As The Raven Dreams Podcast - 60 TRUE Scary Stories To Keep You Awake | All True Scary Stories From March 2023 (Compilation)

Episode Date: April 22, 2023

Today we have A collection of EVERY SINGLE (non-glitch) Scary story from the Month of March 2023. This collection includes The following stories: Scary Party Stories, Stalker Stories, Spring Break Horror Stories, Scary Gas Station Stories, Fast Food Horror Stories, Scary Paranormal Stories, and other Scary Stories from Reddit & Subscribers! THANK YOU to all authors that wrote the stories in this compilation! ➤ All Stories used w/ Direct permission from the Author, or under some form of CC License (where Noted). True stories are not verified and are considered 'supposedly true'. ➤ All videos come with a content warning for language and sensitive content. Viewer Discretion is ALWAYS advised. This is considered horror content. ➤ BlessThisMess #TrueScaryStories #AsTheRavenDreams #RedditStories --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/astheravendreams/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/astheravendreams/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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WestJet, where your story takes off. If you have a true, scary story, you would like to hear featured on this podcast. Please, go to as the ravendreams.com and click the button to send it my way. Also, consider rating this podcast on whatever platform you're listening to, as it does help. And of course, thank you. Back in 2018, my best friend and I made plans for our first spring break-style road trip. We had both pretty much grown up together since middle school, and we knew what we wanted to do after graduating.

I wanted to become a teacher and her a veterinarian, so we hunted for the best school that could work for both of us, so we could still be close. However, the school was in another state, so what else do we do, but also find a place to share, which even saved us some money. We actually budgeted pretty well. We always pulled out the money we needed for rent and other bills

so we knew it wouldn't be spent, However, between work and school, we didn't have a lot of time for play. So, we decided to do something for ourselves. We planned a trip to North Carolina for spring break. We had plans to go to the beach, go hiking, and, of course, party. We actually got a pretty good hotel and airline package thanks to her work, which saved us more money to actually spend on the trip. So, onward to the actual trip.

It had actually been going great. We took it easy the first day and just hit up the beach and went shopping. We went on the hiking trail the next day while we still had the energy. On the third day, we lounged around in the hotel, went to a local diner, but otherwise we're just taking it easy. So we took this as our party day, or rather night, I suppose. Both looking our best, we headed out to a local bar to start with some drinks. We started a game of pool and we're genuinely just having fun. At some point a guy approached us, giving my friend advice on how to shoot as she was losing to me, miserably.

He offered to help. She agreed, and after a few practice shots, she started figuring it out and almost beat me. We all started talking and laughing, and he introduced himself as Johnny, and we introduced ourselves as well. He seemed like a nice guy, and genuine, too. My friend, Jamie, seemed to be pretty interested in him, and he didn't give off any weird vibes, so I stuck around to hear him out too. Eventually, he mentioned a beach party that was going on that night,

and said that it was open to anyone that brought drinks, offering to take us there if we wanted to go. We had no reason to really say no, and thought it could be a lot of fun, so we agreed. He did offer to drive us there, but we did have some sense to us, so we declined. It was the same beach that we had went to a few days earlier, so we said we would take an Uber back to the hotel,

change into our swimsuits, and then just walk there from the hotel room. He didn't even push the matter, so I thought that that was pretty cool, too. So, we did exactly as we stated, and when we got to the edge of the beach, Johnny was standing nearby and greeted us. He offered his arm to both of us and walked us through the sand. We could see a group of people near a fire, some were standing around drinking, some were playing beach volleyball, and some were just sitting and watching. As we approached, Johnny called out a few people. and we were all introduced and offered drinks.

They were closed cans, so we accepted. We sat with some of them and talked and eventually tried to play volleyball. Neither of us had really played before, and being buzzed, we were all over the place. But we all seemed to have a good time. They started playing music, and we were dancing and playing some dumb drinking games. Jamie was definitely enjoying Johnny's comes, I found myself chatting it up with another girl that was there alone, playing a ukulele, actually, who said that she was just visiting like we were.

After a bit of time had passed, it was getting pretty dark with just the light of the fire and the nearby lights. I wasn't quite ready to end the night, but I was getting a bit chilly. I wanted to go change or at least grab my jackets, so I thought I would ask Jamie if she wanted to go with me, or if she wanted me to grab something for her. She wasn't on the bench where I last saw her, so I just looked around the beach, scanning the area of the party, and I didn't see her.

I asked the girl who I had been talking to if she saw her, and she said no, same with the few others, so I started walking around. I ended up walking the whole shore, hoping to find her, maybe walking with Johnny at the least, but still no luck. I went back and asked a few more people around, and some told me they didn't see where they went,

confirming that she was still with Johnny, and others told me that they didn't even know who I was talking about. At this point, I was feeling a bit sketch, not to mention frustrated. We were the only two girls that seemed to not understand volleyball, and were constantly falling and bumping into others. How do you not remember this person? I was also confused and upset that Jamie would just leave without telling me.

Part of me did have it in my mind that maybe she took him to our hotel room, but was fighting myself because that's just not something that she would have done. We shared a room, so she would have at least sent me a text telling me not to go back yet. So I decided to risk the embarrassment and went back to the hotel room, I texted her asking where she was and that I was going back to our room, hoping that maybe a warning might help or that I would at least get a response. Yet, I got nothing by the time I inserted my room key into the door. I wish that I could say that I found her passed out in there, but instead, what I did

find made my heart drop. Our room had been ransacked and torn apart. clothes were everywhere, the drawers were open, my purse was open and my wallet was missing, Jamie's entire purse was missing, we even had one of those book safes that was in my luggage that had been broken open. We kept our extra emergency funds in there in case anything happened. I was devastated and terrified. The only thing I had of value on me was my phone, a little cash, and my ID.

and thank God that I took that with me. But more importantly, while the room looked like this, Jamie was still missing, and she never responded to my text. I immediately tried calling her while I was in the room, but her phone went straight to voicemail. I was terrified and felt sick to my stomach. I was in a state that I didn't know, surrounded by complete strangers. most of our stuff was gone and the one person that I did know was missing. In between crying, I ran down to the front desk to report the state of the room and to call the cops. The hotel staff made a report, and when the police arrived, I told them about Jamie and our whereabouts.

When they went up to our room, they concluded that it hadn't been broken into and that a key had to have been used. Thankfully, they had cameras in the halls, and they went to check the footage immediately. To my horror, I watched as Johnny approached the door, used the key, and went in, alone. Jamie was not with him. Because of this, the police thankfully agreed that it was suspicious and started searching the area. Some checked all the cameras to see if she wandered off somewhere else. Some searched all over the hotel and the beach, and I even rode with one as we searched to the nearby streets and stores. No luck.

I was inconsolable as they took me to the station to make a more in-depth report. One of them then drove me back to the hotel, and surprisingly, they offered me a new room since one of the keys was obviously stolen. I accepted, thinking maybe that she would show up in our old room, or maybe Johnny would come by a gig. and we would be able to question him. That was a sleepless night. I kept calling and texting her phone, hoping that she would eventually reply, but I got nothing.

We were supposed to be leaving in two days, and I was not going to leave without her. I had so many thoughts going through my head, not to mention the fear and sadness of putting my best friend in a horrible situation. There was no way that I was going to be able to sleep. Then, early that next morning, I think it was around 4 a.m. I got a call from the detective saying that they thought that they had found her. They said a woman showed up at a local hospital,

in a state of stupor and due to other things they noticed, they called the authorities to report the incident. I took an Uber to the hospital where I met the detective, and they took me back to the room to identify her. And thank God. it was her. She was awake and very aware of who we were, where she was, etc. And then she told me what all happened. She told me that, after several drinks, she and Johnny were walking around the beach when they both made hints to go somewhere else. They started walking to his car when she realized that she hadn't told me yet,

so she pulled out her phone to text me when Johnny started to distract her and grab her phone from her. She said he was doing this in a playful manner, so she didn't think much of it at first. But then a woman came up to them and grabbed her phone from him, which caused her to panic a bit. Unfortunately, he had managed to get her in the car with the help of this woman, and that was the last thing she remembered until she woke up on a bench in the park. She then walked about a mile until she ended up at this hospital. She was still in her bathing suit, but her cover-up was gone. and she had nothing else on her, of course.

They ended up doing tests and did sadly confirm that she had been drugged, but otherwise didn't have any signs of SA, thankfully. They did do the normal precautions just in case, though. The detectives then explained to us that they had seen similar occurrences to tourists, men and women alike. They were found drugged, had been robbed, so they most likely did this in hopes of a quick payout, I guess. But since all that we really had on us were our phones, IDs, and room keys, they went for the room.

Her purse was later found in a trash can behind the hotel, but of course, all the cash, cards, and ID were gone. Her phone was never found. She apologized profusely, but I wasn't even mad. All of that stuff we could just... replace or figure out, but I couldn't replace her. So I was incredibly thankful to have found her. But from then on, we doubled down and promised each other that no one, not a man nor a woman, would come between us, and while we're traveling, we always stay within each other's view.

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A few years ago, my girlfriend, myself, and four of our friends rented a cabin for a few days during spring break. We just wanted a place where we could all chill and do whatever. The only determined plan that we did make was for all of us to go rock climbing together. The cabin was bigger than expected, too. It had three bedrooms, one with a master bath and then another separate bathroom, which was great. The living room was spacious enough for us all to watch a movie in, and the kitchen was big enough for one of my friends to cook a full-course meal. He was going to culinary school at the time, so he was always willing to cook for something.

someone, and we were always willing to be the guinea pigs. The kitchen had a door to the back, covered porch, which then led out to an open field with big fire pits and trees that lined the back of it. It was perfect, especially for the price. If it wasn't obvious, there were three couples, and we all drove separate cars, and met there. We all chipped in and split the cost for our food and drinks and entertainment, and legitimately all worked out really well.

I think that the worst part that we'd experienced was Mike and Jess missing a turn and having to guide them backwards. Well, that was until the second night. The night had a slight chill to it, but nothing that a bonfire couldn't fix.

So, we went to start a fire and realized that none of us had brought lighter fluid, so we started looking around the cabin for a lighter, or matches, or anything. And we finally found a lighter that barely worked in the bathroom and was able to get our fire started. We all grabbed some drinks and sat by the fire just talking and screwing off when I noticed

Leslie was staring off. I nudged my girlfriend, Madison, to look at her and she called her out. That's when Leslie pointed out a figure standing by the trees. Isaiah, being the guy that's not afraid of anything, called him out and asked if he wanted to join or if he at least had a lighter. After we all sat there snickering, we watched as he slowly turned and walked towards the driveway and down the hill, until we couldn't see him anymore.

This place was like a campground, but with cabins. So we weren't really in the middle of nowhere. At first we just assumed it was someone at a neighboring cabin that was watching us, possibly madded us for being outside, possibly being too loud. That was actually a tame night, but some people are pretty whiny like that. So, we decided to just take it back inside, since the fire was pretty weak anyways. The rest of the night was just us playing a game inside and went just fine. The next day was our rock climbing and hiking day.

We all piled into Jess's Jeep and headed to the place. The event went great, and we were all having a lot of fun. We ended up coming across a lake at the bottom of a small cliff, and being the dumb young people that we were, we all made bets and dared Isaiah to jump into the lake from the top of the overhang. Like I said, it wasn't that high up, and swimming was permitted in the lake, so it wasn't that big of a deal. It was more so just that his girlfriend didn't want him to do it.

But, as dumb guys sometimes do, he did it anyways. Once we all got in, I just enjoyed floating on the water and people watching when I noticed someone who stood out. It was a guy standing over the cliffside that Isaiah had jumped from, but the reason that he stood out was because of his choice of clothing. While everyone else around was in hiking garb, bathing suits, or even just shorts and a t-shirt, this guy was in black dress pants, a black suit jacket, and a black hat, like a fedora style.

He had the hat on pretty low, however, so I couldn't really see his face, yet I could feel his gaze. He was definitely staring in our direction. This time I said out loud to everyone, are we being stared at? This caused everyone to look in the same direction and notice this guy as well. We all just waited in the water, having a staring contest and talking amongst ourselves, trying to figure out why someone would possibly be here and dressed like that. Not long after, Isaiah again shouted out to the guy, which caused some other people nearby to look around. I assume others noticed the oddity as they began staring, talking, and pointing,

which then caused this guy to turn around and walk straight back behind the ledge, until he was gone. We all thought that this was weird, but I, at least, didn't connect it to our previous night's experience at this point. I just thought it was some guy being weird. We ended up leaving shortly after to go get stuff for dinner, as well as some lighter fluid to be prepared for our next fire. After dinner and some freshening up, we decided to have a bonfire again. This time, it went a lot better, and we had loosened up and were having a blast. We were talking, teasing, the girls were even pushing their limits and making a full of themselves.

it was just genuinely a good time. That was, until, Leslie was again caught staring into the trees. That's when we all turned to look and saw the same guy. The form was the same, and with a giant flashlight that Mike had bought, this time we could shine the light right on him. He was wearing the same pants and suit jacket and hat. When the light hit him, he didn't really budge, though. He leaned his head down, side.

some, probably to block out some of the light, but otherwise he didn't do anything else. Isaiah, again, yelled at this guy, but this time it was a bit more threatening. I don't really blame him, though. The girls were getting pretty nervous, and this guy had obviously been following or watching us. But this time, after a bit of shouting, I think most of us started feeling uncomfortable with the situation and all agreed to go inside. Once in, Madison actually called the cabin management office and told them that someone was being creepy around our cabin, and they said that they would send someone out to take a look. The rest of the night wasn't as eventful as the staring guy kind of made us sober up some, but we did watch another movie until some of us started getting drowsy. Leslie and Isaiah went to their room, Madison went to bed before the second movie ended, and I followed after it was over, leaving.

leaving Mike and Jess in the living room. Mike was already snoring, so I assumed they weren't going anywhere. I don't know the exact time that it was, but I know it wasn't more than an hour or so after I went to bed, that I woke up to a piercing scream. Madison had been startled awake, too, and after confirming that it wasn't her, I ran out of the room to find out what the hell had happened. I found Jess screaming in the living room, the front door wide. wide open and Mike was gone.

She then explained that she woke up to a scratching sound and when she looked at the window behind the couch they were on, she saw someone trying to open it, or at least standing at it. She then said that Mike ran out the door to catch the guy. Isaiah and I ran out after him but found him shouting towards the trees. When we caught up to him, he said that he'd caught up to the guy and knocked his hat off, but the guy fought back with pepper spray or something to the last. He said that something hit his face, which made his eyes burn, and it was really hard to breathe.

We brought him back to the cabin, and this time we called the cops and the office people. This time Madison was not anywhere near as nice. The police actually showed up pretty quick and took our report, and then looked around the cabins. They even went to a couple nearby and questioned those people, too. They, of course, never found the guy or his hat. This guy was most likely brazen enough to go back and get it and still missed the cops. Jess took Mike to the hospital and Madison agreed to go with her while the rest of us stayed behind. We never saw the guy again that night, but none of us went back to sleep either.

After a few hours, the others came back and confirmed that it was just some sort of pepper sprays, so he was going to be all right. But the trip had kind of been ruined. Jess, Leslie, and Mike were definitely not interested in staying the rest of the trip. No one could blame them either. After some talking, we ended up packing up all of our stuff that night and the other four took off. Madison and I were pretty shaken up too, but we still had this booked for one more night, and she really wanted to give the front desk people a piece of her mind.

I guess they didn't seem too concerned about the situation when, she first called, and, yeah, they probably should have been because it was their property that could have been damaged. So we put all of our belongings in the bedroom, locked the doors, and tried our best to sleep there. The next morning was exhausting, as we didn't really sleep much. Management did call us to apologize and said that they couldn't give us a partial refund, but they did offer to move us to a different cabin. after informing our friends, they told us to enjoy, but they didn't want to come back.

They did move us to one that had an indoor hot tub, so I guess that was pretty cool. We didn't have another run-in with the guy, but they also never found him. We still, to this day, have no idea why he targeted us, or what his intentions even were if he were to break in. And the fact that he had the pepper spray makes me think that he had. had intentions of using it, or at the very least, thought he was going to need it. We haven't been on a trip with the others since, but we do all still hang out, and we remember that creepy spring break that got ruined for us. Four years ago, I trained a new worker who

was honestly a nice guy at the time. Early 30s, seemingly healthy, very much into yoga and had a beautiful girlfriend, etc. He seemed very balanced and healthy. I'll call him co-worker A. We had another longtime coworker who was sort of Mr. Popular with the managers, but honestly, super annoying. Really large personality. And people mutually could only take him in small doses.

He was essentially the embodiment of a TikTok frat boy who would randomly dance on the job in freestyle. extremely annoying. Anyways, I'll call him co-worker B. Now, before I explain, I should include that this workplace sucks. It barely holds a single star on Indeed. It's a large factory with no windows, toxic management, long hours. It was very hard on most people's mental health.

So, anyway, roughly a year into co-worker A's stay, things started changing. He and I were mutually friendly to one another, and we would have long civilized discussions about interesting things, but something was really out of place when he mentioned his new beliefs about the world being flat and a hologram moon theory. It was really unlike the old version of him who was super rational. I sort of shrugged it off and said it's probably a phase or he's just trolling. Fast forward a few weeks. Co-worker A has seemingly took a lot of interest in co-worker. coworker B, and sort of developed some of his mannerisms, but in a more endearing way.

Kind of copying his silly dances and laughs seemed harmless. But as months go past, he continued to dance more and more to the point that he had to be asked to stop by supervisors. He would even be moving around at the morning meetings, using all the same mannerisms and phrases as coworker B, to the point that he switched shifts. We theorized that maybe he was on drugs, but co-worker A was very vocal against all substance use, including alcohol and weed. He was also a vegan. Where things change for the worse is when co-worker B ends up getting with a new hire at work.

She ends up becoming his girlfriend. They then move in together. This is when co-worker A shows up to work using co-worker B's name, even signing himself in on the logbook as him, referring him to him. self as B all morning. Then, later that day, A stands up on a work table screaming, I'm in love with co-worker B's girlfriend, by name, with his arms spread out in a cross-Jesus formation, face to the ceiling.

The whole place was silent, and after he ended up standing in a corner with a broom, sweeping nothing for the next several hours. He wouldn't turn around from the corner either, not even went to. tapped on the shoulder or called by name. The only time that I saw him away from that corner was when it was time to go home. He was the last one out. Unfortunately, my job, being QC, I'm always among the last ones as well. Despite both of us being the last in the building, I did my best to act normal when passing

him in the hallway. I glanced at him. He was looking directly at me. Head tilted down, making a pseudo-snarly. dog face, eyebrows in a V, tongue and teeth out. The next day, our boss decided the co-worker A needed to go to the hospital, so we actually made an appointment and got him in with an Uber. He was put on leave for a week. The security guards who I was friend with told me that A was showing up in the middle of

the night, trying to sign in for work at the card reader, sometimes two to three in the morning. Anyway, surprisingly, a week later, co-worker A comes back and seems somewhat normal. Almost like he has no recollection of anything he did. He even wrote an entire album on his phone in that time, which surprisingly was better than I thought it would be. But I noticed it was all love lyrics, sort of wanky, country love songs. As things seemed normalized with co-worker A, he stated that he really wanted to have. hang out with me and go for a hike, throw axes of trees, etc. I sort of didn't agree or disagree and told him I would get back to him on that,

as I secretly was a little on edge. He asked me later that day if I was still down, and I said unfortunately that I had other obligations. He said, well, I guess I can't throw an axe at your face then. And I laughed not knowing how to react at all. I told the manager about that, and he kind of just scratched his head uncomfortably and shrugged his shoulders. Anyway, Co-worker A ends up finding Co-worker B's address due to a work get-together, where everyone was invited and someone leaked it to Co-worker A.

They eventually find rocks and sticks and weird formations on their doorstep like shrines, and we all collectively knew that it was A. Things got really weird when they actually found A looking through their windows at night, He was also scratching the window with his nails, calling out B's name, repeatedly whispering, B, I need to tell you something. This is when our manager finally decided to take action and agreed to fire A. Four years later, co-worker A still stalks co-worker B's now ex-girlfriend, who had to get a restraining order against him.

He annually makes new Facebook accounts and adds all 200-plus workers who used to work. work there, as the place got shut down. He uses a new name each time with a different selfie. He then sends a message to each one of us as well, saying, Hey, you, it's B from work. So, I guess that my question is, what would this behavior be called? And how did such a normal, likable, level-headed person turn into this? Is there a term for this behavior?

What would your diagnosis be? One of my friends had the gall to ask him in a reply, which I can share a screenshot of if he recalls anything, which he doesn't seem to. But he sure remembers B's ex-girlfriend and says some extremely concerning things. About how she's the one and the only, how he's the bigger one and she's the smaller one. He was put on this earth essentially to save her. He also seemingly has no support at all from family. or anything like that. And he's working at a new job,

living alone, unattended. I feel like this is sort of a risk. Anyways, I'm interested in some of your feedback of what he might be dealing with. I've been a long-time listener to podcasts where people have told their scary stories, or told about creepy encounters and whatnot,

but I never personally expected to have one of my own. Now that I do, I figured why not share it with the world and see if maybe it can be used as a lesson to others or help people avoid similar events. If nothing else, at least it could be considered entertainment to some. I live in a small town that I like to think is pretty safe. There really aren't many crimes that I hear about around town, and I've never really met anyone that I've felt threatened by around the town. I've been without a car for a while, and I just walk from my house to a nearby bus stop to get to work, and then do the same to get home. The bus stop to get home is a bit annoying,

because they don't stop at the same spot where they pick me up in the morning. So I end up having to walk about 25-ish minutes from the second stop to my apartment complex. It's a bit annoying, sure, but it is what it is. and since I don't have a car, it's all I have to rely on most of the time. Now, this whole event happened a few weeks ago. It was a normal day at work. I was super busy, and by the end of the day, I was seriously exhausted. I got to my stop, got on the bus,

and I was sitting in the seat kind of just dozing off a bit while making sure that I didn't actually fall asleep. Something I've gotten pretty good at over the couple of years that I've done this routine. after a bit of just sitting there and being rocked back and forth by the jostling of the bus, and we hit a bit of a pothole and the bump of it actually pulled me completely out of my half-asleep state. I shook my head and kind of looked around, and when I did I noticed that there was a guy a few seats ahead of me that was sitting with his back against the sidewall of the bus,

and he was staring at me. I don't mean like, sly, maybe he has a crush on me type staring, I mean full-on glaring. Like, I stole his wallet and kicked his dog, and he knew that it was me, style staring. I had literally no idea who this guy was. I had never seen him on this bus route before, and I was a bit creeped out, so I just kind of thought, I'll ignore it the best I can, and that'll be it. He's just kind of creepy.

The entire ride to my stop, he just sat there, staring at me. with the same wide-eyed glare. It got to the point where I thought that maybe he was blind, and he wasn't actually staring at me, and maybe I was just being insensitive. It was such an awkward situation, and I really was trying to rationalize or think about it in any logical or even illogical way that I could.

After a while, we were approaching my stop, and I was almost a bit hesitant to get off, but I wasn't about to make my 20-something-minute walk turn into 40 or more minutes just because of this guy. As we approached, I got up and walked toward the exit of the bus, and as I passed this guy, he definitely turned his head to watch me. Then, much to my misfortune, as I walked past his seat, he stood up and started following me.

I had no idea what to do. I had already shown that this was, my stop by getting up. And there weren't a lot of people on the bus, so it wasn't like I was going to be able to get anyone to help me. I decided that I could maybe mention something to the driver and they could help me, or at least stop this guy from getting off the bus with me, because I was creeped out. I really was at a loss of what could be done because, technically, him just being a weirdo,

wasn't a crime. The second that I turned to make a comment to the driver, this guy grabbed my shirt and pushed me toward the door, and I'm not exaggerating. He practically threw me off of the bus. He grabbed me and shoved me with all of his strength out the doors and onto the curb. I was lucky that I was able to halfway catch myself,

and that I didn't smack my head on the bus stop sign. or the bench or the concrete. As I fell, this guy seriously pointed at me and said, If I ever catch you on this bus again, I will kill you. This was obviously terrifying, and it caused a lot of chaos to ensue, mostly from the driver. He was yelling at the guy, the couple of other people that were on the bus, were standing up and approaching the man that had just threatened me, and I was just sitting there on the ground terrified for my life.

As soon as the other people got to the guy, he jumped off the bus and took off at a full sprint. Within moments, he was gone. And they were helping me up, and the driver told me to get back on the bus while he called the cops to escort me home. I was thankful that he let me back on to wait, and that he was willing to call in to dispatch that there was an incident,

so that I wasn't there alone. The cops did come. They asked for a description. They asked me if I knew the guy and I told them the whole thing that he was just staring at me creepily and that when I went to get off the bus, he shoved me and threatened me. To be honest, they really didn't seem like they wanted to believe me when I said I didn't know the guy. But I assured them that I had never seen him before in my life. They took all the info from everyone, and then one of the officers did actually give me a ride home. home, thankfully.

And that's pretty much the end of it. They haven't contacted me to let me know that there's been any progress, and my guess is that there won't be. Because it was such a random incident, and beyond a description, I don't know if they had anything else on the guy. It definitely scared the hell out of me, and it's actually made me a bit nervous to ride the bus again, just in case he wants to make good on his threat. but I'm hopeful that it was just a one-off incident and that I never run into this crazy dude ever again.

Hey everyone, long-time lurker in this group, never posted because I've never really had anything that I thought was worth sharing. I've read a lot of stories here, and I honestly never thought that I was going to one day make a post. Yet, here we are. Sure, we've had our share of creeps at my work, but this one, was far above and beyond everything else. This happened only a couple of weeks ago, so the memory is still fresh in my mind, and honestly, I'm still a bit creeped out by it. I was working the night shift at my McBurgers, and yes, I'm calling it that because I don't

want the real restaurant to see this and try to shut me down, and it seemed like a pretty normal night. To give some context, the McBerberger's. burgers that I work at isn't in the best part of town. We've had our fair share of weird people and bizarre things happen, but honestly it kind of feels like the people with ill-intent, just leave our store alone. It's almost like our McBurger is a safe haven for them,

so they know not to do the crazy things there. Like, we get the types that kind of look like they're going to commit a robbery, but they just order a burger and leave. And then, wherever they go afterwards, is who they hit. Well, unfortunately, on this night, we got a taste of the crazy. It was around 2 a.m., and we were mostly empty. I was manning the drive-thru window and doing some sweeping in the back area, when we weren't getting any cars, that is.

Kevin, one of my co-workers, was manning the front, but, Due to lack of traffic, he was doing some cleaning up on the line and the other parts. After a bit of this, we heard the door open, and Kevin wrapped up what he was doing to head up to the front to greet the customer. I watched him go up and look around and then come back saying that there was no one there and shrugging it off. He went back to cleaning. About five minutes later, I looked up and told him that he had a customer, because there was a man standing up at the front. He looked a bit messed up, is the best way to put it.

Not like dirty or anything, just a bit like he was stressing out. He was wearing a nicer button-down shirt and a decent pair of slacks, but they were, for lack of a better way to put it, again, just messed up. His pants were unbuttoned, but his belt was. holding them up. His hair looked like he'd been pulling it out. His shirt was halfway unbuttoned, and his tie was still tied around his neck but was halfway unknotted. He looked like he could have been a VP for a company that had just closed its doors for the last time, if that makes sense. The man just stood there at the counter looking at nothing in particular, like he was just

spacing out. Kevin asked if he could take the man's order and the man just stared at him with that same blank expression. The man kept his eyes focused on Kevin, not saying a word, and after a few moments of staring and Kevin trying to get him to say something, waving his hand in front of his face and looking back at me, like, is this guy okay? The guy just straight up screams, hey, straight at Kevin. He jumps, I jump, and we're both now paying full attention to this dude. At this point, our manager, Sasha, is actually coming out of the office room to see what exactly is going on.

And as soon as she does, this man starts screaming at her, yelling that, in his words, she is one with Satan. And that she was an affront to the Holy Father. We both turned to look at her and she had a confused look on her face. and yeah, it was weird. Then, as we weren't paying attention to the guy, he reached forward and grabbed Kevin's shirt and pulled him close. And at this point, I ran up to the front to try to get this guy away from him. I was sitting there trying to pull this man off,

and he's sitting there staring at Kevin with his whole face shaking, and then start saying, They're coming, Kevin. This is the end. This is how all things end. Considering how much he was shaking aggressively, his voice was surprisingly calm and direct. At this point, he started trying to pull Kevin over the counter, and I was struggling to get this guy off of Kevin.

Thankfully, Sasha was already in the back and calling the police. As I'm trying to pry the man off Kevin, he began shouting about how they were here and we needed to leave. Thankfully, the police arrived damn near immediately. My guess is that they were already patrolling the area and were just waiting for something to happen. The two officers managed to restrain the man and get his hands in cuffs.

As they led him away, he continued to rant about some impending doom. The whole ordeal was over in a matter of minutes. But we were all in a pretty confused state of panic. After the police left, we all tried to get back to work, and when Kevin went to clean the restroom, he found a weird symbol that was scratched into the wall. Not the stall, but the actual paint on the drywall. The only way that I can describe it is like a summoning circle from supernatural. Obviously, we have no idea why he carved it into the wall before going psychotic on Kevin,

but at least we knew what he was doing between the time he walked in and we saw him. This left us all a bit shaken, but we did our best to just go back to our mundane jobs until the shift was over. Kevin did end up putting in his two weeks not too long after this, and he actually just had his last shift. He said that he didn't really want to quit, but he keeps getting this weird feeling that the guy is going to come back, and it was bothering him enough to leave. I get it, and I don't blame him. It was definitely a terrifying moment, and the fact that this guy paid way more attention to Kevin

probably didn't help. This was a few years ago when this happened, but I thought it would be a good story to get out there. I'd gone to a party with the few of my friends and thought that it was going to be a good time, when it actually turned out to be pretty horrified. I'm going to be honest I'm not the best storyteller

and I'm not really sure where to begin with actually telling the story because it's one of those terrible events that was pretty messed up and it affected a few people I guess I'll just start by saying that my group was just myself and two of my long-time friends and the party was at the house

of one of our longtime friend of a friends that we'll call Jordan for the story Jordan is a pretty nice dude I've known him for a few years as have both of my friends I only call him a friend of a friend or an acquaintance because I don't personally know much about him I know that he's a pretty laid-back dude

likes to have a good time and so forth I've spoken with him a few times over the years but I know that he's the kind of person if I spent more time around him I would probably say he's a pretty good friend. We got to his house a bit later than the start time for the party, and right off the bat, things seemed a bit downtrodden. We got there, greeted Jordan,

and he just seemed like he was a bit upset about something, like he was trying to keep the conversation with the short. I asked him if he was okay, and he said that he was, but then mentioned that his brother was at the party, and that his brother had some issues. The way he said it was like, you should avoid him because he is a problem, but without saying those exact words. It was like he wanted to warn us, but it was also his brother, so he didn't want to just call him out as being someone we should stay away from.

We told him that we would keep an eye out and make sure that if we saw anything, we would let him know. He thanked us, and he kind of seemed to change his tune a bit to one that was generally more positive and for. friendly. He walked us in, introduced us to a few people that he thought we would like to know, showed us where things were, and then took us out back where the larger group of people was mingling. We integrated into the group, just chatting it up with some random people, getting to know each other and enjoying the night. About 20 or so minutes into dancing, having a few drinks and catching up with some people that I actually recognized, we heard what sounded like somebody yelling, and the words being thrown out were not pleasantries.

They were definitely aggressive comments. The whole group kind of just stopped what they were doing and turned their attention toward the house, where we saw Jordan and another man going off on each other. Based on his appearance, it was pretty obvious that the other man was his brother. They looked very much alike. After a bit of back and forth,

Jordan yelled at the other man to get the hell out of his house. The two of them shouted a few more unpleasantries at each other, but after a bit more exchange, his brother did leave. Jordan apologized to everyone for it. We of course all told him that it wasn't a big deal and not to worry about it. We all thought it was just a family dispute and moved on, thinking that it was over. Less than half an hour later, things had gotten back to normal for the party, and everyone had moved on from the whole situation.

The mood was very quickly killed, though, when we started hearing more screaming in the house. This time, not angry screaming between people, but more like panicked screaming. Of course, we all turned our focus to the house again, but this time we could easily see what was happening. There was smoke, billowing out from the front of the house, and we could see the people running out screaming and yelling to call 911.

I watched as Jordan ran back in to see what exactly was happening, and he was helping get people out of the house while others were calling the fire department. Unfortunately, it didn't take very long for the house to go from, oh, there's smoke to, there's not much of the front of the house left. The fire department got there as quickly as they could, but the fire had quickly spread from the living room into the hallway and kitchen, and it was rather destructive. To make a long story a bit shorter, they determined that the fire was set by what appeared to be a Molotov. Guess that were in the house said that they heard and saw something being thrown through the living room window, and when it crashed onto the ground, the fire seemed to go in all directions. And, of course, you can easily assume who had thrown them. I learned that Jordan's brother had an addiction problem and had been staying with Jordan,

he tried to get his life back on track. Apparently he'd been doing a pretty good job, but he'd been bugging Jordan asking for cash for whatever drug he wanted to be on. When Jordan said no, he got mad, because it was a party, which meant he should be allowed to let loose. Jordan told him that he could join the party, but anything he ingested needed to be legal. Hence, of course, this put his brother on edge.

The argument that they'd had before his brother left was enough to send his brother over that very destructive cliff, and he decided to go find somebody to help him get high. Then he opted to set his brother's house on fire in retaliation. He was pretty quickly caught, too, because he didn't really leave after he threw the Molotovs. He'd actually stuck around so that he could watch the damage that he caused, and he was more than willing to confess it to the cops when they questioned him. Thankfully, by the end of this, nobody was physically harmed. Jordan lost his home, and what's worse, the only reason his brother was there was because he was trying to help him.

It has been a while since all this happened. His brother is in jail, and the couple of times I've spoken with Jordan since then, he'd been rather optimistic, considering the fact that his brother had burned his house down. The property was a complete loss, and he ended up having to stay with family and tried to get everything sorted through insurance, but I don't know how all that ended up. I just personally hope that the property loss was the worst of it. I can only imagine how much it must have hurt Jordan to have his own brother tried to destroy his life like that. I was on a long drive trip a while back, heading to another state for a work event that I was pretty much told I needed to be a part of.

I was given the options to fly or to drive a rental car out there, and if I drove, I had to do it over the weekend, and I wouldn't be paid for mileage. Which, whatever, I am terrified of flying, so I chose to drive. There's no particular reason for me to be terrified of flying, but the two times that I have been on a plane, I've had full-blown panic attacks that have ended in myself vomiting. I think it's just me. I get freaked out and I panic. So, obviously, I told my boss that I would get a rental car

and just drive to the conference. The trip took way longer than I honestly anticipated, and I was driving pretty late into the night. And at the point where this event happened, I was running low on gas. I wasn't low enough that I would have ended up on the side of the highway, at least I don't think so, but I was low enough that I had made plans to fill up at the next station

that I saw on an exit sign. I went for a while longer, saw that there was a station at the next exit that indicated it was open, 24 hours, and thought that I should consider stopping to use the restroom, getting something to drink, and then fill up my tank. I pulled off, and after a little bit of searching, I did find the station. It was decently lit, so that wasn't a huge deal for me, but as I parked, I noticed that in the same parking lot as the station was what looked like an old motel that was boarded up. It kind of looked like a stereotypical old motel, two floors, three rooms on each floor, and then the one extra room on the bottom that had the word office on the door.

A couple of the rooms were missing their doors. Some of them were just boarded up and some of the windows looked smashed. Honestly, it's not relevant, but it was a bit unsettling. But I wasn't there for lodging, I was there for gas. I headed into the station, and it looked decent at the very least. Like, sure, it was a bit dim and a couple of the fluorescent bulbs were burned out, but the floor was clean, and everything looked well-stocked. It wasn't a small station either.

There was actually a good amount of space, and everything looked open, so it was kept up. There were two guys standing at the front counter talking to the clerk, and honestly none of them looked too threatening. They just looked normal. As I walked in, the clerk turned his attention to me, and he, very politely, asked me if he could help me find anything. I asked him if he had a restroom, and he motioned toward the back. I nodded and headed back and did my business.

While I was washing my hands, though, I heard what sounded like all three men giggling like schoolchildren. At what I don't know, but at the same time, people laughing isn't necessarily a bad thing or creepy. It was just something that I noted. When I walked out of the restroom, though, I could literally feel the three of them just staring at me as I went over to the drink cooler to get something for myself and grabbed a snack. I thought that they would look away or break their stairs as I walked toward the counter, but... Nope. They all three just kept watching me as I approached.

I tried my best to ignore it as the guy scanned my items, but after a few moments of my skin starting to crawl, as the other two were glaring, I looked over towards them with a stare of, All right, I know you're staring, you can stop now. As soon as my attention was turned toward them, one of the guys took this opportunity to say, we were making a bed on something,

and I wanted to know. What would you rate me out of a ten? This caught me a bit off guard, and I wasn't really sure what to say. I just kind of scoffed and turned back toward the clerk. Unfortunately, he was in on their game, and he was just staring at me with his eyes wide holding my Red Bull. At this point, I was annoyed, so I just said that I would like to pay for my stuff and go. He then told me that he would give me my thoughts.

things when I answered the question. I said that I wasn't interested in whatever this was, and that I would just like to pay and go. Once again, he laughed and said, Not until you answer him. At this point, I decided that it wasn't worth my time to put up with this, and there were three of them versus one of me. I turned and walked away from them, but as soon as I reached the door, I felt a hand reach and grab my hip. Unfortunately for the person that grabbed me,

which was the man that had asked me to rate him out of ten, as I was walking towards the door, I had actually unhooked my pepper spray from my keys. I had a small cartridge that had a key ring on it, and he took the full blast of it to the face. The other two men started yelling at me, he started screaming, and I turned and took off towards my car.

Thankfully, the car had a push start, so I was able to get the engine going and get out on the road before the three of them could even get out into the parking lot. The whole time I was pulling away and getting back on the highway, I was staring back at my rear view and seeing if they were following me, which, thankfully, they weren't. After about five minutes of being back on the highway, I pulled over and resituated myself, trying to calm down and get through the anxiety attack that it was definitely about to hit me. In the end, I was just thankful that I had the mental wherewithal to grab my pepper spray while I was walking. I just had that feeling that one of them was going to try something. I ended up going for about another half an hour until I found a gas station in a much, less creepy, and more populated area.

And I filled up without issue. This was definitely the event that made it click that these things can happen to me. And I'm way more aware of my surroundings now. Before the guys started in on being a creep, I really didn't get any red flags from them. But even those that don't seem like creeps can be the worst. I'm not saying be paranoid or be scared of everyone, just that being prepared is always a good idea. One Saturday morning, I, 21, female, decided to go to my local goodwill.

I'm disabled and suffer from chronic pain. I use a cane on my good days and a wheelchair on bad days. Luckily for me, this was a good day. I parked out front and got out of my car and immediately noticed a man sitting at the far corner in front of the Goodwill. As I was walking into the Goodwill, he shouted, Miss, do you have any extra time for me today? I had never seen this man in my life and really did not want to engage with him, so I politely said,

No, sir, not today, I'm sorry, and continued walking. He shouted something else at me, but I couldn't make out what he said, and was afraid if I stopped and asked, then he would try to engage me in conversation. I ignored him and continued walking. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him begin to stand up. I walked faster and I entered the Goodwill, thinking that I was in the clear. I began walking along the front of the store, just browsing the items.

My heart dropped when I glanced through the front window, and I saw him walking briskly towards the entrance. I immediately thought that he might be following me, and this has happened to me before at Goodwill's. Every time I've wound up in uncomfortable conversations where I have to continuously decline the advances of men that I'm really not interested in. It's gotten to the point where I wear a fake ring when I go out

so that I can say that I'm married, because sometimes they accept that answer better than me simply not being in. interested. In that moment, the disability left my body because I picked up my cane and booked it to the nearby rack of ballgowns, and I hid behind them. Through the gaps, I observed him storming into the store and start to look through the aisles. I was scared because he looked angry, maybe because I had ignored him. I didn't mean to be rude, but I thought I had made it clear in a polite way that I did not want to speak with him. I don't think that it's wrong of me to want to go thrifting without having to engage with random men. A kind woman nearby came up to the ball gowns where I was

hiding and pretended to inspect them. She whispered, are you okay? And I said, I think that the man in the blue is looking for me. She said that she thought so as well, and I asked her if any of the nearby dressing rooms were open. She pointed to the one that. that was, and when I saw that the man had his back turned, I dived underneath the door and locked it behind me. I called my boyfriend from the dressing room in tears and asked him to come to the store. Soon, I heard a knock at the door. The kind woman had gotten the manager. She told me that, after the man had looked through all the aisles, he walked out, grabbed his bag, and left the area.

They closed the dressing room that I was in, and they looked at. let me hide in it until my boyfriend arrived. Then, one of the male employees and my boyfriend walked me to my car, and that was the end of it. Nothing really dramatic happened, and since we were in public, I don't think that my life was in danger, but it was an unsettling experience. I hate to think of the possible confrontation we might have had if he had found me. I'm just so thankful to the goodwill employees, and the kind of. woman who helped me that day.

I think I'll post this here just to see what others think of this experience. I'll try to keep it brief but thorough. Around two years ago, now I was working in landscaping, which meant that I woke up at 5 a.m. and was at work by 6 a.m.

Sometimes my now fiancé would spend the night with me for no particular reason other than to spend the night. One morning, I woke up and got ready for work, and then left for work. Everything seemed normal, just another early morning. Around 1 p.m., I got a call for my fiancé asking where I was. I was really confused, but I told her that I was at work like always.

She questions me, and asked if I had gone in late or something, to which I told her, no, I left just like always. She then tells me that she vividly remembers me coming up to the bed and crawling in with her, saying that I wasn't feeling good and that I was going to take the day off. She questioned me, and I put my arm around her, and then we both drifted off to sleep. That did not happen,

and I just chalked it up to her having a vivid dream. About two and a half months later, the same circumstances, I get another frantic call at 7 a.m. My fiancé is not a morning person, and we usually sleep until noon if she has the day off. So I was immediately wondering what happened. She tells me that it happened again. Only this time, when I went to get in bed with her, she said,

You're not my fiancé, to which whatever was posing as me got angry, and said how did she know? This freaked her out, and she said that she suddenly felt like she was in danger. So she finally sat up and looked towards where the voice came from and realized that nothing was there. I eventually managed to calm her down and was convinced that she just had a bad nightmare or something. We talked later that night, and she said that whatever it was, it felt dangerous. I'm a believer in the paranormal, but I had lived in this particular apartment for about two years at that point

and had never experienced anything. The next day, she decided to stay the night again since I didn't have to work, and she felt safer sleeping with me that night due to the previous morning. I agreed and we went to bed like normal. That night around 3 a.m., I had woken up to use the bathroom. Still half asleep, I do my thing, and suddenly the curtain to the shower flies open. I'm not talking about moving a little bit either. I mean it was completely closed, and suddenly it was pushed all the way to the other side,

showing the shower to me. I'm immediately awake and aware now and jump out of the bathroom. I stand there for a few seconds, almost waiting for something else to happen. but nothing ever did. I didn't go back to sleep that night, and I told my fiancé about what happened when she woke up. A few other small things happened after this, too, but I'll end this here to see what y'all think of this.

I'm honestly still confused about it to this day, and never really understood what was going on for the rest of the time that I lived in that room. But thank you all for reading, giving me a bit of your time. This probably won't be as interesting as most of the posts here, and will probably be long because it's been happening for a while, but it's real and current, and I could really use some help figuring out what to do.

To be honest, I don't really know how to start, as it's my first time posting here, but I will do my best. me and my fiancé lived together with our dogs in a really old house that I'm almost certain the previous owner and older gentlemen passed in well before we lived here I was told that he was a recluse and not really anything else that I can recall I've lived in this house with my parents for some time now before it was just me and my fiancee

my parents aren't dead they just moved it's always had a pretty bad vibe and never really made me feel all that welcome there have been a few instances over the years mostly noises up in the attic or in the walls but most interestingly the smell of cigar smoke likes to come around sometimes in random rooms my mom has asthma so

no one has ever been allowed to smoke inside once my parents left the house after a pretty nasty divorce. I only mention it because I notice a lot of encounters having to do with negative emotions. Me and my fiancé have been happier, honestly, since it's just been us, but the weird stuff has been getting worse and worse lately. The feeling of being watched has been tenfold, to the point where it literally feels like someone is about to breathe down your neck. Our dogs have also been acting pretty weird, staring and barking at nothing. way more than usual.

That and our dreams. I have always had interesting dreams, but only here have I dreamed of being watched or being intruded on with occasional self-death dreams. An example, a waking dream of someone barging into my room and staring and charging at me, or being stared at through the vents. But more noticeable and harder to explain, is our windows constantly coming unlocked, as of the past few months. They're not complicated locks,

and it happens so frequently that we started actively checking them to make sure that they're still locked sometimes. And they won't be, or they'll be partially unlocked. It's a lock that swivels left to right over a bump to click in place. Not something that happens on accident. The noises have gotten more frequent and louder, and things get moved when no one is around to move them. Just tonight, I got frustrated and threw a power-raid bottle in a bag into the kitchen,

and my fiancé didn't go into the kitchen once. She literally didn't even get off the couch. And the bottle, 30 minutes later, is on the counter upright, when I know that it was on the floor. Also tonight, the noises were really loud. So I checked the house again, and of course, no source. and it doesn't seem to happen upstairs while I'm actively looking for it. It literally sounded like someone was dragging something through the wall.

It's getting to the point where I'm worried that we have an actual person in the house sometimes. But I'm almost certain that I've checked the house over 20 times, and nothing shows that to be the case. It's honestly grown to be more and more of a concern. and I could really use some peace of mind. If anyone knows anything that can help or has had a similar experience, please, help me out. Many years ago, my girlfriend, Maya, and I spent our spring break on a road trip to St. Louis, Missouri from New Mexico. We wanted to see the Gateway Arch and check out some other sites nearby.

She also had grandparents that lived in the area, and they welcomed us to stay with them while we were there. This gave us a bit more wiggle room in our budget and helped us greatly. We planned on leaving super early to get a head start on traffic and taking turns, driving and sleeping, so that we could save more time and money on hotels, which did work out in our favor. Well, for the most part. Most of the drive went smoothly. We had printed out our drive and directions and even planned our stops. And yes, I said printed directions.

This should tell you how long ago this was. We ate, made our planned stops with minimal detours or extra stopping, and slept all according to plan. But we didn't account for, though, were the Midwestern storms. We had stopped at a gas station in eastern Kansas to fuel up, and it had then started raining. No big deal. we had a fully functional car so the wiper blades worked just fine.

We got back on the road and continued on knowing that we only had about four, maybe five hours left of our drive. But it hadn't even been an hour later when the rain began pouring. I've lived in New Mexico all my life. Now, I'd seen some rainstorms and some pretty bad ones, but I had never experienced anything like this. So, yeah, I'm not afraid to say it. that I got a little nervous. Maya, however, wasn't as concerned and just offered to drive if I wasn't comfortable.

Seeing her calm demeanor did help calm me down some, and I continued on. Unfortunately, the rain would not let up, and it became louder as it hit my car. That's when we realized it wasn't just rain. It was also now hail. I've never seen hail so big in my life, and still haven't since. It became so loud and heavy that I thought it was going to smash my windshield. I couldn't really hold back my fears, so Maya suggested that we pull over so that she could drive. This time, Maya agreed.

We pulled into a gas station and I went in asking to use their phone. Maya didn't have a phone, and I just had a prepaid one that I was trying to save the time on, in case of emergencies. I called my parents and let them know where we were. I then explained how bad the weather was, and my mom sounded worried and suggested that we take shelter at a hotel until it passed. Of course, this didn't really help relieve any of my concerns, but I told them I would consider it and ended the call. I went back to Maya, and after sharing with her, she said that she would continue the drive, saying that we would probably be fine. I tried my best to remain calm and just trust her judgment. We continued to drive, but it seemed like we were honestly going further into the storm.

The rain and hail continued and the wind was so strong. I thought it might even blow us off the road. And speaking of the road, I could barely see the lines on it, let alone a few feet in front of us. We were on a pretty empty stretch of road with no exits nearby, but I looked over at Maya to ask if we should maybe just pull over and wait it out. and her face told me all that I needed to know. She no longer looked so confident. I pleaded with her to pull over, and she agreed.

We were now on the shoulder, and parked, and we sat there in the dark and silenced just trying to decide the best thing to do. I grabbed my phone from her purse to at least call her grandparents, or my parents, with an update, and of course I didn't have any signal. It was a bit disconcerting to seem, but I told myself that we were parked, so we should be okay. We tried keeping each other calm by just talking and occupying ourselves,

which did start to work. We probably sat there for about 30, 45 minutes, when we noticed that the hail had stopped. It was still raining pretty hard, but since the hail cleared up, we could see the road a bit better and decided to give it another go. But as it goes, there's always something. Now, the car wasn't moving.

It started just fine, but it appeared to be stuck. We got out and checked, and sure enough, the tires on the passenger side had sunk into the mud. This road didn't have any sort of barriers on the side, so it just went from road to grass and dirt. I tried pushing it while Maya steered, but it was not budging. Then, when we finally got some movement, it began to get some movement. it began sliding more into the shoulder, almost like it was fish-tailing. Sorry, I'm not good with cars at all, and I'm not sure how to better describe it. At this point, there was no way we were going to be able to get the car out alone.

We got back in the car, now soaked, and grabbed our beach towels from our bags. Cue the worried feeling again. Now we were definitely stuck in this storm, in seemingly the middle of no. where, late at night, and we had no real options. I still didn't have a signal on my phone, and neither of us had any other ideas. I just really hoped that we weren't going to start hearing the tornado sirens. We just grabbed some snacks from our food bag and tried to wait it out and hoped for the best. Honestly, this whole thing took a lot out of us, not to mention the whole drive prior, so we both started getting pretty drowsy.

As we were laying back, trying to relax, and just stay calm, we saw lights coming from the opposite direction towards us. To our surprise, they actually slowed down, stopping next to us, and they rolled down their window. It was an older man in a pickup, and he said probably the best thing I had heard that night. Y'all need some help? We probably should have been a little hesitant at first, for the reasons mentioned above, Middle of nowhere, stranger, dark road, etc., etc., but we were so desperate that we decided to take the risk. The man got out of his truck,

but some kind of bored between my back bumper and his front and pushed my car while Maya steered it. It came out like it was nothing, and the man's truck plowed right through the mud, too. By the end of it, we were all completely exhausted, soaked and freezing, but finally with the man's... help, we managed to get our car back on the road. He even followed us to the next exit, which

had a McDonald's to make sure that we made it out okay. We were incredibly grateful to that man. He could have kept on driving. He could have been a creep, and we would have had nowhere to go. But instead, he stopped, and he helped two dumb girls stuck in a ditch. We tried to pay him as a thank you, but he refused and said that he was just happy to help. We went in and used their phone to call my parents and her grandparents to give them an update, and then decided to sleep in our car in the parking lot for a few hours, hoping that by the time it was lighter out, the rain would have dissipated. Thankfully, it did, and we made it to her grandparents' place with no other issues.

Overall, it ended up being a great trip, but I told Maya that I would, never again drive anywhere with her in the rain, only partially joking, but it was also nice to see that there are still good people out there that are willing to lend a hand. This happened to me and my daughter several years ago. My daughter Brooke had recently gotten her permit and would come up with any reason to drive. I didn't hate it though, as she was always willing to run to the grocery store when I needed something for dinner, or picking her little brother up from school, so it was definitely helpful.

But being a parent, there was also that painful feeling knowing that she was growing up. But you're not here to listen to that story. Anyways, I had to run by the drugstore to pick up a prescription, and she wanted to drive, so I agreed. My husband was at my son's tea ball practice,

so it was going to just be the two of us. I think this was partially to drive more, but after we left the drug store, she said that she wanted to stop by a local fast food place that had really good ice cream. She offered to buy it, though, so I wasn't going to say no to free ice cream, and I agreed. We got there and decided to go in so that way she wasn't driving and trying to eat. She didn't need to already be driving with distractions anyways. We got in, placed our orleans, and stood towards the back waiting for them to call it out.

After we got it, we went and sat down and enjoyed our little treat and talked about her classes, her friends, etc. I typically ate minds slower, so since she finished before me, she said that she was going to use the restroom before we left. After she walked away, I pulled out my phone to check the time and text my husband. It was just about that time that a guy walked in, and I immediately got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. He had a pretty average build, was completely bald,

and was wearing jeans in one of those brown Carhart-style jackets. He looked right at me with this piercing stare, and then quickly looked back towards the counter. It gave me a shiver down my spine, and all I could think was that I needed to run. I gripped my phone, but before I could stand up, The guy pulled out a gun and started shouting demands. It was like the room was in slow motion,

as I watched people scatter and tried to run out the doors. The employees were crouching and covering their heads, all while the poor girl that rang us up just stood there frozen. The guy demanded the money in the register, and she immediately started pushing buttons trying to get it open. As the guy was shouting at her, I looked over to see the restroom door open. My daughter could see the people trying to take cover and looked confused.

I tried to communicate the best that I could without talking, shaking my head, and trying to motion for her to go back into the restroom. I was praying that she would understand and go back in and call 911, but as she stood there just frozen, I really couldn't blame her. Unfortunately, I was within the sight of the guy and he noticed me motioning to her. This caused him to approach me and hold the weapon in my face, which made my daughter yelp, and he looked at her. I immediately spoke up, as stupid as it may have been, but I pleaded with him to leave her alone as she was my 15-year-old daughter. He then looked back at me and demanded that I give him everything I had. I opened my purse, and as I was pulling out my wallet, he snatched it from me. after he searched it and pulled out everything he wanted

he motioned for me to go outside which then caused my daughter to start crying before i could react he looked at her and said that he wasn't going to hurt me and again told me to go as we started walking outside he put the weapon in his pocket but kept it close to me as i remember feeling him press it against my side he said that he wanted me to drive him somewhere and i said i would However, when I approached my van, I realized I didn't have my keys. They were still on my daughter. I tried to say something, but the words weren't quite coming out.

I told him I just remembered that I didn't have my keys, and he immediately became angry. It was obvious that he thought I was lying as he snatched my purse from me and proceeded to dump it out into the parking lot. After this, he became pretty furious, and he was very furious. and began punching my car door over and over. I stood there not knowing what to do now when we both stopped to look up. I'm sure that he heard the same thing that I'd heard, faint sirens in the distance. He punched my door one more time before shouting an expletive and running off.

I watched as he ran towards another building and around the back of it. Once he was out of sight, I ran back inside where a lot of people were still coming. covering themselves. Then I heard my daughter quietly call out for me. She had gone to one of the tables near the window and was watching us, I presume. I don't think we have ever hugged as tight as we did at that moment. We all stayed pretty much like that until the cop showed up and told us that we were okay. The guy did not get very far whatsoever as he tried to take someone else's car and got caught in the process.

We all explained what happened and what all was taken. He had taken the few bills that I had in my wallet, three credit cards, and my ID, and when they caught him, he had all the cards on him still, so I caught those back. I was glad to not have to replace my ID, but even more grateful that no one was hurt. Traumatized, definitely, I'm sure,

but I'm so grateful that the gun was never fired. It was a terrifying moment, for us, but I don't let it hold me back. It's been almost a decade since this happened, and my daughter has also moved past it, too. She definitely struggled for a while, not wanting to leave my side when we were in public, and had some pretty mean nightmares about it, but she has become a very brave young lady. However, I really do hope that we never have to experience something like that ever, Again. The story takes place over Snapchat.

I was a 16-year-old female in high school, and as most to my age, I was pretty active on the app. I received a notification that a new friend had added me. They went by a name that I had never heard before, but being the dumb teenager I was, I accepted their friend request anyway out of curiosity. I noticed that their snap score was extremely low. A snap score determines how active a person is on their Snapchat account. The higher the snap score, the longer they've had the account. The fact that their snap score was extremely low made it seem as if they had just created this account very recently. They started to message me right away after I accepted.

Almost immediately I could tell that this was a fake account that somebody had created. They started chatting with me, and they then started to send me inappropriate pictures. of themselves, their face was never in the pictures, and an inappropriate picture I assume they found online. They would harass me and say really cruel things to me, as if they had it out for me. I would tell them off because their harassment towards me made me feel very upset and targeted. I would later find out a few things about them, one of them being that they followed me on Instagram. They sent me a screenshot of my profile. This was definitely somebody that I knew. They also admitted that they went to the same high school as me.

I decided to block them soon afterwards. For years, throughout the rest of high school and even after, I would get random accounts from the same name and different names doing the exact same thing, sending inappropriate pictures and being very hateful and stalkerish towards me. This made it hard because, since they used different names sometimes, I would just assume it was someone from school whom I didn't. know who got my username from one of my friends. Sometimes I would be anxious to walk home alone after school, thinking they may try and follow me and get me alone. They made around 10 accounts in

total over the few years that this took place. What I found even more creepy is they went as far as to add me on Snapchat on my birthday. And when I accepted, they wished me a happy birthday, which meant that they knew my birth date. They did this on my graduation day, too. On my graduation day, they also said more cruel things to me, almost as if they were trying to ruin my graduation. This person really hated me for some reason, yet I could never think of who it could have been. I couldn't think of anyone at school or elsewhere that could have possibly hated me this much,

to target me like this. Unfortunately, I never found out who it was. I assumed it was somebody that I rejected, or my ex, but either way, this person was very unstable. I'm in college now, and thankfully this has stopped. I have a new account on Snapchat with a unique username, so it's much harder for anyone to find me. Hello, Raven. I have a scary story of my own to tell, so here we go. So for some background. I'm a 43-year-old male, and this happened to me about three years ago.

My wife worked second shift as a nurse at a nursing home. At the time, we only had one car, so I would drive her to work and pick her up so I could use the car during the time that she was at work. One night on the way to pick her up, I decided to stop at a gas station to grab a famous Circle K polar pop and a snack for both of us. Now, I need to explain the layout of the parking lot in the store. This was a small Circle K with the very small parking lot. On the right of the building was a small alley tucked between the store and a chain lake fence.

There was a car parked in front of the alley, but down from it just a bit, which left a small gap that a tiny car could fit through between the car and getting through the narrow alley. I hope that explains the scene okay. As I got out of my car, another car decided to try to fit in between the parked car and into the alley. But it didn't. It scraped up against the car parked in front of the alley and dented the front end and left huge scratch marks. I was pretty shocked. Before I could even get in the store, a man walked out and headed towards the damaged car. I said, sir, someone hit your car as it squeezed into the alley.

He then yelled, What? And a few expletives. I told him I was sorry and that I wasn't able to get the plate number. He then got even madder and started yelling more. At this point, all I wanted to do was get into the store and out of this situation that I brought on myself. But things only got worse.

The man then reached into his jacket and pulled out a gun. He began to wave it around and scream, and yell, he then said, I'll shoot him, I'll shoot anyone. At this point, I was just flat out terrified and frozen in place. I wasn't sure what to do. Should I make a beeline for the store, or my car?

My fighter flight kicked in, and I decided that surely flight was the better option. As he continued his tirade, I decided to turn around and walk at a brisk pace back towards my car. My muscles tightened as I could only think about a bullet piercing my back or, God forbid, the back of my head. I've never felt more unadulterated dread in my life. I've never had to deal with a maniac with a gun.

Finally, after what seemed like a solid five minutes, which I'm sure was only about 15 seconds, I was in my car. I let out a huge sigh of relief. I turned my car on and burned out of the pull. parking lot as fast as possible, shaking like a leaf. I thought about calling the police, but then decided against it. I don't know if that was the wrong or right decision, but what I do know is that the right decision now is to mind my own business. Lily here again, I mentioned before that I'm a freshman in high school, so ninth grade for me. I'm 15 as of now. This story is,

though from the seventh or eighth grade, or maybe even from the summer between those two grades. But it was definitely warm, and I was 13 or 14. I'm not going to mention the name of the town I was in, the one that my mom lives in is where I was, since I was staying with her and my stepdad at the time. Since my mother is a realtor and leader of her own team, she owns an office building.

I also have an electric scooter, both irrelevant. This was either the first or second time that I was allowed to go downtown where my mother's offices by myself. I was on my electric scooter, which makes my trip 10 to 30 minutes faster. As I mentioned beforehand, this was my first or second time going by myself, so I wasn't sure about the path. On this trip, I managed to forget where to turn, so I missed the turn that I needed to take. I was in front of a hotel in my town, going back home, since I couldn't find my way around downtown. This older guy on this bike, I believe he may have been homeless, but he came out from behind the bush or two in front of me and he was on the grass and I was on the sidewalk. It was, for some reason, hard to hear him.

It probably was just me, though, but he started talking to me. He said something like, That's the kind of scooter that runs on milk and cookies, and he laughed. I gave a fake smile. He said some more, but I can't remember what. I just kept giving the same fake smile and nodding, hardly saying anything since the guy was giving off.

Some pretty weird vibes. I'm pretty shy and introverted, but am completely willing to meet others and have small talk and stuff. but I wanted to get away from this guy, which is normally weird. I don't usually feel that way when in a normal conversation with somebody. Another thing that he said, again, not 100% sure what he said, but this is what I remember. I met this one girl, and I said that I had to show her something in my hotel room that I got here. She followed me, and I had a safe full of money, and she was like, what?

I can't remember if that's exactly what he said, but, That's what I currently remember. In the back of my mind, I thought, this almost sounds like this guy kidnapped a girl. It sounded more sinister since it was different wording then. And then I finally got the chance to say, Hey, I got to go, I'm hungry and need to get back home. And then I left.

I didn't leave the house much on my own for a week or two, maybe even a month. One day, a while later, I was going to Burger King to get chicken nuggets for my golden retriever named Zora. I was leaving it, and I'm pretty sure that I saw him again. He yelled, Hey!

As a greeting in my direction, and I just ignored it. And I haven't seen him since. I'm a recovering addict who has done drugs for more than half of my life. I'm in my early 30s. Once finally seeking help for my mental health, which was the leading cause to the addiction, I was diagnosed with PTSD, anxiety, and depression. The PTSD is from domestic abuse in every form.

One day when I feel more comfortable opening up, I have some seriously insane in-life experiences that could, hopefully, help deter someone from making the same mistakes and choices. However, that's not the reason for this post. I apologize. for the long introduction, however, I felt the need to set the scene. So, here goes, I guess. Due to the previous info, I suffer from terrible night terrors.

Ever since moving back home, I know it's pathetic, I'm in my 30s, but I couldn't trust myself living alone anymore. I've been told that I almost nightly scream, cry, or beg for my life in my sleep. My sister lives at home while she's in law school, and her bedroom is directly across the hall from mine. I've woken up screaming, begging, drenched in sweat, crying multiple times. My bedroom shares the same wall as one of the upstairs bathrooms, so if my TV's on or I'm talking in my room, you can hear it pretty well in that bathroom. One night, my sister's girlfriend was sleeping over, and she was,

heard me screaming and crying while she was in that bathroom. She went back into my sister's room and was genuinely freaking out that something was wrong. The next morning, they both told me that they thought I was being attacked, and that it scared her badly. I said to my sister, jokingly, thanks for not making sure I was okay. That's when she proceeded to tell me that this happens almost every night. So here lies my concern. I up until that point had no idea that it happens so often. As previously stated, I do know that I wake up completely traumatized sometimes, but not every night.

The nights I've woken up, feeling scared or PTSD-related feelings, I can feel something waking me up by touching my legs or feet. I wake up, and I swear something quickly drops down or ducks from my legs and feet are hanging off the bed. Every time. The issue is that I never remember anything that caused me to be so terrorized. So, please, if anyone has any advice, I would greatly appreciate it. Is there any way that I can maybe remember my nightmares, or maybe it's best not to know? Maybe even one day I can lucid dream and fight along with whatever demons my subconscious is fighting. Also, I want to know what is waking me up, that I feel a physical touch and pressure pushing my legs or feet down every time.

But thank you for your time and patience, and thank you for reading. Hi there. I wanted to share an experience I had when I took a cruise with my friend Raquel. We wanted to go in this summer. summer, after we finished our semester, but there was a crazy good deal on one coming up for spring, so we decided to make it our spring break trip instead. With the timing, we would probably miss a few days back, but we both thought it was worth it. The first few nights were fantastic, but it was several nights in that the weird events began to occur.

It started one night after we had been drinking. I started feeling unwell, so I told Raquel that I was. going to head back to our cabin. After my nightly routines, I laid in bed, trying to fall asleep, while watching some show on my laptop. I had finally started falling asleep when something caused me to wake up. I laid there in the dark trying to drift back off when I started hearing whispering. I ignored it at first, thinking it was just people in the halls, but then it dawned on me that

this was very clearly whispering. It was normal to hear people. talking and laughing in the halls, but it was always muffled. This was a very clear whisper. I turned back over to see if maybe Raquel had come back, or if it was maybe something playing on my laptop. However, my laptop had gone to sleep mode and nothing was playing, and Raquel was nowhere in sight.

I thought it was weird but shrugged it off, thinking maybe it was someone outside, or maybe since I wasn't feeling well that my senses were just on overdrive and it made it sound clearer than it was. I ended up just turning something else on Netflix and fell back asleep. The next day, the whispering didn't even cross my mind. When I woke up, Raquel was in her bed and we got dressed and enjoyed another day. We were going to be at the Caribbean that day, so we didn't spend a whole lot of time on the ship. When it was time for us to get back on the ship, we planned on going to see the show that they were hosting, but I wanted to take a shower before, so we both went back to our cabin. After she changed, she said that she was going to head

to the dining hall, and I agreed as I got in the shower. When I got out and got dressed, I went back to the bathroom to do my normal makeup and hair routine. While I was in there, I started hearing the whispering again. This time I was fully awake and cognizant. isn't, this was not a whisper coming from the halls. I walked out of the bathroom and looked around the room, and when I didn't see anyone, I called out, hello, Raquel, but I didn't get an answer. I went and checked the door and saw that it was still locked, too, so I was confused. I could clearly hear a whisper.

I couldn't make out any words, but it may have been because it also sounded really fast. This kind of spooked me, so I quickly finished what I was doing and went to find Raquel. I met up with Raquel as she had already found a table for us and was enjoying a drink when I showed up. After I sat down and we talked briefly, I mentioned the whispering to her, and I asked her if she had come back to the room at some point while I was still there. She confirmed that she never did. I told her about the whispering that I had heard, and she thought that it was weird too, but also tried to be reasonable about it, saying it probably was still people in the hall or the next room. Or maybe it was just the sound of the AC kicking on or something. I certainly wanted it to just be something like that, so I told her that she was probably right, and let it go so that we could enjoy our night.

As the night died down, we both made our way back to our cabin. We were both a bit intoxicated and pretty tired, so after a quick change, we both crashed on our beds pretty hard. However, I woke up at some point needing to use the restroom. So I turned on my side light, and I made my way in there, but it was when I came out that I was a bit spooked. As I opened the door, I saw that Raquel had turned her light on. and was staring right at me, with her eyes wide open. She looked terrified, and I asked her what was wrong. She asked me if I had heard it, too, and I didn't know what she meant at first,

but then I finally caught on. She had heard the whispering, too, but this time she said that she could make out the words. She said that she had heard, don't leave me. And it sounded like it was right next to her ear. And she first thought that I was messing with her because she heard me get up, but when she flipped over and saw the door closed and the light on, she knew that I wouldn't have had time to do that, then run to the bathroom, turn the light on, and shut the door.

I was internally screaming at this point. I wanted to say that I knew I wasn't crazy. But then I realized I wasn't crazy. It was something we both heard, so we knew that it was really. We immediately turned on all the lights and looked over the room, including under the beds, in the closet, the wardrobe, and drawers. I don't know what we were hoping to find, a person, some kind of device replaying someone talking or whispering, but in the end, we found nothing.

We were both wide awake and entirely too freaked out to sleep at that point, so we just laid in bed watching TV. We kept talking about it, going back and forth between what we thought it could be, rationalizing it. So we were probably just mistaken. I think we finally fell asleep with all the lights and TV on around 4 in the morning. Needless to say, that was a lazy day for us, but thankfully we were going to be at sea for the whole day. I think that we both agreed to forget about it and tried to relax. We spent a lot of time in the pool and spa and ate about every chance we got in between.

That night, we parked ourselves in our beds and planned on watching movies with the lights on until we fell asleep. But this time, in the middle of a movie, we heard what sounded like a light tapping on our door. We both looked over and thought that since we both heard it, maybe it was someone that worked there or maybe someone had just gone to. the wrong room. I got up to go see who it was, but when I looked out the peephole, it was nothing. It was pitch black. Like someone was covering it up. That made me hesitate on opening the door, so instead, I just called out, uh, can I help you? But I didn't get a response. I stepped back from the door to let Raquel know what had happened, which caused her to get up and go to the door too.

However, when she looked out, it was clear and there was no one there. We both agreed to open the door, and, of course, nobody was out there. We stepped out and looked down one side of the hallway, where the stairs and elevator were, and then down the other hall, where it was just a dead end. but this time we actually did see someone. There was a woman, standing at the end, with her back towards us and seemingly looking out the little window. But the weirdest part was how this lady was dressed.

She had on one of those old-fashioned ballgowns. We both just stood there and whispered to each other about it, when we both felt a huge rush of cold air sweep by us. That's all it took for Raquel, as she turned around saying, oh, hell no, and went back to the room. I followed quickly behind her and saw that she was already on the phone calling services. She requested that an employee come to our room because someone was obviously trying to pull a prank on us. I could tell the tone of her voice was teetering between angry and terrified.

Someone did show up to our room, and she explained the whole situation, talking about how we kept hearing whispering and the person standing at the window. I think the guy tried his best to take our complaints seriously, but I could also tell that he did not care. He said he would go check the cameras and see who it was, so that they could then speak to the culprit. Being too freaked out to stay in our room anyways, we followed him to the front to watch the camera with him.

We were better off just going back to bed and pretending that nothing happened. We first stood at the desk while we waited for the guy to go to the back room and check the cameras. When he came back, he looked confused and asked us again for a rundown of what had happened. After we explained everything again, he asked us to follow him to the back where he showed us the footage. We saw the hall with our door on the right and all the way to the end where the window was. There was no movement and no people. It was completely still. Then, unexpectedly, the light seemed to dim, or it just got slightly darker, similar to what you might see if someone put their hand or something else in front of the light or above the camera, creating a shadow.

It was there for a few seconds and then back to normal lighting. Then, shortly after the light went back to normal, you could see us open the door and walk out. We stood there, looked around, and then looked back towards the window, and at each other, pointing out the person, before then running back in. We saw this all play out again, except there was no lady at the window. We were shown staring in the direction, but there was nothing there. The guy looked confused and clearly did not know what to say to us. I stood there dumbfounded myself, but when I looked over at Raquel, she was obviously terrified.

The only thing I said was, I know what I heard. I know what I saw, and I'll be damned if I had to sleep in that room another night. The guy escorted us back to the desk and asked us to wait there. The whole time, Raquel kept looking around the area, eyes wide, like she was paranoid. I had never seen her like this before. The only thing I knew that she was afraid of were bugs, but usually she would just be. run away from them letting out some kind of a yelp but she looked terrified i tried asking her if she was all right and she just said i know that you saw it too surprisingly the guy came back and

said that he could move us to another cabin but it would be a slight downgrade before i could say anything rquel said that it was fine and we went back to get our things we silently and quickly packed our stuff and went to our new room. All the while, the guy was apologizing to us. Once we got settled in, we went to bed saying very little, with the lights and the TV still on. The next day, Raquel had done a complete 180, and she was back to being her bubbly, enthusiastic self. And to both of our surprise, I'm sure, we didn't have another event for the rest of the trip.

I asked Raquel again about it when we got. got home and she refused to talk about it, saying that she didn't want any negative energy or bad spirits to follow us. So I was left on my own with the thoughts of what the hell we experienced. I'm conflicted to look into possible hauntings on cruise ships or mysterious deaths or disappearances, but while I may not be religious, what I saw and what Raquel told me is enough to make me hesitate. So instead, maybe I'll just ask,

has anyone ever experienced something like this while on a cruise? Greetings. I almost did not write this in because this paralysis happened only one time to me, and I say thank goodness to that, because it was a most disconcerting experience. Back in the mid-90s, I know, I'm old. My then-boyfriend and I decided to move west from New York City. and slowly made our way to Los Angeles.

And we crashed at his old employer's office slash warehouse combo in a light industrial area. It was a little creepy to hang out in too long. There were no windows in the room we were staying in, but otherwise it was a large, clean, carpeted, and unused conference room. I did like the peacefulness of it and did a lot of artwork in there after going for long walks in the mostly charmless area that had once been home to miles

of orange groves. There was just one really sad handful of trees in front of some paper distributing plant in the historic honor of Southern California in a more agrarian time. The three trees hanging on between an electric fence

and an urban throughway. Once I had been outside long enough, then I would come in for a nap while we'll call my ex-exam. Sean would be in one of the front offices that Jim, the owner and his ex-boss had supplied him. It was a nice office. It did have a big window that looked out onto not much, but the sun did come in. And there was a computer, printer, phone, big desk, everything was there for David to start up working again. Because we lived there, he would sometimes go on to the computer on Sundays and put her around in the office after we'd come

back from a great Chinese place down the road that fed everyone who worked in these corporate parks. I went for a nap as I was working nights on the phones for another company, and Sean would join me in that as well. I turned out the lights, and it was always a bit creepy just how very dark that room got when the lights went out, and we had no computers or anything set up in there, save for a phone way at the other end of the giant room, flashing a little red light. It was tomb-like quiet there, being a Sunday especially, and I fell asleep quickly in the dark, cool room. And then at some point I woke up. I don't know if it was an hour, two hours, 20 minutes, I had no idea.

At first I just opened my eyes and saw directly above me an annoying light. It's purely a rectangle, as if one of the boards got moved above me. It was one of those types of ceilings. I wondered if there was a workman who pulled out a panel and had lights up there working. I was super confused and went to sit up, and that was when I experienced the paralysis. I could not move. It was terrifying. The fear hit me fast, and I realized I could not talk either.

I was trapped in this dark room with this light above me, that I was now realizing did not elude. illuminate the rest of the room. It was this singular light of rectangle that did not in any way illuminate the rest of the room. I began to panic. Was I drugged? Was I dead? I knew that Sean was deep into whatever he was doing.

He never came back this way when he was up front and working on projects. If I needed medical attention, it would be hours before he would come back. I wondered if I was going, to die of just the panic itself, because I wanted, more than anything, to not be in that room and not staring up at that rectangle. I started pushing, just pushing, with all of my might, and it felt like I weighed a thousand

pounds, but I managed to roll over and out of the bed onto the industrial carpet, where I saw the rectangle of light beaming onto the carpet, as if mirroring it. But again, no light from it illuminated any other part of the room. I heave and pull myself up. I felt like metal, like wood. I couldn't breathe, and I inched my way to the door and still could not talk or scream or anything as I pulled myself up and made the most difficult trek of my life. Way harder than anything, including a climb up Mount Rainier a few years,

back. I didn't feel the nausea or confusion or any pain that might come from being drugged. I just knew that I probably should not be able to move at all, and it was sheer will getting me down the hallway. I just leaned against the wall and moaned as best as I could, but I know that he wouldn't hear me. This boyfriend was quite kind and mild-mannered, but deeply bookish and near-sighted. He would just fall into whatever he was doing like deep meditation. And finally I made it to his office, using every ounce of strength that I could muster, and I had to really let my hand go on to the desk with a bang to get his attention. His back was to me, but I saw what he was doing on the computer.

He was writing to various chain stores about the product, and I saw that he had a new one in the name of the person. I saw everything on the letter. It was kind of just background. My main concern was that I was in a state that I had never been in before and I had no reference for it. And I was telling him that it took me at least an hour and a half from waking to now to even get out of bed and down the hall. I may have even began to cry. I felt like just too much of an ordeal.

And how could I even explain it when the last time he saw me I was perfectly full? fine. I may have asked him to open the front door. I may have asked for air or something. I can't recall what happened next. I really wish he would have just called 911 or something, because I think he just sort of shrugged like it was bizarre, but did not see the danger of what I had gone through. I somehow made my way back to the bedroom conference room and turned on the light and fell into the bed again, because I didn't know where else to go or what else to do. and I fell back asleep. Later, at some point, I woke up and I felt more normal,

though maybe tingly, hot, cold, or disoriented, but able to move. I was still panicked somewhat from the unexplainable events, both the rectangular light and the inability to move without the most intense effort. This time I really wanted out, and Sean was still most likely in his office. I was a little upset that he had not checked on me after I told him what happened, but I made my way down the hall again, this time with more ease, and I told him I was so grateful to be better now than when I saw him last. When I saw him when I was mostly paralyzed.

And he just said, what? He had a decent memory, and wasn't the gaslighting type, but he swore that I had not come into the office at all. And yet when I told him what he had been doing, The letter he had been writing and who he had written it to on the computer, his eyes opened really wide, because the only way I would know that is if I was in the room with him. He swore that I had not been,

and that the conversation had not taken place, and yet I knew exactly what he had been doing. I told him again, for me, but the first time for him, about the creepy light in the bedroom slash conference room, and having, for lack of any other better explanation, sleep paralysis. I have no idea what happened, and it confounded both of us. I really thought that at first he was messing with me, but that wouldn't explain the light that did not illuminate,

or just the general weirdness that took hold on that otherwise uneventful afternoon. But it certainly has been confounding. In 2014, I finally decided that it would be my last year working on the high seas. It paid very well, but there's a reason for that. It's extremely hard being in the middle of the ocean for three months at a time on a non-luxurious 50-foot freezer boat. Living on the ocean is a constant reminder that humans are not meant to be there. From the stench of rotting fish bait mixed with diesel to the constant motion of the swells

under your feet, combined with the vastness of nothing, I always compared it to being an astronaut. It tends to drive you up the wall, eventually, no matter how fortified you are. For context, just being able to sit on non-moving furniture back at home was an ethereal experience. The last day of the season tends to be the longest, as we have to pick up every long line that was in rotation and detail the deck of the mess left behind. This would take us very late into the night. On this particular night, we ended our day around 1.30 a.m. We were 17 hours away from land,

so our captain decided to take a nap and allow us two hours of rest before we took our wheel shifts. Yes, not standard practice. He was an alcoholic. We were so far offshore that our captain put us in a slow autopilot, which essentially would just keep us from not drifting further from land, as everyone took power naps. My little ritual every night was to make tea and smoke cigarettes by myself on the deck.

It was the only time that I got to myself in such small quarters. This night, however, was both the last night of the season and of my career on the ocean. Although I was relieved, I felt a weird, bitter sweetness knowing that I'll never be this far out in the Pacific Ocean again. I climbed to the top of the cabin where I had secretly stashed a joint in the outdoor freezer. It was sort of my little secret treat at the end of the season. I lit it, and I stared out into the moonlit ocean. I went into deep thought for a while. As I climbed back down, my jacket got snagged on a fishing hook,

which was from a fishing rod, stored behind the ladder. This is when my 19-year-old brain concluded, you should do something you will never be able to get to do again. And that was, well, letting all of the fishing line out on a 200-plus pound test rod into the near infinite depth of the ocean. Just to see what would happen, I guess. I wasn't at all concerned at the time, as I've seen essentially 99% of the fish that lived out here,

but I've yet to see certain deep-sea oddities, such as angler-fish, and as such, my fascination took a hold of me. I proceeded to clamp on a bigger, heavier halibut lure onto the fishing lines carabiner, which wasn't really designed for rods, but I felt it was heavy enough to sink further down. I began to let all the line out at the A-beam port of the vessel. Standing there for what seemed like in eternity, I began to give up on actually letting it all out.

At this point it was a little pass. 2 a.m., my day's work was starting to become more apparent on me. I started reeling in quite quickly as I lost interest in this whole idea. I just wanted to sleep at this point. When suddenly my rod got hooked on immense dead weight. Extremely dead weight. It wasn't like a fish. I knew what those felt like.

I instantly realized that I'd gotten snagged on a kelp patch on my way up. I just wanted to get this done and over with. As I got the kelp patch closer to the boat, I peered over the railing and I noticed the water was absurdly black, even for dimly lit night conditions. Almost Vanta black. I talked to my rod trying to assess where the kelp was when I saw a T-sasser-sized silver circular light flash in the water.

I honestly went light-headed not knowing what I was looking at. I started hearing something reminiscent to hot tub jets spewing out water, except much, much louder. The louder it got, the blacker the water became. At this point, I'm just confused until I see an arm roll up the side of the boat. As the water cleared from the inky blackness, I saw an eight-foot-long cigar-shaped creature. It was a squid. Out of everything I've caught in these waters, this was by far the most unethers. unexpected, as squid don't tend to make their way this far up north.

But I do remember hearing about an instance a few years back where they got stuck in certain ocean currents, which pulls them further up than normal. My mind instantly went to, how can I get this thing on the deck? The bragging rights that I would have amongst the crew on our entire trip back would be a poetic end of my career. I began to look for a gaff hook, one arm on the rod, One arm pushing totes around on the deck frantically looking, I kept a lot of tension on the rod just to ensure that it was still there.

But I noticed that my rod was starting to bend very aggressively, nearly pulling the tip to the underside of the boat. The power of this thing felt almost like a hydraulic winch. No gaff hooks in sight. They must be stored in a storage compartment as we were going to be docked tomorrow. It was standard practice so that they wouldn't and stolen. I rushed back to the railing peeling over the side.

No squid in sight. But the immense tension was still there, and I haven't let any light out. Until I noticed the unfortunate sight. The squid had latched itself on to the bottom of the boat like a tree trunk. I put both of my feet on the railing nearly pulling my back to the floor. I felt a huge release, almost like a giant Velcro. stroh strap being pulled apart. I nearly fell on my back end.

I lunged towards the railing again, trying to shorten the line even more to inch this thing out from underneath. But my skinny teenager arms buckled almost instantly, as I could see this thing rolling its whole body and arms back to the bottom of the boat. My anchoring foot slipped on a coil of loose rope on the ground, nearly throwing me off the deck. my gut hit the railing, face to the water, its huge head with its silver saucer eye peered out for a moment. They were darting around aggressively, almost like it was analyzing me. I neutralized myself to put my feet on better grounding. I begin to accept that the risk here might be higher than the reward. Accepting my strength and its immense power, I began to contemplate cutting the line.

I noticed the three-pronged hook was attached to the base of its tentacle. In an optimistic attempt, I pulled the rod tightly. The tip starts to bounce and flick. The squid began to contort and twist its whole body, pulling its tentacles close to itself, wrapping one tentacle around its hooked leg. Knowing it has compromised its grip on the bottom of the boat, I pulled once again until, suddenly, the rod snaps straight. There's a cleanly cut, amputated squid arm on my hook.

This thing performed surgery on itself. The whole length of the squid slowly pulls forward out from under the boat, and I swear it stares at me for a moment. With one graceful contraction of its arms and a jet stream of ink, it then disappears into the depths. I stood there for a moment waiting for my heart rate to hit baseline. I placed the rod on the deck with a squid tentacles still attached and just stared at it. I pick up my teacup from the ground, and I walk into the galley.

I throw the remainder of that day's cold coffee into my cup, head my way to the captain's stateroom, and knocked on the door. No reply. I opened it a crack and said that I'm ready for my wheels shift. The captain, in a drunken mutter, asks, have you rested? I reply, it's time to head back. I haven't worked on the ocean since.

Back when I was in college, I used to do the thing that most early 20-somethings like to do. Party. Like, a lot. Pretty much every weekend or week off from class. I was always at a party somewhere in the nearby town. Yes, it was a very dumb way to live, but I was all about having a good time.

and trying to get the most out of life that I could. I've definitely gotten past this part of my life, and the story is actually part of the reason that I stopped partying, mostly because it kind of messed me up mentally. This party that I was going to was pretty much like every other party I've ever gone to. Too many people, people planning on drinking too much and crashing on the host's floor. Probably some illegal activities occurring that I won't many. because I'm not going to incriminate anyone.

I actually knew the host, but I wasn't really friends with him. I guess that I would say that we were sort of acquaintances. When I say host, though, it's probably important to note that I just mean the person that rents or owns the house that we are going to have the party in. Because there were always a group of us crazy kids that would supply the party with all it needed. We just needed someone to give us four-werectuary. walls, some furniture, and a stereo. When I got to the house on the night of the party, it looked like it was going to be one hell

of a time. A bunch of my friends were already there, the music was decent, and I was ready to let loose and have a good time. I walked in, and just inside the door, I immediately ran into the host. We're going to call him Robin for the story, and I went in for a handshake to thank him for letting us use his house, and to tell him how awesome he was. I started off with a, Hey, bro, how's it going?

Just trying to keep it informal, and he literally just stood there staring at me with a blank stare. After a few moments of me reaching my hand out and him just staring at me like there was something on my face, several moments that were incredibly awkward, I may add. I just sort of readjusted and then asked if he was okay. He kept that same dead stare and just shook his head slightly, saying, no, Cody, I'm not okay. Then he turned to walk away from me without as much as a second stare.

I was pretty obviously confused. This was an incredibly strange interaction that I definitely did not anticipate from Robin. The few times we met, he always seemed pretty chill. and I thought we were decent with each other to the point that he would accept my conversation, but here we were. I shrugged it off and just went back to the table to get something to eat and to get myself a second drink. I figured maybe he was just in a bad mood or something, and I wasn't wanting to let it ruin my night.

After a while, I was just having a good time at the party, chatting it up with people that I knew. I actually asked a few others if they had to be. spoken to Robin or seen him that night. Everyone else mentioned that he gave them that same cold shoulder. But they said that they just assumed he was having second thoughts about hosting the party. I agreed that that was probably the case. But the other side of that is that he could have just not agreed to have been the host.

In the end, I assumed that this was just going to be one of those parties where the host complained a lot after, and no one was allowed to crash on the floor. We'd had a few Killjoy hosts before, and it was fine. It was his house, after all, but it was still kind of a pain. Well, I thought that this was the case, until what happened actually happened. This was about two hours into the whole party. Everyone was sufficiently loosened up, probably a bit too loosened up, to be honest. We were all doing what we did

when we heard what sounded like somebody screaming from a closed room off the hallway. It was incoherent at first, but after a few minutes of it, I walked over to hit the pause button on the stereo to pause the music and see what the hell was going on. As soon as I paused the music,

the door swung open, and out came Robin. He looked seriously mad. Like, He had an absolute scowl on his face, looking like he was about to beat the hell out of somebody. We all kind of backed off from him as he walked out of the hallways and into the main area, mostly because I think that none of us wanted to be the person he took his anger out on. He then stopped in the center of the living room, all of us surrounding him, and staring at him, of course,

and then he asked, Who the hell turned the music off? The whole crowd kind of looked around, but, slowly fell off to the sides, pushing me towards the middle, basically singling me out. I just kind of shyly said, oh, I did. We heard you yelling and we were wanting to make sure you were okay, man. I finished this sentence, and as soon as the last words came out of my mouth, I saw Robin lift his hand toward me, and I was met with the business end of a handgun. I could feel my heart speeding up.

The people in the room started screaming. and trying to push back, but no one really did anything to help the situation. Not that I would expect anyone to jump in front of a gun for me. I slightly lifted my hands and I tried to tell him that I was sorry about turning the music off, that I didn't want any trouble, and that if he wanted, I would just leave the party and not come back. I was basically just trying to plead for my life at that point, because this guy that I didn't really know very well was about to shoot me. After several more seconds of silence and me feeling like I was about to puke,

he shifted his arm and he put the gun up to his own head. Then he just gave us this really messed up smile and creepy laugh. It was almost cartoonish how creepy it was, like something the Joker would do. The whole room just sat still and watched, watched as this guy laughed and pulled the trigger. And I think there was a huge collective sigh of relief when nothing happened. He pulled that trigger with the gun against his own head,

and as soon as it was clear that the gun was not loaded, he started laughing like an absolute psycho. Obviously, this was a huge party killer. We were all speechless and freaking out, and I was trying to figure out how the situation was supposed to be funny. Obviously, he thought it was the most hilarious thing to ever happen. And honestly, I think the whole room was ready to beat the hell out of this guy. While he was just howling about how he got all of us and how we really thought he was going to do it.

Yeah, dude, you had a gun. And rule one when it comes to firearms is to assume it is always loaded, and that the person holding it intends to use it. Not to mention, you were acting weird and angry the whole night, and everyone in the room was a bit tipsy when you decided to put it to your head and pull the trigger. Without even saying a word, everyone pretty much just started filing out of the house, myself and my friend group included. We were just done with that party.

The whole time, while we were exiting, he was just laughing and asking why we were all leaving, calling us lame, saying that we needed to learn to take a joke. In my opinion, pretending to commit suicide is not a joke. Threatening somebody else with a gun, loaded or not, is not a joke. Nothing that he did was funny, and I was seriously scared for my life. Like I mentioned, this was actually one of the last parties that I went to. Most of us pulled away from the party scene and just started doing hangout nights where a few of us would meet up and do whatever.

But there weren't any more big parties for that year. So I guess I should just say thanks to Robin for getting me away from the party scene because he definitely did that. I hope that he and I never meet again because I will probably kick his ass if we do. And yes, I am still very much holding. holding on to this grudge. This happened about eight years ago, and I still think about it on the occasion and wonder,

what the hell happened. The summer between my freshman and sophomore years of high school, there was this boy that I liked. Being teenagers, we would sneak out in the middle of the night to this park that was really close to our houses. One night, about two in the morning, we were sitting on a picnic table on one end of the park, like we normally would, and we did this for months, and it was like any other night.

This park is surrounded three quarters of the way by canyons, and the park has a playground, soccer fields, and a baseball field. We were just hanging out when we saw two people, a man, probably in his 30s, a little heavy set, wearing a red baseball cap and a white t-shirt, and a woman who was a bit younger than him. The boy I was with and I watched the two of them walk across the baseball field and into the canyon. We didn't think anything of it. Maybe they were just going to have relations in the canyon. I don't know, some people did that.

Maybe five minutes later we started to hear screaming. I was not going crazy because it startled the boy that I was with, too. It was nothing like I have ever heard. The screaming was ear-piercing and absolutely. horrifying. After about 20 seconds, everything fell silent. We didn't hear anything, but a little while later, maybe a few minutes, the man came walking back out of the canyon, but without the girl. He started walking towards where we were sitting and we just dipped. We got the hell out of there. We grabbed all of our stuff and ran home. I don't know if he saw us, but we were not

sticking around to find out. It was quite dark, so it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't notice anyone was there until he saw two teenagers taking off to the playground. For the next two to three months, I looked all over the internet and would go look around the canyon for anything to explain what happened. I never found anything, online or in the canyon. I still have no idea what happened that night. This was probably one of the scariest and creepiest things.

things that has ever happened to me. I would also like to say that I was about 14 or 15 when this happened, and was a selfish teenager preoccupied with themselves. So, no, I didn't call the police. I should have. I think back on it and beat myself up for not saying anything, but at the time I was only concerned about getting in trouble for sneaking out with the boy. If this had happened today, I would for sure call it.

the police. Just a heads up, this story does contain some mentions of sexual assault, and yeah, just wanted to add a warning on this one because of that, so if that's not your thing, consider going to the next story. So, a few days back, I went into a mall a bit far from my house, and things were really good that day, but then while I was in the KFC branch in there, someone on Grindr with a blank profile messaged me while waiting for my food at the table. I shrugged it off, and he didn't send me any pictures,

just messages saying hi and asked if he could give me the best oral that I would ever have. Seeing as how I was in a public place and absolutely was not in the mood for that, I didn't reply, and then I proceeded to eat my meal. After eating, I then left the mall while bringing the items I bought from there and waited for a ride to get home. It was dark, around 8 p.m. So I had to be vigilant on my surroundings. While looking out on the road, the same guy messaged me and asked me where I was currently.

I saw that his distance from me was only 70 meters away, about 230 feet, from where I was standing. That was getting a bit worse, so I closed the app immediately and proceeded to continue ignoring him. Around five minutes later, a guy was standing beside me trying to act, suspicious, even though my gut feelings were telling me something was wrong with him. He looked like he was around his late 30s. I'm 18, by the way, and he was a bit bigger than me in both height and weight. I started getting goosebumps while standing beside him, and it only got worse when he tapped on my shoulder and asked if he could perform on me.

I froze, having no idea what to do while being extremely anxious, but then I suddenly punched him in the face when he started grabbing at me and tried to unbutton my pants. I then pushed him off of me hard enough that he laid down on the ground, and I tried running away as far as I could. I then saw him chasing me afterwards. Luckily, a taxi drove nearby and I rushed into it as fast as I could. I know that that guy was him, the guy that had been spamming me messages on Grindr, because his Grindr profile told me that he was only one meter away from me. I blocked the profile and I logged out of the app. Then what I realized was that I wasn't logged out at the time.

Therefore, my location was exposed still and my profile picture in the app was my face, which wasn't covered, meaning it was easy for me to get identified there. Also, the location of the mall was pretty crappy, and there isn't a lot of lights around it, and it's surrounded by pretty low-looking houses and roads. worse, there wasn't many people where I stood at the time and it was also dark, meaning I wasn't able to properly identify the man to report him to the local authorities. This story takes place several years ago,

but the memory is so heavy that I can see it and revisit it as if it happened last night. The whole event had a profound effect on me, and I'm hoping that by sharing my story, I can help others get an outsider's perspective of the paranormal. Prior to this all happening, I was honestly quite the skeptic when it came to the paranormal. I wasn't the type to say that I didn't believe people, just the type to say, I believe you, but there's no way to prove what happened to you actually happened. I guess I was sort of agnostic when it came to the paranormal. if that makes sense.

The experience occurred during the summer when I was house-sitting for a family friend. They had a beautiful old colonial-style house on the outskirts of a rural town, surrounded by dense woods. It was probably the most beautiful house that I have ever seen, and I absolutely adored everything about it. The house had been in their family for a few generations, And while it was well-maintained, it still had that unmistakable air of antiquity. Creaking floorboards, musty smells, creepy little shadows in the corners of the room, all of it. The woman that owned the house was actually childhood friends with my grandmother, and her kids knew my parents and so forth and so on.

And that's why when it was mentioned at a get-together that they needed someone to watch the house for a bit, I immediately jumped at it. I had spent some time there as a little girl, so I knew the area too, and I was nothing shy of excited to stay in the house. The first two days and nights were completely uneventable. They had asked me to do some cleaning for them, which I had no issue with,

and since no one was there, it wasn't like the chore list was extensive. I was just enjoying the days to myself, and I was curling up with my Kindle in their little study room enjoying the feeling of this beautiful house. Now, the third night, that was when things got creepy. The day was fine. I had actually gone to the store to get some food for myself that day and had spent some time actually having a lovely little picnic in the woods.

It was that evening that the feeling changed. The first thing I felt was this deep, sense of unease. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I felt an inexplicable sense of dread, as if I was being watched by something. I tried to shake off the feeling and distract myself with a movie, but the whole time I was watching it, I just kept feeling like something was going to sneak up on me and grab me. I thought that maybe I was just feeling a bit homesick.

It kind of made sense. I was feeling off because I was missing my own bed. I figured I would force myself into getting comfortable and would just stay up late watching my cue on Netflix until I passed out. I did just that, too. I watched like three movies, and at some point late into the night, I ended up completely passing out on the couch.

At some point, around two or so in the morning, I jumped up, like I was having one of those falling dreams and I shot awake. After catching my breath, I laughed and closed my eyes again, but I was struggling to fall back asleep. I kept hearing what sounded like a light tapping sound, like someone was tapping on the wall or a door or something. For a while, I was adamant that I was going to just ignore it and go back to sleep, telling myself that it was an old house, So it was just something to do with that. But then, that light tapping turned into a really loud bang. That bang made me jump up again and look around, trying to see if someone was breaking in or something.

I got up, glanced at the doors and out the windows, and as one would expect it to something in the morning, there was nobody there. I went back to the couch, but before I could sit down, I heard that same bang again. And it was definitely coming from the back of the house, near where the bedrooms were. I walked down the hallway towards the guest bedroom, and the whole time, I could feel that static feeling you get on your arms when you're starting to freak out. I got back to the guest bed, and I pushed the door open to see what it was. was that was making the noise, and that's when I pretty much lost any semblance of calm. The room was super dark, but I could see a figure standing in the room and staring out the window. It looked to be an older woman, in a long nightgown. Her face was gaunt and her skin looked pale,

almost blue. I stood there freaking out inside, staring at what was clearly some kind of apparition just watching the side yard from the window. I was thinking that I needed to scream or run or something. Then she turned to look at me, and her eyes were seriously hollow. There was nothing but darkness there, but I could tell that she was staring at me. I got hit with this horrible feeling of despair and sadness,

until she reached out towards me and then it was fear again, I admit that I screamed. I wasn't really screaming at her, just the situation, and I pulled the door shut and took off down the hallway. I kept running until I got outside. I ended up saying screw it and camping out in my car that night, mostly because I couldn't bring myself to go back inside. When the sun came up, I figured I should stop being so pathetic and went back into it. the house. It took me a bit, but I did muster up the courage to go to the guest room and see if, for some reason, she was still there. She wasn't, of course, but I did figure out what that

banging sound was. Both curtain rods that were on the windows had been pulled off the holders and thrown to the ground. I didn't realize it's the night before when I saw her looking out the window, but it makes sense. I actually called the owner to tell her about the story, because she's the type that I knew would love it. And she laughed when I finished my retelling. She said that she knew who it was, that it was her great-grandmother,

and that the current guest room was once her bedroom. She mentioned that, in her words, her spirit sometimes gets antsy in the summer and wants to get outside into the garden, and she basically throws a fit. When I mentioned the curtains, she said that she had recently replaced them, and that her great-grandmother must not have liked them.

She asked me to just put them off to the side, and that as long as her grandma could see out the window, she probably wouldn't be too much of a problem. I really wish that she would have mentioned that the house was haunted, and that she knew, it. It would have been really helpful for me, though I probably still would have freaked out. I did what she asked. I moved the curtains off to the side, and I made sure to tell her spirit that she apologized for blocking the view. And sure enough, nothing else happened. I didn't feel

uncomfortable again in that house for a single minute after that. Since that night, I have never been able to shake the memory of that ghostly woman and that profound sadness that seemed to emanate from her. She lived in a very different time, and it seems really sad that she's stuck in her home like that, but I guess so long as she can see the garden, she's okay with it. To those that hear this and maybe skeptical of the paranormal, I understand. I was like that too, unsure of the idea of ghosts and haunted houses. But my experience in that old house has forever put me on the side of being a believer, and I see that there are indeed things that exist beyond our understanding.

I hope that by sharing my story, I can help others who have experienced similar encounters to feel less alone, and, perhaps, encourage those who are curious to approach the unknown with both caution and respect. After all, sometimes the scariest things are the ones that we can't see or understand. And the mysteries that lurk in the shadows may be far more real than we ever imagined. This was a few years ago in my old house, around Halloween. One day, I, 43, male, was home alone in the house. I have a wife, three kids, and a dog.

I'm in my basement cutting wood and working, when all the sudden I hear thumping on the ceiling above me, first-level floor. It's rhythmic and almost perfectly in beat. I'm a handyman, and I do a lot of my own fixing, and I know the usual sound that houses make. This was not usual. I start to follow the thumping around on the first floor.

It's as if someone or something is walking around. I call out my wife's name. No answer. My kids. No answer. Just soft moaning. That's getting louder with the thumps. My dog is with me in the basement,

and following the sound with me with his tail straight up, completely silent. This was weird because I have a loud and jumpy dog. I then slowly follow the thumping to the steps, and I hear a weak old woman's voice calling for Jimmy. Not my name, but my name does start with the J, over and over. Ignoring my helloes, she keeps walking around my first floor, calling out, moaning, and thumping. I grab my dog by the collar and leave out the basement door and walk around the outside of my house.

It is worth noting that I've had a lot of weird supernatural things happen in my life, especially around Halloween, but I could feel that this was different. Very different. I go up to the street and there's a younger couple calling out for someone, let's say Nancy, for the sake of this. I go up to them and say, are you, Jimmy? The young guy looks at me,

and simultaneous relief and confusion cross his face. He tells me that's his dad's name, but that he passed years ago. Turns out, Nancy was his mom with some kind of mental issue. She'd snuck out of their house and up the road. Her family lived in my house before we did. Didn't know that. And she was having some kind of episode.

And she went looking for her husband in her home. Oh, and also, she has a wooden leg. I don't know the story, but that's what the thumping was. We got her home safely, and I also d'all. I'd double-locked my doors from that point on. For the weekend, I wanted to visit my boyfriend. He lives two hours away, and I always go by train. I'm not easily spooked, but I always keep an eye out.

A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do, am I right? One hour into the trip. It was around 20,100 hours, and I see two men getting into the same train compartment as me. I was sitting in a two-seat, the seat next to me was empty, and in front of me was a seat for four people, so two pairs of seats facing each other. The men came in being very loud, even though it was a silent compartment, but nobody said anything because they already seemed very suspicious. From the moment they stepped in to the train, probably before they got in, they had their eyes fixated on me. They stepped in through the doors and sat in the seat in front of mine, the foreseat, and from then on they kept an eye on me, while discussing things with each other in a language that I did not understand. Like every other girl, I get stared at frequently, especially when I wear my hair down.

It normally makes me feel a bit awkward, but I never feel unsafe when this happens, until yesterday. But they were staring at me in every way possible. Through the chairs, standing up, sitting down, bending over to get a good look, through the reflection of the mirror, and by getting up and walking past me. They were taking turns and walking over to the other compartment of the train. The other compartment was only separated from mine with a glass door. Every time one of them got up, they both started staring at me. Then one of them went away and the other one had clear vision of me and kept staring at me. He poked his head through the middle of the seats and offered me chocolate, which I politely refused.

Then the other one came back and five minutes later the man who did not go away yet went away in the same way. They kept taking turns and walking away, and every time one of them got up, the one who remained seated kept an eye on the other, and on me. Each time they were sitting across from each other, they would discuss things, but I couldn't translate it. They kept looking at me and then started discussing again. When I had 20 minutes of my trip left, a lot of people got out at one stop.

So it was just me, them, and one other male at that point. The moment the doors were about to close, one of the creepy men started walking through the doors to check to see if there were people coming in, and maybe to check to see if there was security. I don't know why he did it. But when he came back, he scanned the train to see how many people were still on, I think. From that moment on, they both got in seats facing me. They would not stop staring at this point.

As you can imagine, I panicked and was stressing the F out. So I slowly turned around to look behind the glass doors to see if there were more people that could maybe help me. And, to my luck, there were more people there. So I slowly and very softly put on my jacket. We still had more than ten minutes left then. And I kid you not, not even two minutes later, one of the men starts getting dressed too. He took his purse and his jacket and kept looking. looking at me and fixating on me while still discussing something with the other man.

This was where I really panicked. I had already let my friend know what was going on, and my boyfriend was already at the train stop where I was supposed to get out. Then I contemplated what the smartest thing to do was, because there is an emergency number on the train that you can call or text if you feel unsafe. but I had a gut feeling that this would not help me. So, I grabbed my bags, got up, and I walked through the glass door to the other compartment. I sat facing them so that I could see what they were doing.

They both got up, grabbed their bags, and started walking towards me. Mind you, they were sitting closest to the exit, so there was absolutely no reason for them to take this route, too. I rapidly started to talk to someone in the seat next from mine, and I asked if he could help me, because I was getting followed and watched by two grown men. He said that he also thought that they were very suspicious and was getting worried for me. He asked me to sit next to him, so he could keep me a little safer and possibly distract the men or something. Then he distracted me a little bit and asked me some questions about my life. When the two creeps saw that I was seated next to that man,

they were already coming my way and were making their way through the doors of the compartment. They are glass doors, so we could see each other very clearly. I hadn't shown my fear, but I was shaking so uncontrollably that they must have seen how scared I was. The moment they got through that door, they saw me sitting next to the other man, and the creeps exchanged looks, looked at me, discussed something, looked at me again, and then turned around and went the other way.

They were walking to the exit of the train, where, again, there's a glass door, so we could still see each other. The whole time they were standing around the exits, they were looking at me with a very creepy and disturbed look on their faces. I describe it as, You got away, but you won't be so lucky next time.

That's how it felt. The man that I was sitting next to also got the feeling of this and was calming me down. He told me he wasn't going to let me get off the train by myself, and that he would wait with me until my boyfriend arrived. That was amazing, and I felt very comforted. But then our stop came, and we walked to our side of the exit, and then came to a realization. In the exit of the train,

there were two other men standing with the same kind of looks as the two creeps. They were speaking the same language, and they acted weird too. These men were probably the men who the two creeps were visiting every few minutes. The men at the exit saw me, looked at me with that creepy look,

but then the man who was keeping me safe, made sure to show them that he was walking with him, me, and immediately they looked away. They also covered their faces with their hoods. The doors opened, and they nearly sprinted out of there, just as the other two creeps did. Then the man who escorted me out waited with me until we found my boyfriend, and then he went on with his day. We both could not thank him enough for keeping me safe. I thought I lived in a very safe country in Europe. But I think that as long as you're a young woman on your own, you will never be 100% safe while traveling or being alone. I hate thinking of what would have happened if I was not

helped by the man in the other compartment. I wish I could have thanked him with gifts or a nice gesture, but I don't know his name and will probably never see him again. So to the man who saved me, I thank you with all my heart. Okay, this was a really long story, but in real time this only lasted around an hour. I hope that some people read this and really hope we all stay safe. Just be on the lookout for each other and help someone when you can. And thanks for reading. So yesterday my mom told me a story about something that had happened to her at work. My mom has always been a huge skeptic, as I have been myself, but this has properly freaked us both out as we can't explain it. I'm curious what others think.

My mom works at a pharmacy as a dispenser. She has a colleague that she talks to every day, who is also a skeptic but has interest in the paranormal. She told my mom's story about how she went to visit a graveyard to visit a loved one with one of her friends. They were the only ones in the graveyard, but they heard a female humming. They assumed it was someone crouching behind a grave, tending to it, and they had a look around. They eventually came to a grave where the sound appeared to be coming from, but nobody was there. They checked their phones and any other devices, nothing. A little freaked out, they went to the pub nearby and had some food.

As they were chatting, they both went silent. at the same time and froze as they could hear the humming again. They carried on eating and eventually parted to go home. Later that night, my mom's colleague got a call from her friend who was hysterical. She cried on the phone and said that she had heard the humming in her house. Mom's colleague calmed her down and reassured her that it was nothing and that she was probably just hearing things. After putting the phone down, she went upstairs to bed as it was late.

She heard the humming in her bedroom. My mom, upon being told this, wasn't that amazed, as she just brushed it off as a story, being the skeptic that she is. She left the room and walked down the long hallway leading to the top of the stairs. She said she heard a female humming right behind her, different notes, but only lasting two to three seconds. She turned around to laugh at her colleague thinking she was taking the Mick, but nobody was there.

Her colleague was still in the room on the other end of the hallway, far too far away to be heard, and nobody else was on that floor with them. There's no PA system or any kind of speakers, and she didn't have her phone or anything on her. I've never seen my mom so freaked out before, as she's a very straight-laced person and always tries to debunk anything paranormal.

I can't think of anything either, so what do you guys think? This happened back when I was 13. Since I was involved, but I wasn't the prime target here, I'm going to be using fake names for everyone's privacy. I did get permission to share this, though, as I feel like it's very important for people to hear. I had been invited to a friend's 14th birthday party.

I'll call him Sam. We actually used to live on the same block until the year prior when his family had moved. He was still within the same school district, though, so we never lost any time. Along with me, there were probably about a dozen kids there, boys and girls, and most of them I knew and were also friends with. The party went as planned. Everyone showed up, we played for a while in the backyard because it was huge. They had one of those play sets, a tire swing, and some other things.

Then we sank to Sam, had some kids. cake and ice cream and opened his presence. After a few party games, we again were left to our own devices for a few hours. Everything was going great. Sam enjoyed his presence. I got him a special Yu-Gi-O deck pack that came with a collector's box. He got a special foil card in it that a lot of us were pretty excited about, so that made me pretty happy all by itself.

At this point, the party was dying down and some kids were being picked up. up. At the end, there were probably about six of us left, all boys, and two of them actually lived nearby, so they were going to be there until their parents called them home. The other three of us, Jack, Kyle, and I were going to be spending the night at Sam's. After it started getting dark, the six of us went inside and started dueling at the kitchen table. We were getting a bit loud and rowdy, I'm sure, so Sam's parents told us we needed to quiet down. But we were young boys and were hyped up on sugar and some heated duels, so we had the genius idea to go back outside and play hide-and-seek.

After a bit of begging, Sam's parents finally relented and let us go. They told us that we could go outside and play for an hour, but that we would have to check back in at that point. We ran out back as we shouted our, okays and buys, ready to go play hide-and-seek. It was still the six of us at this point. The two neighbor boys, Charlie and Brent, wanted to play before they went home, and we had no problems with that.

The more the merrier when it comes to hide-and-seek, I say. The first couple of rounds went fine, and then it was my turn to be it. I counted down, and then I started looking for everyone. Charlie wouldn't stop giggling, so I found him pretty quickly. Then I found Kyle. The way we play, though, if you could get back to the base, or where the person counted down, you win or were considered safe. So I caught Sam going back to the base, and soon after that, Brett.

I still had to find Jack. The others were standing around doing whatever while I continued looking, but I was starting to become stumped. Other than the play set that I mentioned before, their yard had a son. small playhouse, a few things that belonged to Sam's dad that lined the outside of the shed, and was covered with the tarp, and then of course the shed itself. The shed had a lock on it, and we knew that it was off limits anyways, so I knew that he wasn't in there. The only place that I hadn't looked was in the small patch of trees behind his house. It separated their yard from the house behind them.

We didn't really say it was off limits, but between the other sessions and no one, hiding there, I guess we all assumed that we wouldn't. I honestly didn't have any other ideas, so I went back to the others and told them that I needed help. They all agreed, and we spread out looking over the yard again,

not teasing me saying that I gave up. When he still didn't make an appearance, we all agreed that we should search those trees then. It was darker back there, as the light on the porch and shed didn't reach that far. I think we all

all were trying to be brave, but I know that I was a little creeped out. To make it even worse, we still were not finding Jack. We started to address it amongst ourselves that we were concerned, but we didn't know what to do. Should we go tell his parents? Should we just continue looking? Could he have been playing some elaborate prank on us? Right as we were about to walk back to the house to tell his parents, we heard what sounded like someone whimpering or, crying. This scared us even more, but we became worried that Jack was out here. Maybe he was hurt. We started looking closer, trying to make the light work as best as we could, until I tripped over what I thought was a rock or a tree root. Until I heard the whimpering clearer. I looked over toward the tree that I had just walked by, and when my eyes had finally adjusted, I could make out a person.

It was Jack. but this was not the way that we had last seen him. He had something on his head, and I realized that it sounded funny because he was actually muffled. Then as I tried to help him up, he seemed to be stuck. I again used my hand to trace down his neck, shoulders, and torso, and I felt some kind of rope. By this time, I had yelled to the others that I found him so they came running over. I told them to help with the rope, and thankfully it seemed to be used to be used. a pretty simple knot that we were able to undo.

We pulled off the thing that was on his head, as well as the tape on his mouth, and the first thing he shouted was, run, and we all ran behind him towards the house. I could tell in his voice that he was terrified. I was terrified, too, because I didn't know why we had found him like that. He immediately ran to the living room where Sam's parents were, crying, visibly shaken, trying to explain to them what happened. I just remember him saying, somebody grabbed me,

they tied me up and put something over my head, and that he wanted to go home. Sam's parents thought that one of us did it, and it took a few minutes before we finally convinced him. His dad then took us to the kitchen, made us a bowl of ice cream and hopes to calm us down, and his mom went to the living room and was talking on the phone. Shortly after, Jack's parents,

parents showed up and a few cops, so we had to go through everything again. I remembered this because all the rest of our parents showed up too, and I was becoming irritated. The cops questioned us all when our parents arrived, and kept making comments about how it was important for us to tell the truth, and it was okay if us boys were just playing a prank. Honestly, we should not have had to convince them so hard that it was none of us that did it. Even Jake said he was certain it was not us. But while they were talking to us, they had other officers out in the trees taking a look. We weren't really told by our parents what all they found until we were older.

And I can understand why. Jake remembered having something pulled over his head and said that someone covered his mouth telling him not to scream. Then they taped his mouth shut, tied him to the tree, and told him to count to 100. He counted to himself as he heard the footsteps fade slowly. He could hear faint laughing and talking from the rest of us, but we weren't close to the trees by that point. Then, about the time that I went toward the trees alone, he could tell that it was one of us, but since he hadn't reached 100 yet, he was scared to call out.

but when he started hearing all of us, that's when he decided to try calling out for help, the best that he could. With how terrified he seemed, I have no reason to not believe him or the rest of our friends. So many years later, I was a teenager at this time, the situation came up and they explained a bit more to me. They said that the cops were searching the woods

and found something like a burlap sack. That's what was most likely over. over Jake's head. They also found the rope and the tape. The most eerie part of this, however, was the note that was pinned to the sack. It simply said, found you. That's what convinced the police that it probably wasn't our doing after all. I mean, that had to be intentional, right? Leaving a prepared note like that? I know that Jake doesn't really like to talk about it unless he's in a particularly good mood, but I can't imagine what he had to go through.

Who knows what this guy's intentions actually were? He must have been watching us, at least, because that note was relevant to our game. But was that his whole thing, just to scare us? As far as I'm aware, and from what I've heard from Jake and Sam, they never found who did it. They questioned the people on the other side of the trees, but it was just an older couple living there,

and the guy had to walk with a cane, so I doubt it was him. What I do know is, for those of us who still talk and hang out, we will never forget the fear that we felt that night, and that lingering dread that that guy still may be watching us somewhere. Hello, everyone. I, Mail 22, am going to a college in Ohio.

I live in a fraternity house that used to belong to the town. The school buys out properties and houses students in them. My house has been displaying some interesting encounters. Last year, around February or March, one of my housemates and I were talking in the hallway outside the bathroom. We were there for at least 30 minutes. The bathroom was empty, no one went in or out, And then, the shower suddenly turned itself on.

For context, the shower handle is one that points to the ground, went off, and rotates counterclockwise to turn it on. We looked at each other, and we went to check it out. The handle was turned 90 degrees counterclockwise. I turned it off, and we resumed our conversation. Last semester, around September, I was at e-sport. practice. One of my friends had sent me a Snapchat of my room from the outside asking what I was doing. When I opened the photo, there was a figure standing in my room. This was more concerning

considering my room is a single, and I am the only one with a key, outside of the skeleton keys kept by campus security. At this point, we had assumed it was the spirit of the old man who conveniently enough passed away in the room that I'm in. At the end of last semester, around early December, my girlfriend, female, 20, and I were sitting on my bed talking. We heard a voice outside of my door. Both of our heads snapped in the direction, as it was either a young or female voice.

The rest of the house is male. When we asked the others about it who were all downstairs, no one was outside my door, they all swear that they didn't hear anything or do anything. A few weeks ago, I, my girlfriend, one of my frat brothers and his girlfriend were in the living room playing Mario Kart when there was a sudden, loud bang.

We all went to check it out. The shower curtain rod had fallen from its fastened spot. Two years living there, and it had never fallen before. Finally, last night was one of the weirdest. I heard the same voice from last December, and it was trying to speak to me inside my own head. There was what seemed to be radio interference, best I can describe it, as it kept cutting out. It began to imitate sounds outside.

I would hear a car drive by, and then a few moments later hear a distorted version of it in my head. after this went on for a while it screamed at me effing listen censored of course I hadn't planned on discussing this hoping it was just a dream until my girlfriend told me that she heard a growl

this morning and asked if I had experienced anything our conclusion as of now is that there are two spirits in this house the old man who's peaceful and then whatever the other thing is. Any assistance on identifying it or general advice would be welcome. Thank you in advance to

everyone's help. Updating information as of February 22nd, 2023. My fraternity brother, male, 20, his girlfriend, female, 19. My girlfriend and I took turns going under with the Estes method. We got some partial information when the other three were under, but the spirit, the spirit. seemed to be extremely happy to speak to me, as it yielded the most results. This is going to sound weird, and I'm still having trouble processing it all, but it seems that the spirit wants me. I'm not exactly sure what it means by that, but it definitely does not sound good. For example, when asked what do you want, the spirit would respond, him, whilst I was under. My girlfriend has a somewhat

special connection to energy. I don't know the official term, but she's an empath, and it feels that she can control how the energy flows through her. I don't know if I'm even describing that correctly. She's been using her energy to protect me, and the spirit knows it. It repeatedly was telling her to leave the room, leave the house, not come back. We tested having her leave the room and the aggressiveness increased, resulting in my quitting, when I heard a voice scream,

He will be mine. Chilled to the bone, I removed the headphones and blindfold, and I called the session to a stop. Since doing the Estes method about a week ago, most of the activity has died off, with the exception of things occasionally falling off their sound resting places, the TV randomly turning on, off, or pausing,

and I'm having a hard time staying asleep. A few days ago, my girlfriend and I both tested positive for COVID. Although I doubt it's connected to the spirit, it definitely has not helped settle any nerves. And we are now quarantined to my room. Hopefully this added info helps anyone who might have an idea of what's going on or the previous commenters with additional thoughts of what to try next. Thank you to everyone who has prayed, thought of, or, tried this far to help, and to anyone in the future who does the same.

Updated info, as of March 12th. Note, this was written right after the incident into my notes on my phone, so I could document the encounter and check for grammar later. I thought I had heard my girlfriend talking to me. She told me that she was missing me. She told me that she loved me. She told me that she is with me. Then I thought she told me to open my eyes, so I did.

I was met with the face of our Squishmelo, Willie the Dragon. I began shaking violently, my heart racing and hearing a pounding in my head. I was completely terrified. I was unable to speak, trying to rouse her. I was trying to tap her with my foot but to no avail. All the sudden, it stopped, and I was. now typing this. I've never felt that way before. I've never had this occurrence before, and I'm extremely freaked out. I don't think that I'm sleeping for the rest of the night.

Thoughts after reflection of the event. I don't know if it was the beginning phases of possession, a panic attack, sleep paralysis, or a combination of a few of them. I've had an anxiety attack before, but this was a completely different feeling and experience. I've done some research online, but have not found anything useful yet. If anyone else stumbles upon this and has any idea of what may have happened, please tell me. I'm still freaked out. And March 17th, 20203. This morning, my girlfriend wanted to talk to me about something that happened last night.

I have no recollection of this conversation. At around 2.45 a.m., I opened my eyes and said, Would you please get out of my freaking bed? Pointing to the bottom corner of my bed. My girlfriend asked me who I was talking to. I responded with the stranger on the bed, gesturing back to the corner. She asked me, did you open your eyes? I responded with yes.

She then asked, and what did you say? see, but I didn't answer. I know that sleep talking is a thing, but she said that I seemed completely coherent, and we had an entire conversation. That is creepy as hell.

I'm going to try to explain this as best as I can remember. This happened when I was in high school, probably around 16, 17, and I'm now 27, so please forgive me if I can't recall every detail. At the time, I had a girlfriend.

There's a hip little neighborhood in our city called Kensington that we would always meet up at to spend time together. She lived far north in the city, and I was pretty far south. Kensington was right around the middle and a nice place to hang out. We were walking away from the train platform, almost a full block away, when a man in a suit comes running at us with a panicked look on his face. Frantically, he says, Can you help me? My wife just went into labor and I was supposed to meet my sister at Starbucks in a couple of minutes,

but I need to run to the hospital. Can you please bring her this bag? And he then holds out a plastic shopping bag. I believe it was for the makeup store Zara. My girlfriend kind of nudges my arm, obviously thinking this is a little sketchy, but I say, yeah, for sure. He tells me her name. We'll say that it's Sarah. Thanks me and runs straight for the train platform.

Starbucks is a few blocks away, and we walk as my girlfriend is saying, This is creepy. What if we're drug mules? Then I realized that the bag is strangely light. I tell her, and she suggests that we look inside. I'm conflicted by this, but concede that it is reasonable, seeing as how odd this whole situation was. When we look in the bag, all that's there is a couple of crumpled up receipts and another crumpled-up bag.

We open the second bag and there's nothing inside. We're freaked out. We're considering just turning around and not going into the Starbucks, but my curiosity has gotten the best of me at this point. We walk the remaining block or two, and as I walk into the Starbucks, I call out Sarah. A woman stands up, yells very emphatically, Thank you so much. I have to go to the hospital now to be there for the birth, but I appreciate this so much.

She throws her arms around me in a huge hug and then runs out the door. And that's it. I looked up social experiments, TV shows, and every couple of years I remember in Google to see if anyone has experienced something similar. But nothing. Never have had a reasonable suggestion that makes sense to me, and it's just something that bothers me when I think about it. These weren't university-aged people. These were adults in their late 30s or 40s. 40s at least.

So, I don't think that it was a school project or anything. Any idea what this could have been for? What the purpose of the whole interaction was? I've been a subscriber for a long time, but I didn't think that I would have a story to submit. I feel as if my wife is no longer my wife. So, the woman I married was a strong and religious woman who was proud of being three years sober. She was holding her own Bible meetings and doing church activities.

We've been together for over three years and have been married since March of last year. About six months ago, she was diagnosed with PMDD, which, for those who don't know, is premenstrual dysphoric disorder. It is a nightmare. It's as if there was a two-week-long period with higher emotion. Anyway, the main way to get rid of it is to have a hysterectomy. She was off for two months of work and then had the surgery, so she was out of work for five months or so, and in that time we got closer and went through more tough times together, making us a better couple, I thought.

After the hysterectomy, she had to have emergency surgery due to a whole developing where she had the surgery and getting infected. It swole up to the size of a baseball before she had the surgery. When she got home, she was not the same wife that I had, as when I dropped her off. She started to look at everything differently. It was all of a sudden party time, and her morals and values don't matter anymore. Just a couple of hours ago, she left to go to her niece's house to drink with her. A month ago, she was trying to witness her and get her to church more. It's so weird not knowing the person you've been with for three years anymore.

I don't know if I went through a glitch in the Matrix, or if she was replaced with the body snatcher, or is possessed. I just know for certain that the woman who was with me today was not my wife. She told me that the marriage was over, which breaks my heart. I put all of my heart an effort into making our relationship work, but at the same time I'm almost relieved because I know that I'll be away from the cycle of weirdness that this lady is currently going through I just hope that the woman I was with is somewhere out there because she was truly amazing one of my

first jobs was working at a fast food place that I'll just say was famous for serving tacos for what it's worth it wasn't worst thing, but I definitely would not choose to go back. I'd had my share of ungrateful customers, unnecessary messes left behind by them, and, well, much more. But I've also had some weird customers that were memorable. We weren't often in situations where we feared for our safety, though, so I would just take a deep breath and get ready for the next day. However, there was one situation that often plays in my head when people bring up working in food. I was working the front on this day,

taking orders and occasionally picking up the lobby when it was slow. We were open 24-7, and I picked up part of someone else's shift, so I was going to be there until 2 in the morning. It was probably around 11 to midnight when a guy walked in. When you work overnight in fast food, you get used to the clientele that you see around that time. time. So it didn't really catch me off guard at first when the guy looked a bit disheveled. He was tall, average-built-looking guy with thinning hair and a scruffy beard. He was wearing a dark

hoodie and some pretty dirty sweatpants, but was keeping his hands in his pockets. When he entered, he seemed like he was surveying the lobby, so between that and him keeping his hands hidden, it did kind of put me on guard. We had never been robbed before, but we did go through training on how to handle them if one were to occur. I was hoping that I was just being way too judgmental, and I still greeted him with a smile. I asked him what I could get for him, and he just stared at the menu with his eyes glazed over. I kept looking around the area, in a worst-case scenario kind of way, to determine my escape routes or possible weapons. I backed up a bit trying to play it off like I was looking for something

when the guy finally spoke in a soft and calm voice. I'm not going to hurt you. After that, I definitely felt stupid. I felt bad for assuming the sky's intentions and tried to play it off like I was cool, though. I said with a bit of a laugh something like, Oh, what? Oh, nah, you're fine, man. I was just looking for the broom.

Just let me know if you have any questions. No rush. He didn't look down at me or move his eyes at all. He just continued to stare at the menu. I walked to the side, bringing the broom to at least back up my story. When I came back, he talked a bit more in the same solemn tone that he had before. I actually do have a question, or more so a favor. Yeah, man, sure. What's up?

Can you call the cops for me? I didn't know what to say at this point, so I just stared for a minute and he kept talking, still looking up. I'm still not going to hurt you. I just... I'm going to need a cop. I went to walk away to grab a phone and tell one of the others that worked there, when he called me back over, telling me to wait. I would like to order first, before you call. You guys make the best cassidias. Not knowing what else to do other than what he asked. I placed his order, and he pulled out a wad of cash from his pocket with a shaking hand. I actually told him not to worry about it, and he thanked me and put it back in his pocket.

He then walked over to a nearby table and sat down as he looked at the table. After his order was done, I brought it over to him, and he told me that I could go ahead and call the cops now, and then began to eat his food. I then walked to the back and called the cops. That was a confusing call, and they didn't seem to take me seriously at first either. I told them everything that I knew. I explained the guy's demeanor, what he looked like, and said that he appeared to be unarmed, but he had asked me to call the cops, and I had no idea why.

They then said that they would send a unit our way, though. At this point, I had already told the other two people working that night, what was going on, and one of them overheard part of it. We all stayed in the back trying to come up with things in our heads as to why he may have done this. When the cops did finally show up, the man stood up, threw away his trash, and before walking towards the cops, he walked back over to me, and for the first time that night, he looked me in the eyes. He then reached out, shook my hand, and thanked me. He walked over to the police and they walked him out of the building.

We all thought that that was weird, but just left it at that, as nothing else really happened. That is, until about an hour later, we had a different officer come in wanting to ask us more questions. He was asking very specifically what all the guys said and did, and if we even knew which way he came from. I didn't see him pull up or what he was driving, but there were no cars. in the parking lot that night other than our own. So he could have walked there. All I remembered was that he did not exist prior to opening the door. So I don't think we were much help.

He then left and again we heard nothing else of it. It wasn't until a few days later when there was a story on TV that caught my attention. They were making light of it and mentioned something about murder making you hungry, or something to that effect. Anyways, they had mentioned that a man turned himself in after bludgeoning his father to death, but not before he stopped for dinner. I looked up more information on it and got some more clarification, but it certainly did not make me feel any better about the situation.

It showed the mugshot of the guy, which confirmed it was the same one that came in that night. It was reported that he turned himself in after he had beaten his dad to death that evening. He said that he knew we had to turn himself in, but he hadn't eaten and wanted one last meal of his choice. And, based on the area that they listed for when this took place, this man probably walked about four miles to get to my exact store. I assumed that he walked because, again, there were no cars in our parking lot. I just thought to myself, why us? Why our store? but I guess he did say that he did enjoy the food at our location, and it would have been the closest one to him. The thought that I was talking to a man and gave him a free meal just hours after he had killed someone,

it terrified me, and it made me feel pretty awful. Well, to be honest, it gave me mixed feelings. I was terrified, and my first thought was that my reaction that night was warranted. This guy could have easily. hurt me too, but he didn't. But when I gave him the free meal and when he shook my hand, he seemed genuinely thankful. By the look in his eyes, I thought he had just had one hell of a day, or maybe even life, and appreciated the generosity shown.

I'm still not 100% sure on the details. I've looked around at different news articles trying to find others that may have known the guy, but all I found has pretty much been hearsay. I heard some people say that he was abused by his father and that he just couldn't take it anymore. I heard that he was using drugs and may have snapped or hallucinated and attacked him. I've heard some pretty wild things, but I can't say for sure. All I know is that after that experience,

I appreciate life a bit more and understand just how fragile it can be. I'm up late reading these, so I finally decided to share my creepy encounter from a while back. This was about 15 years ago. I was around 25 years old and living in the Midwest at the time. My friends and I decided to go out for the night. We're both girls and were single at the time. And somehow we decided on a towny type of bar. I don't remember how we landed on it.

I had never been there before, and I don't know. think that she had either. I guess we were just trying something new. I don't remember a ton about the appearance, but I do remember that it was off a semi-busy road in a suburb. You had to drive up a dirt road to the top of the hill, maybe a quarter of a mile, before you got to it perched at the top. It definitely wasn't our usual scene, but we were up for trying something new, even though it felt a little weird being sort of close to civilization. But at the same time, feeling far away from it. I'm driving and she's in the front seat.

I'm going through the parking lot, using that term loosely, as it was mainly just a gravel lot in front of this bar. We didn't see any spots available, but as we were weaving through, we spotted a car backing out, so I waited for him to leave so that I could pull in. It wasn't until I was pulling in that I noticed another car in the aisle across from me on the opposite side of the car backing out. I'm usually pretty aware of other drivers and lots,

and I would have let him have that spot if it was obvious he was there before me and waiting for it. But he definitely was not there first. So I just figured he was looking for spot too and was letting me pull in before he passed. So I pull in, and we're taking off our seatbelts about to go in, when I noticed that the car was still just sitting there, in the same spot in the aisle with its headlights on. It creeped me out a little, so I told my friend to wait for him to go before we went in. So we sit there, and I'm watching through my rear-view mirror.

It must have been at least two minutes, which felt so long. He finally starts to move slowly, But, to my surprise, he doesn't drive past us. Instead, he pulls off to the edge of the dirt road near the bar entrance and parallel parks and turns off his car. Probably about a hundred feet behind my car. Okay, my thought. He's just going to make his own parking spot. That's fine.

I tell my friend that I still want to wait for him to go in first because I'm afraid he's going to key my car or something, because he's upset that I took the last spot. So we continue to wait. About five minutes or so, and no one is getting out of this car. By that point, I was thoroughly creeped out, and I told her let's just forget this bar and leave. I turned my car on again and then turn on my headlights. About a second after, I see that same car behind me turn his headlights on too.

I wasn't sure if he was going to take my spot. or what, but I put my car in reverse immediately, as that just gave me the chills. I back out quickly, and I had to go downhill to get back to the main road. That same car started moving, too. And, to my shock, he didn't take my spot, but instead followed me downhill. I turned right on to the main road and drove probably half a mile before turning into a brightly-lit McDonald's. He had followed me up to that point, but kept driving after I turned into there. I still have no clue if my gut instinct kicked in, and it saved us from something horrible that night,

or if it was just some sicko playing a prank. Neither way, every now and then, I think about those headlights popping up on my rearview mirror, and it still gives me the chills. So, trust your gut, if something. doesn't feel right. This happened my senior year in high school. My birthday is in May and I usually have some pretty big parties with my friends. However, since we were going to be graduating that year, I told my parents I wanted to have a graduation slash birthday party altogether. While I did have a lot of friends, I definitely wasn't in the popular click and I definitely didn't like having all the attention on me.

This way, I thought I could still have friends over, but it would be all of us celebrating, well, all of us, not just me. I was also hoping my mom wouldn't try to make them sing to me this year. That was embarrassing after the age of like 14, at least for me. So, thankfully, it wasn't hard to get them to agree, and we started making a list of things I wanted to have, like foods and drinks, as well as entertainment. I, first, wanted to have it at a park shelter since it was going to be nice out, and that way we could all take senior pictures together if we wanted. I also wanted to make it karaoke themed.

American Idol was a pretty popular thing at this time, and I watched it with my mom and sister every time it was on, so I was pretty into it. And no, I don't think that I'm a great singer either. It's just a lot of fun when you're doing it, with friends. So, we compromised, and my dad's friend actually agreed to let us use their bar for the party. Look, I know this sounds odd for an 18-year-old, but it was actually a nice place, and not like those

gross, sketchy bars you see in the movies. The couple that owned the bar were actually like an aunt and uncle to me and my siblings. We'd been there during the day before and hung out in the back room if there was an emergency, and they were the only ones available to watch us. That was many years ago, of course, before I was older enough to babysit. Anyways, this was our plan. We would get the whole bar for the day, and then he would still be able to get his normal business at night. I thought it was a great idea and was really excited for it.

My mom was still adamant on handing out invitations since it was going to be somewhere other than our house. and the RSVPs would make things easier, so I agreed. I handed them out to my friends, some acquaintances that I was getting to know already, and then I decided to be brave. I decided I would try inviting my crush to see if he would actually show up, and if not, at least we were graduating soon and I would just never see him again. I had a few classes with him, so as one of the classes ended, I walked by and laid the invitation on his desk and walked even faster out of the room.

I had to take some time to regain my composure after that, but then I just hoped for the best. Fast forward to the day of the party, I got up early to go with my mom to help set up and decorate the bar. We had some graduation banners. We had tons of finger foods, including some that Heather and Mikey, the owners, had made for the party. My mom even came up with clever drink ideas. She got the glass bottles of root beer and cream soda and even made her homemade punch. I also agreed to her making a birthday cake so long as nobody sang happy birthday. The bar was looking great, and I even had the karaoke machine set up, so I was pretty excited and looking forward to it.

As people started to show up, we started getting a little rambunctious. However, I kept watching the door hoping that my crush would walk in. About an hour into the party and not seeing him, I was a bit discouraged, but I told myself beforehand to not let that ruin my time. He hadn't RSVP'd, so I had a feeling that he wasn't going to show up anyways. So I let it go, and we all started getting pretty crazy with the karaoke. We got so into it that I didn't realize my crush. had not only showed up, but was now standing near the stage watching as I made a fool of myself.

I was pretty embarrassed, and ended up running off the stage laughing and went to get something to drink. While over there, I saw him looking past people, like he was trying to find me, but now being completely shy, I didn't know what to do. So, as a teenage girl does, I avoided him, a lot. After some time, though, I did finally get the courage to talk to him. I did talk to him occasionally in class, but this was definitely the most I had spoken to him all year. At one point in the night, he asked me if I wanted to go walk around outside, and I agreed. I told my two best friends where I was going, and after we grabbed a cup of punch, we walked out.

I know that I probably should have told my mom what I was doing, but... To be honest, I didn't want her to stop me. And I at least told my friends so they would have my back. My parents were great, but I doubted she would even notice with everything else going on. So we walked around the parking lot for a while with him walking on the outside, which is how we ended up walking towards the back of the building, as he steered us to that direction. I didn't pay much attention as I was focusing on everything else,

Like how I looked, what I was saying, was I talking too much? Did I possibly have a stain on my mouth from the punch? And then also reminding myself to tell my mom that the punch may have gotten too warm because it was tasting a bit bitter. My head was being flooded with everything all at once, but then it all stopped when, basically, he admitted to liking me too. All I wanted to feel at that moment was happiness. and like I had achieved something.

I remember the fluttery feeling and almost like I was floating. Then, I remember that feeling of being kissed. I was on cloud nine at that moment. But that feeling started to shift when he started implying things. I don't want to be too graphic here, but I'll just say that there was some groping, some explicit offers or demands that he was making. and I was finding myself overwhelmed and dizzy.

I tried telling him no, but I found that I seemed to be fighting myself more than anything. My arms felt heavy, and I felt like I was going to pass out right there where I stood. I tried to just zone out and leave my body for that moment until I started hearing my name. I recognized the voice as my dad's. And again, I wanted to call out to him, but I also just just started hearing my name. kind of wanted to sleep. After that, my consciousness continued to go in and out. I remember feeling like time had slowed down, yet I couldn't keep up with anything.

Unfortunately, I don't remember anything else until I was fully awake in the hospital later that night. My parents were there, and they started asking me how I was feeling and what had happened when I left the bar. After a lot of talking and repeating myself, we pieced together the whole event. I had already had a cup of punch, and before we walked out, my crush offered to go and refill both the cups. Then we left. That's when I mentioned to them that it tasted funny. They already had a feeling about what had happened, or at least the doctors and the nurse did. They called the cops and reported a potential drug.

police arrived at my crashed party site, took samples of the food and drinks, and to our horror, they found some traces of something in my cup. I did tell my parents how I ended up outside, and my crush didn't get far. There was a small cluster of trees behind the bar, separating it from the highway. They found him trying to hide out in the trees. However, he kept up with his claim that he didn't do a... anything to the dreams. The lab people, or whomever they were, said that the drugs that were in my cup were fairly

consistent with sleeping pills. The authorities had also determined that my crush's mother had been prescribed some pretty strong sleeping pills, so it was assumed that that's what it was. I was devastated. I had strong feelings for this person, and he tried to take advantage of me. I definitely understand now, and after the event, that he was not a good person if this was his first thought. But it was even worse at that age, knowing that he brought those with this intention. He didn't get very far before I started hearing my dad yelling for me, but, to add to that part,

I've never been more thankful for my little sister tattling on me. She saw me leave the building, and she started to get a really bad feeling. She claimed that she didn't want to get me in trouble, so she checked out front to warn me to come back. But when I was nowhere to be seen, she became even more worried and told my mother. That's when they started to look for me. I was pretty upset for a long time after that. I was embarrassed and disappointed in myself for falling for this guy's tricks. and for ruining my party due to doing something stupid,

and, of course, having to explain this all to my parents and the police. I was hoping to hear that he liked me too and maybe hold hands, but nothing more. I wasn't ready to do anything else, but I guess that's why he brought the pills. And to wrap up, I know that he was kicked from school, or at least wasn't allowed to attend, the graduation ceremony, so I don't even know if he graduated.

I've put it all behind me at this point, now that it's been years ago, but I'm definitely more aware of who I associate with, and my drinks never leave my view. And, as for my crush, I don't feel like he deserves to have a name in this story, but I hope that he and I never meet again. So my sister had a birthday yesterday, and I was spending some time with her at her house, and we were talking about our childhood memories together. I brought up the subject of our earliest memories that we could recall. I told her my earliest memory, and she explained that hers happened to be a dream.

And in that dream, she said that she saw a very creepy man. She said that she can still see the face of the man very, very, very. vividly, which I find astounding, because she was three years old when she had this dream. She turned 31 yesterday. Now, I don't know about you, but I have a hard time remembering the faces of people that I met recently, let alone am able to recall the face of someone I had never met before in one of my dreams when I was just three years old. She showed me a picture of what this man looked like that she had seen,

and the picture was that of Nosferatu. If you're not familiar with that name, look him up. I believe he's also called Orlock. Anyways, he's a vampire, a very creepy-looking vampire with claws. I bring this all up because I've always had a strange feeling about myself, and if I might be connected to something that isn't really explainable. I was at an event when I was younger and saw this orb that was color,

neon white and blue. That's how I would explain it, but it wasn't shaped like an orb. More like the dog off of Nightmare before Christmas. I could tell that no one in the room noticed it, but I didn't really feel like it was out of place. I grew up in a cul-de-sac right beside the woods, and on the edge of the cul-de-sac written in red were the words, beware of Doug. I always wondered what that meant. It may not be of anything of significant. but it always gave me the creeps.

While standing on the edge of those woods, I could always hear a creaking noise coming and going. I always imagined it being a screen door just opening and closing, but as I got older, I thought that it may have been the sound of a noose. I'm still not sure what it was, but that definitely gave me the creeps. The next story is several years later

when I was about 17 years old, and I was on my way to pick up my sister from work. She was getting off at midnight. I was about to turn on this certain road leading to her work, and by that road was a cemetery. On the edge of the cemetery was a sidewalk, and on that sidewalk was this woman in a white gown walking barefoot. I remember that she had brown hair that went down to the middle of her back,

and just as I was about to turn on to the road, she started to turn and look at me. I got spooked and I didn't look back. Several months later on New Year's Eve, at around midnight, me and my friends were driving on the town square, and my friend asked if we had seen that girl walking. And I asked what she looked like, and he explained the exact same thing that I had seen.

Except when I saw her, she wasn't carrying anything, especially not a present. After that, we actually went looking for her, and we're at a spot that some guy had hung himself at, and then it started snowing. So if you guys could give me some insight onto what this all could be, I would love to hear your thoughts.

Way back whenever I was a little boy, me and my family used to make the drive from our home to my grandparents' house up north. and we would stay there for the end of the year and to the beginning of the next, and then would head back south. Honestly, I don't remember how long it took to get from point A to point B, but I remember it being a long time, of course, as a kid. It always felt like it took forever, and I would get increasingly impatient on the ride there.

Because of that, my parents always tried to make stops when I would hit my peak. Obviously, I was very young, maybe seven at the oldest, so it wasn't like I was older and throwing a tantrum. I was still a pretty young boy and just really didn't like sitting still. There was one rest stop between home and my grandparents' house that I really liked stopping at, because they had some really neat animal statues out front near a small playground area, and there was a McDonald's that was actually built in the parking lot area of said rest stop. when you're that age who doesn't love colorful animals and McDonald's. Unfortunately, my appreciation for the place very quickly went away when the incident that I'm writing about occurred,

mostly because I was terrified that it would happen again, however unlikely that actually was. That year, we were driving up to my grandparents' house as we always did for the holidays, and in that year my mom was actually pregnant with my sister. so we were stopping more than we usually did. We got to the area where the rest stop that I mentioned above is, and I asked my dad if we were going to see the statues. At this point, it was starting to snow a bit, and my dad mentioned that he wouldn't mind stopping,

but that we couldn't play on the playground because of the weather. I was a bit upset at this. I wanted to play in the snow, obviously, but he was pretty steadfast about the fact that we would stop, take some pictures, get our snacks and whatnot, and then get back on the road. We pulled into the rest stop, and the snow was starting to come down a bit more. It was actually starting to stick to the ground, and there were some small patches of ice in various spots as well from when it had been raining just prior to the snow.

We parked, all got out, and my dad started heading towards the statues, warning us of a slick spot on the walkway so that we didn't slip. He wanted to quickly get his annual photograph of the family around the big brown bear statue, and then get out of there. As we were headed towards the statue, I got hit with the urge to go to the bathroom. Like, really bad. I told my dad that I had to go, and he asked me if I could wait, but it was a nuclear threat at that point.

Like, if I didn't go right then, then I was going to need new pants. This is one of those rest stops where the restaurant, rooms weren't inside the building, they were on the outside. So he told me to go ahead and go and that he would be waiting right there when I got out. I ran into the men's room and did my business, and when I got out, I noticed that there was an older gentleman in the restroom at one of the urinals, but I ignored him, and walked past him to get to the sink so I could wash my hands. It was while I was washing them that the man stepped away from the urinal to get behind me,

which, looking back, I realize now that he didn't adjust his pants, or flush, so I don't think he was really going. It was like he was just standing at the urinal to wait. I didn't notice it back then because I was honestly not paying attention. I was just trying to wash my hands and be done with it. I look in the mirror, and he and I make eye contact. I see that he's staring at me with a very happy grin on his face. I tried to look away, but the minute that I made eye contact, he moved to initiate conversation. He looked down at me and said,

Hey, how are you? Are you enjoying the weather? I was enjoying it, as I loved the snow and we didn't get a lot where I lived. I smiled and said that I liked the snow and that it was neat. The man laughed and said that he used to like the snow until he got old. I made a comment about how I would always like the snow, and he just once again laughed. I finished washing my hands, and I went over to get a paper towel, and the guy followed me over towards the door, and just kept talking about the weather. He was also asking me if I really liked to play in the snow, and just stuff like that. It really felt like this was just some old guy that was making conversation with me about the snow.

I didn't feel scared of him. And being like seven at the time, he kind of reminded me of my grandfather. I wasn't feeling like I needed to run or be scared of this guy. Then, all hell seemed to break loose. I finished drying my hands, and I went to exit the restroom. The man was behind me, so I held the door open to be polite, and as soon as I stepped away from the door, he literally swung his arm around me and picked me up,

and then started running towards the parking line. I think he looked older than he really was, because if he was my grandfather's age, then I don't think he would have been able to grab me and run like he did. As soon as I realized what was going on, I started screaming as loudly as I possibly could. My dad heard me, saw what was going on, and started running toward us. But this guy had a lead, and he was heading straight for a car that was in the parking lot, and it honestly looked like he was going to get there before my dad would be able to catch up to him. That is when fate took over, and I was saved by a miraculous twist. The man that was carrying me was paying a lot of attention to getting to his car,

and not a lot of attention to the ground in front of him. He ended up catching his foot on an ice patch that I mentioned earlier, and because I was kicking and shifting his weight, he slipped. And when he slipped, he went head first into his own car. Thankfully, I pretty much just fell to the ground. But this man, he smacked his head on the bumper of his own vehicle, and he was out cold. It honestly felt like it played out almost like a comedy movie with how it happened,

though nobody was laughing. My dad grabbed me and started shouting for someone to call 911, mostly because this guy looked like he was pretty messed up. The police and an ambulance arrived, and they took him away, and the officers took our statements. I have no idea if the man made it, or if he was really messed up, but in my opinion, he kind of had it coming.

I don't want to wish ill on anyone, really, but this man tried to kidnap me. And, well, like I said, fate took over. I don't like thinking about what would have happened if he hadn't tripped and fallen, but I think it's pretty obvious it would not have been good. I'm thankful it didn't go that far, but I will say that this event really ruined that rest stop for me and kind of made me afraid to do anything alone in public. This happened in the American Southwest to my parents while on vacation.

They stopped at a spot along their travel route to get some food and got talking to a young local who worked there. He told them about a box canyon that was on the way to their next stop. For those who don't know, a box canyon is characterized by being narrow, having high vertical walls and a flat bottom. To hear my mom tell it, he described the canyon with an almost spiritual reverence, saying that it was incredibly beautiful and had superb acoustics, and that he loved taking his guitar out there to play.

My folks liked doing stuff off the beaten path, so they decided to pay a visit. The canyon seemed to be quite isolated, with no buildings of any kind around it for miles. By the time they parked their car and made it to the canyon's entrance, the sun was just starting to go down. They said that they seemed to be the only ones there, with no parked cars other than their own. They made their way into the canyon. After the fact, my parents have both said that they separately, without speaking of it, started to feel a touch of unease. Not totally unreasonable as it was starting to get dark and the canyon walls pressed closed on either side. Despite this feeling, they continued on, until they heard the noise.

My parents report the nature of this noise differently. When I asked them to describe it, their faces sort of scrunch up. Like, it's an effortful task, or they're still uncertain. My dad says it sounded like a person, possibly a man, speaking a low, single word that he didn't understand. My mom says that it didn't really sound like a word of any kind to her, just a strange, deep noise that rang out from somewhere nearby above them. It was accompanied by a brief, intense flash of pale light.

neither of them knew what it was or where precisely it had come from. But they both were immediately filled with dread in an overwhelming desperation to get the hell out of the canyon. They turned around and they booked it back to their car. As they exited the dark closed space of the canyon, my mom describes feeling certain that there was something chasing them, and thinking that once they got to their car, they would find it sabotaged. That, thankfully, was not the case, and they were able to get in and speed away down the empty road. My mom said that she didn't feel safe until they had been driving for a while, still having the panicked but totally unsupported notion that they were being pursued.

When they eventually spoke of it to one another, they weren't able to make any real sense out of what had happened. Neither one of them really has a theory. This is probably pretty dull as far as spooky experiences goes, but neither of my parents have a history of weird encounters or of telling tales, so it strikes me to see them both get re-creped out by the mere memory of this incident. Edit, I've asked my mom clarifying questions since I first recorded this story, and I forgot to update it. She said that the flash of light was actually quite close to them, mere feet away,

and that it sort of seemed to hang in the air for a few moments. She had a hard time describing it very clearly. I hope my story has its place in this subreddit. I still don't know if it really happened or not. I don't even think I've told anyone this story. I've always been a shy kid. I didn't think anyone would believe me because I had a hard time believing myself anyways. So I kept the story for me.

This kind of story stays in the back of your mind and comes back up once in a while having you thinking, Dang, that was crazy. When I, currently 28 female, was around 10 years old, my parents, my little brother and my little sister, my grandma and I went for a road trip to Virginia Beach for a one-week vacation. During the vacation, one day we were at the beach, as you do in Virginia Beach, when we saw a bunch of wild dolphins in the water that seemed not that far away from the shore. My grandma and dad decided to take foam bodyboards to try to get as close as possible to them, which is kind of crazy now that I know how cruel dolphins can be.

As a 10-year-old that loved water and was far from afraid of it, I tried to join them a little later, so I took a bodyboard and started swimming to where they were. I remember swimming for a while, when I heard a little bit of. lifeguard whistle and tell my dad and grandma to come back to shore because I guess they were a little too far for them. I looked back to see how far I was and I realized I had swam a good distance. It had been a while since my feet touched the sand at the bottom of the ocean. I wasn't afraid at all. I've always been a good swimmer and knew that I could come back to shore any time I wanted. But I remember I started to panic a little, not really realizing.

why. I started thinking about the fact that there was a lot of water between the sea floor and myself. I usually don't care, but this time I started thinking about sharks. Since my brain started thinking about it, I had the reflex to look around me while I was on the board and looked down in the water. I was already telling myself how silly I was for being afraid of sharks, and that there would be absolutely nothing there when I locked eyes with it. I honestly think that my heart stopped. I saw a shark's face underneath the waterline just looking up at me. Then I did something incredibly stupid, which was to try and get to the shore as quick as possible.

Probably looking like running prey, but nothing happened. I managed to get the shore, and I don't think I have ever swam that fast. From what I researched and what I remember, I feel like the shark, if you're not a bit of it was real, could have been a sand tiger because I remember vividly that I could see its teeth even if its mouth was closed, and its size would match the size of the head that I saw. I've never had hallucinations for things that I fear before, and I don't even especially fear sharks, and I have anxiety. So, I highly doubt that it would happen only once and then never again. Don't really know what to think with that one. I'm wondering, did I have a lot of it?

a premonition that danger was close? Or did my brain make up a shark because I was scared? I would love to have opinions on that encounter, even if I'm never going to know for sure if what I saw was real. I had a ton of stories about the time I lived in Scotland with my friend Jane. I've posted them to different Reddit subs and threads, by the way, but what I'm about to tell you is more terrifying than ghosts, since it's real life. Jane and I used to go dancing. at nightclubs near Buchanan, a popular area in Glasgow. We used to meet nice people there, often drunk yet funny and harmless. Until the day we crossed paths with a guy named Kyle.

Kyle kept staring at my friend Jane. To reassure Jane and protector, I pretended to be her brother. But that didn't stop Kyle, who started hitting on her heavily with his glass of whiskey and his weird looks. Jane laughed to cool the heavy atmosphere, because I could see how much it bothered her to be approached like this, as he didn't even respect her safe space. Eventually, I broke off the conversation, but the guy followed us everywhere. With his dumb friend, he even took a picture of Jane in secret. That was too much. I kindly asked him to stop in a quiet, no-pressure way.

He seemed okay. I just didn't want to start a fight in a clear. and be kicked out of the place we liked. While we were dancing with Jane, she noticed that the guy gave her a sign. He moved his finger on his throat like he was cutting it. She totally lost it. Told me about it,

we immediately ran away and even managed to hide from Kyle, who didn't show himself for a while. When the club closed, Jane and I went to a fast food restaurant, waiting for the first buses to go home. Jane felt very uncomfortable after this experience, as she had survived an attempted murder. Her ex-boyfriend's brother tried to kill her with a knife. He even killed his own mother, wanted to stab Jane's ex.

He's now in a psychiatric hospital and locked up. As she was very traumatized, I tried to make her laugh, to change the subject as she asked me to. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Kyle came back again. His shirt was stained with blood. He came closer to us with his friend and said, I bravely fought with a guy in the streets. Luckily, I always keep a knife on me. After the trauma she experienced, Jane was not sensitive to this bad boy stuff,

even if he was so proud about it. I asked him to go away. The situation was tense because he wanted to hit me. Bless the guard that kicked him out, though. That night, Jane was very very. very brave. When we came back to France, the story seemed to be behind us, but Kyle actually managed to find her on Tinder, after more than a year, and even recognized her. But I hope that we never see that bad guy again. Okay, so to start, at the time, I was 19, female, and working

an early morning job at Safeway. I would leave the house around 5.30 every morning. It was during the winter, so I would often wear a blanket to my car and sit in it for a while waiting for it to warm up. So, one day, my mom stopped by and parked in front of this man's apartment, which happens to overlook where my car was parked. He got upset that she wasn't in a spot, and that was the first time I ever even noticed him. He looked around 70, had a gray beard, was pretty tall and was white as well. Anyways, she ended up moving the car and nothing else happened that day. But I think that's the day that he noticed me and my roommate, also 19 female. We did live alone, though I've always been borderline paranoid, so I've always stayed aware of my surroundings.

Soon after our encounter, I noticed when I would go to work, I had to pass near his apartment, that his lights would suddenly be on every morning at 5.30, when I would be leaving. I didn't think too much of it and continued on, though I started to notice once I would get in my car, he would be outside walking around and passed behind my car, which I definitely flagged as weird. This continued for a few weeks, but soon enough, I noticed his lights would be on and his blinds would be all the way open. very weird considering it was still dark 5.30 a.m. And he didn't do that prior.

Anyways, I stayed alert, and I started waking my roommate up when I left just in case something weird ever happened. Side note, at this time, my roommate had a car that wouldn't lock. We didn't live in the best area, so she didn't keep anything valuable in her car, just random stuff, including a high school picture. One day, someone broke into her car and didn't do anything, but left her picture on her seat facing upwards. We always found that weird and we didn't know who did it.

Fast forward to one day, and I was super paranoid at this point, I was convinced that he was going to approach me or do something weird. It was a gut feeling. I was walking to my car, and I had to have my back faced towards his window in order to get to my car. I was talking myself down, saying nothing's going to happen, you're safe, etc. Then my brain told me that I needed to turn around. So I did.

He was at his window, blinds open, staring at me. When he noticed I turned around, he moved out of sight super fast. I got freaked out and I got in my car and I locked it. Then I called my roommate to take. tell her about it, and I tried to leave as fast as possible. While I was getting situated, he was walking behind my car, and I was trying to stay calm. I ended up leaving, and I don't know where he went. After this encounter, I changed my shifts to afternoon, due to safety, and me and my roommate decided to move. We've never had anything happen since. This always

creeped me out. And I wonder what would have happened had I kept working mornings or stayed at that apartment. I have a weird experience that I wanted to share that was just... I honestly don't know

what words to use to describe it. It was creepy in its own right, and honestly it left me feeling a bit shaken. Thankfully, I came out of the whole thing unscathed, but I kind of feel like it could have gone much, much worse. So, to start off, I'm a delivery driver for a restaurant that isn't the normal kind that does delivery.

I'm the only driver for this specific restaurant, and while we aren't as busy as, say, pizza shops, we do get enough orders to keep me busy for an entire shift. Because of this, I put a good number of miles onto my car, and I drink. my tank pretty frequently. Sometimes I have to stop at random stations along the way or in between deliveries to make sure that I have enough miles left to get to the next stop, or stops, and then back to home base. It takes a good amount of coordination, and I have honestly pushed it once or twice to a limit that I don't like to push it to.

This was, unfortunately, one of those times. It was near closing time, and I was on the last three deliveries. It was a triple, so I had to take one, then the next, and then the next as quickly as I could. I had gotten the first one done, looked up the location for the next, and as soon as I did, I noticed that the mile counter on my car showed three. Basically, I had three miles to go until I was on a hard, empty. I wouldn't say that this is the most accurate reading, but again, I don't want to end up randomly stranded with two people's dinner sitting in my passenger seat.

I hit the button for the nearest gas station, and sure enough, there was one that was between a mile and two miles from where I was sitting. It looked like it was kind of tucked in between a couple of neighborhoods. Like this was a really weirdly placed station, but I was thankful that it was close. I pulled away, made the quick trip to the station, and sure enough, it was there. Google wasn't lying to me this time. The building was dark, like they'd closed up the shop for the night, but the pumps had card readers and were definitely still on

based on the light shining on the screens and overhead. I pulled into the parking lot, got up next to one of the pumps, got out and swiped my card, basically did all the things that one does when they're going, to fill their tank. After a couple of seconds, I noticed a couple of guys standing next to the building. One of them was sitting on the ground and smoking. I could see the embers glowing in the dark, and the other was staring at me from underneath his hood.

Of course, I was a bit on edge. I did have cash on me from the deliveries, but at the same time, with where he was standing, I would have had time to throw the pump and jump into my car before he could even get close. So, assuming he didn't have a gun or anything, I was cautious, but pretty sure I would be safe. I go back to filling up, and as the amount hits five gallons, the pump just suddenly stops. I stare at it, squeeze it once or twice, but sure enough, it was done with me. I looked up at the machine and then towards the building, as if there was going to be someone there to help me. when I noticed that the man with the cigarette in his mouth was now standing at the emergency shut-off valve,

which explained why the pumps stopped working. Within the second that it took me to realize that it was just him, I heard footsteps behind me and thought, I really just let this happen. After telling myself that I was going to be fine and that I would have time to jump in my car, I'm seriously about to get robbed by this creep. I turned slightly and, as expected, the man with the hoodie on is approaching me. But strangely enough, he's not getting very close.

Like he was walking towards me, but stopped about six or so feet from me. He lifts his head a bit to stare at me, and I look at him, and there were several awkward moments that we shared while standing at this gas station pump. The whole time I'm just thinking, I'm dead, while glancing between him and the man at the shut-off valve on the building, making sure that neither of them is getting closer or pulling a gun or something. I honestly have no idea why I did this, but I looked up at the man in the hoodie and just kind of shyly said,

um, the pump isn't working. Like this man worked there and was going to go troubleshoot my problems. I really don't know why I said it. I guess it was just me being scared and confused as to what was about to happen. The man smirks, looks down at me in the nup at the machine and says, Station's closed. As if I wasn't already being awkward and weird, I pointed toward the card reader and said something like,

Oh, but I should be able to still get gas, right? The readers are 24-7. The guy in the hoodie seriously started laughing. Like I had just told him the most hilarious joke and he could not hold it in. After shaking that off, he shook his head and looked back at me to say, No, mate, the station is closed. No more gas. Hint, hint.

And then motioned for me to get into my car and leave. I stood there for a moment and thankfully my brain finally clicked that he was telling me to get the hell out of there. I nodded, replaced the pump and told him to have a good evening and got back in my car. As I did, I looked in my rearview mirror and I watched this guy put his fingers up to his head and motion as if he was shooting himself and start laughing again as he waved at me. I obviously took off from there, and it took a few moments for me to really get a grip on the whole thing, but I think he was basically telling me that if I came back, I was dead. I made a note of where I was, and, well, I left.

Now, I'm not sure, but I think that his original plan was much more sinister than what he had ended up doing. And I think that my awkwardness may have actually saved me. Like, I made my dumb comment, and it tickled him to the point that he felt bad, and he thought, oh, I can't kill this pitiful idiot. Obviously, I have no idea if that's true or if he was just willing to give me the opportunity to leave, and if I didn't, then he would take action. But I'm glad that he decided I wasn't worth his time. Thankfully, that five gallons was more than enough to get me to my destinations and back to the store to clock out. I made a mental note to never go back to that station, and I haven't, thankfully.

If I have a delivery over in that direction, I fill up before I go that way, just in case. I know it's not the creepiest of stories, but it scared me, and like I said, I came out unscathed, but I feel like I was pretty close to something pretty terrible happening to me. This happened to me back when I was in middle school, about 15 or so years ago, spring break was never anything special to my family other than just a week off from school. There were four of us kids and now having two of my own. I understand why we didn't really go anywhere. Kids are expensive.

But it didn't really bother us, as we all entertained ourselves and each other quite well. However, I did have a friend whose family was pretty well off. His dad had some very official job. I was a kid at the time, so I don't know what it was exactly, but I remember him working long hours. He always wore suits, and he never really talked about work around us. However, they did always take some pretty awesome vacations. I'd seen pictures and souvenirs from when they went to different countries. So, for this story, I'm going to call my friend Levi, just in case it's a little bit of the

his dad has some job that I wasn't really supposed to be talking about. Levi has always been pretty cool. We always got along really well, and we hung out quite a bit. In fact, I've even been invited to go with them to their lakehouse, which was a lot of fun. So, for spring break, I was invited again to join them at the lake. With my parents' permission, I did not waste time packing a bag to go. However, there was one little wrinkle in the whole plan, or at least the plan in my head. His cousin, Skyler, was going to be joining us.

Now, Levi was an only child, but Skylar hung around so much that you might have thought that she was their kid too. She was a year older than me and Levi, but she always wanted to hang out with us. At first, I didn't have a problem with it, because she seemed pretty cool, And yeah, pretty cute, too. She would play the dumb games that we played, watch TV with us, whatever. But I started noticing pretty quickly that she was a little weird. For example, we were outside trying to start their fire pit

when we picked up an old log that was on the ground. Underneath it were tons of pill bugs and other bugs that I'm sure. Being the type of kids we were, we started picking them up and throwing them at each other. I know that that was dumb and mean, but that's just who we were. Skyler was there, too, and she was even joining in on it. But then she just stopped out of nowhere and started humming. We noticed her doing this, so we stopped to see what was happening,

and then she crushed them in her hand and rubbed them on her face. Then she started laughing and chasing us like she was going to wipe it on us. So maybe not. not creepy, but definitely really weird, and especially with her being a girl. I was used to girls our age wanting to look pretty and nice, so it wasn't something that I expected at all. And by the look on Levi's face, he didn't expect it either. So, other than that memory, she had done some other weird things, such as when her mood would shift in the blink of an eye. We'd be watching a movie and laughing

And she would just stand up and storm off angrily I've seen his mom try to talk to her And she would be just screaming and pacing back and forth Or rocking Now before you say anything I know a lot more now as an adult But I didn't understand any of this as a kid I just tried my best to steer clear from her

And just dealt with it as I really did enjoy hanging out with Levi. So anyways, back to our spring break. It was going to be me, Levi, Skyler, and Levi's parents. We got to the lakehouse, started making sleeping arrangements and planning on what we wanted to do. We took their paddle boat out on the lake and went fishing. We made a fire out there too. And we even had a day out on their boat.

It had actually been a lot of fun, and even Skyler was manageable with minimal breakdowns. At some point during the trip, his dad had to leave and wouldn't be back that following night, so it was just going to be his mom with us. She decided that she would get dinner for us instead of making it that night, so she left to pick it up, which was probably about 20 to 30 minutes away. Skyler was out on the back deck reading a book, and we were still inside at the time playing a video game. We'd both brought our DSs with us.

His mom told us that she was leaving, that we could stay in or go out, but that we could not leave the property, which was fine by us. We decided to go out back and fish from the docks as we didn't want to lug out the paddle boat again. When we got out there, Levi realized that we'd forgotten something,

so he went back inside to look for it, and I decided to sit on one of the chairs next to Skyler, just trying to be nice to her. I asked her if she wanted to go fishing with us, and she said no. I asked her what she was reading, and she told me the name of it, but I can't remember it now, and I hadn't heard of it before. So I asked her what it was about.

She explained how it was about a woman whose husband was physically abusive towards her and tried to kill her. However, she lived and was taking revenge and going about some long, drawn-out plan to kill him. I remember saying something about it being intense, and she agreed. Then we just sat there in silence.

Out of nowhere, she said, Could you imagine that? I asked her what she meant, and she said in almost a dreamy manner, someone you once loved trying to kill you, Oh, or killing them. I just kind of laughed and said, yeah, that's pretty freaky, though. I guess that was the wrong thing to say because she slammed the book closed and gave me such an angry glare.

She then stood up and said, Hmm, I guess you wouldn't understand. And stormed off inside. It was a weird situation, but I just went over and set up my pole. Shortly after, Levi came back out and we started fishing, and I told him about what happened. He just laughed and mentioned that it was best to just ignore most of the stuff she said, so I shrugged it off and we continued fishing.

After some time, I had to use the restroom, so I walked off to go back inside. When I went in, I found Skyler standing next to the room that she was staying in with her hands behind her back. I wasn't expecting her to be there since the hall light wasn't even on, but I just made a comment about her scaring me. She didn't budge. She just kept staring at me, and I asked her if she was okay, and again, she did not respond.

I decided to continue with what I was trying to do, which meant I had to walk by her. As soon as I did, she lunged out at me and I felt a sharp pain in my back, causing me to scream out. When I turned around, I saw Skyler was holding a huge, knife with this crazed look in her eye.

I was still a kid, so I didn't know what to do other than run to my destination, since it had a lock on the door. She swung the knife at me again and managed to cut across my shoulder before I got the door closed. I locked it, and then ran

to the window, as it faced out to the backyard and yelled for Levi. While I'm yelling at him to get his crazy cousin, I hear her yelling at me, let me love you. You can love Me too. I saw Levi run towards the house and then could hear them yelling at each other. She was telling Levi that she loved me and just wanted us to die together.

He kept calling her crazy, telling her to put the knife down, but the only thing I heard was her crying and then a door slammed closed. Levi then came into the bathroom with me, locking the door and helping me to cover my back. Then he went back out, leaving me in the bathroom to call his mother. That felt like an eternity as I sat in the bathroom, having Levi go back and forth between me and Skyler. When his mom finally did return, I could hear her pleading with Skyler to open the door, and afterwards Skyler and screaming and crying. They did both seem to calm down after a bit. She then came to check on me and took me to the hospital since the slash on my back was apparently pretty deep.

I did have to get quite a few stitches on my back, and some on my arm as well, but then I went back to the cabin and called my parents to let them know what had happened. Levi's mom did most of the talking, and to my surprise, they let me stay the rest of the trip. I was expecting them to tell me that I had to come home. The rest of the trip went all right. Skyler was never alone with us again, but I was too afraid to even be in the trip. the same room as her. So that did kind of ruin some of the fun for me. Overall, I did still hang out with Levi after this, but it left a permanent scar both physically and mentally. I asked Levi why she was always around at one point, because she had many more physical breakdowns.

But nothing towards me, and I didn't personally understand. All he could really tell me at the time was that she was pretty much living. with them now, my parents apparently even knew more than me, as they told me that she needed parents that loved and cared for her, so sometimes we just have to show other people patience and give time. It wasn't until I was much older that I learned more. Skyler's parents weren't really in the picture, and after a pretty bad event in their family, Levi's parents won custody of her. her childhood, obviously, was not a normal one either, leaving her with her own trauma that she had to work through. I don't know if what I experienced with her was something that she experienced,

or was just how her brain worked, but I definitely do not blame her for it. But let me tell you, being chased like that and then stabbed with a knife when you're only 15, it was one of the most terrifying things that I have ever experienced. Hi there. So this was something that happened to me when I was traveling alone. I had lost my partner of eight years after a long battle with an illness that they'd had, which caused me to take some time off to try and heal to find myself again. I decided that during the spring break,

I would move from Mass back to my home state of Oklahoma to be close to my mother. On the way there, I made some planned stops at places that my partner and I enjoyed or were memorable for us as a way to honor them. One of those places was a state park. We were both avid outdoorsy people and loved camping, hiking, and just being one with nature. and this particular park had strong memories, so I knew that I had to go. Once I got there, I called my mom and let her know that I was there, stuffed my phone and my keys in my backpack, and marched on. The site was beautiful, especially early mornings and spring,

when you could still see the dew sitting on top of the grass and kind of hanging above the rocks. I was able to just take in the sights and look at the lights and, let anything out that I needed. A woman that I was passing actually snapped a really great picture of me by an overhang that I still have to this day. I saw a few people on my hike who were willing to share their stories and wish me well on my journey. It truly was a therapeutic experience for me.

I was and always will be a very giving person and willing to help those in need that I come across too, so when I made eye contact with a man that seemed a bit distraught, or maybe just overwhelmed, I stopped and asked if he was okay. When I approached him sitting on the edge of this cliff with his feet dangling, I noticed a very strong alcohol smell. He said he was fine, but just asked if I had water. I always carried an extra bottle, so I just gave him the whole thing, telling him to keep it. If that man was out there drinking, then he was going to need water. I don't know how many people would have stopped for him, let alone give him water, so I did.

He thanked me, and we had a small conversation. He told me that he used to go there with his parents when he was younger, and that he was just struggling at the time. I didn't want to make it too mushy, but I tried my best at a small inspirational speech for him to which he seemed to cheer up a bit. He then asked me if I was single or if I wanted to get drinks, to which I politely declined. I didn't want to bring up my partner,

but just said that I wasn't looking for anyone at the time. He shrugged it off and seemed to handle it well by laughing. We then shook hands, wished each other well, and I carried on my path. At one point, I stopped at a small stream and splashed some water on my face and rest, While sitting there, I started getting this feeling like I was being watched. This was a bit off the path, so I rarely saw people over here.

I looked around and confirmed that no one was around, so I assumed it was either just me, or maybe there was an animal. I was, after all, in their territory, so I decided it would be best to move along. I got back to the path, and after a bit that followed, feeling started to come back again. I again looked behind me and I didn't see anybody, but that feeling would not go away. My instincts were starting to kick in and overwhelm me,

so I sporadically made the decision to break into a run to see what would happen. It was probably a stupid idea, if it actually was an animal, but I really just wanted the feeling to go away. After a bit, I slowed down to catch my breath and again looked around, not seeing anyone. But this time I heard heavy breathing.

That path is not easy if you don't take steep inclines like that on a regular basis, so I looked around a little closer and walked back towards a large boulder. On the other side was that same guy that I saw earlier. When I saw him, I didn't know what to do other than ask if he was okay again. He again, chuckled, and said yes, but seemed like he meant it more this time. I asked him if he was following me, in a joking manner, to which he replied that he wasn't intentionally, but just wanted to catch up to me to thank me again because it meant a lot to him. I told him it was no big deal and that I was glad to help.

After some awkward standing around, I then said that I had to get going. He waved me on and I headed out thinking that this was a bit awkward, but at least it was solved and over with. But as I made my way to a part that loops around, I started kidding that same feeling of being watched. I was a bit less worried this time, expecting it to be the same guy, but saying I was a bit annoyed sounds too harsh. I'm really not sure how else to put it, though. I wanted this experience to release any emotions that. I had been holding back. Yeah, I stopped and talked to a few people, but I wasn't really here to meet new people.

I wanted to be able to continue this journey on my own. I continued on this time thinking that maybe if I didn't stop to pay attention to him, then I wouldn't have any more run-ins. Yet, because this circled around, we ended up walking towards each other. This time, I just smiled at him. and tried to keep walking, but was startled when he grabbed my arm. I've never experienced anything like this, so I didn't know what to do, but look at him. He told me again that what I said really meant a lot to him and that he wanted to make it up to me.

I told him it wasn't necessary as I was just being nice. I tried pulling my arm away, as I said this, but he only grabbed it tighter. I started becoming a bit scared for obvious reasons, and he picked up on this as he looked at me, smiled and asked, Are you scared? This made me sick to my stomach. There was no one else around in this secluded area but us.

What the hell was he planning? Why would you even say something like that? While choking back tears, I managed to just say, please, just let go of my arm. After a few more seconds, of staring at me and smiling, he finally did let go and started laughing. I didn't waste any more time, and I quickly ran. I was familiar with the path, and I knew that I still had a bit to go before I got back to the entrance,

but I remembered that there was a small opening in the trees to a field with a few benches where families typically stopped at to take pictures or have lunch. I was just praying that I would run into some people, and that hopefully I would be able to just walk near them so that I wasn't alone. Thankfully, I did come across the spot, and there were a few people there. I tried to calm down and looked like I was just there to rest, as I didn't want anybody to be worried about me. I sat at the bench and looked around concerned that he may show up and cause another scene,

but thankfully he never did. After some time, I was able to calm down and try to enjoy the last, bit of my trek. I was obviously upset. This was supposed to be a time for me to heal and move on in my life, and while this was pretty terrifying, I refused to let this ruin it for me. I gathered myself, headed back to the entrance by myself. I started a brisk walk until I was back into my jog, and then I finally reached the entrance. I stopped by the restrooms to freshen up before I was ready to head back to my car, but as I exited the restroom,

I, of course, would make eye contact with this same guy heading into the shop. But he looked slightly different. He lost the old dirty jacket that he was wearing and the jeans he was wearing now looked like they'd been cut at the knees.

Could he have changed them? Quite possibly, but since they seemed jagged and uneven, they looked intentionally or sporadically cut. And, of course, as soon as he noticed me, he stopped and turned like he was about to walk towards me. This time, I was not going to lie down like a scared little girl. I rolled my eyes and immediately turned around to walk to my car with my keys clenched between my fingers. I heard someone shout,

Hey, from behind me, but I didn't stop. I didn't even turn around until I heard the footsteps getting faster, causing me to run as well. I managed to get to my car, get in, and lock it as he finally caught up and started pulling on the door handle. When he realized it was locked, he became enraged. He kept screaming to open the door and was banging on the window and kicking the door panel. It didn't last long before a ranger noticed and came rushing up to us as well, but he took off. They didn't catch him.

but he did stupidly run backwards into the park, so he would have to leave eventually. The ranger asked me what happened, and I agreed to stay to tell an officer. Throughout this whole time, they never found the guy, so I ended up leaving and giving them my contact information if they had any other questions for me. I left there relieved for multiple reasons, relieved that I would never see that man again, but also relieved that I made it through the trail alone for the first time. It felt like a weight being lifted off of me. Like I was being tested and I passed it, and this was just going to make me stronger.

I even got a call from an officer telling me that they did catch the guy, and since the ranger had saw him, I didn't have to come back to identify him. They also told me that he had warrants, so he ended up going back with them anyways. Overall, I felt like the trip was successful, and I was already feeling better. I'm not going to say that it's made me more suspicious of people, as I still look for the best in others, but I'm also mentally stronger and know how to handle situations better, both physically and mentally.

And to the guy that I met that day, I hope that you are truly doing better. I went to a lot of parties in my 20s, so when a friend invited me to another friend's party, there was no part of me that would have said no. The host, Danny, was more so just an acquaintance to me, but I wasn't going to pass up free access to alcohol and entertainment. The party was supposed to be at Danny's great aunt's house, as he claimed he was house sitting and he wanted to take full advantage of it. However, you can imagine my surprise when I pulled up with my friend and Danny, and the house was boarded up and abandoned. I asked them if that was the right place, and he said yes. He then explained that his great aunt had recently passed away, and that she had been living in a care facility and no one kept up with her house.

So it just sat empty. He said since it was still in the family, he thought it would be a good idea to use it for parties. but what kind of party can three guys have in an abandoned house? I know that none of us had brought any refreshments. I'm sure that they noticed I had a soured or disappointed look on my face and tried getting me to loosen up, saying that more people were on their way. Shortly after, we did have a few more people arrive. There was another car with three girls in it,

one of which I knew from high school, actually. and then a truck with another friend of mine and his girl and a guy in the bed. The others got out carrying a couple cases of beer and cups, and we all walked up to the door where Danny was. Then we watched as he went behind one of the bushes near the door, heard what sounded like metal-on-metal scraping, and then he came back out with a key. He then went, unlocked the door,

and had to slam it with his shoulder because it appeared to be jammed. And then we were all waved in. The house, however, was in better condition than expected. It was still fully furnished, at least for the most part. It makes sense now as to why Danny had lugged some old stereo with us. That way we weren't sitting in silence and darkness. The lights didn't work either, so the girls had brought a bunch of candles and flashlights. Despite the location and lack of details that I was given,

and the party was actually pretty fun, and we all had a good time. We listened to music and drank. Someone brought a deck of cards and twister, and it was hell of funny watching the girls drunkenly tried to determine which hand was left versus right. At one point, everyone kind of started to wind down while a few were trying to make a house out of cards. I got bored and decided to just walk around the property inside and to check it out. Yeah, I may have been a little nosy, but it's not like I was a thief or anything. I legitimately just liked exploring new places.

So, as I walked around outside, I noticed where part of the house jutted out to the right. It caught my attention because it wasn't big enough to be a garage. But I didn't remember anything being on that side other than a closet in a bathroom, not to mention the part that went out was all connected, and the bathroom and closet were not. This had to be a separate room. I made a mental note of this and continued my walk around the house. There was nothing else particularly interesting,

but I was still curious about that room, so I went back inside. I checked the bathroom first, but I had a feeling it wasn't connected to it since it was further back than where it was positioned outside. Then I checked the closet. It seemed pretty silly at first. first when I opened it, and I just saw a few long coats hanging in a mop and broom leaning against the wall.

I was about to close the door when something told me to look again. So I moved around the boxes on the shelf above, and I didn't even see a door or anything. But then I pushed the hanging coats as far against the wall as I could. Then I pulled out my phone and started looking at the rear wall. I knocked on it, and wouldn't you know it, it sounded hollowing. like there was nothing behind it. Then I traced around the edges and can feel a slight dip in the wall. It was like someone had plastered and painted over a door.

While I was doing this, Danny scared me by coming up behind me and asking what I was doing. I explained what I had seen outside and what I just noticed in this closet, and he was just as surprised as I was. I moved out of the way and he went and examined it too and came out scratching it. his head. He said that he had only been here on occasion, but it was when he was a lot younger, so he never really realized it until now. Before I could ask him what we should do, he walked away into the kitchen, and then came back with one of those meat tenderizers and a butter knife. I grabbed a flashlight and held it for him as he chopped away at this closet wall. It, of course, started getting the attention of the others, and we all joked about what we were going to find.

Danny finally got a good portion around so he could pull the rest down with his hands. And behind the wall was a very small door, with a very antique-looking doorknob. And, of course, it was locked. Danny tried to just break it, but the angle wasn't right for it. When I say this door was small, I mean it was about half the height of the closet, which we were already having to lean over a bit to stand in. But what other option did we have? We were all about to start looking for another key, but Danny, again, just started smashing the knob with the tenderizer, and soon enough it broke off.

There was nothing really holding the door closed after that, so when he broke it, it slowly creaked open an inch or two. We were all hesitant to go in, but Danny finally got on his knees and crawled through. I followed him as well as others, but... most of the girls stayed behind. This room was not something I would expect to see in the home of an old little lady. This looked like some kind of sacrificial room. There was a large circle with symbols around it, painted on the floor in red. The circle was then outlined with candles and they had all been burned and melted nearly to the floor.

The walls were covered in writings in black and red. some of it looked like scriptures. Others, I didn't recognize, and just seemed to be gibberish. There was a single wooden chair in the corner of the room facing the corner, but otherwise, there was nothing else there. Well, except for one other thing. There was a single photo of a young woman. The photo had clearly been ripped or torn,

so that only this woman was in it. but it was clear that she was looking at someone else to her left and she looked very happy. Based on the color of the photo and how she was dressed, I would have to guess that it was taken in the 40s. Danny said he had no idea who this woman was, and I had no reason not to believe him. He said his great aunt was blonde, and this person clearly had dark hair, so it wasn't her.

Then we all started getting that, uneasy feeling. The mood had started to shift, as we all started to see what this room was for, and Danny looked just as confused. He started swearing how he had no idea this was here or why anyone would do this. He said his great aunt was super religious, and didn't, or couldn't, maybe, believed this could have been done by her. Then the room started to get really cold.

I didn't mention this earlier, but this was in the early summer. It was already getting pretty warm, and there was no AC in this house either. So to have a random cold chill was kind of eerie. The girls quickly left the room at that point, and I was about ready to follow, but I waited to see what they did. As we stood around waiting to see what Danny wanted to do, we heard one of the girls yelp, so we all left that room. We went out and one of the girls said that. that it felt like someone slightly grabbed her ponytail and tugged on it, which freaked her out.

After that, there was no way to calm them down, and the three that had arrived together and the other girl all got in their car and refused to come out. I could tell that Danny was pretty freaked out too, but just didn't want to admit it. So he suggested that we leave two if the girls were all going. We packed up all of our stuff and left, and the ride back was. pretty silent. No one really said much, and I didn't know what to say, to be honest. We kind of just went about our life after that. Nothing creepy happened, no one was cursed or anything, but I even started hanging out with Danny Moore. We were both at a different party together months later, and something had come up that actually reminded me of it. I ended up asking him if he ever found out who that person was, or, anything about the room. He seemed like he didn't really want to talk about it,

but he did tell me that he asked his mom about the woman in the photo, and she basically interrogated him on where he found it, and then told him to never bring it up again around certain people. I don't remember who he mentioned, but that was about all he told me. I don't know if he really found out more or if that's all he knew, but he definitely seemed uncomfortable talking about it. So I never brought it up again.

If I was alone, I would have taken pictures to share with you all because it was really creepy. But I didn't, mostly out of respect for Danny, since I hardly knew him at the time. Based on his reaction to it all, I'm pretty sure something bad happened there. and his family may be keeping a dark little secret. I met Trent when I was 30 years old. We met in a relatively old-fashioned way, mainly because I've always shunned online dating and prefer meeting people face to face.

I've always trusted my gut instinct when I meet people, and we met at a town dance. I come from one of those country towns where everyone knows each other and there is a strong sense of community out here. While people are suspicious of strangers, they tend to turn a blind eye to bad behavior from people inside the community. It's one of the most frustrating parts of living in a community like this. Despite this, I do love my hometown. Trent, which is a nickname, by the way, was the cousin to one of the more well-established families in the town.

If you're not from one of these small towns, it can be hard to understand, but essentially, many of their family has important businesses and own a considerable amount of the property. Trent wasn't raised in the town, and was raised in one of the big cities. Trent was charming, sweet and caring. Everyone told me how lucky I was to be with him, and if we got married, I would basically be set for life. We dated for nearly two years before we moved in together. Six months later, we were engaged, and he told me how he wanted to look after me. Now, I was raised by a very long line of independent women who wanted to make sure that they make their own money. But over time, I was worn down by the promises and the hope of an easy life.

I let him take care of the finances, and we lived a pretty good life. regularly going on expensive trips into restaurants, buying new clothes and lots of items I didn't really need, I was living the good life. My friends frequently told me how jealous they were that I found someone like this, and I thought I was blessed, too. Whenever I would try to conserve our power usage,

Trent would reassure me not to worry and say that it was covered. I personally didn't like this, though. It was wasteful. Trent and I talked about having children together someday, what we would name the kids, how we would raise them, and what we wanted for our family. Trent wanted a massive family with something like seven children. I'm not young by any means and didn't realistically think I could have that many. I told him this, and he said he was okay with it. I ended up having three kids with him, who are my whole world.

I love each of them. Over time, my focus changed from having a lifestyle around going out and socializing to raising our children. I don't think that he liked this as much, and he went out of his way to spoil our kids, buying them whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. I told him that it was a bad idea to spoil them, and so, in my children's eyes, I was the big mean mummy. He told me one day that he wanted to leave the quiet country town, that we had called home, a place that I lived my entire life. We talked about it, and we looked for places that we could go.

He seemed kind of panicked about it for some reason, but he wouldn't tell me what the problem was. I kept asking him if I could help, and he got really snappy at me, and one day he even punched a wall that he got so worked up. That wasn't the same man that I married. I actually woke up one day, and all of his things were gone. He took a bag, left an apology note. I called everyone. His family, his friends, the police, and there was no sign of this ever coming.

Our children were so scared for their father and they missed him terribly. Then, I found the stash of bills and credit cards that had been taken out using my name. I stared in shock at them. He hadn't been paying the bills and there were final notices, approaching. I actually had my first panic attack and woke up on the floor. I thought it was a nightmare, but this was my reality. I called up the bank and utilities company, and anyone who would listen to me. I called my mom and my friends. I was terrified about what would happen. I was scared that I was going to lose the house, and I tried to call my husband's number, begging him to come home to sort this all out.

As it turns out, Trent had been in debt, and he'd actually done this thing before. There was even a pending investigation into him, and I couldn't believe how stupid I was. It's taken years to properly clear my name and my credit. Financially, he destroyed me, and I wish I had kept working to keep up my skills in the job market. Luckily, for me, a family friend actually heard of the situation. and gave me a job, some advice into place to stay while things were being sorted out. It was hard on the kids, they were used to getting whatever they wanted, and they then had to make do with whatever they had. They would ask me where their dad was, and I would have to lie to

them telling them that he loves them and would be coming home someday. I try to look for him on social media sometimes when I have spare time. One time I actually found him, and he was already with another woman. As the investigation went on, I discovered that I wasn't the only woman that he conned, and if he isn't stopped, I won't be the last. Ever since, I've been trying to repair my life. I'm trying to legally get a divorce, and at first his family tried to brush it off or blame me for what happened, but I'm not going to be silenced over this. Some of the friends that I had when I was living the high life, of course, disappeared when I needed them most. But here's my advice that I have for any young woman or young man or whoever out there.

Don't blindly trust someone to manage your finances. Always, at least, be somewhat involved in the process, and try to keep an eye on your money. If possible, also keep up your skills in case something happens where you have to rejoin the workforce. Because I really wish that I did. I've worked at a small gas station and what I've worked at a small gas station and what I've consider a middle of nowhere town for quite a few years now i used to work the day shift but i decided that i would take the pay increase and lose my social life and work the overnight shift instead not like i had much of a social life to lose but to be honest i've been married for about 10 years now and we don't

exactly go out to parties or hang out with our friends or anything thankfully my wife doesn't mind that i I work the overnight shift, and we've made it work between the two of us. Honestly, the job has been incredibly uneventful for the years that I've worked it, with very little exception. Obviously, this is an event that is an exception. One important thing to note about this station is that we are, mostly, a 24 by 7 station, with a one-hour exception each night for us to count down the drawer and do the receipt drop in. in the back. Basically, we closed the store for one hour to mark the end of the business day for the business and pull the numbers. They used to not close to do it, but there was one point

where the store was actually robbed by a former employee during the count because he knew the time that it was done, and the door was unlocked, so he took advantage of it. Ever since then, they've made it to where the store is closed for one hour every night. It's a weird system, but it does work in the end. On this night, I had closed down the store at 3 a.m., as I was scheduled to do, and I had counted down the drawer first and then did the receipt print for the card transactions. I had actually gotten it down to about 40 minutes, so I had 20 minutes until I needed to reopen,

and I decided that I would go ahead and just take a few moments to myself behind. the counter, kind of like a power nap sort of thing, not really sleeping but just dozing off for the full 20 minutes. A couple seconds after I had sat and closed my eyes, I started hearing what sounded like a banging noise. It was enough to pull me for my light nap and make me jump. I looked around at the doors and there was a woman that was smacking one of the doors and pulling on it as hard as she could. At first, I instinctively started saying, We're closed until four.

I can't unlock the door until then. But as I started talking, I could tell by the way that she was frantically pulling at the door and staring at me, that something was seriously wrong. Since I'd already counted down the drawer, I figured that I could let her in and at least see what the hell was going on. I walked around the counter and unlocked the door and asked what I could help her with. She told me that her car had broken down a few blocks down the road

and that she was trying to get here so that she could have someone pick her up since she wasn't from around the area. But then said that for the last block or two, there was somebody that was following her. Now, this was definitely a creepy story, but I was a bit skeptical at first. It almost felt like one of those stories that you would tell to scam someone, or to get them to let their guard down. I actually asked her what she wanted me to do about it, and she said that she just wanted to come inside to call her husband

so that he could come and get her. After a few moments of her reiterating things, and me feeling like she was probably telling the truth, I decided to just let her in and lock the door. I told her that we weren't technically open, so I couldn't have her anywhere in the store other than right there. She said that she understood, and that she would stay at the front door and apologized for the whole thing,

saying that she didn't mean to be a bother. She was just really scared about what the guy that was following her was planning on doing. At this point, I felt like she was leaning too heavily into the story to actually be lying to me. So I told her that it wasn't a bother and mentioned that if she sees her, him that I would go ahead and call the cops for her. After a few moments of her talking on her phone to whom I'm assuming was her husband, and then her waiting and just staring out the front door, she started making a bit of small talk, which was fine.

I still had a couple moments before I could reopen, so I kind of welcomed the conversation. No sooner than when we started just talking about whatever, I heard another loud sound. But this time, it wasn't just a person smacking the glass. It was the sound of something smashing the glass on the side door. Thankfully, the door was designed so that smashing it would not allow access, as the glass was reinforced, wasn't very wide, and there were four metal bars across it. But this guy was seriously doing everything he could to smash the glass so that he could get in. like he was pretty clear in what he was trying to do.

The woman screamed. I kind of yelped like, whoa, what the hell? And turns to look at the scene in front of me. After realizing what was happening, it occurred to me to hit the panic button. I know you're not supposed to hit them until the robber leaves in order to prevent a hostage situation, but I knew that he wasn't going to be able to get into the store with what he was doing. I'm sure that this whole thing played out in like ten seconds, but it felt like forever. Just standing there, watching this guy rabidly smash the glass in the door and trying his hardest to get into the station.

All the while, the woman is screaming that this is the guy that was following her. I'm yelling at her to get behind the counter and trying to figure out what the hell I could do. I guess the guy finally realized that he wasn't going to get in. and he just kind of stood there staring at the two of us with this horrible grin. Like, you could see the malice just pouring out of this dude, and he kept pointing at the two of us and shaking his head. It was terrifying. At no point did he say a word.

He just stared, smiled, pointed, and shook his head back and forth, which honestly felt more threatening than if he had been screaming at us. Finally, I started hearing the sirens as the officers started to pull into the lot, and this guy took off behind the building and out of sight. A couple of officers took off after him and another one came to the door to check on us. I went over and opened it, and, well, that was a fun time, explaining to him and the owner when he showed up what the hell had conned down. The woman explained her side. I told my side. It was pretty much the same story.

honestly. She had no idea who this guy really was, and I obviously didn't know him. This was just some dude that was an absolute psycho and had ill intentions with this poor woman. The officers waited for her husband to show up to come and get her, and I ended up having a long night with them and the owner going over everything, and going through the footage on the cameras. The owner wasn't too happy that I led her in during our closed hour, but I stray told him that if I hadn't, this guy would have gotten to her, and that would have been a lot worse than a bit of property damage. Thankfully, this was the most eventful situation that I've ever had on this job,

and I hope that it stays that way. I don't know if they ended up catching the guy or if he got away from them that night, but I never saw him after that, nor did I ever see her. I was definitely a bit nervous to go back the next day, but it was just normal operations after that. I did have to explain to a few of our regulars what happened to the door, which got old, but it is what it is. So, to that lady, I hope that you're doing okay and that this didn't traumatize you too much. And to that guy, I hope that you and I never meet again. You absolute psycho.

I have a story about an ex-girlfriend that went a bit crazy and really taught me a lesson about dating, mainly to get the hell away from anyone that starts to throw red flags at you in high quantities over a short period of time. When I met Ada Lynn, shortened to Lynn, I was immediately smitten. She was everything I wanted in a girl. She was a solid 10 for me, was super polite to literally everyone, loved the same things as me,

and she didn't really have a wild side. I've always been a bit of a wallflower, so I wasn't looking for anyone that had a crazy social life, or liked to be out in public all the time. Lynn was, as I got to know her over the couple weeks before we dated, perfect to me. and I fell super hard, super fast. She and I were very happy together for about three months. Things were perfect. She would stay at my apartment every weekend,

and we were making plans for the future. Lynn seemed like she was the perfect partner for me, and I really thought that we had a very bright time ahead of us. Of course, with the good things come the bad, Around this time, my mother was hit with a cancer diagnosis, and me being her only child, I felt the need to commit a lot of time to her, to help her where she needed. My dad hasn't been around since I was five, so a lot of it fell on my shoulders. I had no problem bearing this weight, as I love my mother and I wasn't going to let her struggle.

Helping my mother, of course, meant that I was. wasn't home as much as I used to be. I ended up having to set time aside to take my mother to her treatments, and I ended up staying over at her apartment several nights because I didn't want her to be alone. And I

had to shave off a lot of the time that I got to see Lynn. At first she was fine with it. She hadn't met my mother, but she said that she understood and she was supportive of me being the one to help her. That lasted about two weeks.

until one night when I got home she was sitting in the parking lot waiting for me I was a bit shocked that she was there since it was like 10 at night and I hadn't told her I was going to be home that night the only reason I came home is because my mom told me to go get some sleep in my bed instead of sleeping on her couch

and that she would be fine she approached me as I walked up to my apartment and she seemed happy at first, until I mentioned that I was exhausted. She then immediately started asking me why I was so tired. I told her that I had been helping my mom all day, and that I'd spent the last few hours rearranging furniture to make things more accessible,

in case my mom got worse. And she came back with, Are you sure you were with your mom? Are you sure you weren't with another woman? I will say that I may have responded harshly to her when she said this. Something about being accused of cheating after I spent a whole day helping my mother, who needed me, compounded with the stress of my life at the time, just set me over the edge. I went off.

I asked who the hell she thought she was to even insinuate that. I called her a few names that I probably shouldn't have. and then I told her to go to hell. Like I said, as much as I was really head over heels for her, I was not in a good headspace, and her saying that really messed me up. It was a quick and rash decision to end something that I held so dear, but if she was going to start down that route

while I was dealing with my mother, then I was done. And, of course, that wasn't the end of it. In fact, that was where things started to go insane. A couple of days later, I got home from work, and as soon as I walked into my apartment, I wanted to freak out. Nothing was taken or broken, but it was pretty clear that someone had broken into my home, and I could pretty quickly figure out who it was. There were post-it notes all over my apartment stuck to various things,

and on each of them was a personal note. But they were such a mixed bag of emotions. For instance, one said something like, I miss our late nights together. And then the next would say, I hope you and your new girl die in a fire. It didn't say girl, it used a different word, but I find it degrading so I won't include it here.

You can figure out what it said. there were, if I remember correctly, a hundred and seventy-something notes all over the place. Clearly, she was a bit unhinged with her unfounded accusations. I called Lynn and asked her what her problem was, and she told me that she didn't know what I was talking about. I mentioned the notes, and she just kind of tried to play it off, like, oh, yeah, that, I don't know, I was just in a bad mood.

I told her that she had committed a crime by breaking into my apartment, and she laughed and told me that I couldn't prove that she broke in. I, once again, went off. I told her that I was done with her, that she needed to move on and get over me because I wanted nothing to do with her. She then said that she wanted me to reconsider my statement, and I doubled down, telling her that she needed to leave me alone before I called the cops and got a restraining order,

I didn't think I would actually be able to get one. I just wanted to put it in her head that she needed to leave me alone. That next morning, when I got up to go to my mom's, I went out to my car and once again she was waiting in the parking lot. She got out of her car and started to approach me, but I just got in my car and drove off as fast as I could, hoping that she would get the idea that I was willing to ignore her existence. She then made it really hard to ignore her

when I got home and saw a fire axe sticking in my front door. Like, it was seriously dug into the wood and just sitting there. That was a really fun conversation to have with the leasing office, that I had come home to that, and they certainly thought it was confusing. I just had to tell them that I'd had a nasty breakup. I ended up having to pay for the door since it was technically, vandalism by somebody that I knew, which was fine. I didn't really care.

Over that week, every day when I would leave, I would see her sitting in the parking lot just staring at me. I wasn't even sure if she was leaving, or if she was living in her car in the parking lot just so that she could stalk me. What's even more strange was the fact that this went on for about ten days, and then she was just gone. Just like that. She was no longer in the parking lot and I never saw her again.

Like, at all. She never attempted to contact me again. She never came back. And I have not seen her since that last day. I have literally no idea what happened to her. If she just realized that she should move on or if something actually did happen to her, but she's been out of my life completely. While I don't wish harm on anyone, Lynn,

did put a fire axe through my front door. So, to be honest, I don't have a problem with her just disappearing. That's my story about my ex. The woman that I thought was perfect that went from zero to 60 on the crazy scale over the matter of a couple of days, and over something as dumb as me spending more time with my mother who was going through cancer treatments. If anyone wants to know, my mother went into remission and has only had one concerning moment since then. Right now, she is fully in remission and living a very happy life. I've also gone on to a couple other relationships, but nothing long-term. Hi, Raven.

I was listening to one of your recent videos, and it reminded me of something similar that happened to me while I was in college. so I thought that I would just share it with you. Unlike all the crazy stories I've heard about college students going on trips for spring break, I was far too broke to do any of that. But thankfully, I wasn't alone. I lived in a small town, going to a local college, and living in one of their dorms. My two roommates and I didn't have a lot of free time or money to plan something crazy, so we just went to parties our friends hosted or friends of friends.

That way, we could still have a good time, and it was cheap to free. I remember one party, though, that I will never forget. It was nearing the end of spring break, actually, and we learned of a local party that was open to anyone. They just asked that you B-Y-O-B. That was reasonable for me, because I wasn't picky and could stomach some pretty cheap beer, so the three of us all got a 12-pack and drove over to the party.

We got there, and we found some of our friends and just let loose. We drank, we played drinking games, we did stupid pranks to each other. It was a good time. I met a few people that I didn't know, and even some people that I just knew in passing at school. At one point, I ended up outside and was watching some people do stupid stunts into the pool.

I was standing on the patio next to a guy that I didn't know and made a comment about one of the stunts that they pulled saying it looked like it hurt. The guy laughed and explained how he should have done this instead and he probably would have pulled it off better. I don't remember the exact thing he said, but it was something to do with some kind of aquatic thing. The dude sounded like he was a professional swimmer or something.

So I asked him about it, and he said that he was on the swim team. He told me a bit more about the science of swimming, I guess, and some of it was pretty cool. I threw some dumb scenarios his way, and he assured me of how it would work or how much of an utter failure it would be, and we just had a good laugh. After a bit of time, he said that he had to go, and he walked off. My last thought was, eh, cool guy, and moved on. with the night. After some time, I was talking with some other friends, and I brought up the swimming guy. None of them seemed to know who I was talking about, so I just kind of dropped it. It wasn't unusual for uninvited people to show up, and as long as they weren't a problem,

there was no sense in trying to make them leave. But later on, I ran into the friend I was talking to earlier and spotted the swimming guy passing by the living room. I pointed out of the swimming guy passing by the living room. I pointed him out, and my friend said that he didn't recognize him either. He wasn't on the swim team either, so we just assumed that he may have been in a different year or different program. That's why we never ran across him. I tried to get his attention, but he looked confused as to why I was flagging him down.

He just had an annoyed look on his face, and he ignored me. My friend laughed, but I just shrugged it off. people are weird, and it wasn't like I knew him on a personal level, so no loss to me. Again, queue up more of the same for the night, including some people starting to leave or pass out all over the place. The music was still playing, though, as it had been throughout the whole night, so other than the people dispersing, the party was the same as it had been. So while some of us were in the kitchen talking about one of our classes, we all jumped, when we heard somebody yelling. We went and checked out the living room,

where we thought it was coming from, and saw some people staring down the hall towards the bedrooms and bathroom. I walked down the hall, and I could hear more yelling and grunting sounds. As I approached the bathroom, I saw the swimming guy standing in there holding some kind of pipe.

One of my friends was standing behind me, but otherwise, nobody was doing anything but staring. so I just asked him if he was all right. That's when he turned to look at me and just started rambling about things that made no sense. He said it was too loud, even though nothing had changed all night. And, in fact, since there were fewer people, it wasn't as loud. I wanted to clarify with him because I didn't understand why it was all of a sudden a problem,

but he just continued talking. I don't remember exactly what he said, but he was saying things like, they won't stop laughing. I know that they're laughing at me. I know that they're talking about me. Stop it. Why won't they stop it? I just stood there, confused, not knowing what to do.

This was obviously not about the music. This was something else. So the only thing that I said was something like, "'Hey, man, maybe you should relax a bit.' But before I could finish that, he started screaming and swung the pipe in my direction. He was still in the bathroom with me outside, and with him being intoxicated or on something, he instead hit the door. I was not going to stick around at this point and risk getting hit. So I rushed back into the living room and told them that we needed to leave before things got worse.

As people started shoving themselves back towards the furthest wall or running out the back door, the swimming guy went running out of the bathroom, screaming, No more, no more, please! And then out the front door. I watched him from the front door as he ran into the road and was subsequently struck by a car. A bunch of people were still inside and they saw this, causing them to scream. I ran to call 911 from the landline that I had said. seen, and it was just pure chaos. I barely knew the address, so I had to go check that. I didn't

even know the guy's name, and was trying to explain what exactly it happened, all the while people were screaming in the background and me not being in my right mind either. I kept walking back to the front door and saw the person in the car did stop. There were a few people from the party out there now, but I had no idea of the condition of the guy. An ambulance finally showed up, so I got off the phone and ran outside to them.

They already had him on a stretcher and was putting him in the ambulance. I didn't see him move once. I didn't hear anything from him, and I was afraid that this man that I had just met was now dead. I was horrified,

not knowing what else to do. I went back into the house and watched as many people left crying, shoulders and heads low, just saying nothing. The next day, I tried contacting people that were at the party, trying to figure out the name of that guy, but nobody knew him. There were so many people that I knew from the party that I found it difficult to believe that no one else knew this supposed student. He gave details about the school and some of the teachers, so I found it hard to believe that he could. could have been lying. I even tried going to the hospital and describing him and when he got

there, but all that they could tell me was that he wasn't there anymore and couldn't provide any more information. I guess that that made sense. I went in looking for someone that I couldn't even give the name of, but at least by the way that they were talking about him, I was reassured that he hadn't died. It may be a bit anticlimactic, but that's where my story ends. I never did learn who that person was, and those that I still have contact with, still cannot recall his name,

or even remember him at this point. And since then, the memories of that party have stayed in the back of my mind. I took a small break on partying, but when I got back into that scene, I feared experiencing something similar to that. Thankfully, I never did, though. You just never know what someone else is going through, so no matter where you are, it doesn't hurt to learn names and all possible escape routes.

Anyways, thank you for letting me share my story. This was something that happened when I was driving across the state to visit and reconnect with an old friend. I was doing the driving by myself, which I had only ever done one other time. This meant that I would have to keep myself entertained as I made the nine-hour drive. I packed myself plenty of snacks and drinks so that I wouldn't have to stop, which worked out for most of the trip. However, towards the tail end of my drive, I started to really crave fries.

I could tell that I was going to need some more caffeine anyways, so I decided to find a quick place to eat and refuel. I stopped at a fast food chain that was popular in the Midwest to grab something to eat and a soda. It wasn't busy when I arrived, but there were a few people sitting in the lobby and eating. And I saw a few workers behind the counter. I approached as I normally do, greeting the person at the register, but I noticed immediately that they did not look to be in a good mood. In fact, they looked pretty irritated.

I hoped it wasn't because of me, so I tried to be as nice as possible. I was working retail at the time, so I completely understood how bad some days could get, working with the public. The man at the counter quickly said in a hurried manner, What can I get you? So I started giving my order, and when he was repeating it, he stumbled over his words and then also said the wrong item. I politely corrected it, which made him a little bit of him.

looked down, and he started jamming buttons with his finger, and then loudly sighed and apologized. I giggled slightly and told him that it wasn't a big deal and was trying to be nice. I told him that I appreciated him repeating back the order for reasons just like that. It's amazing how far a little kindness can go. He then sighed again and told me that he was just having a bad day. I apologized. told him that it was okay though and that we were all allowed to have our bad days. Apparently, this was enough for him to give me a quick synopsis of everything that he was dealing with,

which was definitely a lot for one person, and I just tried to be polite. This all was happening while I paid and stood there with my receipt for a moment. After a few minutes since our conversation winding down, he said that he appreciated me listening to him rant, and that he would bring me my food so I could go sit down. I said thank you and went and found a seat. I sat at one of those bar tables with the stools that faced towards the parking lot, with my back to the counter.

Enough time passed for me to text my friend to let them know where I was at and respond to a few other messages when the same guy brought over the tray with my food. I thanked him, and he walked away, so I just began enjoying my meal. I was probably about halfway through it when I heard a familiar voice approach my spot from the side and say hi to me. It was that same guy. He asked if he could sit with me for a moment while he was on break. I did think it was a little weird, but I wasn't going to be there much longer, so I told him that it was fine.

That is when the guy just... unloaded. He was talking about how he was stressed because his car broke down. He thought his girlfriend was going to leave him. His parents were pressuring him about his schooling because he wasn't passing all of his classes in college because he was getting burned out. And he didn't think that he wanted to be in that field anymore. Then he topped it all off with something along the lines of, and I have to pick up shifts here because my worthless boss's kid can't be bothered to work their own damn shift. That last part he said a bit louder and looked towards the back, like he was wanting to make sure that somebody heard it.

These were all definitely terrible things to have to deal with, and I did feel bad for him, but in that exact moment, I had no clue what to do or say other than, Wow, I'm so sorry. He just stared at me and let out a heavy sigh. You know what? It's all right. At least I got it off my chest, which helped more than you know. I told him that I was glad I was able to help him

and that everything would work out in the end. He then stood up and thanked me and asked me for my name. Help, I didn't even live in that state, and I would probably never see him again, so I told him honestly what it was. He told me his name, which I think was something like Mac or Mark, something like that. Then he walked back to the kitchen. I had a small moment at that point thinking,

well, that was something. And I went back to my meal, preparing to call my friend when I left to tell them about it. I was just about finished, but was distracted doing something on my phone. When I heard someone from behind me shouting, which startled me, I just heard someone shout, shut the, n-up. I turned around to see Mark, and who I assumed to be the manager, because they had on a different colored shirt, standing in the kitchen. The manager had his hand up in a manner like he was shrugging,

while Mark was throwing his hands around angrily. The manager was talking a lot quieter, as I could only hear Mark shouting. It's now gotten the attention of the others in the lobby and the two other workers on the other side of the kitchen, and after a short conversation between the two, I heard Mark grab something to his right, and before I could blink he had swung it at the manager. The next thing I remember was hearing the agonizing screams coming from the manager, while the two workers on the other side are also now yelling at Mark.

I quickly got up and ran over to the counter where I saw the horrifying scene. Mark was now on top of the manager and swinging this hot frybasket at his face. I was frozen in place. I knew what I needed to do, which was call 911, but I couldn't move. I just stood there horrified by the situation unfolding in front of me. I finally did come to my senses when one of the other employees jumped on Mark and was fighting to get him off of the manager. I went back to my seat to grab my phone and called 911,

and thankfully they were able to get my location because I barely knew where I was. They asked me to stay there so that they could talk to me, so I had to stay there even longer to wait for them. A couple other customers had run out the door while one of them tried helping the manager by applying cool towels to their face and arms. somehow he was still conscious or had regained consciousness, but his moans of pain, I will never forget that. To this day, they still haunt me.

Meanwhile, after the other employees got him off the manager, Mark ran towards the back and I didn't see him again. I wanted to do something, but I was scared that he may come back out and try to do something again to all of us. standing there with him. I just stood by the door hoping to see the cops or an ambulance soon. After what felt like an eternity, they did finally show up. The cops went in first and immediately went to the back, and then the EMTs came in and started

caring for the manager. I then had to tell them everything that I saw, as well as everyone else that was still there. Apparently there was another exit out the back, and Mark had left through it. and he was long gone. Unfortunately, I wish that I could tell you more about this, but that was pretty much it. After all that, and I was given permission to leave, I got sick and then called my friend from my car, now shaking and crying. I explained everything to them, and when we couldn't talk anymore, I called my sister and told her. There was no way that I could finish this drive by myself with my own.

thoughts. I definitely needed a distraction. I only had about three hours left to go, which was enough time to get it all out, calm down, and then even pull over to take a quick, much-needed power nap. I got to my friend's place late that night, and after a few drinks, I crashed. I was thankful that I was with good company after that because the thoughts and sounds kept circling my mind, and definitely made it hard to sleep for a few nights. I have no idea the conditions of the manager or if the mark guy was ever caught, but I just hope that both of them

got the right help they desperately needed. Oh, and if I'm ever on a road trip like that, I only do the drive-thru now. It's hard for me to explain things through text, so please bear with me. I guess I'll start this story almost ten. 10 years ago when I was 6 or 7. I stayed and still do with my grandparents.

They lived in a two-bedroom single trailer with an added-on room. Keep this in mind for later. So, one day, I was asleep and my little sister was in the bed, and my mom had stayed that night so she slept in the same bed also. All of a sudden, my eyes popped open, and my heart started beating really fast. I thought that I had just woken up from a nightmare. As soon as I sat up,

I saw this short shadow thing and the hall light was on, so I saw the thing turn into the room. Its head looked like a sideways lemon, kind of like stewie, and it was moving its head side to side as it was gliding across the floor to me. I hid under the covers and called my mom. I didn't see it again until,

I was at my cousin's house. We were in her attic, and all of my younger cousins could see the same shadow thing, except for the adults. It was slamming the door open and closed, and once it saw me, it started going faster. After that, I didn't see it again. Fast forward to 2021. In December of 2020, there was an incident that caused me to be depressed, and I was home all the time by myself. I was like 15 at the time.

So I was in the kitchen about to fix myself something to eat until I got this dark feeling telling me to get out of the house now. I looked down the hall and it got really dark. So I ran outside and prayed and I felt way better. Ever since then, it felt like someone was watching me every time I'm at my grandparents' house. Now I'm going to get into the recent. and sightings. Around fall of 2021, I was in the added-on part of my grandparents' trailer, and I looked outside. I saw an orange or red-looking person. They had no knees, calves, and no head.

It looked like a corpse to me. It was just walking, so I opened the door thinking it could have been my grandfather, but nobody was there. In 2022, my grandparents, my grandfather, but nobody was there. In 2022, my got a new trailer put in the same spot. Then, again, I'm there by myself every day. Ever since we started staying there, I get this feeling of dread. It's mostly in my grandmother's room, so I avoid going in there all the time. Me and my mom and little sister have been seeing this lady with a long white dress out of the corner of our eyes. And when it's not that entity, it's a shadow one.

So today, I was in the kitchen and the trailer we have now is flipped, so where the kitchen is now is where the added room was. I looked out and I saw the orange-looking thing again. But I saw the whole body this time. It looked as if it was gliding. It spooked me. Usually I would think, oh, it's a bird. But this time, I started shaking and almost cried. I took 30 minutes to calm down, and I got back up and went into the kitchen again, and then I saw another one, but this one was all black with white eyes, standing the exact same way as the other gliding one.

The house is by an old abandoned home, and one of my close neighbors passed away, so I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but I'm scared to go back home. I told my grandma and she told me just to pray. But what do you all think? I'm 19 years old and living far from home in a studio room. I'm often up late and last week I was just doing some laundry at around 11 p.m.ish. I saw a man sitting in the lobby. I saw him around a bit at night, but I didn't think much of it. I'm in the laundry room and I had just put.

my clothes in the dryer, and I hear the laundry room door beeping, which meant that someone was coming in. There was the man, standing there with no clothes to wash, just staring at me. I maneuvered around him and headed to the lifts. He followed me quickly and cornered me and asked me for my Snapchat. I was tired, and I just wanted to get back to my room, so I stupidly gave it to him. I figured he would message me and try to flirt. I would say, I have a boyfriend, sorry if you thought this was anything else, and that would be the end of it.

I'm about 5'4 with very long red hair, and I'm half Indian and English, with Afghanistani descent, so I'm white passing, but kind of exotic. People tend to stare at me. Anyways, he starts messaging me. It's kind of normal, and then he starts saying weird stuff like, I saw you a month ago, and I was impressed. I've been visiting a friend and staying here, and I've been watching you. I noticed that you come out mostly at night.

He told me that he was Saudi Arabian and only visiting for five more days. Then, it gets worse. He says, I love you, I can't help it. And then I say that I have a boyfriend. He says, I only want you. And continues to completely ignore that. He asks to come to my room, and I say no. And then he wanted a hug.

He asked me if I lived alone and if I was a virgin. He kept saying that he loved me and that I was perfect for him, that I impressed him. At that point, I recorded all the messages on Snapchat, spoke to him a little bit more to gather evidence so that I could take it to the reception in the morning. He'd been watching me for a month. I got my guy friend who lives on the second floor to walk me down to the laundry room. We sat in the student lounge area and my friend calmed me down.

I was shaking with adrenaline and fear. We saw him around the laundry room again looking for me, but luckily I'd already picked it up. I run back to my room and my friend. says that I can stay in his room, but I said that it was okay and I would just lock my door. It's about one in the morning, and I hear someone outside my room trying to get in. I ask my friend if he's outside my room and he says no. I just froze. I didn't want to make a sound.

I felt sick to my stomach and helpless. Eventually, it stopped, and whoever it was went to. away. In the morning, I reported this to reception and then went to stay a few days with my boyfriend, and then after went to London to visit a friend. And last night was the first time that I'd spent a night in my room since this happened. I'm very paranoid now. Sadly, I should probably be used to this. It's not the first time that I've been harassed like this. One guy tried to kiss me in a club by grabbing my head and a bunch of other things have happened that I won't go into here. But anyways, I'm terrified to go outside my room after dark.

I'm constantly looking over my shoulder and feeling paranoid. I just keep blaming myself for being too nice, and I know that it's my long, thick hair that seems to attract people's eyes to me. I just want to cut it all off. Has anyone had a similar experience, and how did you deal with it? Reception still hasn't updated me on if he's still in the building. All right. I spent my entire slow day at work yesterday reading through this sub,

so now I want to share my little story. My childhood best friend, Marie, and I were around 11 or 12 years old at the time. Marie's family had their own campsite in a provincial park, about two hours from our hometown, and would spend the entire summer each year living in their camper out there. This particular summer I was able to go and stay with them for a week, and we were excited to spend our time adventuring around the forest. On the last night that I was there,

we decided that we wanted to hurry down to the ice cream shop by the lake before it closed. It was early evening at this point, still pretty bright out, but beginning to lose light. The path that we took was, was down a short slope right next to the main road, with maybe ten feet of thick brush and trees in between. On the other side was the forest, with more tall, thick brush. So we were walking along, not seeing a single other person on the path in front or behind us. We hear a sudden rustling and snapping of branches, similar to the sound of maybe a deer moving through the woods.

I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but then the sound of running footsteps followed. Marie glances back and suddenly grabs my arm, urging me under her breath not to look back. At the same time, the running stops. I don't know why I didn't ignore her and get a look myself. I guess that I could sense the very real fear in her voice and chose to listen. We both start to panic. getting that feeling like when you're running up the stairs after turning the basement light off. We pick up speed as much as we can without breaking into a sprint,

knowing that the ice cream shop is only about a minute walk away at this point. The path soon breaks and we're in the parking lot. Suddenly, Marie steers me hard to the left heading towards the lake in the boat rental instead of continuing straight to the ice cream shop. Then I go along with it silently. understanding that ice cream is no longer an interest right now. Marie is clearly panicking at this point. We're both looking around, but it seems that whatever scared her is nowhere in sight at this point.

Marie walks up to the boat rental and gets us a kayak, and we climb in and begin to paddle out to the middle of the lake. As we paddle, she tells me that there was a man behind us and that the man had stopped running at us very abruptly upon making eye contact with her. He'd been wearing a long black coat with the hood up, despite it being the middle of July, and he had a terrible smirk on his face, and she swore that as he stopped running, she saw him put something shiny away into his coat. He appeared to have just emerged out of the bushes after we walked past,

given the sound that we heard right before he came running onto the path. We reached the center of the lake and stopped paddling. I pull out my old Nokia brick phone that my parents, had, thank God, given me just in case, I handed it to Marie and tell her to call her parents to come pick us up. As the phone rings, I see her look out past me to the shore and go pale, lifting a hand to point to what she's seeing. I turn, and there was the man, stalking his way around the path that circled the edge of the lake and staring out at us. We sat in the middle of the lake and watched him do two full laps, never looking away from us, before finally

disappearing. It took a few tries to get a hold of her family. We were freaking out so bad the whole time, as the sun got lower and lower. We did manage to have someone come with the truck, but by the time we reached the shore, it was pretty dark outside. I don't know what we would have done if we hadn't been able to call for a ride. Looking back, I don't know why we didn't just go up to the ice cream shop, inform an adult there and ask her parents to come get us then, but it worked out. We got back safe, and we thankfully never saw that man again.

I work the overnight shift at a gas station that is situated in a suburb area that isn't fully incorporated. By that, I mean that there aren't houses everywhere, and there are quite a few spots that are just dense forest. When you live and work near areas that are just trees like this, a lot of weird rumors and stories get thrown around. And this area was no exception. I had actually heard some dumb stories about the woods from co-workers.

There was a rumor that they, whoever they were, had found a bunch of mutilated dears out in the woods, and that a man had once been camping in the woods and got attacked by something. I don't know why a man would be camping in the woods behind a neighborhood, but it is what it is. They were just silly stories told by people to scare others. Of course, now, I'm a bit more of a believer

because of the fact that I saw something in those woods that I can't really explain. It was a pretty quiet night. We weren't very busy, so I was taking the opportunity to do some restocking and cleaning of some of the shelves. As I was stalking some of the chips, I heard what sounded like a thud coming from where the dumpster was on the side of the building. Unfortunately, we'd had issues with the homeless guy that kept trying to sleep in our dumpster. And as much as I felt bad for the guy, I couldn't let him do that, because the truck came. for the dumpster at like four in the morning. So, if he was sleeping in it overnight,

well, bad things could happen. I stepped outside to check it out and see if it was him, and if it was to tell him that he couldn't stay there. As soon as I stepped outside, I got hit with something that I actually struggle to describe, beyond a hit of adrenaline that sent chills down my spine. It was like I needed to be scared of something, and my body knew that I needed to be scared,

but I didn't know what I needed to be scared of. I slowly turned toward where the dumpster was, and I really don't know what it was that I was looking at. Whatever it was, it had dropped the dumpster onto its side, and it was tearing into the trash. I just sort of stood, there staring at this nasty mass of fur that was eating the garbage. I think I was trying to place a name to this thing, and it was like some kind of dog,

or like a wolf or a coyote. But no, I can say with certainty that this thing was canine-like, but was not a normal canine. Its body was lanky, like its limbs were extended like a person. and it was way too large to be any sort of dog. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. If I had to put a number to it, I would say that it could have easily stood six foot tall.

Its fur was matted and dirty and dark, and I could see that this thing had hellish claws on its hands or paws or whatever. After a few minutes of me just standing there and watching this thing, it noticed me. It kind of just sniffed in my direction, but then ended up turning away and crawling back into the trees. I watched it as it went back into the forest and just kind of stood there watching me as I watched it,

though it was probably just waiting for me to leave. I was watching it because I was horrified. When I regained control of my legs, I ran back into the station, and just stayed at the counter pretending that this whole event never even happened, because I didn't want to think about this possibility that that thing could be out there, lurking. I tried to rationalize what I saw numerous times, saying it was a wolf or just a really, really skinny bear.

But I know for a fact that it wasn't. I don't know what it was, but I don't have a name for it, other than creepy, dog-looking, crypted thing. I'm sure that someone else will probably say what they think it was, and I welcome that because any information would be helpful. I haven't seen it since that night, and I still work the same shift, but it hasn't come back, thankfully. Though I will say that now, every time I hear something out by the back of the back of the, the store messing with the dumpster, I tend to ignore it. When I was in college, I was out and about with my then boyfriend. We had gone to dinner and then gone to Walmart to get some typical

college food so that we could survive a Sunday inn. I was dressed up in a casual dressy fit. We decided to split up while we shop split apart, maybe to do quicker shopping, but I don't remember the exact reason why. I was wandering the grocery aisles, and I noticed this girl who was about my age. In a friendly manner, we casually smiled at each other and continued on shopping. It didn't seem weird at first, but I kept noticing her in the same aisle as me, and a big, muscular man was never far behind us. Eventually, I texted my boyfriend and asked where he was, and continued on shopping. Next thing I know, the girl approaches me and says how she loves my jacket.

I say, thanks, Marisa's, and tried to move on. She stops me and says something along the lines of, Hey, you look like you're my age and you seem really nice. I just moved here for a new job and a company that my friends and I are starting, and then tried to ask me questions about where I was from. I was vague and untrusting with what I said, noting that this was not normal. And then she said,

I'm looking for more people like you and I to work for our company. It's kind of a warehouse job, and I would love for you to be one of our bookkeepers. You should give me your number. I said, well, that's nice if you'd offer me a job, but I'm not a desk person, and I already have a job that I love. She said, well, that's a bummer.

I thought we might work well together. Well, would you want to give me your number so that we can hang out? I would love to have a friend who can show me around the city. I realized that I wasn't getting out of this situation until my boyfriend showed up, or I gave her my number. Eventually, I rattled off a fake phone number and said, Hey, I'll catch you later. I got to go. And then I walked away praying that my boyfriend would be near so we could get the hell out of there.

While I was looking for him and trying to call him, the girl caught up to me and said, I tried to call you, but it said the number was out of service. And as I tried to come up with a quick excuse and say, maybe you typed it wrong, she saw that my iPhone was unlocked in my hand. She quickly snatched it and called herself on it. I was so flustered and mad at her that I snatched my phone right back

when my boyfriend came around the corner. He instantly recognized that something was up, and said that we needed to go. When the girls saw him approach me, she looked so disappointed to see him and stopped trying to interact. We ended up buying nothing and leaving. That night we called our parents and the police.

The police said they didn't think it was anything ill-intended, but I was sure that it was probably trafficking. I was going to switch my phone number because I was so scared. I blocked them, turned off all locations, access on my phone. I was too scared to go anywhere alone for a while. I even told my coach so that she knew. A couple of days later, I got a text from a random number. It was the girl. She sent a picture of my best friend who was out drinking downtown with some of her friends. The text said, I met your best friend. She gave me your number because I told her I was looking for new friends.

She showed me a picture of you and I said, what a coincidence. I met her the other day and lost her number when I got a new phone. About two minutes later, I got a text from my best friend that said, I gave your number to a girl who wants to make friends around here and is looking for people to join her business. And since I moved this week, I thought of you. I freaked out that she was with her. I told her to get away and to not leave alone with her. I stayed up worried until my best friend got home.

She said that she was fine. Otherwise, I would have gone to pick her up. The next day, my friend apologized and told me to block the number. My friend in her group tried to ditch her, but she kept showing up at the bars they were at. She said that the girl was relentless and texted her all night trying to get my friend to go hang out at her place. My best friend also said that when she asked about the business,

the girl wouldn't give her many details other than it was a warehouse somewhere, that it would pay her great, and it was in town, and if she wanted a tour, she would take her. We never heard from this girl again. Today I was listening to a podcast, and they mentioned different sex trafficking tactics. Two of the tactics were vague jobs where they would pay you well, but needed you to come meet them to give you more information, and a new-to-town girl who desperately needs new friends. I've been thinking about this all morning.

And I'm glad that I felt uncomfortable and my friend didn't go with this girl. But I am also mostly mad the cops ignored my concerns and said it was nothing. I hope that they wrote down the tip that night at least, but I doubt that they did. I grew up in the 90s, in Minnesota. My parents divorced when I was eight, and we spent every other weekend at my dad's haunted house in East Beth. This house had every type of ghost that you could think of. A shadow man in a trench coat and brimmed hat. Another separate shadow figure that danced down the hallway.

A man dressed to go fishing. A doppel ganger of my father. Two giggling little girl ghosts and many other unseen entities. The dishwasher, radios and lights would turn themselves on and off randomly. Loud banging would be heard on walls and doors. Door handles would jiggle and turn on their own. Feelings of being touched or caressed in the shower were reported. My father also had an incident where he felt someone crawl into bed with him in the middle of the night,

when he was the only one home. My uncle reported hearing two little girls giggling and singing in the basement one night while sleeping downstairs. Upon awakening the next morning, he discovered that there were no kids in the house that night. Also, there was a salamander plague one night. The entire yard was covered in slimy, slithering salamanders. It only ever happened once. I'm not positive if that's paranormal, but it's certainly strange. One sunny Saturday morning while visiting my dad, my brother, and I were up early watching cartoons.

I was eight years old, and my brother was three. As we sat on the couch, we heard three knocking sounds on the wall, five to six. six feet behind us. Just knock, knock, knock. Our heads quickly snapped back to look at the wall where the sound was coming from, but we saw nothing. My brother and I quickly turned to look at each other with frightened eyes. I, being the bolder sister, tried to be brave.

I told him it was nothing. As we turn our attention back to the cartoons, my little eight-year-old brain is spinning. What if that banging noise? we heard wasn't just the pipes, as I'd been told so many times. What if it was a ghost? I hate when the ghosts come around. Why isn't my dad around whenever this happens? As these thoughts swirl in my head, we hear it again. Knock, knock, knock. This time it is coming from somewhere in the kitchen off to our left. It's not as loud as the first time, and the sound

is different. Like someone is knocking on the kitchen counter this time instead of the wall. We quickly strain our necks to peek inside the kitchen with lightning speed to catch whomever or whatever is making that noise. Again, there's nothing there. I take a deep breath, and once again I pretend to be brave and tell my brother, it's nothing, just ignore it. My heart is thumping in my chest and there are butterflies in my stomach as the familiar anxiety grows worse and worse with each passing second. I tuck myself up on the couch and a ball not wanting my legs to tangle off the edge. I no longer feel safe and nothing is to be trusted.

Knock, knock, knock, knock. This time the sound is coming from the dining room. I can tell the noise is coming from the wooden dining table this time. I can see the entire table from where I'm sitting with ease and there is nothing on the table that should be making that noise. no one except myself and my brother are awake. There's no one in the dining room. There is no logical reason for this knocking noise to be moving around us. Just then, I realized the knocking sounds have been moving in a big circle around us.

If the invisible entity is to move any closer to us, the next logical place would be for it to be in the living room where me and my brother are currently sitting. No sooner than that thought crossed my mind, it happened again. knock, knock, knock. This time the noise was coming from the coffee table, sitting less than one foot away from us. I instantly flip over the back of my couch

in a reverse somersault-like motion, and I run at superhuman speed to my father's bedroom. In my panic, I completely left my little three-year-old brother behind to fend for himself. Luckily, he wasn't too far behind. We sneak into our father's room and quietly lay on the floor. Our dad would have been super-mobile, mad if we woke him up early on a Saturday morning, even for a ghost. In our commotion, we wake up

our six-year-old sister who's sleeping on our dad's floor. Us three kids always slept on his floor together when we were visiting. So we quietly whisper what just happened out in the living room to our sister. As we're telling her the story, something catches our eye. We could see a black shadow under the small space between the bottom of the door and the plush carpet. This black shadow is slowly pacing back and forth in the hallway just on the other side of the bedroom door. Just back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, like the shadow is waiting for us. Unfortunately, I don't remember what happened after this point. Somehow the rest of that memory has been lost with time, but I know for sure that we did not open that door.

As an adult, I often wish that I would have been brave and opened the door. What would have been waiting? Would the entity have entered the room and attacked? Would we have been shocked and confused to find the hallway empty? Would the gray shadow just keep pacing the hallway, oblivious to our frightened, curious eyes? I've done a lot of research on the home and property over the years, and I can't find any evidence of a death or tragedy that would account for so much paranormal activity. I've also reached out to the previous and current owners to see if they had any strange experiences.

The two families who lived there previously said they never had any strange experiences, nor did the family who lived there right after my family. The family currently living there did not respond to my question, and, in hindsight, I regret even asking them. It wasn't cool of me to even put that thought in their heads. Prior to the home being built, all I can find is that the land the house sits on was part of a farm for a family that I could find very little information on.

So, was my family haunted? Or were we all suffering from a 12-plus year mass hysteria? Back in 98, my best friend, Jessica, and I were really into ghosts and gore. We would have her dad rent faces of death on the weekends, camp out at her house, and just indulge. Working at the video store was your typical video store employee back in the 90s. late 20s, single, and lives with his mom. He and his mom lived in the neighborhood for quite a while, so he had all the stories. We would spend hours in the video store looking over videos and conversing with Jim.

Jim had all the neighborhood stories. There was this house at the end of my street, closer to Jessica's house, that constantly had families moving in and out. All short stays, no longer than a year. Our high school bus stop was directly in front of this home. The longest tenant in the home were a gothic kid and his older mom. They stayed for the better part of a year. While at the video store one day, Jim tells us the story of the house at our bus stop and why no one seems to be able to live in it for an extended amount of time.

The story goes that there was a party in the house back in the 70s, and supposedly a woman was decapitated, wrapped in the carpet, and then relocated. Needless to say, my friends and I must investigate. By this time, the house is empty again. She spends the night at my house, and we planned to sneak out in the middle of the night to check it out. The time comes, it's two, three in the morning. Jess and I, for whatever reason, crawl on all fours down the street until, were a safe distance from my house, enter the house through the backyard, past the pool, used it as a

restroom, and proceeded into the house through the kitchen. The kitchen area is an open floor plan attached to the living room with the bathroom and the bedrooms breaking off. We were being really disrespectful. I can't recall what we were doing or saying, but it wasn't nice. We walked into the bathroom closest to the kitchen, and we started to smell this horrid stench, something along the lines of rotting meat. We walked into the bathroom, and all of a sudden, this bright green orb comes shooting out of the toilet headed straight towards us. We screamed and ran out the back door, from which we came, past the swimming pool and

past the window of the bathroom that we just ran out of. The entire bathroom was illuminated a bright green color. and we ran our back-ends back to my house to never go back. What the hell was that? For context, this happened when I was around 12. I'm 19 now and I am female. Anyways, I've always been very street smart and was very mature at a very young age. It ended up helping out a lot in my favor.

I used to have a best friend that was like a sister to me growing up. so her family was like family to me as well. We used to go to our local theme park all the time. We had year passes. One day when we went, her mom and two sisters, six and eight, also went with us. On the way there, the older one had to go use the restroom, so we stopped at the closest place, which ended up being a Circle K. Her mom had a small civic that was older, so we had the windows halfway up to let their air in,

because the AC was garbage. And when they went to the bathroom, I somehow ended up in the front seat. I think I had a gut feeling that something was wrong. And I stayed in the car with their youngest sister, while everyone else went inside. I then noticed a man come out of the store, take a look at us, and then look at his car, then back to us. He was obviously thinking about something. Not necessarily anything bad, but you could visually tell that he was thinking

of what's to do. He then puts the stuff he just bought in his car, gets in, and grabs something. He then gets out of his car and comes right up to the driver's side door. I was in the passenger, and reaches his arm through the window to dangle a small,

single pearl necklace in my face, and asks me if it was mine. I said no, and he asked again if I was sure, with such a weird, like, giddy smile that he was hiding. and the same smile he had looking for the thing. I had my hand on the door as soon as I saw him, and the only thing going through my mind was protecting the six-year-old in the back seat,

who was out of the car seat and leaned up on the center console to see what he was showing me. I lightly but sternly pushed her back to show her something was wrong. I luckily have always been that way, and so my fight instinct kicked in very fast, and I told him off. and then I rolled the window up on his arm. I can't remember exactly what I said, but to make a longer-than-necessary story short, we called the police and we couldn't proceed with anything

because he never directly asked me to get in the car with him. But I know that his intentions were not good. His whole vibe was horrible. I'm so glad that I was not alone in the situation, as I might have frozen up or something. I hope that this guy, is somewhere far away from everyone, though. I think about it sometimes, and I just pray that he hasn't done the same thing again since.

When I was a child, I had two separate experiences that may have been supernatural, or may have simply been my mind playing tricks on me. However, when I was about 18 or 19, I experienced something that was definitely supernatural. On the southern tip of Staten Island, there lies the conference house and its surrounding park. Up until early 2000, there was about half a dozen houses on Parks Department grounds that were vacated and demolished so that they could make walking trails and such. An ex-girlfriend of mine has lived in one of these houses with her mother and sisters. When I would spend the night, I would share the pull-out bed with her in the living room.

However, there was one night where it was particularly hot, so we went upstairs and slept in her sister's bedroom since it was cooler in there, and they wouldn't be home that night. For whatever reason, I could not sleep comfortably that night. I would wake up and just look out towards the window across the room. Around the third time I woke up, I saw something, standing between the bed and the window, but nearer to the window. but nearer to the window. I was told that this house was haunted, and in the year and a half, since I started hanging out there

with my ex and her sisters, I had never seen anything. So, this one night, I see standing near the window a silhouette of a human figure. It was just standing there. Even though the room was dark, there was still enough moonlight illuminating the room,

yet what I saw was pitch, black. I'm talking as black as black can be. I was not able to make out any facial distinctions. It was like devoid of anything human. It really just was a black silhouette and it was terrifying. After staring at this entity for what seemed like forever, or just three seconds, I woke up my then-girlfriend. I asked if she was seeing what I was seeing, and she did. I quickly asked what we should do, and she said that we should go downstairs, to which all I could say was, okay. Luckily, the door to the hallway was about two feet away from the bed on her side.

After she got up, I quickly followed. Instead of getting up on my side, which would have placed me between the foot of the bed and the entity, I rolled across the bed and hurried on my way out, never looking back. That was the one and only time I ever experienced anything in that house. But that moment has stayed with me for nearly 20 years. Even though those houses were demolished in the early 2000s, I don't dare walk down that block at night. When I was about five years old, my mom told me about a ghost story of hers.

She was at a costume party and took a full. photo in front of her old family TV. I don't have the photo. They all looked at the photo and saw a little silhouette of a young boy, and they were absolutely flabbergasted, thinking ghost didn't exist. A couple of years later, before I was born, my mom worked as a beauty therapist, and she had a client, and the client noticed a young boy, and the client then asked my mom, do you have a son? My mom answered no And then the client said that there was a young boy hiding behind the counter My mom was terrified knowing that it might be the boy from the costume party

Back to around the present day, 22 I was 12 years old and one night before I went to sleep My eyes flashed Like when your eyes get rubbed too hard And then out of the corner of my eyes standing right next to me Was a boy He looked exactly how my mom described him. My mom always mentioned the spirit as a nice ghost,

and that it would never hurt anyone. As I'm writing this now, I'm currently in my room lying in the place the spirit was last found, and I'm just getting goosebumps thinking about how it can probably hear me right now. We think that it's my older brother, who died at birth, just watching us. There is a place in Nova Scotia, known locally as Little Girl's Grave. It's a gravestone of a young girl named Catherine McIntosh.

She died of an illness and was originally buried in McLennan's cemetery. However, due to a dispute with a neighbor, her body was dug up and moved to the side of Greenvale Road in front of the family farm. One night, I went with two friends to visit the gravestone. It was a dark and gloomy night. Driving down the eerie winding road until we came upon the location, we'd actually brought a toy to leave the gravestone. The local lore surrounding this site says to leave a toy for her and to never take a toy away.

It wasn't until we left and began driving down the dirt road that we had a paranormal experience. We noticed on the front windshield and the condensation, a small child's footprint on the glass. It was so detailed and human-like, it scared us quite a bit to say the least. One of the friends that I had visited the gravesite with, we worked at the same restaurant at the time. A few days after we had visited the site, we were working together,

and we both heard something truly bizarre. It was the sound of a child laughing, very faintly. We both stared at each other and did, disbelief, and we had no idea where the sound originated from whatsoever, as there was no one around except the two of us. Not long after this, we had a falling out and have not spoken with each other since 2013. This is one of the only paranormal experiences that I have encountered in my life. If anyone who reads this has had any similar experiences at this gravestone, please Share it with this community.

Thank you for reading my story, and may you all have a good evening.