As The Raven Dreams Podcast - ATRD Ep. 073 - Scary Hitch Hiker and Birthday Horror Stories - 7 True Scary Stories

Episode Date: May 5, 2023

Hello and Welcome to the 73rd 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 ranging from the horrors of hitch hiking (from both sides) as well as Scary stories Involving birthdays! ➤ 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... GrandmaWhisperer, Selena, Randall P., Birdy4Life, Carlos, Riley, And the 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

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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. Growing up, I had a really close friend named Amy. Amy was actually my best friend.

We met in great school when I remember I was running late for school and didn't notice that I had mismatched socks on. like one was pink with flowers and the other was a different pattern. It wasn't until I was sitting in class, and I noticed that Amy kept looking at me. At this point we didn't really talk much, but when we went to recess, she stopped me and said, Your socks are weird. I looked down and realized what I had done, and we both had a good laugh, and started talking a lot more after that. I had always been a little shy, whereas she was more outgoing and spontaneous, so she definitely brought me out of my shell at times.

She also seemed very smart and mature for her age. I remember watching her mannerisms on many occasions at school, or when she would come over to my house, and I definitely learned some things from her. She would always try to wash her plate or anything she used after eating, would wipe down the table, help make my bed in the sorts. My parents would tease me at times saying that they liked having her over, and that I could learn from her since she picked up after herself so well. I would say that my parents quite enjoyed her too, compared to some of my other friends.

I just wanted to give a little backstory before I explained the actual event in question, so the events leading up to the reason that I'm writing this took place at Amy's birthday party. I was excited because not only was it my best friend's birthday, but it was the first time her mom allowed her to have one at her house. In fact, I had never been inside of her house past knocking on her door when we went and picked them up. In the past, I had thought that it was odd that they didn't do anything, but my parents tried explaining to me the possibilities as to why they didn't, such as money restrictions, maybe a religious thing, even.

but my mom called her mom one year and she said that it was okay if we wanted to take her out or something for it, so we did, and just never questioned it. Anyways, back to the party. She was going to have about ten of us there, including me and her sister Lexi, so only about seven extra people, but we were all excited about it. I wore my favorite dress and we got her a doll set that could easily be shared and played with her sister. I was the first one to arrive as I wanted to be there to help out with anything if I could. To my surprise, her mom had decorated quite well.

There were streamers and balloons all over the living room. She had cake and all kinds of snacks and drinks. It looked like a full-blown party, which confused my kid brain even more as to why she had never had this before. So the party was in full swing. Almost everyone showed up and we were all having fun. It was drawing to the end of the party and a few people had already left, so as kids do, we started coming up with our own games to play as we waited for the parents to pick more people up.

One of those games was hide and seek. It was going to be me, Amy, Lexi, and three other friends playing. One of our friends was the seeker, so the rest of us started dispersing to find the best hiding spot. And we started outside, but no one said that we couldn't hide inside. So I thought the best place would be in Amy's closet. The doors had those little wooden slats in them, so I could see into the bedroom too, so I closed the door and pushed my way behind some clothes and waited. It couldn't have been too long, but being a kid, I started getting bored standing there waiting.

So I had looked up at her hanging clothes and was trying to see what they were. That's when I heard someone whispering. I looked back through the slits into the bedroom and saw an old lady sitting on the bed smiling and looking at me. I hadn't seen this lady prior at the party, but I assumed that she was probably their grandmother, by the looks of it. She honestly reminded me of my own grandmother. I was still in hide-and-seek mode, though, so I stood still staring at her, but then she softly called me by my name, still looking in my direction, and patted the spot on the bed next. to her. I still don't have an explanation for my actions, but I felt like I needed to go sit with her.

So I slowly opened the closet door and sat on the bed facing her. She still had a warm smile on her face, as she said that I reminded her a lot of Amy. I asked her who she was, and she then confirmed that she was her grandma. I asked her if she'd gotten any cake, because I didn't know what else to say, And she chuckled and said no, but that it was okay. But then she asked me if I could do one thing for her, and I agreed. She asked me to tell Amy Cake's happy birthday, tell her mom that she was proud of her, and to tell them all that she loved them.

I didn't understand, so I told her that they were all still here, and that I could go get them if she wanted. She again chuckled and said it was fine and that she would be there, and then motioned towards the door so that I could leave. Confused and ready to get back to playing, I waved goodbye and left the room closing the door behind me. I found Amy coming into the house to look for me while the rest of them were still outside. She asked me where I had been, and I explained that I had hid inside her closet. We had a small playfight about it, and all met back up outside.

Everyone had started doing their own things, so Amy and I called dibs on the swing set while we started to talk. and that's when I brought up the lady. I asked her why her grandmother wouldn't come out of her room and she questioned me. I told her again about the lady in her bedroom who said that she was her grandma and that she wouldn't leave the room. I then mentioned what she wanted me to tell them and mentioned how she called her Amy Cakes. And I giggled because I had never heard that before or heard anyone else call her that. Then, as I was explaining all of this, I noticed that Amie Kakes.

I noticed that Amy had stopped swinging and was just standing next to me with her arms crossed. I tried asking her what was wrong and she looked like she was about to cry. I immediately tried to apologize, thinking that maybe I had upset her about the nickname, but she quickly ran into the house, so I followed her. We ran past her mom in the living room that was talking to another parent that had arrived and into the room that I was in prior,

the room I believed to be Amy's. She stopped in the doorway, and I waited there silently for her to say something. When she didn't talk, I decided to and explained where she was sitting. With a shaky voice, Amy finally spoke to ask me what she looked like. I explained what I could remember, including her clothes, and she just started crying. I didn't know what I did or said and just kept apologizing. but her mom eventually noticed and came over asking what happened. I then briefly explained about the lady,

and I could see the look on her mom's face changed from what of concern to just sadness. She told me to let someone know that their parents had arrived, and that she would be okay. I couldn't help but think that I did something to upset both of them, so I decided not to say anything to her sister and just carried on with the evening. After some time, Amy came back out and was supposed to her. smiling and ready to play with us again, until I went home as well. So, obviously, this was difficult to me, as I didn't understand what had happened at the time,

but apparently Amy's mom had even brought it up to my mom, which prompted her to talk to me about it. What I later learned, as many of you have probably figured out, was that Amy's grandma had passed away just a month before her birthday. The room that I was in was actually her old room. and Amy's mom had been redoing it to give the girls their own separate rooms. However, Amy said that she was having trouble sleeping in there as she said she felt someone was watching her, and she would just be overwhelmed with sadness, assuming it was because of her grandma. After I told them about this, Amy said that she slept in there that night, talking to her grandma

she laid in bed, and she had a dream of her that night where she told her everything was going to be okay. That part, of course, she told me about after we were a bit older, as well as some of the rest of this. I've become really close friends with Amy and her family, and I learned that her grandma had become pretty ill, and her mom was taking care of her. Because the machines and medications they had in the house for her, they didn't like having company over to make sure nothing was broken, stolen, or misplaced. This also required a lot of sacrifices by them because they couldn't leave her by herself, which is why they never went or did anything. Amy helped a lot with her little sister, Lexi, and some of the house chores, which explained

why she seemed so mature and was always so willing to help at my house. And, of course, her mom, Rhonda, had been in a really dark place lately, after she had passed, losing her mother and feeling like she was a bad mom for seemingly neglecting them, which caused her to throw this big party in hopes to get back to doing stuff like that. So when I told her what her mother had told me, it lifted her spirits too. I don't think that I'm sensitive to the paranormal or anything, and, in fact, at my age, I didn't even hardly understand what a ghost was. So I think it was just a difficult thing.

to process for everybody. I'm just glad that they didn't get mad at me or something, but it is still something that we talk about to this day. They said that they have never seen her, but sometimes felt like she was with them after that. She just teases me that I got to send her off, and I didn't even know her. I like to believe that I'm a fairly careful person,

and that I do a pretty good job keeping myself. out of trouble and away from dangerous situations. That said, as much as I've done a good job at keeping myself safe, I have one thing that happened to me that was genuinely terrifying. And while I wasn't personally hurt, it still messed with my head. It was one of those moments that you never think you'll end up in the middle of, and afterwards, it just kind of sticks with you and creeps up into your mind. while you're lying in bed at night.

The day that this happened, it was in the middle of summer. I had literally just turned 18 a couple days prior, and had spent a couple of days at my friend's house in a nearby town. I was actually driving home in the mid-afternoon. I think it was around 3 p.m. or so. I had the windows down and the wind blowing through the car because of how nice it was,

and was just jamming out to some summer popp song enjoying the drive. As I was driving down a quiet and slightly rural road, I noticed that there was a young woman down the way with her thumb outstretched, which I honestly didn't know was a thing people did. I thought that the whole thumb thing out on the road was a movie cliche, but there she was. She looked to be in her early 20s, long, dark hair, and a simple and quite cute sundress. Though I was always warned about the dangers of picking up strangers, something about her seemed harmless.

She almost looked like my little sister just older, so I guess part of me saw some familiarity in her and immediately thought, if my sister was out on the road like this, I would want someone to stop for her to see if she was okay. I decided to stop and see if she just needed a quick ride down the road, or if she needed to go a long distance. She told me that she was needing a ride to a specific gas station about ten miles up the road. It was in the direction that I was going, and I would have passed by it anyways, so I told her to hop in and said that I could get her there.

At first, the conversation was incredibly casual and friendly. She told me her name, I told her mine. We chatted about the weather and how absolutely. gorgeous it was that day. She made a comment about the song that was playing on the radio. I don't remember what song it was, but it was some top 40 song,

and she was nodding along to it singing quietly. She even told me a bit about who she was, how she was a bit of a vagabond, and she was doing an experiment to see how far she could go on the kindness of others. This was before van living was a thing, so it was a bit of a foreign concept to me, and I was shocked that it was working out the way that it was for her.

After a bit of chatting and friendly back and forth, she started talking about how much she liked to listen to true crime podcasts and such. It started with her saying that, being out and alone like this, she listened to them to be aware of the horrible things that could happen. But then she started talking more, more and more about various murders, cold cases, and such to the point that I could tell that she was a bit obsessed. I don't mind true crime stuff.

It's not my favorite, but I was willing to hear her out because she was very clearly passionate about them. However, it shifted from her talking about the podcasts to her talking about very specific cases in very, very vivid detail. The way that she got excited when she talked about the people dying, it made me feel a bit uneasy, to say the least. She then turned to me and literally asked, What do you think it feels like to die?

If she had just made the comment, it would have been one thing. But she said it, turned to me, and just stared at me like she really, really wanted an answer. I sort of just stammered and mumbled that I didn't know, and that I guessed it would just be painful. She laughed and commented that it would probably be the best feeling you could ever have,

because, in her words, it would be the final explosion at the end of all the build-up and hype. Then it got worse. She turned back to me and said, I wish that I could find out what it felt like without actually dying. And she seriously smiled at me, like she was expecting me to volunteer to help her.

I just sort of said, huh, yeah, and tried to keep going without making eye contact, thinking that maybe she would get how creepy she was being. But she followed that up with, if I asked you to help me, would you? I was pretty obviously taken aback

And I told her that I would not be able to help her and said sorry And that I just kind of wanted to focus on driving She fell back into her seat and said Well, all right Before just turning to focus back onto the road ahead of us And this made the whole situation feel super awkward And heavy Like how do you come back from that kind of

of comment. Well, her idea of coming back from the comment was to literally throw the door open and jump out of the car while I was going 50 down the road. She opened the door, undid her seatbelt, and just jumped out onto the road while I was going full speed. I slammed my brakes and screamed as she jumped, the whole situation playing out in a horrible series of chaotic seconds. I threw the car and park, grabbed my cell phone, and then ran over to check on her. She was pretty messed up, but was definitely still breathing. I called 911 and told them about what happened. They sent an ambulance and a few police officers, as this was definitely a suspicious situation.

For some reason, the memory of them lifting her on to the stretcher to get her into the ambulance is, seared into my brain. Just seeing them trying to lift her gently so as to not further her injuries. I could tell that she had broken a few things, though, and it was not pretty. I had to explain to the police that she wasn't a friend, and how I had just picked her up and was giving her a ride. They looked at me like I was crazy. Part of me thinks they were debating whether or not they were thinking I shoved. her out of the car.

I explained what she said right before she jumped, and after a while I think they got the idea, and maybe they realized, with how distraught that I was, that it wasn't my doing. They did call me back a few days later, and asked me to come in to give an official statement, and I was actually informed that they were treating this as an attempted suicide, and that they were needing my statements to help get her into a,

mental health hold. I gave them what they asked for, and that was the end of it. I have absolutely no idea what happens to this girl, and I'm terrified to think that she may not be with us anymore. She was such a sweet young lady when we started talking, but she switched over to the crazed person in literally a second. I do hope that they were able to get her the help that she needed, and that she was able to continue on her trip to wherever she was going. But this event really instilled a strong lesson in me about not judging a book by its cover. Hello, Raven, I've been a fan of your stories for a while now, and I've particularly enjoyed the trucker stories that you've done.

And while my story may not be a trucker story, it was one where I was on the road, and I thought I thought I should go ahead and share it with you and your audience. This was a long time ago. I don't want to say when, exactly, as it would date me, and I don't like to think about how old I am. Let's just say it was a number of years ago at this point. I've never shared this story anywhere else online, but maybe by sharing it, I could help out others that could be in potentially dangerous situations. It was sometime in the middle of autumn when this happened. It wasn't too cold yet, but it was starting to hit that point in the fall,

where it starts to rain a lot, and the rain is really cold. Like when the weather is wanting to shift over to snow, but it isn't quite there yet. You live in the Midwest. You know what I'm talking about. It was starting to get dark, and I was driving home from a long day at work, and I was just kind of staring off at the road trying to keep myself from dozing off until I got home. The sun was starting to set. There was a light fog that was trying to lift itself up through the rain. And really, it was just a lovely autumn scene.

I live a bit out of the main town that I'm near, so I have to take some back roads to get to my neighborhood, meaning that I don't really run into a lot of traffic, be it other cars or foot traffic. I rounded one of the corners near my home, and, as I did, I noticed a man walking a bit up the road with his hand out stretched, like he was waving at me. My first thought was, this guy needs help,

and I've always been a compassionate guy. So, despite the inherent risk, I figured there was no harm in at least pulling over to see if he was okay, or if it was an emergency. I couldn't have lived with myself if I drove by and then found out that it was something serious that I could have helped with. I pulled over, and I rolled down the window

asking the man what was going on, if he needed help. He looked like a pretty normal guy, longer, slicked back hair, probably in his late 20s or early 30s, business casual-looking clothing, and a well-trimmed, but thick beard.

This may sound weird to some, but if I had to stereotype him, I would say that he looked like the kind of guy that would work at best by for the geek squad. I know that that sounds kind of weird, but that's where I would place him if I had to. As soon as I rolled down the window and asked if he was okay, he leaned into the window. He asked if he could get a ride to town, which was about six or so miles in the opposite direction. I asked whereabouts in town he needed to go, and he mentioned a small apartment complex on the opposite end, which wasn't too bad. I knew the area, as it was the complex that I lived in before I bought my house, so I told him that I could go ahead and give him a ride. He mentioned that

he didn't have any money or anything that he could give me for it, and I told him that I didn't care, and I was just happy to help him get out of the rain. He shot me a smile, thanked me for my generosity, and then pulled the door open. He tossed a backpack into the pack and sat in the passenger seat. Now, I'm a pretty big guy, so I wasn't really feeling threatened by him. He seemed pretty relaxed, so really it was just a matter of getting him there and trusting that he wouldn't pull anything crazy. I pulled into a driveway, turned around, and headed back, and while I was driving, I tried to make some small talk. He seemed pretty willing to talk about things, so, again, I wasn't really getting any red flags.

I asked him his name. He told me that his name was Alan. I asked him why he was out walking in the rain like that, and his answer was vague, but was basically, I was told I wasn't welcome where I was anymore. I assumed that this meant that he was just kicked out, and I wasn't going to push it. After this, though, I noticed that his answers started getting shorter, or he would just chuckle slightly when I would say something, and his focus just stuck to the road that we were driving on. Like, his eyes almost started to look vacant,

and his smile was just a flat frown as he kept his head looking forward. After driving a bit more, the rain really started to look vacant, to pick up, and it was getting to a point that I was struggling to see where I was going. I mentioned that the storm was getting pretty bad. He sort of grunted in response, and I followed it up with, uh, if you could, just point out where I need to turn. I don't want to miss it. After I said that, he lifted his hand and motioned to a parking lot by what used to be a gas station, but was vacant at this point. He softly asked me to pull over into the parking lot, and I confusingly obliged.

I wasn't sure why he wanted me to do so, but I guessed that he'd had his reasons. I pulled in, parked the car, and assumed that he was going to say something or just get out. He sat there for a few, very uncomfortable seconds. Like I mentioned, I wasn't physically threatened by this man. but this was... Well, it was unsettling. The dead look on his face, the fact that he was just sitting there silently

and staring at nothing, I asked if he was okay and I could see that he was starting to cry, like tears were welling up in his eyes and falling down his cheek. I felt bad, but at the same time, this whole thing was very weird. After just staring for a few,

more seconds, he turned to look at me with an unnerving intensity, the tears still streaming down his face. He very quietly asked me what my name was, and I told him, just saying, oh, it's, uh, then my name. He kept to stare on me and nodded slowly, like he was agreeing that it was my name or something. A few more silent seconds passed by until he spoke again, And when he did, he said, Well, I want you to know that you're lucky. You're not the one that I'm looking for tonight. He then reached behind himself to grab his backpack,

shoved my door open, and just walked away from the car out into the storm. I was left shaken and confused, completely unsure of what the hell had just transpired. I watched him walk out into the rain and continue down the road, but after a few seconds I realized that I needed to get away from there, just in case he changed his mind. I threw it in reverse, and I drove off with my hands tightly gripping the steering wheel. I spent the rest of the drive home with my heart racing,

just trying to process what he meant and who he was. Over the years, I have to be. have oftentimes wondered about Alan and what that meant. Who was he looking for? What was he planning on doing to the person he was looking for? And what would have happened if I had been that person? The memory of the whole thing still haunts me, and it made me way more cautious when dealing with strangers.

I can tell you that I've never picked up another hitchhiker since that day. I'm not saying that every person is like Alan, and maybe he wasn't even saying that in a threatening way, but I am saying that being vigilant and trusting your instincts can potentially save your life, or keep you out of these kinds of situations. My simple act of kindness could have potentially been a brush with something malicious. And because of it,

I now have this chilling story of a hitchhiker that's scared the hell out of me. Hello. Long time lurker, first time poster here. After having spent hours reading so many truly terrifying tales on this forum, I finally decided that it wouldn't hurt to share my own, and that maybe it could help others stay out of similar situations. This happened to me a very long time ago,

and it still haunts me to this day, and it's the reason that I vowed to never get into a very long time ago. that I vowed to never get into a car with a stranger ever again. I won't even get an Uber because of the possibility of something like this happening again, and I'm way beyond college-aged now. At the time, I was a deeply broke college student. I had made a very dumb mistake of going home to my very unsupportive parents for the holidays that year, and that was a mistake that I will never live down because of all this.

It's not really relevance to the story, but I'm not the person that my father wanted me to be. I live a lifestyle that he abhors, and he was very clear that, because I am quote-unquote, different, he no longer loved me, and that, to him, I was dead. Then, that year, I thought I would go ahead and get a bus to make the long trip to them to surprise them for Christmas. That lasted about a day. My father refused to talk to me, and the only time he did say anything to me was to tell me that he wished I would keel over so that he never had to see my face again. Of course, my mother was never willing to go against his wishes, so she just sat there and let him say it. Sorry, this was a bit of a tangent, but it does show that my home life was tumultuous to say the least.

Longer story short, after that first night, my father told me to get to. get out. So I did. I grabbed my bag and I walked out the front door. The only problem with that was that I didn't have a lot of money and now I needed to get all the way back to my apartment, which if I had to walk, was going to be a very, very long walk. Add that on to the fact that this was December and it was snowing. It was more likely that I would end up dead on the side of the road about a quarter of the way there. So, I did the next best thing. I decided that I would trust some random stranger to get me, at least part of the way there, or somewhere that I could afford to take a bus to get closer and then repeat the cycle.

After about an hour of walking and waving down cars as they passed, an older rusted pickup truck actually slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road. I was a little hesitant, but the cold wind was absolutely making me less susceptible to red flags. When I got to the window, it was a middle-aged-looking man with a scruffy beard, older, slightly tattered clothing, including the generic lumberjack plaid overshirt. He looked like someone you would expect to drive an old slightly rusted-out pickup truck in the middle of December in the Midwest.

He reached over, rolled down his window, and asked where I was headed. I told him that my destination was where I lived, but then said that I would appreciate literally going anywhere in that direction. He then said that he could probably get me about halfway if I could spare a few bucks for gas. I told him I could do that and tossed my bag into the back under his tarp, and then I hopped into the passenger seat. As we began down the road, the conversation was cordial enough. He was making small talk about himself, what he did, asking me what I was doing out in the cold. I told him that it was a family thing and that I was no longer welcome at home anymore. He sort of scoffed when I said that and then said something about how parents aren't supposed to abandon their kids.

I noticed that as he was talking, though, he kind of kept glancing over at me. His eyes lingering a bit, his hands kept hitting the seat near my leg. I was really hoping that I was just imagining it, and maybe he was just really relaxed with strangers and talked a lot with his hands. But I kept my guard up a bit more than normal. My instincts were starting to tell me that something was a bit off. After a little while, he kind of circled back to the family question, asking me what the family dispute was about because I had been a bit vague when he asked the first time.

I mentioned that my dad was less than accepting of who I was, and he kept prying, asking what it was about me that my father had an issue with. I tried to dance around it a bit, but after being asked numerous different ways, I had to just tell him that it was because of my sexuality. My dad was unhappy with the fact that I was gay, and that because of it, he had disowned me. I will say that when this happened, the world was a lot less accepting of people, which is why I was a bit evasive of the question. After I said this, the man nodded and basically reiterated that a parent should never abandon their child, which made me let my guard down, just,

a little bit, thinking that maybe he was on my side. Of course, the bells started ringing when the man took a turn onto an exit ramp, off the highway, and then started down a bit more into a remote area. As he drove, I started to take in everything around me, noting various buildings and landmarks just in case things went south. I won't say what he said to me next, but I will say that, despite his comments about how it was wrong that my parents didn't accept me, he very clearly did not accept me either, and he knew that my life was in his hands.

Then, he mentioned that he was sorry for what he had to do, because I seemed like a nice enough kid, but he didn't have a choice. I tried to play dumb and ask him what it was he meant, and he kind of just laughed and started to reach for something in the center console of the truck. I knew exactly where this was going to go. And thankfully at this point, he had pretty much slowed down to a stop, so as he reached, I unlocked my door and I hit the ground running. As soon as I jumped out, I could hear him screaming at me,

yelling about how I wasn't going to get far, and that me running was just going to make it hurt more. I ran in the direction of where I knew the nearest buildings would be, and I did what I could to hide in the trees off to the side of the road to make sure that he didn't find me. I have no idea how the hell I got away, but I did. Honestly, I'm not even sure if the man really looked for me or if he had just accepted that I had gotten away

and that he had successfully scared the hell out of me. The part that really sucked was that I had to leave my bag in the back of his truck, so I lost all of my. clothes. I had my wallet on my person, so at least he didn't get that. I took a few minutes in the woods to catch my breath and just waited out, but then started off toward the gas station that I had noted earlier. Thankfully, nothing further really happened. I got to the station, and I told the clerk what happened, and he offered to call the police for me. I took him up on this offer. The cops showed up, and I tried to tell them what happened.

happened, but of course they didn't really seem to care. Because I was making a report on this, though, they did offer to drive me to the station, and then from there I could at least get to the bus stop and wait for the next bus. If nothing else, the guy had driven me quite a bit closer, so it was much easier for me to get home from there. I never hitchhiked again after that, like I mentioned above. and I got a really good lesson on trusting people. Some people have this deep, ingrained hate that they will not let go of, no matter how friendly

they are. Obviously, I got home okay after that, but I pretty much never went anywhere that wasn't available by a bus, and I got my own car soon afterwards, so that I could just drive myself. To anyone out there that reads this, please do, do. be careful, and remember that not everyone, no matter how polite, will be a good person. Trust your gut, find alternative ways to travel, and do everything you can to avoid situations that don't feel right. A couple of years ago, my boyfriend planned a surprise birthday party for me, and I was sufficiently surprised by it. It was also where the story of mine took place.

To go back a little bit first, my boyfriend and I have been together since high school. After we graduated, we started attending different colleges and he was a few hours away, so he was staying in the dorms. I was attending a local community college, so I found an apartment within my budget, with the plans of my boyfriend moving in when he was done. College was fine, for the most part. It seemed like the normal school stuff. I met some new friends, had some high school friends attending there as well.

The schoolwork and teachers were fine, too. But there was one guy that I could never really get away from, though. And that was Ricky. Ricky was in the same program as me, so I saw him a lot. One of the classes had a project that we had to work on in groups, and I was paired with Ricky, and another girl named Micah. Micah was pretty cool. She was typically more reserved, but she was kind and very smart.

I was happy to be on her team. Then, Ricky, he seemed like he was trying to show off since he was teamed up with two girls. He would talk about things he'd done, like stunts or past jobs that all seemed to end the same way. He would say that the atmosphere changed or he didn't like the new management, so he would quit. I could tell that Micah couldn't care less, and wanted to talk to talk about. talk more about the project, and I was a little more willing to cut him off, which is what I did. So I would steer the conversation back towards our work. This is probably where my view of Ricky really started to shift. While working on the project, he started rambling about something, and Micah

spoke up and said, can you please stop talking about yourself for one session? I kind of chuckled and made a comment about making the quiet girl tell him off. I guess he realized that he was outnumbered, so he got up and left the room. So we continued working and got the most done that we had compared to the last sessions. He ended up catching me in the parking lot later after that class and stopped to talk to me. I wasn't rude or anything and just treated him like I would anyone else. He asked me a few questions about the project, and then when the conversation seemed to die down, I started saying something about needing to go when he interjected and said,

You want to go make out in my car? With the most serious look on his face. Not knowing how else to react, I just started laughing and his face didn't change. So I stopped laughing and then asked if he was serious. But he didn't respond, so I just said no thanks, and that I had a boyfriend. Then he laughed and just said, Okay, cool, before waving and walking off to get into his car. I stood there confused for a quick second and then went and got into my car and immediately called my boyfriend to tell him about what had happened.

The whole time laughing about the awkwardness that was that moment. My boyfriend laughed too and thought that it was weird, but then asked if he had ever done that before, or had tried flirting with me or someone else. I told him not that I was aware of. He said that the guy just seemed awkward, but to be careful, because you never know. And I agreed with him. So, the next class was pretty weird. I tried not to make eye contact with him while we worked,

but I could tell the whole time that he was just staring at me with a stupid grin on his face. It was obvious that Micah noticed this, too. Probably made it obvious when in the middle of working, he again said, you sure you don't want to make out? Micah looked just as embarrassed as myself, and I again told him no. The session ended pretty soon after that. However, this did not deter Ricky. Any time I saw him, he would ask that, whether it was in the parking lot, or in the school,

even if he was around with other people. I told my boyfriend each time, who was starting to become concerned. He suggested that I tell someone at the school, which, I did. However, all they said was that they would have a talk with him and that was it. So then he stopped being so verbal about his advances and instead decided that he would wink or make kissing faces at me or make other suggestive hand motions towards me. Now I was starting to get creeped out. Thankfully, the teacher was actually understanding and said that Micah and I could continue

working without him, since we were doing all of the work anyways, and even gave us permission to work in the teacher's area if we needed a place to get away from him. But it seemed like the less that I saw him, the more aggressive he would become. I saw him one time in the parking lot and tried to guilt-trip me about the project. I told him that he needed to talk to the teacher about it as it wasn't our choice, and he made another suggestive remark. I told him that he was disgusting and creepy and quickly left as he stood in the parking lot with that same stupid grin the last event that i mentioned happened the week before my birthday and between that and rickie making me feel gross i decided to cut classes the following week i got most of my assignments from the

teachers ahead of time which was nice that way i didn't have to be behind and i told micah so that we we could schedule time outside of the class to meet up. My boyfriend was going to be doing the same and driving up to stay with me for the week, so I was pretty excited, and I didn't want anything to ruin our week. My boyfriend, Adrian, showed up within the next day or so, and we had a nice day together. Adrian said that he wanted to take me somewhere specifically for my birthday, so he suggested that I get my oil changed. I had a better call, but I had a better call, but I had a better car, so we usually drove mine when he came up.

And he encouraged me to go meet up with Micah that day in case I didn't feel up to it after my birthday celebrations. I was talking about the adult things that I wanted to get out of the way so we had more time to spend together, so this was a load off knowing that he was okay with me

doing this all on the same day. So he sent me off with a hug and a kiss, and he stayed at my apartment, and then said that he might go visit with his parents. So the day went fine And about the time I was finishing up with Micah I texted Adrian and he even told me that I could invite Micah back

And we could all go have dinner or something I thought that that was convenient because she had asked me If I wanted to grab something to eat anyways So we headed back to my apartment Then neither of us were expecting to have people scream surprise As I opened up the tour This man had this whole party planned out and I, none the wiser, thought he was just being nice and having me do all this stuff.

Anyways, the party was great. There were probably about 15 or 20 people there, including both of our parents and friends. When we did the cake, Adrian was teasing me about something, and I ended up putting cake on his face. This started him trying to wipe it on me while others around us were taking pictures and laughing too. It was legitimately a great time. Shortly after this, though, while I was wiping my face off, Micah came over to me and softly asked if I had invited Ricky, or if my boyfriend was friends with him by chance.

I was at first confused by this because she knew how creepy he was being, and even if I knew about this party, I sure as hell would not have invited him. She motioned towards the living room, and I rushed in there to see him helping himself to the food on my table. I had so many things circling in my head. The people here were all pretty close friends, including the only two from the college that I had met.

So the people that were here were invited either by text or a Facebook message. I had no idea how he found out about the party, or even more concerning, how he knew where I lived. I didn't want to cause a scene, and to be honest, I didn't know how he would react, so I just said his name. He looked up at me and said something along the lines of, Oh, there's the tease. I asked him what he was doing there, and then just bluntly said that he was not welcome. And he started going off.

He started saying some pretty nasty things about me. I was scared, angry, and embarrassed since our parents. parents were there. Adrian had gone to the restroom to clean up, so he'd walked out while this was happening and tried asking what was going on, but I think he figured it out pretty quickly. He started approaching Ricky telling him that he needed to leave now before we called the cops, and his face lit up. He really said,

Oh, is this the guy you've been cheating on me with? Then he tried making these crazy accusations of us. not only were they completely false, but I could feel myself getting red as my parents and his parents were looking like they were getting uncomfortable. Adrian started getting a bit more aggressive towards him and pushing him towards the door, and my dad had also started walking towards the door too. Ricky tried to give one last hurrah, saying that he would fight Adrian for me and then pulled out a knife. I was terrified at this point, and there were a few of us shouting, but thankfully nothing. Nothing else happened. My dad used to be a security guard, so he managed to do something to make him drop the knife, and Adrian helped knock him to the ground. They had him restrained pretty well, and I went to grab my cell phone to call the cops.

The whole time Ricky is still going on and on about things that he's done to me or wanted to do to me, to the point that Adrian ended up hitting him in the head pretty hard. It didn't knock him out, though, and he just laughed. It felt like forever, but the police did finally arrive and they arrested him. After they left, we tried to pull the party back together, which was pretty rough for me. I had locked myself in my bedroom for a bit because, yeah, I was pretty embarrassed, mostly by the things that he was saying. They were all false, but the fact that he said all of that in front of people, and in so much detail was just horrible.

He had to have thought all of that, and fantasized it, which still grosses me out thinking about it. I eventually came out after my mom and Adrian came and talked to me and convinced me that everyone else was back to having fun. Overall, this made me actually file a restraining order. I talked to the school about it and they seemed to reluctantly make changes so that I didn't have to see him anymore. I had a few online classes, and I'm sure that they changed things for him because we were never on campus on the same day, it seemed. However, he did try to say he was going to press charges on Adrian, but nothing happened with that, thankfully. Like he dropped the charges or something, because he got papers saying that it was either dropped or dismissed, I don't remember. But, yeah, that was probably one of the most memorable birthday.

that I've ever had, and I hope that I just never see Ricky again. After hearing some similar stories on a few forums that I follow, I felt compelled to share an experience that I had as a child. This happened when I went to my friend Brody's birthday party, around the age of 11. Brody and I were pretty decent friends at the time. We hung out after school at each other's houses before, but it was usually at mine. That was typically both of our preferences, thanks to his older brother. Brody had a brother that, I'll just call Chad.

He was around 16 at the time of this event. Chad was a complete ass. He bullied not only Brody but any of his friends that he had over, including me. He would barge into his room when we were in there, make remarks about us, throw things at us and leave. he even on occasion would try to do things physically to hurt us, like if we were walking by he would stick his leg out to trip us, smack us in the back of the head,

or push our head down on the table as he walked by. It didn't matter to him, as long as he had some way to bully us. And if he wasn't afraid to do it to me, I'm sure that he treated Brody's other friends the same way. The only time he didn't really do this was when his, mom was around. She wouldn't tolerate it, and would immediately stop him, yell at him, whatever she had to do to make him stop. Needless to say, when she was home, I prefer to be in the same

room as her. For the party, Brody's mom was renting out the local community center to have the party, which meant more people and more opportunities to get lost in the crowd of people. There were probably about 20 kids or so that showed up, and most parents stayed there too. My parents had dropped me off and left. After a few hours and all the games being played and cake being eaten, we started trying to come up with other ways to pass the time. One of these ways was a version of tag where one person was it, but if they start chasing you, you have to call out someone else's name so they chase them instead. So, as we started playing this, who else walks in but Chad and two of his friends?

I know I was pretty disappointed in this, but the fact that a few of our mutual friends had the same reaction told me everything I needed to know. He came over to us, grabbed Brody by the head, and told him happy birthday. Then, he asked what we were playing. When we told him, he said that he wanted to play too. my fear that he was going to ask to be it, and one of us was going to get seriously hurt. Well, I was half right. Surprisingly, he did not ask to be it, but he and his friends got in the circle with us and we all began.

Our friend that was it started chasing someone else, and as my attention is on the friend being chased, I failed to notice Chad approaching me until I had the wind knocked out of me. I fell to the ground trying to figure out what had happened when I suddenly felt a bunch of pressure on my back. Once I could finally breathe again, I realized that the pressure is someone on my back, like sitting on me or holding me down. Chad then got on his knees with his head to the floor looking at me,

with this ugly and creepy grin. I tried fighting it to get up, but the one of my back had a hold of my arm and was twisting it backwards. I was an excruciating pain, from my arm to my face and stomach, and I was already having trouble breathing. Just when I was thinking that I was probably going to get beat up, I see Chad bring a little pocket knife up to my face, and he asked me if I wanted a party favor. I started screaming, and then I heard other kids screaming and crying too. At the same time, Brody was letting out these horrible cries for help but didn't know what to do.

I could tell that he was scared as hell. Too scared to approach or do anything? We were only 10 and 11 years old. We were not a threat to these three 16-year-olds. Thankfully, after what felt like an eternity, I heard Brody's mom yelling for Chad to get off of me. I could see his face instantly change. He tried to scramble to his feet, all while hiding the knife.

However, he didn't do a very good job because the way he stood up and slit his hand back, he still ended up cutting part of my neck and chin. Once he was up, I got up to my feet as well, holding my face from the pain. His mom yelled at him and made him and his friends leave immediately, which they did. She then rushed me to the restroom to help clean up my face, but I could tell by the look she was giving me that it wasn't good. She kept apologizing to me and hugging me with tears in her eyes. I was only 11, but, man, I felt so sorry for her. She was always such a kind lady, and Brody was always chill, too. I never understood how or why Chad turned out the way he did.

Once we finished in the restroom, she brought me back out to the others and asked me to stay by her so that she could call my parents. They came and picked me up shortly after and took me to the hospital. I ended up getting eight stitches. The night was pretty crappy after that. My mom was pissed about the whole thing, and I remember her blaming Brody's mom for not paying attention, but she wasn't even at the party. I tried to tell her that he wasn't at the party at the start and just showed up, so I didn't think that he was supposed to be there, but it didn't matter to her. She thought the right thing to do was to try to press charges against Chad. Thankfully, that didn't really go anywhere, and his mom settled it by agreeing to pay the hospital bills.

I may have been a kid at the time, but as an adult now, I don't really feel like that was the best course of action. But I also don't really talk to my mother anymore. That may be related. Who knows? Unfortunately, this definitely strained the friendship between Brody and I. I definitely was not allowed to be over there anymore, and anything. and any time I asked if he could come over, there was always a reason why he couldn't.

Because of this, we did hang out at school, but that was it. And we slowly drifted apart until we eventually moved, and I completely lost touch with him. I really feel bad for Brody, because I'm afraid that I probably wasn't the only friend that he lost because of his brother. Chad, just for some reason, was evil. And I still have no idea why. All I know is that I now have a permanent scar on my chin, and large gatherings still kind of scare me.

I do hope that Brody and his mom are doing okay, and I hope that Chad got whatever kind of help he needed, and I hope I never meet him again. Oh, and sorry about my mom, too. Beaveno aboard, Viarai. Embarked and profited. Embarked and relaxes. Ciroat, bookine. Last May, a few of my friends and I decided to have a birthday celebration for one of our friends that was turning 19. Her birthday was on Friday the 13th, so she wanted to do a sort of Halloween theme with all of us in costumes and go to a local bar.

We live in Canada, so we got all dressed up, some of us in a little more sexier-looking costumes, some of us in some dumb costumes. And there were five of us total. The birthday girl, Mandy, was a witch. Angel dressed as an angel. I was a zombie, and Cassie and Layla were ketchup and mustard bottles. We all met at Mandy's house and started with a few shots. Cassie didn't really drink so she was our designated driver that night.

After we had our liquid confidence, we headed out to the bar, no longer fearing what people would think of us being in full costumes in the middle of May. When we got there, it was actually quite the opposite of what we expected. Some of the patrons took pictures and asked us what the occasion was, and even bought us drinks, so we were genuinely just having a good time. However, at one point, there was a group of guys that came in, three of them. It was one of those moments where they opened the squeaking door, so we all looked, and then continued dancing and laughing.

As with everyone else that was there, they were staring at us off and on until they finally approached us. They made some cheesy comments about the angel costume and then asked why we were dressed up. So we again explained it was for a birthday. They wished her a happy birthday and bought us all drinks as well.

We thought that that would be the end of it, but they seemed to linger around, watching us. None of us were really giving them any attention. Cassie and Layla were dating. I had a boyfriend, and Mandy and Angel were just doing their own thing and having fun. So there definitely were not any signals telling them that they were welcome to stay and hang with us. However, it was a bar, and no one reserved anything. So they had every right to be over by us, too.

We were in a smaller section in the back by the dartboard and pool table. After a while, we all noticed that they would lean in and say something and then look over at us and nod or point. I think we all anticipated what they may have wanted, and we really were not interested in picking up a date. So, we decided to leave and find another bar. As we were walking out, one of the guys hollered out asking where we were going and I said home. We found another bar that wasn't too far from the first one and went in to continue. are fun. However, those same three guys came strolling in not long after us. We all looked at each other to make sure that we weren't crazy and tried to pretend like we didn't see them.

This time we sat at one of the back tables and decided to order something to eat, so we weren't just running on alcohol. It was only a matter of time that these guys would finally come over, and, of course, one of them sat in a chair next to me. One sat on the other side next to Angel, and one continued standing. They asked us how old we were, and we were hoping if we were honest they would at least leave us alone, knowing that we were still pretty young. But instead they seemed to be fairly happy with this idea. They made comments on how good we all looked and offered to buy us more drinks while slipping

in the comment about how we must still want some since we lied about going home. I then said something about wanting to get something to eat before going home, which as why we ended up at that bar, but ultimately we all declined the drinks, now no longer feeling comfortable around them. We ordered a plate of nachos to share, but when it arrived, no one immediately touched them, due to the awkwardness of the air. So then the guy closest to me pulled them closer and started eating them. As they were devouring our nachos, they started laughing and talking about themselves. We didn't really know what to do.

We just sat there looking at each other while occasionally giggling when they would say something and laughed. At one point, I had taken out my cell phone and was texting my boyfriend to let him know what was happening with my left hand, which wasn't exactly easy for me to begin with. However, the guy must have noticed and was obviously mad. I could tell by the way he slammed his hand on the table and said, hey, no phones out at the table. After looking at me angrily, he started laughing, and so did the other two.

To say that I was freaking out would be an understatement. I don't know what their plans were, but I was too afraid to get up and leave, but even more terrified of what might happen if I stayed there. Thankfully, Cassie stood up and started walking away, when the guy again said in his booming voice, Hey, where are you going? and without flinching, without a stutter or hint of fear, she said, to the bathroom?

And she kept walking. I only hoped that she had a plan and waited for her to return. It probably felt a lot longer than it actually was, but she finally came back, and without acknowledging them, told us that we should go. We all nodded in agreement, but we're all waiting to see who the first person to stand up would be. That's when Angel shot up real quick. and walked towards Cassie. The guys then tried inviting us back to their place for more free drinks, as if they hadn't

already terrified the hell out of us. We all declined and finally got the courage to stand up and started walking towards the front of the bar. And, of course, they were following right behind us, as if they were part of our party. That's when we noticed Cassie's whole plan coming together. At the front of the bar was her dad. in full police uniform, greeting us with open arms. He apologized for being late and then immediately followed up with,

those guys with you? We all looked back and noticed that they were just standing around, trying not to make eye contact with us. He then followed us outside, and we were all thanking Cassie for her quick thinking, and for him for showing up to save us. Her dad has always been such a gentle giant, but not that you could tell that by just looking, at him, so I was relieved that those guys seemed to be pretty intimidated by him, or at least

the uniform. He followed us back to Mandy's place and made sure that no one else followed either, and thankfully we never saw or heard from those guys again. We finished our night inside watching some dumb horror movies on Netflix and eating all of our snack foods, so we didn't let it ruin our night. We are a lot more careful now when we go out to places like that, And now I have an emergency text set up so that I can send it quickly just in case. Hey there, friends. That was today's episode of the As the Raven Dreams podcast. And I really hope that you all enjoyed this collection of scary stories.

If you did, please do consider checking out my YouTube channel where I do these same stories, but a little bit earlier than I do them here on the podcast form. and also in slightly different collections. If you really enjoy the podcast, please do consider giving it a rating of any sort if the platform you're listening on has ratings. Any honest rating is appreciated by me, be it five star, one star, however you want to do it.

Just know that rating the podcast helps tremendously. And if you would like to support further, I do have a Patreon and channel memberships if you'd like to do things on the YouTube side, where for as little as a dollar a month, they get early access to my content. Never ever expected, but always appreciated. That said, friends, I hope that I do see you on the next episode of this podcast.

And of course, until then, sleep well.