As The Raven Dreams Podcast - ATRD Ep. 064 - Online Dating Stories & Unexplained Horror Stories - 9 True Scary Stories

Episode Date: February 17, 2023

This Episode is Sponsored by Better Help.  Hello and Welcome to the 64th episode of The ATRD Podcast! Today we have some intriguing and terrifying stories submitted by everyday people. In Today's Episode we will have stories about the horror of Online dating, as well as some stories that simply have no explanation.  ➤ Want your story featured? Go to https://www.astheravendreams.com/Submit ➤ Want to know where to follow me on the internet? Go to https://www.astheravendreams.com/the-nevermore for all my links! ➤ You can also get EARLY ACCESS By joining my Patreon! https://patreon.com/astheravendreams Thank you to all of the authors that have stories in today's Video...  Edgar J, IRC Chatter, Susan, Jada, Michelle, A.C. Smart, RD, Anchored Lotus Tarot, and any authors that requested anonymity! ➤ All stories within are used w/ Either direct permission from the author- or under some level of CC license (where noted) True Stories are not verified, and should all be considered 'supposedly true'.  And Remember; You are loved, you are important, and you are valid. Never let anyone tell you otherwise. --- 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

Beyevue at board of Viarai. Embarked and profited. Embarked and relaxes. Cirotay. Bukinay. Oh, that also. And profite. Viaray, the voice that we love that we love. If you have a story you would like to hear featured on this podcast, please go to ashtheravendreams.com and click the button to submit your story. Also, if the platform you're listening on has the option to rate this podcast, please consider doing it. so. And thank you. I've been flirting, if you will, with online dating for probably the last four or five years now.

And before you start to feel bad for me, it wasn't consistent. I would go on a few dates that seemed fine and then something would end up happening or we just wouldn't click. So I would quit, get rid of the apps, and delete my profiles. I would then try again and unfortunately the cycle would keep repeating. But I wasn't willing to give up yet. I still wanted to find someone that I could spend the rest of my life with, so I cleaned myself up and again updated my profiles ready to start searching.

This was early 2022. I guess I was feeling more confident about myself and the state of the world, as I went on another hiatus from mid-2020 until close to the end of 2021 for obvious reasons. I had a few matches, some that ended pretty quickly at the chatting part, but others I was actually able to go out with. However, there was one girl that really drew me to her, and I thought I was the luckiest man around when she actually agreed to a date. This girl's name was Callie.

telling me that it was short for Calliope. She had long, wavy hair that probably went about to her mid-back in a copper-blonde color. She had soft green eyes that complimented the freckles on her face. But her smile and her laugh was really what did it for me. It was adorable. She had some kind of dumb joke on her profile too, which I had answered it correctly.

it's already off to a good start when they don't take it too seriously. We talked for a bit, and then we even video-chatted a few times before we actually went on a date. The first date went perfect. We had dinner, then we walked around a nice dog park and got ice cream nearby. It's normally here where I feel good about things, but we'll then get a message through the dating site saying that it won't work and I would start over. However, Callie surprised me. She said that she would love to do something again.

So eventually we had our second date, and we went to a movie and arcade, which was a lot of fun. We started learning that we had a lot in common, especially in the type of music that we listened to. So when she asked me if I wanted to go to a concert with her for a band that we both enjoyed, I agreed. I even offered to pay for both tickets, or just mine, but she refused, saying that she had already bought them. Now, I had never really gotten this far in the process, so I don't know how long this normally took for others, but this all happened within the span of a month. So I dressed a little down from what I normally wore, picking a band shirt and jeans, and when I picked her up, she was wearing something similar.

Although it looked much better on her. We decided to grab a few slices of pizza before the show and went to a local pizzeria that was probably about 45 minutes away from the venue. Unfortunately, as we were enjoying our pizza and each other's company, she got an email or a text about an electrical fire occurring at the venue. And until they knew it was safe, all shows would be cancelled, starting from that night forward.

until further notice. We were both pretty disappointed, because I think we were both really looking forward to it. After moping for a bit, I suggested that we still drive around the area, as we may have been able to find the band members at a local bar or something. However, she had better ideas,

and suggested that we just go back to my place. This was not something I would have ever offered nor have expected. The reasons should be obvious, but being a guy I never wanted to suggest anything and I really didn't have much self-esteem, but she insisted, saying that we should make the most of the night.

So, after we finished eating, we left, stopping only to get some cheap wine at her recommendation, and headed back to my place. Once we got there, I played some music from the same band that we were supposed to see, and I even put on a previous live performance of theirs on YouTube, trying to be funny or sweet, I guess. After we talked for a while, things heated up, so we ended our night in the bedroom. That night was fantastic, and since we didn't work the next day, I was looking forward to spending the day with her.

yet when I woke up that morning, the spot next to me was empty. I thought, no problem, maybe she just got up before me and was in the bathroom, or even maybe she beat me to making breakfast. So I got out of bed, walked past the bathroom to see the door open. I went to the kitchen, and I noticed it was empty too. I got a little discouraged at first thinking maybe she had left. left, but her purse was still sitting on the coffee table. Then I heard a loud crash and realized I didn't check the spare room, which I had made

into my makeshift office. I quickly ran to the room, opening the door, and a flood of emotions ran through me as I saw Callie standing over what was my laptop, holding a hammer, and her face was a splotchy, crying mess. When I was finally able to talk, I blurted out, what the hell happened? I know. I'm dumb. It was obvious, but for some reason I still didn't want to believe it. In a shaky voice, she made comments about me seeing other people behind her back. I was confused by this because I hadn't been.

So I tried to figure out what exactly she was talking about. She said she noticed my dating profile where we met and saw that I had gone on other dates other than her. However, I guess what she failed to see was that I hadn't gone on any other dates since I went on the first one with her. There were ones prior, yes. But I had two more lined up around the same time that we met, but I had cancelled them because I was into her.

for some reason none of this worked for her or maybe it was just too late I don't know but she kept screaming about how I was a liar and how I was just using her I again tried to reason with her and calm her down but nothing was working she snapped

and she said that I was going to pay for hurting her and she then charged at me with the hammer I ran out of the room, holding the door shut behind me, hoping to just buy a little bit of time to think about what I needed to do. That's when I could tell that she was swinging the hammer at the door. I let go of the door and made a mad dash to the front door, running out of my apartment in only my boxers. I ran down the stairs and started banging on the door to another apartment. There was an older lady that answered, and my God, I still feel awful to this day for doing this, but I ran in begging her to call the cops and trying to explain what happened.

I think that she was already about to call 911 on me alone. I stayed by her front door, stopping myself from looking around her place, hoping that my pathetic self looked harmless to her, until I heard the police knocking and calling out. I opened up the door, and I told them what happened, and I led them to my apartment. They made me stay outside so that they could get my side of things, while another cop went in to get her.

After a short time, it was a small apartment after all, I heard shouting in what I assumed to be people struggling. They finally came out with her in handcuffs. She had on one of my t-shirts that she had slept in, but also the zip-up jacket that I had worn the night before. When she saw me, she instantly became enraged, and they had to calm her down again to get her into the car. They then had me walk through my place to see if anything was taken or if anything else was damaged. She ended up finding my cell phone and breaking that, and she also smashed a picture that I had in my living room of myself,

mom and my sister. My dad died when I was young, so they were the only two people that were really significant to me. Oh, they also found her hanging off of my balcony, talking about how she was going to jump. I lived on the second floor, so she may have had some broken bones if she did, but that was about it. Not to mention, it was grass below my patio, not concrete. After all, was, said and done, I think I was just confused and disappointed more than anything. I didn't press charges, but she had actually bitten the officer that had detained her, so they had their own charges to file. I don't know what exactly changed or happened, nor will I probably ever know, but I felt

bad for her more than anything. There was obviously something wrong. or maybe something traumatic had happened to her to cause her to be like that, but I think she probably could have used help more than charges. In the end, I just got a cheap phone until tax season and replaced them both at that point. I don't really know whatever happened to Callie as she never tried to contact me after that, but I really do hope that she's doing better. But, yeah, I'm also...

taking a break from dating. Again. I have a strange story that occurred back when I was in middle school that I genuinely cannot explain. Back then, I didn't have many friends, but the friends that I did have were pretty close. We were a bit of a click, but when you don't have many people to talk to or do things with,

that sort of thing does happen. My group of friends included three other guys. We'll just call them J, T, and P. The four of us were super close all throughout elementary school, and we were more like a small band of brothers than just casual friends. This continued up to middle school as well. We had several classes together, so it worked out pretty well for us. The second quarter of the second year of middle school,

which would have made it the eighth grade, I think, we ended up adding a fifth person to our little group of friends, a boy named Mark. I'm using Mark's name because he's probably the most important person in this story, as the event is about him specifically, and for other reasons that may make sense later. Mark had apparently gone to the same elementary school as us, though he wasn't in the same class as the first.

four of us, and we had never met him. I remember when I asked him about it, he had mentioned that he was in my class in fourth and sixth grade, but I couldn't remember him being in the classroom. He knew the teacher's names, and he knew other kids in the classes, which told me that he probably wasn't lying. I felt bad, but I just couldn't recall him being there. Now, the reason that we added mark to our friend group is kind of strange. He just sort of showed up one day during the morning and at lunch, like he had always been there. He acted like he had always been part of our group. He was talking to us, laughing about things that only we would have found funny. It was seriously as if he was one of us from day one. But he just kind of showed up and sat with us one day.

I know that may not sound too weird to some people. Maybe he was just really charismatic. But it was weird. And it got weirder. Not because he was there, but because of what happened after that second quarter. In between second and third quarter is winter break, which is basically that week and a half, or so when we don't have class because of Christmas and New Year's.

During this time, I had to spend the entire week, week at my grandparents' house, at my parents' request. So I didn't get to spend any time with my group of friends. I was bummed out about it, and J.T. and P. promised that they wouldn't do anything too stupid without me, as I was always the one getting into trouble. I spent my time there, and then when it came time to go back to school, I noticed that Mark wasn't there on the first day back. I didn't think too much of it.

People get sick when they have all their holiday get-togethers. Maybe he was just sick and going to be back the next day. Now, mind you, at this point, I didn't really mind Mark, but I didn't really feel like he was one of the boys, if that makes sense. I had an issue with him just kind of showing up thinking that we had to accept him as one of us, but I didn't dislike him. He was an okay kid, and he was a pretty funny guy as well. Then, the next day, I noticed that there was still no Mark.

I ended up asking Jay if he had heard from him, and he asked me who I was talking about. T&P both said the same thing. They didn't know anybody named Mark. I thought they were just messing with me at first, just trying to pull one over on me, and then when Mark came back, they would pretend like I was crazy, and that they never said anything about not knowing him. That was, until I asked our math teacher, the only class that I had with Mark.

I asked her if Mark was just out sick, or if he was okay. She had no idea who I was talking about. I described Mark, said his last name to her, told her he was the funny kid with the short, dark hair and glasses that usually sat next to me. And she seriously looked at me like I was insane. She said that the person that sat next to me was a girl in class named Deborah, and that she would be back in class the next day,

but there was never anyone named Mark who had sat next to me, and no one by that name in that class at all. This set me on a really weird and confused path. I actually went back to try to find Mark in any of my elementary school yearbooks, checked my seventh grade yearbook as well, and I couldn't find him at all. I checked my fourth and sixth grade books, and there was never anyone named Mark, last name starting with the G,

in either one of those classes, or the other classes for those years. In fact, there were no marks at all, nor any students with last names starting with G's in the entire year. It was like he was just wiped from the face of the earth entirely, and I was the only one to remember him. It was really strange that this kid that showed up one day like he knew who we all were and had always been our friend, disappeared as quickly as he had integrated into our group.

I really didn't know what to make of this, and I still don't. Like I said, I didn't mind the guy. He wasn't my best friend or anything, but to get to know someone over a couple of months, spend mornings and lunch with him and have math class with him, only to have him simply disappear without a trace. It made me feel like I was crazy. I know that this was not a hallucination, as my other friends interacted with him,

and it was seriously a couple of months. There's no way that I hallucinated a friend for that long. In the end, I just had to accept that this person did not exist and move on. Something I hated doing, but it didn't matter how much I talked about him because no one else knew who he was. I hope that nothing bad happens to him, and I hope that if he was from another time, timeline or something, that he and I stayed friends.

Unfortunately, in this reality, he just simply never existed. Hi, Raven. This event actually happened to me fairly recently, and I wanted to share with you after listening to some similar experiences, so here it goes. I'm in my late 40s, and the closest to a serious long-term relationship I've had was with my kid's father. I got pregnant at 16, which forced us into a marriage per our parents' demands. We were still kids ourselves, and barely knew each other, so it was definitely difficult at first. But we slowly worked on ourselves to make sure that we were there for our little girl.

Then we had another girl that wasn't necessarily planned, but was also very welcomed. However, I had her when I was 30, so my girls are about 15 years apart. Thankfully, they get along regardless of the age difference, and I am incredibly blessed for them. Now, their father seemed to have two sides to him, so while he seemed ecstatic about our second daughter, I guess he was having a midlife crisis and had burned through a bunch of our savings on his friends' wife, whom he also sort of had an affair with. Anyways, long story short, we got a divorce. The girls both chose to stay with me, so good riddance.

So, even though I've only been legally divorced for the last two years, I was already emotionally divorced, or alone for years prior. I was feeling pretty lonely, especially with one daughter already being grown up and have moved out. So, my oldest, Lacey, actually suggested that I put myself out there and try my hand at love again. I'm not the best with technology, but I can get myself around a computer. She came over and got me set up on one site that she had also been using herself.

I had a few younger guys message me, but it was way too weird to me that these guys were interested in me because they were too close to my daughter's age. But I did finally come across a guy named Bill. He was actually two years older than me. He had three kids close to the same age as my younger daughter, and said that his wife had died a few years prior. So he was looking to start over. We started talking through the site,

and then even started talking over the phone. He seemed very family. oriented, which made me feel even better about him. I also shared with him about my little family and how I ended up here. I told him about my two girls, and he also seemed very interested. I've noticed while scrolling through people that there weren't a lot that were interested in a woman with kids at home, so I was relieved more than anything when he asked about my daughters. He asked how old they were, their names.

he asked about things they were interested in, and he seemed like he genuinely cared, which was already winning me over. So, after about a month of talking, I finally got up the courage and agreed to meet him in person. We met at a local coffee shop, which we were both familiar with, and frequented often.

When we met, we hugged, and then I noticed he looked around me and asked where my daughter Molly was, my youngest. I told him that she was in school, as she was 15 at the time. It was a slightly odd question to me, as I knew he had kids around the same age, so I assumed they were in school as well. I did let it go, however, as we did talk about her a lot,

so I assume he was just wanting to meet her, too. We just talked for a while before we eventually decided to leave. It was very kind, very kind, very good. funny, and he had a very distinguished look. He reminded me of a slightly overweight Robert Downey Jr. So, for my age, I thought if this worked out, then I'd gotten lucky. We had continued talking, and we met up for dinner a few nights after. This time, Molly was at a friend's house after a sporting event, so she didn't join us. Bill, again, made a comment about this, and I explained the whole thing to him and he just seemed kind of disappointed. I know now that it was just me being clouded by the

situation, but again, I thought it was kind of sweet that he was so interested in meeting my kids. So I told him that we could look into scheduling something so we could both bring our kids, and he seemed to like the idea. It was probably about two weeks later, and the church that I volunteer at was doing a potluck dinner. Molly and I were already planning on going and everyone was invited, so I thought I would ask Bill to join us, since there would be plenty of kids for them to play with, too. He happily agreed. We planned to meet there that night. However, when we all arrived, I saw him get out of his Jeep with what I assumed to be his youngest, who was only around eight or nine. I asked him about the others, and he said that they were all busy doing something else, so he just had the youngest.

I knelt down to say hello, knowing their name already, but they were really shy. But that was understandable. Bill quickly cut our conversation off, though, to ask where Molly was, and I told him that she was already inside helping out. So I escorted him into the church and went to get Molly to introduce her. Molly knew that I had been talking to Bill, so she also knew what he looked like, and a little about him from what I had told her. She's also a very kind and outgoing girl, so when she approached us, she smiled and said hello. Bill immediately pulled her in for a hug. She hugged back and even laughed about it.

Again, I thought it was a sweet moment, and I was really happy that they both seemed okay with each other. But then as the night progressed, I started noticing things that were making me uneasy. As we sat and talked while eating, he was talking to Molly even more than he was talking to me. He was asking her similar questions that he asked me on our coffee date. He asked her what she was interested in, what she liked to do, her goals and aspirations, all of it. Again, it just seemed like he cared about her feelings, but then it was. got weirder. He started asking her with a present if she had a boyfriend. Molly and I were really close, so I knew that she was kind of seeing a boy at the time. They'd basically gone to

their school dance together. She answered him, saying yes, and he said, ah, well, a boy's lucky to have a beautiful girl like you. She smiled and thanked him. He continued to ask her more, but when I tried to ask about his son, he would barely answer me. And Bill would answer for him or stop me from being able to talk to him, which I found really odd. Feeling a bit weird, I decided to grab all of our plates and take them into the kitchenette. I wasn't gone long, but when I came back, Molly jumped up and said that she was going off to help in the back and then rushed off. I thought it was odd, but decided to leave it alone for the moment. I went to sit down again,

but Bill then stood up saying that he had to leave, and after a quick, half-hearted hug, he was gone. And with that, the whole night ended with this really weird aura. On our way home from church, I noticed that Molly was extremely quiet, which was unlike her. I asked her if something was wrong, and after a deep breath,

She said no. I know her too well, and I know that there was something wrong, so I pushed, refusing to take that as an answer. Thankfully, it didn't take long to get it out of her. She said that she didn't like Bill, and that she didn't want me to see him anymore. She then explained the situation at the church, and it made me sick to my stomach. Bill had asked her if she was a virgin, and if she had ever experimented with a boy or with herself. She told me that she didn't know how to respond,

so she just sat there and he told her that if she was ever curious, she could come talk to him about it. There were other little things he said, but as soon as she saw me coming, she jumped out of the conversation. I was horrified and disgusted. I had no reason not to believe her. Both of my girls were happy that I was willing to find someone, so she wasn't the type to try and sabotage this,

especially with this insane of a story. I apologized immensely to her and told her that it would never happen again. I messaged Bill that night and tore him a new one, and I told him that I was reporting him as well. He never messaged me back. I reported it to the authorities, but to my surprise, they couldn't even track the guy down. I had printed out his profile, so at least I had a photo of him, but his profile had since been deleted. His phone number had also been disconnected, and after looking into this guy further, it all seemed made up.

I don't know who I actually met, or even if that kid was his. I was horrified that I brought this stranger around my daughter, and I kept my promise and told myself and my girls that if I ever meet someone else, I will make sure to do a thorough check on him before they meet. But, to be honest, I think I'm pretty happy with just my girls from the time being. The story is really reaching back to a time before all the dating sites were really a thing, and way before small. smartphones and apps were the center of our lives. Back then, before everything was so simplified, I used to be a long-time member of a certain IRC. For the kids out there, that's Internet Relay Chat Room.

These were chat rooms that were more or less embedded on websites, and they were pretty much anonymous in the fact that all you really had to have was a display name, and not much else. Hell, most of them had a feature that would let you join in as an unnamed guest, and the rooms would sometimes be filled with guests 04, 235, and such. They were a lot of fun, and I kind of miss those days, but nowadays the internet is all about look at me specifically, so the idea of anonymity being a core concept is relegated to pretty much just the dark web.

Now, despite the fact that there was this layer of anonymity with IRC chat rooms, it was actually quite common to, quote unquote, find love while chatting with these people. There was a direct messaging system too, so you could have conversations one on one, and you could get to know the person on the other end pretty well, even if there was no way to confirm literally anything they told you or said. I'm certain that some of the people I spoke with, what were interested in me, were probably 60-year-old guys pretending to be women in their 20s. And that's okay. I could safely say that this was a long time ago, or that that was the old me. Now, there was one person that I spoke with in these chat rooms that I actually did have a bit of a relationship with. albeit only for a couple of months. Her username was the title to an evanescence song,

with some X's and numbers thrown in the mix, but I can safely say that her actual name was Taylor. Taylor was a year older than me at the time. I was 21, and she had just turned 22 when we met, and had started speaking. I don't remember why we started talking one-on-one, but we did. And after a while, things seemed to get to a point where we both wanted to start a relationship. Now, long-distance relationships back then were a bit different than what they are in 2023.

Long-distance phone calls were expensive, and cell phones had set text and talk minutes, so it wasn't like you could be as close to the other person as you can in the current year. because of this, we had our IRC conversations, and we also had emailed each other a few times. And, before anybody mentions that Taylor was probably one of the 60-year-old men that liked to roleplay as a young woman, I actually knew that Taylor was legit. We had sent pictures to each other, including picks, to prove that we were real. This was essentially a picture with the date, time, and our username, written on our hands in Sharpie and covering one of our eyes.

Yes, things were that complex back then. You had to be creative to come up with something that was difficult to fake, to prove that you were who you said you were. Now, all of this is to say that Taylor was gorgeous. She was exactly what you would think of when I say, 22-year-old girl with an evanescence username that likes to talk in IRC rooms. dyed black hair, bright blue eyes, liked the color black on everything, had a few face piercings, and let me tell you, I instantly fell in love with her.

I even told her that she was literally the girl I was looking for in life, and she thought that that was the funniest thing ever. From there, we did say that we were dating, actually. We would chat every night, send her. pictures of ourselves through email, and while things never went past PG-13, this was the happiest I had ever been in my life. We had our little relationship for almost three months on the dot, and everything seemed great, until there was a stretch of time that she just didn't log in. I didn't see her in our chat rooms, and I would email her, but she wouldn't reply. I was genuinely a

upset, thinking maybe something happened to her, maybe she wasn't really as interested in me as she had claimed. I was almost heartbroken, thinking I had messed this up, and that this was a once-in-a-lifetime thing that I had just ruined. I kept emailing her every night, just hoping she would see them or maybe send a response like, oh, my internet was out for a few days, sorry about that. Or, I was out of town. I was basically holding out hope that she would say anything to bring it back together. And then, I did get her response. But it was a rather strange one.

It was just, hey, hop on IRC. It actually made me almost giddy to hear from her again, so I did what she requested and logged in. Immediately she sent me a DM saying hello. I replied, asking how she was, and if she was, was okay. She completely ignored those messages and just said, What's your address? I want to send you something. I have to pause here to say that I was dumb, and I was in love with this girl, so I didn't hesitate at all in giving this random internet person my address. Nowadays, I would be lambasted for doing something so stupid, and rightfully so, but back then,

There really wasn't this concept of internet strangers are not your friend. So I responded to her, told her my address, thinking that this was maybe the start of us moving into something a little more serious. Of course, the response that I got back was not what I expected, nor what I wanted. The message that I got back from Taylor was clear as day, and I actually remember it word for word. This is Taylor's husband. Stop messaging my girl, or else you'll be next.

And that was it. What I would be next for was anybody's guess, but this was pretty clearly a threat. I mentioned that she never told me she was married, and then mentioned that she and I were really good friends, and if he was really her husband, I would respect that. After a few moments of silence, they logged out of the account leaving me confused, devastated, and just overall feeling kind of betrayed. That was the last time that I ever spoke with that account.

They never logged back into the server, and Taylor never responded to any of my emails. So that was effectively the end of my relationship, but not the end of the story. About two weeks later, I actually got a package at my house. The return address just said, Taylor. There was no address or city or anything like that. It was just her name. I hesitated to opening it, thinking that it was going to be something messed up, and, well, it was. When I opened the box and moved all the packing materials,

there at the bottom of the box was a kitchen knife, and on the blade of the kitchen knife was a hard, crusty, brown-red substance, that I assume was blood. I immediately called the police, asking them to send an officer to my house, because I had gotten a package with a potential murder weapon. That was a really fun story to try to explain to the officer when he got there, not going to lie. I had to tell him that I had met a girl on the internet, and that we were dating, but then her real real. life husband had threatened me after I gave him my address, and then today the package showed up. I feel like if I had to tell this story to an officer this year, it would be less strange, but back in 2003, it was like explaining foreign concepts, and they had a lot of questions.

I ended up having to go to the station to pretty much be interrogated, and after answering questions for about four hours, they decided that I was probably telling the truth, and they took the knife, saying that they would look further into it. I don't know what they were looking into. All I had was her first name, online username, and a picture of her.

I have no idea if their investigation ever went anywhere, nor do I know if that blood was human. But it was definitely sent to me as a threat, and it told me what he meant when he said I was next. All of this was 20 years ago. And looking back, I do kind of miss the old internet. Hopefully this can trigger some nostalgia for your older audience and maybe educate your younger audience on how things used to be.

Remember kids, don't tell strangers where you live, or you may end up with a bloody knife in your mailbox. I have a really weird story from way back when I was a very young lad. I think at the time I would have been around 12, maybe 13 at the very oldest. Back then, I lived in my parents' old house, which was pretty much in the middle of nowhere in the northern Midwest. I don't want to give the exact location, because I really don't know what this whole thing was about, and if it was more serious than I think, I don't want to, I guess, anger someone or a group of people.

I know that sounds stupid, but to me it makes sense, especially with what I saw and how it ended up. Back then, I used to spend a lot of time hiking in the woods behind my neighborhood. There weren't any other kids in my area, and my only sibling was my older sister, so my child's, so my childhood was honestly pretty boring and void of friendship. I made the best of it, though, and I used to make up a lot of fun games with myself.

Not that I remember what I used to actually do, just used to play some dumb games until I had to go home for dinner. This event actually took place in those woods. It was sometime in the middle of summer because I was out of school and was home alone for most of the day, because my sister was always over at her girlfriend's house, so I just pretty much did whatever I wanted to do. On this day, I was doing as I always did and went out into the woods to see what I could get up to.

I was out playing, doing a whole lot of nothing, when I noticed something out a bit in the forest. It kind of looked like a person, like it was a person standing in the woods, and they were of an adult's height, stature, but they were just standing there completely and totally still. I was a bit nervous at first. I hadn't seen anyone in these woods in the years that I have lived there, and most of the

people didn't spend any time back there. It was really strange to see this person just standing in the woods, and even weirder that they were wearing all black from top to bottom. It looked like they were wearing a ski mask, too, since the back of their head was a little. covered and some kind of black cloth as well. Again, this was the middle of summer. It was kind of hot outside, so the fact they were wearing all black in what appeared to be a ski mask was even weirder. I started kind of creeping around to see what exactly this person was looking at,

because like I mentioned, he was just standing there, completely stone still. At first, I was kind of sneaking around, but again he wasn't paying any attention to me, so after a bit, I just stopped sneaking, and I just kind of started walking around him from a safe distance. Honestly, I wasn't 100% sure that he was actually a person and not a mannequin that was placed there, because he didn't react to me walking around into what would have been his line of sight. As I got around to the front, I noticed two things that made this whole thing even weirder. First off, he wasn't staring at anything. There was nothing in front of him. He was just standing there and looking down at the ground. Secondly, he was wearing a plain white mask with no details.

It was a mask that was shaped like a person's face, but it was just plain white with no other details. So, to reiterate, this person was standing completely still, wearing all black, including some kind of head covering, and was wearing a detailless white mask, and he was staring at literally nothing. After just standing there for a few moments, I decided that this was actually terrifying, and I took off to go back home. Again, I kept my distance, but he continued to not pay attention nor. acknowledged that I was anywhere nearby. There was a point where I did get close enough to see that this man was breathing, and that this was a person, not a mannequin. I went home and I wasn't really sure what I should do,

or if I should actually do anything. Because he wasn't hurting anybody, or doing anything illegal or anything like that. I did tell my mom when she got home that there was a weird man in the woods, and she told me that it was public and that there wasn't anything wrong with that. I kind of just accepted that response and moved on. Now, it doesn't quite end there. There is actually a little bit more to this story.

A couple of days after that happened, I had actually gone back out into the woods because I wanted to see if the man was still there. I have no idea why I thought he would still be there, or again as it was a few days later. I guess I just thought that if he was there again, then whatever he was doing was certainly sketchy, and I could possibly get my parents out there to see what was happening.

Of course, he wasn't there, but when I went out to where he was standing, I did find something that I did not expect. Right there where the man was standing, was a small wooden cross stabbed into the ground, and the white mask was nailed to where the two parts of the wood crossed over. There was nothing written on the cross, there was nothing else there just the cross with the mask.

Back then, it was just weird to me and I had no idea what to think. But now, part of me thinks that it may have had something to do with a cult or something, because it was just odd behavior, and the whole cross thing was just bizarre. And that's actually why I didn't want to mention the location, because if it was a cult thing, I don't want them coming to find me, because I still live in the town.

And before anyone asks, no, I never went back to that area of the woods, no, I've never told anyone else about the cross, and I have no idea if it's still there. So, to me, this was the scariest thing that I've ever experienced, and I hope that I never experience anything like it again. Lazzang sur-gillet,

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50 tours gratuys on a machine-soubeck-bas-bonanza. Depos minimum of $10. Veil to play in a fashion responsible. The conditions apply. I'll hit the highlights to try to keep this shortish, but it took place over the course of 35 years, so be warned. It started when my college roommate clipped a runner from one of the Philodendrons in the student union and then stuck it in an empty jar with some water back in our dorm room.

A few days later, She delightedly showed me the tiny rootlets sprouting from a joint and said, Look, my baby's teething, and that's how baby got its name. The first incident happened the next semester, and I didn't link it to baby until much later. I had a paper due and had to type it up. This was before the time of PCs, and I kept my electric typewriter in a narrow space between the head of my bed

and the cinder block wall. But it wasn't. there. I looked around at all the places that it could conceivably have been. Under the desk, on the desk, in the closet, nope. There just weren't that many places that it could have been hiding in that tiny dorm room. I kept coming back to the space between the bed and the wall, because that's where it should have been. And I couldn't understand why it wasn't there. I even went out to my car thinking that I might have taken it home with me over the weekend, though I knew that I hadn't. Nope. I went back to the room, again, looked where it was supposed to be, still an empty space with no

typewriter or case. I sat down on my bed racking my brain for where it might possibly be. I had looked everywhere. I got up and again looked where it was supposed to be, and it was there. My roommate had been sitting at the other side of the desk the whole time working on her own assignment, watching my frantic search. When I pulled it out, her jaw dropped. And no, there was no way she could have had anything to do with its disappearance, nor reappearance. I didn't have time to puzzle it over. I had an assignment to get done in time to get some sleep.

A couple of years later, my roommate changed universities, and I inherited Baby. The first incident I directly associated with Baby happened while I was living in a haunted dorm room. So again, I didn't associate cause and effect with Baby until later. My sweetmate had a helium balloon that went missing from her room. Somehow, it got through two locked doors and into my room where it was. was wedged between baby's hanging pot and the window. We joked that baby liked balloons and let him keep it. Things disappearing and reappearing,

sometimes in unlikely or too obvious places, it became a fact of life. Apparently baby had a shoe fetish because often it would be a single shoe that disappeared. But it could be anything. The most inconvenient of which were my keys or my driver's license. Usually I would shrug and wait for it to reappear because it always did. If it was something I needed in short order, or the disappearance became a hassle, I would buy baby a balloon. The needed item would then reappear and things would calm town for a while.

Time passed. Years. Decades. Space ensued. Different dorm rooms and apartments. Different cities. Different states. I went through a variety of roommates and friend groups as well, and anyone who spent any significant time in my home came to know Baby's kleptomaniac ways, and just accepted as a running joke. Until a few years later, when, during a series of moves in rapid secession and a great deal of stress, I neglected Baby, and it died.

Despite my belated efforts, I could not revive it. You would think that this would be the end, but no. When things get misplaced, I have to find them myself. I can't just offer baby a propitatory balloon and have the item reappear someplace obvious. And I find myself missing baby. Every time I see a philodendron, if it's the right shade, leaf size, and shape, and a variegated variety, I'm tempted to get a cutting.

But would it be the same? Last summer, on my way to visit my folks, I drove through the town where I attended college. I drove around the university and I'll do it again next summer. I'm sure that in 35 years, the student union has been redecorated and the plants are probably long gone. But I'm equally sure that any philodendron on campus that looks like baby is from the same cultivar lineage. Next summer, I will find one, and I will get a cutting. To answer any anticipated questions, no recreational pharmaceuticals were involved. Most of my friends didn't even drink.

We found college to be a liminal experience on its own, without any mood-altering substances involved. No, this is not fiction. Every part of it is true, and yes, I have submitted the story of the haunted. dorm room. I'm not exactly sure which topic the situation would be acceptable for, but I'm going to say it's leaning more towards creepy stories or paranormal encounters. Also, extreme trigger warning. This is very disturbing. Please make sure that you're in the correct headspace to read this true, but extremely disturbing situation that is very much affecting my entire life. A little over a year ago, I found a video in my TikTok drafts.

That in itself is weird, because I always keep my draft folder cleared out. Anyway, I noticed a video and of course was curious about what it was, so I opened it. The video was of myself. However, I was staring into the camera and not saying anything. My eyes looked different, and they began to turn a solid black color as a straight. Grin crossed my face. The expression on my face was as if I was someone or something that had never seen myself in a reflection or on camera.

The facial expressions were not mine. I immediately got chills all over and my heart started to race. Who or what was this? I've never sleepwalked, so I'm sure that it wasn't that. I was awake in the video and coherent, but the face was not mine, and I have absolutely no recollection of recording this weird footage of myself, just glaring into the camera. It was also dark, and there was absolutely no sound. I didn't speak. I didn't explain what the video was.

It was just me glaring into the camera with a wicked-looking face and black eyes. I still have the video and I've shared it on my social media, hoping to find answers from the paranormal community. One person claims I could be what is called a changeling. I didn't know what a changeling was, so I researched it. I got a sick feeling in my stomach as I learned what a changeling is. It's basically when your soul is stolen and your body is taken over by something paranormal as a child. Without writing an entire book about changelings, I'll leave it up to the listeners to look it up. There have been other incidents with me that also lead me to believe that this could be what is going on.

My fiancé said that one time I was asleep in the middle of the night, and he was laying next to me reading. He said that I suddenly sat straight up in the bed, and I turned my head almost robotically straight at him, and just glared at him. He said that it creeped him out so much that he left the room. He said that it didn't look like me, and that it seemed like my body had been taken over by something dark. This has been one of the many incidents over the last year since I found that video footage.

How long has this been going on? Could I be doing stuff at night and not even know about it? It's another level of creepy knowing. that something is taking over my body while I sleep. The worst part is, no one can help me, and when I tell people about it, they instantly become afraid of me and I get ghosted a lot. Can anyone tell me what is happening to me?

Please, if you can, I beg you, leave your advice in the comments. I wonder if this has anything to do with all the glitches that I have experienced as well. Either way, I did not make that footage. And whatever did is still around. Using my body to do whatever it wants while I sleep. About 15 years ago, I had something happened to me that has haunted me since the day that had happened.

And I genuinely do not have an explanation for what exactly it was or how things went, the way that they did. This is the only time anything like this has ever happened to me, and for that I am thankful, mostly because the outcome was not a positive one. And with how everything compounded within a short period of time, I was honestly ready to give up. Obviously, I'm glad that I didn't, but I was ready to. Let me explain how it all went on that day. As I said, it was a decade of,

and a half ago, so it would have been back in 2007. Back then, on Sundays, I used to get together with a few of my girlfriends so that we could get brunch and a local hangout spot that we really liked. It was decently priced, in a good part of town, and they had really good food for their brunch menu. When we went during the warmer months, we would always take one of the seats that was on the front patio, as it was always incredibly comfortable sitting outside and having our meal. It had pretty quickly become the main thing that I would look forward to every week, as the girls that I spent time with were my best friends from high school, and we would just talk and gossip about whatever was on our minds.

On this particular day, we were there eating and just talking about our weeks. Then I noticed a man that was sitting on the ground in the nearby place, park, just propping himself up against one of the brick retaining walls. This is not a judgmental statement, but he did appear to be homeless. And by that, I mean that he looked like he was a bit unkempt, his clothes were dirty and a bit ragged, and he just had that weathered look, you know the one, like he had been through a lot and was just doing his best to get through it all. Again, there was zero judgment on my part.

He just kind of fit the appearance of what I think of when I think of a homeless man. I will say that my area doesn't have a large homeless population, so he definitely stood out and caught my attention. After noticing him, I went back to the conversation with my friends and we were just kind of chatting, and then I looked back over at him, and I noticed that he was. looking straight at me. As soon as we met eyes, he lifted his hand and gave me a slight wave. At first, I wasn't sure if he was actually waving at me,

but when that thought entered my mind, he nodded, as if he knew that I was thinking it, and he was telling me that he was, for certain, waving at me. I felt obligated to wave back, and as soon as I did, the man stood up. up from where he was resting across the street and started heading toward us. One of my friends asked if I knew him and I mentioned that I didn't, and they were all kind of asking why he was coming over to us.

And again, I said that I didn't know. I just kind of sat there in silence as he approached, kind of like I was in a trance. I didn't know this man, I had never seen him, nor met him nor spoken to him, but I felt like I needed to hear whatever it was he was going to tell me. He crossed the road, walked over to where we were sitting, and he actually knelt down right by where I was seated.

He reached over, grabbed my hand, and he said, I am so sorry for what you're about to go through. Stay strong, don't give up. Everything will be okay. Now, this in and of itself was actually terrifying. This man just walks up, kneels down, and gives me this cryptic and almost threatening message. But it was even more so when he just stood up without elaborating and walked away. He didn't go back to the park.

He didn't stick around to the restaurant. He didn't say anything else. He just walked down the sidewalk until we couldn't see him anymore. Obviously, my friends said that that was really weird, and they asked if I was okay. I told them that I was fine and just kind of agreed that it was weird. They kept talking about the whole thing, but after a while I asked to change the subject, because I was kind of starting to feel uncomfortable about it. Now, as I said, this was weird and kind of creepy, but what happened next was actually what

makes this such a haunting situation. That week, the same week that this man told me that he was sorry for what I was going to go through, that was the week that I lost both of my parents. It was exactly six days later on that following Saturday. They were out driving, just going out to do whatever it was they liked to do, and their car was struck by a drunk driver driving way too fast, and swerving into the wrong lane. They were hit head-on

at too high of a speed for anyone involved to live. They both lost their lives, and the driver of the other vehicle died as well. They were all three killed on impact. To say that dealing with losing both of your parents suddenly like this was hard is an understatement. It was devastating.

It killed me inside, to be honest. I'm an only child, and I had to deal with all of their affairs and their estate and everything, and I was only 24. I had no idea what I was doing in my life, much less how to handle things after my parents had passed away. Dealing with their stuff afterwards wasn't the hard part, to be clear. It was the fact that I had to sit there and try to do paperwork, and schedule funerals, and talk to lawyers, and I was in that deep pit that grieving shoves you into. I couldn't really focus on anything,

and I was holding back sobbing literally every moment that I was awake, which was all of them because, let me tell you, my sleep schedule was non-existent. I wanted to end it all, because my parents were my rock. I needed them for guidance in my life, and they were just never going to be there ever again. On the day of their funeral, my extended family showed up and everything was so bleak.

I felt like I was just empty. I didn't know what I was going to do the next day, the next week, or if it was even worth continuing. As I was sitting there, mulling over the options, my uncle on my dad's side was up at the podium saying some final words, and he caught my attention when he said, we have to make sure that we stay strong. Don't give up and remember that everything will be okay. When he said this, the thought of that homeless man reentered my mind. Obviously, I hadn't really thought about him with all that was going on,

but at that moment he was all I could think about. I remembered what he had said to me and was again reminded of his words, considering my uncle had said them almost verbatim. I got through the hard parts by just reminding myself that things would be okay eventually, that it was okay to feel pain, that it was okay to have these feelings during this time, so long as I stayed strong and kept going. And for the sake of my parents, I did keep going. I did stay strong and eventually things did get less painful.

I won't say that it ever hits the point where things are fine, and losing them is still devastating to this day, but I'm able to live my life for me and for them. And I'm able to keep a smile on my face and actually mean it most of the time. That all said, that day 15 years ago, when that man grabbed my hand and said that he was sorry for what I was about to go through,

what was that? Was he clairvoyant, and he was able to see it coming? Was there some sort of otherworldly connection that he and I shared and he was able to tell what was actually about to happen? Or was this honestly just a really weird coincidence? In the end, I obviously never saw him again. I tried to find him. But if I ever do, I will thank him for the heads up. And I'll thank him for the encouraging message that he gave me because, as haunting as it's been,

it's also because of his words that I realized I needed to keep going. If he was able to see the bad that was going to happen, then I have to assume that he was also able to see the good. And encouraging me to continue was his way of saying that he knew things would be okay. About 10 or so years ago, I had a stint in my life where I was really lonely. though I think maybe desperate is the better word. I guess I should say that I've had a few serious relationships throughout my life, but I hit 30 in a major level of depression,

because the man that I thought was going to be my husband, decided that he wasn't ready for commitment, and we had to go our separate ways. This was after a four-year relationship, mind you, and while he said it was a commitment, commitment issue, I'm pretty sure he was just wanting to see someone else. It is what it is, and sure I'm bitter about it, but I have to accept it and move on. He's not who the story is about, though, so sorry for the tangent.

Anyways, I was just out of that relationship, and then I turned 30 about two months later. And, as mentioned, I had a pretty deep low in my life. I was in that I need companionship now mentality and I immediately leaned into making a profile for one of the online dating sites back

then. I don't remember which one. It was whichever one was most popular back in 2011. Probably plenty of fish. I remember it being a bit confusing. That's and it kept trying to match me with people

that were nothing like me. nothing like reading a bio that it's suggested to you, and have it be the polar opposite of yourself. I know that opposites attract, but when it says, No tall women and no women that like Harry Potter, and my bio literally mentions that I'm taller than average and a huge Potter fan, it almost feels like a joke. So, after scrolling through all the BS, matching with a couple of guys, messaging a few people, and really feeling like this was all a very hopeless venture, I finally found a guy named Dan.

Dan was exactly what I was looking for in a man physically, and all of his interest seemed to line up with mine. He had long black hair, looked to be taller than me, which was nice, although never a deal breaker. In all of his pictures had him wearing some pop culture referencing t-shirt that told me he was absolutely into the things that I was into. I marked that I was interested, just hoping that he would mark the same on me. And much to my pleasure, he did.

I instantly sent him a DM and started off with something corny like, Your hair is gorgeous. I wish I could get mine to be as shiny and straight as yours. I know, that sounds dumb, but I actually was kind of jealous. he responded almost immediately with some joke response about how he had made a deal with the devil to have hair like that. His off-kilter humor was actually one of the things that made me really like him, and I was excited to get to know him.

I may have been desperate, but something in my heart was telling me that Dan could be the one. Like, he could be exactly what I was looking for, and maybe we could have a future together. Having these thoughts after just a few conversations may not be healthy, but there was really just something about him. We ended up talking on the phone a few times, and I started liking him even more. He had a beautiful singing voice.

He told me that he used to be in a band that was kind of popular locally, but that they never went anywhere on the big stage. He told me that his last job was actually at an animal clinic, where he was tasked with keeping the animal's company if they had to stay overnight or needed to be taken care of outside of the normal medical work. The more that he told me, the more I absolutely adored this man. And after a while, I started having this weird nagging feeling in my mind. Why was he single?

He was attractive, talented, entertaining, and he loved animals. He was, overall, a really great and interesting guy. So why had nobody scooped him up and put a ring on his finger? I actually brought this up to him, and he mentioned to me that things were complicated. I asked how complicated, mostly because that wasn't really an answer that I was looking forward to. He responded by saying that he'd had a wife, and that things had recently gone sour, so he'd no longer had a wife. That kind of made sense to me.

He was married and things went bad, so he was out looking for someone else to fill that gap in his life. I could relate. We ended up talking about our past relationships, or more so I ended up talking about mine. He seemed a bit evasive, but I just assumed. that he wasn't really feeling up to discussing it, because it was so recent. I was okay with that. It was nice to vent out some of my frustrations,

and he was really good at listening, and helping me see things more clearly. Then the big day arrived. We had agreed to meet up for coffee on a Saturday morning at a local coffee shop. I got there, and he was already seated in the back waiting for me. It was actually really nice to see him in person. He looked just like his photos. He had the same personality.

He was the same funny and entertaining guy that I had come to know over these past couple of weeks. This was actually a huge relief because I was worried that I was going to get catfished. We enjoyed our coffee and companionship for a few hours, and then I had mentioned that it was getting to be midday, and then I should probably be getting home at some point. but I would absolutely love to meet up again and maybe have dinner or something. This is when he mentioned to me that he'd had a great time as well. Then he kind of shyly looked down at the floor like something was wrong.

I asked if he was okay and he looked up and mentioned that he needed to ask me a favor. I said, of course, not really thinking about what the favor could be, but he then mentioned that he actually needed me. to give him a ride somewhere if I could. I realized that he was already there when I got in, so I hadn't seen him pull up, and he actually seemed rather embarrassed at this request, which was almost cute.

At this point, I felt comfortable enough with him that having him in my car, driving him a few blocks or miles to his apartment, it really wasn't that big of a deal. Plus, I was honestly thinking this could be a long-term thing if it kept up like it had, so I was more than willing to do so. I told him that was fine and just kind of mentioned that I didn't know that he didn't have a car, and told him that he didn't need to be embarrassed about it. He thanked me, and we headed out to my car, and we went to get him home.

As we were driving, and he was pointing out where to turn, he started telling him. He started telling me more about his past and how things had been really rough recently. I asked if the divorce had been a bad one, and he then dropped a bombshell. He mentioned that he and his wife actually hadn't gotten divorced. This killed me inside, and it kind of made things make more sense. He wasn't actually divorced. He was still married. Sure, they could have.

have been separated, but if he wasn't divorced, then it was likely that they could get back together or try to fix things, and then there would be no room for myself in Dan's life. I kind of shut down a bit after this, and I just listened to him tell me about how bad things were between him and his wife, not really paying attention to where he was telling me to go. Then, he had me turn one more time, a turn into the parking lot of a police. police station. I parked and just kind of looked around confused. I asked why we were at the police station, and it was then that he went really quiet and just sort of looked at the building and away from me. This whole situation was really weird, and I was honestly starting to feel a bit freaked out.

This is when Dan looked over at me and said that he really enjoyed the short time that we had together, and said that I was a lovely lady, and that he was certain I would find somebody. He then said that he was about to go into the station and confess to doing something that was really, really bad, and that he was going to prison, most likely, for the rest of his life. He said that if things had gone differently, he would have loved to have spent more time with me.

I asked what he had done and what he was talking about, out, and he just sighed and said that it was an accident, that he never actually meant to hurt anyone, and then he pushed my door open and walked into the building. I just sat there watching him walk into the department with his head held high and stop at the front desk. I watched the whole thing play out from right there in the lot, watched him talk to the desk clerk, watched an officer walk up to him cautiously, and then watched as the officer put him in cuffs and pulled him away from the desk. A few minutes later, another officer actually walked out to my car and spoke with me.

He asked me if I knew the man that I had just dropped off. How I knew him, if I knew what had happened. I told him that we had just met a couple of weeks ago and that we had actually gone on our first date that morning. I was more or less interrogated by this officer in the parking lot about Dan. and I told him all that I knew. He told me that Dan had just walked in and told them that he needed to confess to murdering his wife. I obviously didn't know anything about that.

I thought he was divorced. After a bit more talking, they gave me a card, took my info, and then let me leave. At this point, it was a little more clear to me how Dan had a wife, past tent, but wasn't divorced. And then it occurred to me that I had had coffee with a murderer, and I even drove him to the station to turn himself in. I really don't know if our date was just him trying to get free coffee and then a ride to the station, or if he was really interested in me.

But either way, it was the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me, not because he was a creep to me, but because he was perfectly normal the whole time we spoke during our date. This man was a murderer, but he seemed like a calm and complacent guy that was all there, that was just a normal person. This was the only time I ever went on a date with someone that I met online, and I actually shut down my account after that.

That was today's episode, of the As the Raven Dreams podcast. Thank you so very much for listening, and I really hope you enjoyed these scary stories. If you want to support the channel further, please do consider checking out my YouTube channel. Just search As the Raven Dreams on YouTube and subscribing. You can also join the channel,

or go to my Patreon, for early access to all of my content, all of it's appreciated and never expected. But if it happens, thank you. All that said, friends, I will see you on the next episode of the As the Raven Dreams podcast. But of course, until then, sleep well.