and from school, sometimes in classes, and especially at lunch.

Whenever I could, I would. And of course, if I was caught sleeping in class, my parents were informed and I would get another earful from my dad. So, I started hiding that as much as possible. When I was old enough, I even tried staying at my friends' houses as much as I could. To my surprise, I had a few friends stay over and each of them told me that my house was creepy and they felt like they were being watched the whole time.

the ones that admitted to feeling that, I would spill everything to them. These were the friends that I have really bonded to because they believe me and what I went through. I even tried things on the religious side. I tried saying prayers as I slept when I saw the figure. I slept with a crucifix under my pillow and above my door, and it really didn't seem to do a damn thing.

One of the worst encounters for me caused me to move out. I was 15, about to turn 16, and was excited to make plans for my birthday party. My mom and I were making plans, and she was trying to involve my dad in it, but he had no interest in me. He would give a dismissive response, and would just turn up the TV if we got louder.

I think my mom could tell that I was upset and said we would talk more about it the next day and got ready for bed. That night, I remember hearing my dad telling my sister goodnight and that he loved her and then he didn't say a damn thing to me. I went to bed in tears that night. I was upset and confused. Why didn't he seem to love me like her? I was angry. Why was she so special?

I must have cried myself to sleep that evening because when I woke up, I was still wearing my jeans but I could feel that presence again. This time though, all I could feel was anger. It was heavy, like something was pressing on my chest and hard. It almost took my breath away. It was intense enough that it made me pass out again. The next day, I woke up and felt physically ill.

I went to the restroom when I started feeling dizzy, and I got sick. I decided I would take a shower, hoping that it would make me feel better, but to my horror, as I undressed, I had bruises all over my chest. There was no way that I could have done it to myself. Yesterday morning, they weren't there. I didn't do anything throughout the day to cause them, and I went to bed rather quickly the night before.

When I saw this, I screamed for my mom to show her. The look on her face scared me even more. The way that she gasped and had tears in her eyes told me all that I needed to know. I'd asked about moving many times while we lived there, and it was always the same. My mom had to say no, but my dad always refused, saying I can choose when I'm an adult and have my own place, and kept telling me how I was ungrateful.

The experience caused me to really beg my mom to let me leave. Obviously, I couldn't exactly move out, but after many arguments, my dad let me move in with my grandparents. It was his parents, actually. But they were amazing people. I felt my grandpa was more fatherly than he was, and actually didn't understand why he became the person he did. No one ever understood it.

Or maybe they didn't want to believe it. Once I moved in with them, all of it stopped, of course. It didn't follow me there and I was able to get a full night's sleep. I improved in school tremendously and was just in a much better place. However, anytime I went back, the presence was right there, nearly breathing down my neck so I never stayed long. I also became a lot closer with my sister after I moved out.

I learned that I didn't hate her, nor did I feel jealous of her. It was all my father, of course. She did finally confide in me that she was feeling the presence too, but it didn't seem to be nearly as strong as what I felt. When she told me this, I urged my mom to get them out of there. I was afraid that they could all end up the same way.

It wasn't going to be easy though, as it wasn't until my senior year that my mom finally gave my dad an ultimatum, which was the house or them. To my surprise, he actually chose to move. He claimed that it was because the maintenance and upkeep was getting too expensive since it was an old house. Whatever the reason was, I was just relieved.

Over the next few years, I actually went through therapy because of the experiences and due to the relationships I had with my father. Not to mention that after they moved out, my dad started changing again. He slowly started talking to me more about what was going on at school, what I was doing after I graduated, and he was even the one inviting me over for dinner instead of my mother.

He even told me he was proud of me when I graduated. Now that I'm much older with a spouse and kid of my own, I started having flashbacks of these things as we signed the papers for our first home. My parents came over, and to my surprise, my dad admitted to feeling weird after we moved in there as well. He chalked it up to being upset and regretting his decision on the house.

feelings of being a disappointment, and my lack of approval upsetting and angering him more. He said he felt like he was changing but had no idea why. That was the first time I learned that after I moved out. He actually began taking antidepressants, and when they moved out, he stopped taking them and began feeling like himself again. I don't recommend this though. Follow your doctor's directions. Always.

He still would never admit to feeling any presence in that place, though, but my mom and sister finally did. We all just joked that maybe the being didn't like women. My sister and spouse talked about looking up the house's history to see if something happened there, but to be completely honest, I don't want to know. I don't want it to be tied to something risking that it might possibly follow us. And that is where I've left it.

I begged my spouse not to look into it, and so far they've claimed they haven't. I just wish they would tear that house down already because it's just sitting there empty, waiting for some poor soul to walk in. Quick point before I start. This story isn't really on the scary side that much.

This is one of those stories where it felt really scary as a kid, but then as I got older, it wasn't really scary anymore, and was really just confusing. Anyways, this happened when I was about 8 to 9 years old. I was a really easily scared and timid child. Usually, every child is at one point or another, but I was always that one kid that whenever anything remotely went down...

I would cling on to anyone that I felt safe around, so this is what made it terrifying to me at the time. This happened when I was at my auntie's cabin. I'm from Canada, and her cabin was about a 20 minute drive away from the main national park in the southern part of the province that I live in. There are other properties in the area, but they're pretty spread out, and that coupled with the fact that this cabin is completely off the grid...

It makes you feel like you're really in the woods and away from any towns or cities, if that makes sense. It was late spring, early summer, so everything was becoming green and lush. Despite my timid personality, I loved exploring through nature and forests. It was me and my two cousins, and they're the ones that I'm most close with outside my immediate family,

and we loved exploring together whenever we got the opportunity. All of us and our families were spending the night there, and we spent all day playing on the huge property and climbing on the small rock wall near the cabin. We were having a blast, and when the sun started to settle in the evening, we were wanting to explore into the actual dense forest behind the cabin.

There were two crudely made paths that went through the woods that almost surrounded the cabin. One was on the shorter side and went west. The other was a little more properly made and went east toward the rock wall that I mentioned earlier. We decided that, after dinner, we would go on the east path just for fun.

Both of my cousins were two and four years older than me, and I looked up to them because they were so much more braver than I was. So, after dinner, we told our parents our plans and they said it was fine and to not go too far. We embarked on the path and began exploring. After maybe five to ten minutes, we started venturing slowly off the main path and went further into the dense forest.

At this point, the sun was going down and it was at that point where there was just enough light left to see where you were, but dark enough to need a flashlight. We kept going and stopped at this giant log from a tree that had fallen over and had moss growing all over it. We thought it was cool and stopped to check it out. I remember the exact moment that this happened. All three of us had stopped walking.

We were all looking at the log and moss and talking about it. Then we all paused in unison. Nothing happened initially, but all of a sudden this noise broke the silence. It sounded like the mixture of a ton of sticks and twigs snapping and leaves crunching, like as if there was a giant footstep. It was so loud and sudden. In that moment, my heart stopped.

It was too dark to really make out anything in fine detail, but I could clearly see that there was nothing in our immediate area. Nothing moved at all, and it's what made all of us look at each other in complete shock and at a loss of what to do. What scared us, really, was not seeing whatever made that sound. It didn't sound like something that nature could have just made on its own. It had to have come from an animal or a person.

The sound came from a very short distance away, so it couldn't have been one of us. Regardless of whatever made that sound, we screamed loudly, and we ran back the way we came. We got back, out of breath, and decided not to mention to anyone what had happened. It scared me so badly at the time, but as I look back on it nearly ten years later, I still can't put my finger on it.

My best guess was that maybe it was a harmless animal who got spooked and made the noise, but nothing ever came about it, so we've largely forgotten about it. But my god, at the time, we were scared more than we ever had been in our lives. I decided to share my story here. I've always been spiritual, and all my life I've seen or heard things, but this story is about my son, mainly.

When my son was age 3, we moved to a new flat, and about a year after being there, I would have a feeling that my son was behind me, and he wouldn't be. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I would see what looked like my son, and go to talk to him, and he wasn't there, but was in his room playing. This happened every now and again, and I never thought too much about it.

But when my son was six, I would hear him not just playing toys with himself, but asking questions and answering someone. One time he was having a full-blown conversation in the bathroom whilst brushing his teeth. So I said to him, who are you talking to? And he said Tommy. So I asked him who Tommy was, and he said, it's my friend, mommy. I say, okay, so what does he look like? He answers, just like me.

So I thought, hmm, I wonder if this is who I've been seeing on and off for a few years. So I said, is Tommy a ghost? He looked horrified and said no. So I spoke to my mom about it, and she said, well, he would think of a ghost being scary. Ask him if Tommy is a spirit. I thought, well, he won't know what that means, but I'll try. So one afternoon, I said to him, is Tommy a spirit?

and his mouth dropped open and he said, "'How did you know that, Mommy?' Didn't want to say too much as I didn't want to put ideas in his head, so I said, "'I'm just guessing. How do you know he is?' Then he started telling me how one day Tommy sat on his bed and said, "'Don't be scared, Jack, but I'm a spirit.' My son looked at me and said, "'But Mommy, I wasn't scared as I don't know what a spirit is.'

So I said, "Well, you're very lucky, as not everyone can see them, as a spirit is someone who's died." And he said, "Oh, wow. Well, Tommy's back alive again." So, not to scare him, I just left it there. That night, I was watching TV, and I heard Jack running down the hallway, and his face look around the doorframe at me. So I said, "Jack, why are you up?" And he vanished.

I got up, and Jack was fast asleep. I then went on holiday for a week without his dad, as he was working. We went to a caravan, and my nieces were asking Jack if Tommy had come, and he said no, he was staying behind to watch daddy. I didn't think too much about that. We got home, and my husband was behaving strangely, causing arguments and always walking out for hours, and I kept feeling Tommy.

I was speaking with my mom and said how my husband had changed and that Tommy seemed angry. My mom said to try and connect, but I never did try. It was a Saturday morning in August and I had my cousin's wedding to go to and my husband was an usher. I woke early to an eerie feeling and then a noise that something had dropped. I looked out in the hallway and Jack's door sign was halfway down the hallway and standing upright.

No one could have done that, as Jack had stayed at my mom's. At the wedding, I caught my husband on the phone to an unknown number. We had a huge argument and he ended it there and then. I was heartbroken. I never felt Tommy at home again and Jack said that he had gone. I felt so sad for Jack as he was upset about his dad leaving as well. It also came out that my husband had brought this girl back to our flat whilst I was on holiday.

It made sense why he was watching his dad, and also why I felt Tommy was angry when I got home. I went to see a medium who told me that my son had a friend called Thomas. That sent shivers down my spine, as obviously Jack said Tommy. She described what he looked like again, and I went cold, as she had just described my son. I asked her why he isn't around now,

and her answer was he was there to protect jack but all i could think was why did he leave when he was upset then so when my son was 14 i had a conversation with him and i asked if he remembered tommy he said yes and he described the clothes that i used to see him in and he said tommy would come and sit with me when dad was really shouting and scared me he would make me feel safe

And then, all these years later, what that lady had said finally made sense. He didn't need to protect Jack once he left, as Jack was no longer scared of his dad's temper. One day, my best friend and I were taking a shortcut to her house. It goes past a few houses and through a smaller area of woods, crossing a two-foot-wide creek.

This particular day, I was wearing one of those jackets that had earbuds as the strings, a must-have item as a fifth grader in 2010 or 11. As we were passing one of the houses, a couple of big dogs came running from it, jumping on us and obviously just wanting to play or be petted.

The owner of the house comes out, and I noticed right away that he was acting really fidgety and nervous, saying stuff about the dogs like, "Oh, it's okay. They're nice. Don't worry." We made small talk with him about the dogs for a few minutes, and turned around to leave. About a minute or so later, we arrived at the small creek when I noticed that one of the rubber earbuds that was on my jacket was gone.

and I insisted on going back to look for it. The guy came back out again and offered to help us. He asked what the material was made of, and I said that it was made of rubber. We made small talk again. I think about the jacket and how cool it was. Anyway, he said he was going to be right back with his metal detector. He walked away toward his shed, and I said to my friend, ''Why does he need a metal detector? The earbud's made of rubber.''

Next thing you know, he's coming back with, and I kid you not, a rifle, and he's literally running towards us. When I'm telling you that we ran, we ran. When we got to safety, past the creek and near her house, I was telling her that we needed to call 911. She insisted that we not do that because her parents would be mad at her,

and I explained to her with urgency why it's important to call the cops, but she refused, and I couldn't force her. I didn't call because I didn't want to do it alone, plus it would have been my first time calling them. I can't remember when or if I told my parents that night what happened, but when I told them, they gaslit me and said that I was crazy and overreacting, that I didn't really see that.

I still think about this damn near every day, and it haunts me. The second time was, again, in fifth grade, taking place after the first story, but I'm not sure how long after. The friend from the previous story lived near a cemetery, about a five-minute walk from her house. It was a big cemetery, and we liked to walk around it a lot. Plus, behind the cemetery was a shortcut through the woods to a big park,

which was coincidentally right next to our school. This day we were also with another good friend of ours. We were just walking around the cemetery this day when all of a sudden, a blue truck pulls up next to us in the row next to where we were walking, about ten feet away or so. Not far. I could see two guys were in it literally just staring at us. And I again...

I got that weird feeling I got with the first guy. This is hard to explain, but right before the shortcut in the woods is a fence with a cutout that leads to a field of grass and a hill next to it that leads into the neighborhood of where my other friend lived. The hill was really a bunch of dead grass, weeds, sticks, cattails, etc.,

Anyway, I told my friend I had a bad feeling about these guys, that they were staring at us, and quite literally slowly following us with the truck. We booked it to that grass field and through that hill. I had all sorts of cuts and gashes from the crap that we were running through, and when we got to the top of the hill, we turned around, and the truck was parked at the top of the hill on the other side, with both men outside of it holding guns.

I truly believe they were coming after us, and they were visibly mad that we got away from them. I knew that they were after us because they have had to have driven through the cutout in the fence, amongst the gut feelings and just the entire situation. We ran to my friend's house, noticed her parents, who truly didn't seem too worried, and drove my other friend and me home.

I don't even remember if I told my parents about it this time since they gaslit me when I told them about the last time. I just can't shake the fact that this crap really happened when I was in 5th grade, 10, 11 years old. I also can't believe how lightly my parents took the situation. I'm honestly traumatized about what happened, and I think about it a lot. I just needed to tell some people what happened, but...

I have trouble getting my thoughts into words. I live in a city that is currently going through urban decay and population decline. Therefore, we have a considerable amount of abandoned houses and businesses throughout the city. When I was a teenager, I used to love seeing abandoned buildings, but now they're an eyesore and they attract a lot of dangerous people to the city.

That, and a bunch of YouTubers and TikTokers all looking for clout and to profit off showing the area. Sorry, but it makes me mad when it happens. Especially when the rich kids come in with no self-awareness or respect for anyone else. When I go for a walk at night, I make sure that I'm strapped and I take my dog with me. Wolfie is a mixed breed.

"'He looks angry and vicious. "'He has a mean, scary bark, "'and will defend me, but when it comes to his family, "'he is such a loving and giant goofball. "'I love Wolfie. "'It was dark outside, "'and most people had gone into their homes by then. "'People don't really like going out late at night. "'I live with my extended family in one small home, "'so I'll go stir-crazy if I don't get out of the house.'

I put Wolfie's leash on, and we set out. Whenever you go out at night, you should always make sure that you're aware of your surroundings. I never have pods in when I'm out because I want to hear if someone is getting close. I noticed that there was a light on in one of the abandoned houses. Homeless people will sometimes go in them. Some of them just want to get off the streets and mind their own business.

while others destroy them, do drugs, and otherwise screw things up for everyone else. Instinctively, I began to walk just a little faster. Wolfie seemed to notice my change in mood. There were a couple of streetlights there that were out of commission. Naturally, the city wasn't doing their damn job to fix it. I wasn't going to walk where I couldn't see, so I tried to subtly turn around to walk back the way I came when I heard someone call out.

Now, there was no way I was going to run or show any signs that I was scared, so I just kept walking. Hey, B. The voice was loud this time. Wolfie turned and started barking, snarling with his teeth bared. My hand went to rest on top of my gun. I didn't say anything, and I didn't need to say anything. He stopped. He put his hands up and instantly began to back off before he ran off.

If he'd been a crack addict or something, there is a chance that he still would have charged at me, but I didn't want to push my luck, so I made my way home. Still, I had the feeling I was being watched, and even followed, not that I could see anybody. Wolfie was alert, and I knew he was going to keep me safe. Normally I go out for a walk every day, but the day after, I found myself avoiding it.

but on the second day I knew that I had to get out there and face the growing anxiety head on. I took Wolfie out with me, and I did take my gun. The house with the light on was completely dark this time, with no sign that anyone was in there. I figured the homeless man must have moved on. I avoided the parts where I couldn't see, and from a space between the two homes, I heard someone calling out for help. I stopped.

It was dark down there, and Wolfie was looking agitated. A part of me wanted to go and help whoever it was, but this was a dangerous city and I needed to protect myself. I wanted to call out to ask what was wrong, but my gut instinct told me to just get out of there. So, I did. I made my way home and I called the police when I got there to tell them what I heard. They told me that I was smart not going to see what was wrong.

but I asked them to go and see what it was, but since I wasn't reporting a crime, they weren't too concerned about it. As expected, there was a reason. A neighbor had left the house and went to see what the problem was. She was robbed, and fortunately managed to get away before something worse happened to her. Her son had come home from work and found her in time, thankfully. I'm not really sure of all the details. She is okay and alive, though.

Some people say they were going to kill her while others were saying that they were working for a human trafficking ring. I don't know. I really don't know what would have happened if I wasn't fully aware in that situation. But my guess? I might not be here. This incident took place about two months ago.

I'm not sure if this is a true paranormal occurrence or a mechanical electrical radio wave glitch. I'll allow you to be the judge. I work for a small medical clinic in Northern California. It's not uncommon for me to reach the clinic before my other coworkers and open the clinic for my coworkers that will be arriving after me.

Our clinic has instituted the use of walkie-talkies so that we can keep a tab on each other's whereabouts in case there may be a need for help with a patient or to alert staff when a patient has arrived for their appointment. Per my normal routine, I placed my bag at my desk, proceeded to turn the clinic lights on, and began checking the clinic to see if any of my other co-workers had made it in before me.

After checking the back offices and making my way to the front offices, it was clear that I was the first and only person in the office. I made my way to the front office to grab my walkie-talkie for the day. I turned it on, and as usual, there was nothing but silence on the other end. Just nothing as I expected. I made my way back to my office and desk, sat at my computer, and began going through my paperwork and schedule for the day.

Suddenly, over the walkie-talkie comes a voice that I readily recognize. The voice of my front desk coworker, whom I had not seen when doing my room and office check of the facility. Over the now crackling static and increased volume from the previously silent walkie-talkie, I hear the recognizable voice of my coworker saying, "'Hello? Where are you?' After which the walkie-talkie turns to silent once more."

I'm startled now and thinking to myself, how the hell did I miss hearing someone come through the now only unlocked door in the facility, the door in which my office sits next to? I grabbed the walkie-talkie and held down the response button, and said, I'm in my office, when did you get in? There was no response back, just silence. I sat and waited for my coworker to poke her head in the office, but nothing. I shouted out, Hello? Hello?

Nothing. No sound or movement or noise in the quiet office. No footsteps. No rustling or shuffling of feet. Just absolute quiet. I got up and made my way through the clinic, thinking someone was trying to prank me by pulling a scare on me. And once again, after checking all the rooms, front and back offices, there was nothing or no one there. Just me.

I made my way back to the office. I sat down, and shortly thereafter, the second co-worker arrived, the very one whose voice I had just heard over the walkie-talkie. I ran and met her at the door, asking if she had a walkie-talkie on her, and was using it to scare someone in the office. She proclaimed, ''No, they're all put up and off. Why would I do that?'' I stated that, ''You called me and asked where I was at.''

She looked at me puzzled and said, ''No, I don't have a walkie-talkie. They're all in the same place where you got yours, all turned off.'' I checked, and indeed they were all accounted for except for mine, and were all turned off except for the one that I had taken earlier. I explained that she contacted me over the walkie-talkie, and I had been going through the clinic trying to find her.

She chuckled and called me crazy and walked on to her desk. I cannot explain what or how it happened, but it was her voice. I recognized it enough to search the clinic looking for her. I know walkie-talkies can pick up other frequencies and people talking on other stations, as well as CB chatter, but this voice was specific, one that I recognized.

I've been working with this particular coworker for over eight years now, and I know her voice. It's sort of ingrained in my brain, but it couldn't have been her. She was never there. I'm convinced that perhaps it was something in the ether reaching out to me. The chatter over the walkie-talkie is totally recognizable and abrupt, but what came over my walkie-talkie that day that I opened the clinic was not it.

It was a truly calm, recognizable voice asking where I was. This happened about six or seven years ago, on a summer night. I was at my friend's house one night, and there were three of us. We decided that we wanted to go ding-dong ditching at around 11:30 or so.

The neighborhood that we lived in is very dark at night, as there are no streetlights, only torches on street corners that are there so cars don't drive off the road. My friends and I have gone ding-dong ditching a few times, so we knew that we should relieve our bladders before heading off. We were already outside at this point, so we just relieved ourselves in the bushes."

One of the friends that I had already finished, so we stood towards the end of the driveway talking while the other friend was closer to the house still. While we talked, I faced out towards the street while my friend faced me. As we talked, I saw a tall, pure black figure running up the sidewalk across the street.

It took me a second to process what I was seeing, but when I did, I must have shown an expression of shock because the friend I was talking to started running for the house right as I did. I saw the thing and my friend said that he heard it running. The other friend near the house just ran inside because we did and was in denial about everything. Some details of this thing, it was very tall.

I was probably 5'10" at the time, and I could tell that this thing was significantly taller than me, probably 6'2" at least. It ran on two legs and had the physique of a lean runner. I know I said that this neighborhood was very dark, but this thing was black, pure black, and there was no sign of it wearing clothes. If it was wearing clothes, it had to be some skin-tight outfit that was black.

It was too fast for me to call it human. I refer to this thing as an "it" because I truly don't believe that this is human, as much as it was shaped like one. I ran track and cross country at the time, so I could judge how fast it was running, and there was not an ounce of doubt in my mind that tells me it could possibly be a human running that fast. It was also running uphill.

My friends, even the one who heard the running, didn't believe what I saw, but one night, later that same summer, my friend had a large gathering of boys who all went ding-dong ditching. Sadly, I wasn't present on this occurrence. The boys made it far down the neighborhood when they saw it, a dark figure running that fit my description.

They were much further away than I was, so I take my description as the more accurate one. In their case, however, they saw it running back and forth across the street, running out of view, and then back into view, then out again. We went out on other occasions, but we never saw this thing again. Do let me know if you have other questions, or would like me to talk to my friends about their observation, and thank you for reading.

I love taking walks at night, or at least I used to. Not so much anymore after what happened. Every other night, after I have done my duties for the day, I would walk from my apartment, down a few blocks, pass a few shops, maybe get a late night snack from one of them and wrap around the town back to my apartment. It was a ritual and it always helped me unwind and be disconnected from my responsibilities. Until now.

Last night, I wasn't feeling too good mentally. I'd had a fight with my best friend earlier in the day, and I needed something to take my mind off of it, or just help me think, I guess. I noted that it was getting cold earlier, and knew that I would have to bring a jacket. It was mid-October, after all. I locked my door and set out, opting to go the other way. The long way.

Go the long route first, hit the shops at the end before coming home. As I started walking, I realized that I might have made a mistake. The air wasn't that cold, but the wind? It was like little shards of glass hitting my face. I hadn't taken anything out for dinner, and I planned to pick dinner up at one of the passing shops, so I couldn't exactly just go back in. My car hadn't been running very well lately, so walking it was.

I did, however, halfway through, make the daring decision to turn around and just go to the shops and go home. No late night stroll, just food, then straight home. As I turned around, I noticed a person on the other side of the street, on the sidewalk, just standing still, staring at the lamppost above him. I picked up the pace when I saw him, hoping that he wouldn't notice so I could quickly pass and get this over with.

The air got colder and colder as time went on. I finally passed my apartment again and could see the lights from the shops nearby. I would just go into the deli, get a sandwich and some chips, and leave. From there, I would just head straight home. The random stranger was on my mind and was compelling me further to just get this done quickly. As I was about halfway from my apartment to the shops, I started hearing really quick tapping sounds coming from behind me.

which then turned into what sounded like fast-moving footsteps. I spin around to see a figure from the dark charging straight at me, on my side of the road. I freaked out and ran as fast as I could. The sound of their heavy breathing and thundering footsteps, it was enough to make me almost pass out right then and there out of fear. I managed to reach the first shop and swing the door open, running to the counter, sobbing and crying.

trying to tell the clerk that I was being chased, and then the door opened behind me. I turned around to see the same guy from before, that lurker that was just staring at the street lamp. He was staring right past me at the clerk behind me. "'I will give you $100 to not say a word,' the weirdo said. My eyes widened in horror, and I turned around to see the clerk now harboring a smirk and staring back at this man."

"Son, if you don't get the hell out of my shop, you're gonna wish I called the cops." The relief that went over my body when the clerk said this was overwhelming. And then, the guy charged at me. It was so quick that I didn't have enough time to react. He slammed into me, bear-hugging me, and we both went straight into the counter. He picked me up and tried to carry me out of the store by force. Then, the gunshot rang out.

The man let go and we both looked at the clerk, who was now holding a 12 gauge. And it was aimed right at this guy. "'Come here, sweetie. I gotcha,' the clerk said. I ran to that man as fast as I could and I hid right behind him. "'You got three seconds to get on the damn ground with your hands on your head before I blow it clean off your goddamn body.' The creep stared at us for a second, looking at the clerk, and then back at me, before finally breaking down and crying."

He got on the ground, on his stomach, and he put his hands behind his head. "'Sweetie, call the cops. I got him,' the clerk said to me. I didn't waste time sprinting to the landline on the wall and dialing 911. About ten minutes later, the police arrived, and they arrested him. They took our statements, and the clerk offered to drive me home. I, of course, accepted."

When we pulled up to my apartment, he stopped me before leaving and gave me his card for his shop, and it had the shop number on it as well as his cell phone number. If for whatever reason you need help, I'm always there. Don't hesitate to call. I thanked the man for saving me, and he drove off. Now, it's the next morning, and I just don't know how to heal yet from what happened, but I want to thank that shopkeeper who saved my life."

And I will definitely call him if I get into any trouble again. Okay, so I've never really posted on here, but I need to write this. I genuinely want to know if anyone's ever had a similar experience to mine or not. I have been starting to have dreams. Very vivid ones.

They don't happen all at once, but there's a feeling when it's connected, so sometimes these dreams would be spread out. For instance, I had multiple dreams regarding this one family that took place in the past. From what I understand, this man was enlisted in some army. He had a wife and two children, a daughter and a younger son...

He heard from somewhere that the war was going to be over soon, so he went ahead and bought some land that had gone down in value due to it being close to a war zone. He ended up having a big two-story house built there with white paint and green trim with matching shingles. It looked like the properties were acres wide, so I don't think he was worried, and it was fenced in with metal gates as well around the perimeter.

In my first dream about this place, I saw myself as a child. I had this own sense of understanding. I was just a spirit roaming through. I saw a young man with blonde hair and brown eyes. He was giving his wife a tour of the house while his kids were already out exploring. He had a recliner for him, although it was implied later that she used it when he was gone.

and he also had a sofa for them as well, as well as a big boxed TV, and in the kitchen he had an open area around the sink so she could see the TV too. While they were doing that, I did more exploring and I bumped into their children. The son was enjoying a flick in the movie room and the daughter was reading books in her personal library.

Apparently the dad had those put in just for them, because he knew that they loved those things and he was never around enough. However, when I started to try and stare at what she was reading, she noticed me and could actually see me. She was talking with me, although I honestly don't remember the conversation, but I understood she was a great kid and very bright too, with hair and eyes just like her dad.

I waved goodbye and wandered off to the rest of the house. I look into the bathroom. It had dark green paint and checkered tiles, but the lights went dim and started to flicker. When that happened, the tiles started to levitate and spread apart, while everything around me turned to black. I ended up having this extremely uneasy feeling...

The intensity of this dream made me want to write it down so I didn't forget it, because in the back of my head I felt that it was important. In my second dream, I'm now right outside the property by the gate. It's all rusted, the house's shingles were falling and the paint was peeling. I still saw myself like how I did the first time, and when I look up to my left, I see this old man crying and screaming.

He screamed, saying things like, ''You demons, give me my family back.'' He would get tired from the screaming, and I genuinely felt the desperation in his voice. I tried to figure out where he was looking while yelling, and I see that girl from the last dream. She was looking out the faded window and smiled. When I looked, I could feel that that wasn't her at all. I looked at the man, and when I was running out of tears, I noticed that he was able to see me.

He said,

Apparently demons came out from the fire and chased the children down, but she managed to run far away from the property to where they couldn't reach her. At least, that's what the dream implied. And eventually, it became sort of an attraction, although it looked like an old-timey library from the outside. I've had other things, like seeing demons in my dreams. They aren't like the edgy things you see online.

They're like these humanoids with pale bluish-gray skin, big disproportionate heads, skinny tall torsos, although that's just my experience. The first one I saw had very vivid eye colors. They were very bright and always changing. She had gray-silver hair, but it was all dried out.

with long, sharp nails and a sense of overwhelming fear that came with it, that even sleep paralysis couldn't compare. The second one I would call more of a lost soul. I saw it on a street nearby the old church that I used to attend because of my mom. It had a similar figure, but its eyes were hollowed out and it had rags on. Instead of fear, I got this sense of overwhelming loneliness and a feeling of being lost.

I walked closer to it to try to reach out to see if they needed help, except once I tapped it, it disappeared, and the only thing left behind were the rags that it had. When I woke up, I remember hoping that it found the place that it belonged. I have more experiences, but I've already written enough on here, and I'm sorry if this seems like it's fake because of the details,

but I wrote down all the details on here because I want to know if anyone has experienced anything similar. After leaving my mom's house and moving from place to place with my dad for a couple of years, we eventually moved into our very own home. We'd been living with his new girlfriend, but that had broken down and we ended up sofa surfing for a while, so it felt really good to be settled into our own home.

My friends from secondary school lived close by. I had my own bedroom and things were just easier. As I was getting older and more independent at this time, I'd often be in the house alone. I'd get home from school before my dad finished work, and some evenings my dad would be out. It was when I was on my own that I realized I didn't feel like I was on my own.

and that feeling of dread I knew too well had returned. Like at Mom's house, the feeling would come, and it would begin to build and build until it was unbearable. The space between our front room and dining room, at the bottom of the stairs, was where I could sense something hanging around. Whenever I passed the foot of the stairs, I would get the feeling that something was up there, waiting to pounce.

I would usually rush across that space, but sometimes I would walk in it and brave a quick glance upstairs. Whenever I felt uneasy, I would pretend that someone was home with me and I'd call out something like, "'I'll be there now, Dad,' thinking I could trick the scary something into believing that I wasn't alone."

I would hear things walking or moving upstairs, or just out of view in another room. That sensation that something was lurking behind me happened regularly. I would have to leave the house and sit outside until I felt the fear subside, and I could go back in. The worst ever experience in that house was when my dad had gone out with his new girlfriend one night, and I was home with my two cats.

I also had my dad's girlfriend's dog with me, a beautiful German Shepherd type dog. I'd been watching TV downstairs most of the evening, but I began feeling uneasy in the front room, so I went upstairs to my bedroom to distract myself with a book, or magazine, with one of my cats next to me on the bed, and the dog was sat on the floor next to my bed.

That damned feeling of something lurking was still there and beginning to build. I noticed my cat looking at the window wall that had a boiler there on the wall. She just sat fixated on something. I then turned to the dog, and she was that rigid and upright nose pointing forwards, looking to the exact same spot as the cat. And my heart sank.

That awful terror turned my stomach, and it gave me an instant cold sweat. Slowly, I turned back to look where they were looking, to see whatever they could see, and I saw it. Coming from the area of the boiler, there were four smoky-slash-misty balls or orbs in a chain. The only way I could describe it at the time was that it moved like a wiggler.

The caterpillar in Mario games. They were not joined together, but were moving together. Away from the wall in mid-air. Near where that boiler was. Now this was not smoke. It was not something to do with the boiler. It was something else, but what? I don't know. They were a white, pale gray color. Not solid, nor totally see-through.

They were like tennis ball sized bubbles filled with smoke, but with no obvious edges. The smoke or mist was moving in a way that gave it the impression of a ball shape, completely unlike anything I had ever seen. So, totally horrified, I grabbed my cat, got off the bed, I called to the dog to follow me, opened the door, and we ran.

We ran straight down the stairs to the front room, through the porch and out onto the doorstep. It was late, dark and really cold, but I was too terrified to go back in. We sat there for a couple of hours, the dog in the porch area and me on the cold concrete step, until after midnight, waiting for my dad and his girlfriend to come home. They were shocked to find me sat there when they came home,

They were obviously concerned about the fact that I'd been so scared inside that I chose to sit outside. However, I don't think they believed me when I told them about the Wigglers. I figured I would share some of my personal experiences. I wouldn't say these are the most exciting stories out there, but I hope that someone enjoys reading them. For as long as I can remember, there have been weird things happening around my house...

but nothing nearly as malicious as this, aside from one other time. I have two others that involve this occurrence, so I'll tell you about those, almost like a mini-series, if you find them interesting, of course. This particular story happened quite a few years ago, when I was in middle school.

My brother used to have a drum set in his room upstairs for years. It wasn't abnormal to hear my brother playing them from down the block at times, because they're so loud, and the sound would travel around my neighborhood. I had just gotten off the bus and was walking home from school, all the while hearing my brother practicing. I had my earphones in and could still clearly hear him playing, before I even reached the house.

I went along with my usual routine, unlocked the door, walked inside, sat on the couch, listened to music, and relaxed. After about 15-20 minutes, I finally got a text from my dad asking what me and my brother wanted for dinner. My dad worked late, so it was normal for us to be home alone for hours. I took my headphones out and walked upstairs, once again the whole time clearly hearing the drums as loud as ever.

I opened the door, and immediately they stopped playing. I didn't think anything of it because the drum set faced the doorway, so whoever sat there could see me open it and walk in. I was looking down at my phone, and I began to speak, but as I looked up, I realized that nobody was there. I walked further into his room to check to see if maybe he left the TV on, or maybe even his radio that he kept next to the bed. Neither of them were on.

So I decided to walk all the way to the back of the room where the drums were. I was standing behind them and checked to see if the drumsticks were still tucked away in their pouch, and as soon as I saw that they were, I felt this intense feeling of dread. I was in total flight mode. It felt like something wanted to hurt me, and there I was on the furthest end of the room against a wall. The best way to describe that is like a looming dark was cast over my head.

I ran out as fast as I could, across the room, down the stairs, and back onto the couch. I obviously realized that I was home alone, completely confused and scared. I've only felt that sense of utter dread a few times in my life. I didn't tell anyone about what had happened for months. I was so scared that nobody would believe me until the next time something odd happened with the drums, and I wasn't the only one to witness it.

Let me know what you think, or if you've ever had something similar happen. Of all the times I've used Tinder, I get the usual. People messing around, obviously fake or bodded accounts, scam accounts that steal your credit cards, or even genuine people. I matched with this one girl, let's call her Allison, real name hidden for privacy reasons.

Allison appeared normal, and I thought that we'd hit it off. That was until she told me that, if we wanted to meet, I would have to pay for her services. She would get increasingly manipulative and pushy when I asked questions or refused, saying that I couldn't be trusted like everybody else. What the heck? I thought to myself, and then she ghosted me. That was until tonight, whenever she added me back.

I thought maybe it was a bad time, but she appeared to have forgotten me, and as we talked, I started asking questions. She kept dodging them. I asked her what she did for her service, and she said she was a masseuse. So I asked what company she worked for, and she said she worked individually for a manager. The last question I asked was where is the service located, and that's when I realized that she was a prostitute.

She mentioned her address could be a meetup at either a hotel or at my house, if I paid for the transaction. That's when I knew it was too good to be true. I explained I couldn't do it because, one, I'm a broke university student, and two, where I live, it's illegal to buy a prostitute. I explained to her that I didn't want to get in trouble with the law, and she stated that I had insulted her at this point,

and I realized that she only wanted me so that she could get any money that I had. I told her, "I'm not insulting you, and if that's the case, then I'm just going to go," before blocking her. Sorry if this feels short, but I just can't believe a girl I met used Tinder to be a prostitute. So yeah, to the Tinder girl that wanted me to buy her as a prostitute, and her manager who's pimping her,

And let's not meet.