As The Raven Dreams Podcast - ATRD Ep. 084 - Scary Summer Night, Late Night Walk, and Unexplained Horror Stories - 17 True Scary Stories

Episode Date: July 28, 2023

Welcome to the chilling 84th episode of The ATRD Podcast! Today, we will step into the shadowy corners of reality, where everyday life takes an eerie twist & ordinary people experience the extraordinary. Today we will be diving into stories about horrifying things that happen on summer nights, during late night walks, and some scary stories that have no explanation... So, turn down the lights, tune in, and let the haunting tales of everyday people take you down that dark and creepy road. Remember, these aren't just stories... these are true experiences that remind us that our world can truly be scarier than fiction. Have a Story To Submit? ➤ https://www.astheravendreams.com Or Post to the Subreddit ➤ https://reddit.com/r/TheRavensDream Support the channel for Early Access AND more! Patreon ➤ https://patreon.com/AsTheRavenDreams Join ➤ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkW0ihdMHfBUjQrMKjRto6g/join Or Check out the Merch Store! ➤ https://teechip.com/stores/astheravendreams Thank you to all of the authors that have stories in today's Video... Bryson, enviousStephanie, Edward, SMG, NineLives, 1LeggedLuck, Rubbery-Broccoli, Casey_DE, sharksolitude5339, Red Witch , Bloodsand, Becca, Tammi, CalebIV, Cassie S., and any authors that requested anonymity. 'As The Raven Dreams' is a community where we explore the darker parts of human existence through true and harrowing stories. From sinister encounters with strangers and stalkers, to terrifying experiences that defy explanation and unsettling mysteries that linger in the shadows, I am here to tell you the most haunting narratives ever whispered. Much Love, and Sleep Well... ----- #TrueScaryStories #AsTheRavenDreams #RedditStories ➤ Stories include a content warning for language and sensitive/disturbing content. Viewer discretion is always advised. ➤ ALL Audio of this Podcast are copyright of AS THE RAVEN DREAMS / RAVEN ADAMS and may not be duplicated, in any format, without explicit permission ➤ If you like any of the following stories, consider subscribing! - Dark Web horror stories, creepy lets not meet stories, stalker stories, Glitch In The Matrix Stories, Unexplained Horror stories, Paranormal stories, cryptid encounter stories, Crazy ex lover stories, creepy neighbor stories, quantum immortality, true scary stories from reddit, or any other True horror Stories! ➤ 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

Lazang sur-gillet, Puisance-moid for 15 minutes. We're like it's the hour dojo. Prere to play. Vive the pleasure with Leo Jo.

The casino in line that proposes the more recent to do and the new years. Profitting to

50 tours on Big Bas Bonanza without exigance of misgance of payment instantane.

Hey! I've gained. Woohoo! Scenture the Pleasure Play Ojo 18 years, 1,000,

first depop only depo in Ontario. 50 tours on 50% dollars, depop minimum,

de course responsible. The conditions apply. When you were little, you've braced

in the time of course of recry, always in trying to negotiate and make the idea the title

you know, you can't to renew with this instinct with without without operation gratite, no amount

minimum and no free month and you're made for negotiate, and the TD

is there for you know if you have a story you would like to hear

featured on this podcast, please go to as the raven dreams.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 so. And thank you. So, this one may be a little out there, but I feel like there was definitely something supernatural happening to me. Or, at least, that's the only explanation that I can think of. This started many years ago, so I apologize if I trail off, but I want to make sure that I include everything that I can remember.

When I was around 11, I was in a horrible accident. I was riding my bike around my neighborhood, literally in that square block, like I always had. My mom told me to be home by a certain

time for dinner, and I had on my watch to keep track of the time. At one point, I was rounding the corner. I looked both ways and crossed the street. The inner section I was at was on a hill, so I didn't see the car that came flying over, said hill. The last thing I remember was hearing tires squealing and me telling myself that I was going to die.

Then, I woke up in the hospital hooked to machines, but was quickly calmed down when I saw my mom. She explained to me a bit more as to what happened, and then broke the news to me. The way the car had hit me, and my bike, pretty much crushed my left leg, mangling it. So, I lost it. I have a prosthetic now, and I get along just fine, so please don't feel sorry for me. You may not even notice if you were around me. Anyways, I found myself to be incredibly lucky and even thankful to whomever was looking out for me that day.

Losing my leg will always be worth it to me so that I was allowed to keep my life. But from that day on, I started getting these weird feelings or sensations that would make me feel like something was about to happen, and I would avoid it. It may still play out, but it was like I was able to avoid any mishaps involving myself.

Here's an example. one of the earliest ones I can remember, or at least remember tracking, was being outside after playing. It was hot, and I was thirsty, but I didn't want to go all the way in the house and come back outside. Instead, I made my way over to the water hose attached to the side of the house. Right before I bent down to grab it, I got this weird tingling feeling in my left thigh. I remember immediately reaching for my thigh, instead thinking that the feeling was weird. I was still a kid, and was worried that maybe something was wrong with it, or my prosthetic. So I instead went inside and told my mom.

After looking it over, everything seemed to be fine, and the feeling was even gone, so we just chalked it up to maybe being a phantom pain, or maybe I was just standing funny. I got my water while I was inside and then went back out to play. A little later that evening, my dad went over to grab the hose as he was going to water Mom's Garden for her. I was in my bedroom that faced the wall that the hose was on, and the next thing I know, I hear my dad shouting expletives. It made me jump up and run out to see what had happened, and I saw my dad gripping his hand with the other, turning red in the face. Apparently, there was a scorpion that had made her home in the center of the hose. The crawl space was next to the spout, and there was some loose dirt around it.

So when my dad grabbed the hose, he unsettled the dirt trying to pull it out, and disrupted her. My mom rushed him to the hospital while a neighbor stayed over to watch me and my younger siblings. I remember talking to my parents about it when they got back, because I was going to go to to use the hose too. My dad said that he was glad it was him and not me, even though I still felt bad. It was just luck, and I decided not to mess with it, I guess. Another time, I had been in my room doing whatever I was doing, when I started to feel a bit hungry, so I went to get a snack.

As I made my way to the kitchen, I took my normal path, skipped the last step down, grabbed the doorframe and kind of swung my way into the kitchen. However, I got that weird tingle in my thigh again, causing me to bring my leg further in than I usually do. Once I was in there, my mom came up behind me and shouted to watch my step, because she had just broken a glass and went to grab a broom to clean it up. She thought that she had picked up all the big pieces, but there was one that happened to land right by the entrance.

and approximately where I would have stepped with my right foot. If I did, I could have stepped on it, sliced my foot open, or something. Again, we just called it a close call. I continued to have occurrences like this, and, for whatever reason, it would all start with that weird pain feeling in my thigh. And some of the things were minuscule, like the glass. but then there were also bigger, more serious things that occurred, like when I stayed at my friend's house one night when I was about 14.

She had a bunk bed that she shared with her sister, but when she moved to her own room, she just kept it. She slept on the top bunk, and I slept on the bottom. Out of nowhere, I woke up in the middle of the night fully awake, and I had no idea why. I sat up and started getting that feeling again, so I got off the bed and walked over to the door. By this time, I was starting to get used to that feeling and practically prepared myself for the inevitable. I stood there wondering if I should wake my friend up when I heard a single pop,

and the top of the bunk bed fell, crushing the mattress below. I stood there fully awake, stunned while my friend just scrounged. screamed my name jumping off the bed. I turned on the light showing her that I was okay, but I think it assured her as well as confused her at the same time. Shortly after, her parents came in asking if we were all right and saw the bed. I didn't want to be weird, so I told them that I had just gotten up to use the restroom when I heard the sound.

They believed me. It's not like it would have been possible for me to bend and crush the metal bars like they were. but it was also very strange that had happened at all. As I got older and became an adult, these things continued to happen, but I actually started telling people about them. My parents and a few of my friends were convinced that I had some kind of supernatural power going on

that protected me from danger, but there was still no explanation for it. I had one when I was around 23, that was by far one of the biggest memories that is forever etched in my mind. I like to walk a lot. I guess after losing my leg, it made me appreciate the little things like that. I thought that I would take a walk to a local cafe, hang out and enjoy my coffee, and then head back to start my day.

On my way home, I pressed the button to cross the street and waited. When the signal changed to walk, I started getting that feeling again, causing me to grab my thigh and hold off on walking. As you might have guessed it, a car came barreling through that intersection, honking their horn as they approached. Now, granted, I could hear a horn in the distance, but if you asked me if the car with the horn would be going through that very intersection that I was at, not stopping, I would have told you no. I figured they were just honking at another car or something in the road. Needless to say, that one left me a bit shaken. Unlike my bike accident, I would not have survived that if I was hit. I went home and took some time to calm down.

These incidents continued to unfold, and I was always left without words. Everyone around me joked about me being able to see the future. Whether big or small, I found myself one step ahead of calamity. Like the universe itself bestowed this power to me as a repayment for taking my leg, I guess. However, as mysterious and welcoming the ability was, it also did come to an end. After the birth of my child, these, I guess, glimpses of the future gradually faded. but that didn't mean it was entirely gone. As she got older, I noticed that she would do things without any real reason.

Like she would stray from her normal ritual, only for something to have happened that would have harmed her otherwise. She's 13 now, and she still seems to do it. And one thing about her, she was born with a hearing disorder, so she uses hearing aids. She's brought it up to me that she would get these weird pains in her ear, and I would assume that it was just her hearing aids, but she says that it happens when she doesn't have them in.

She also explained how it happens before these events, causing her to divert from her normal path. We've talked about this before. As in my daughter and I, I tell her that she's special. My husband is even aware of all this, and thankfully he's open-minded, but I don't think he quite understands the connection the two of us have.

To this day, I still have no explanation as to why I was given this ability, and I want to believe that it was just good luck or something, but I feel like it has to be more than that, especially since it now affects my daughter. I may never find the answers, but one thing is for certain. I was touched by something extraordinary, something that defied the boundaries of comprehension. I have a short but pretty terrifying event that happened to me about four years ago. I had just moved into my new apartment and it wasn't in the greatest part of town.

It wasn't like it was riddled with crime and scary to be in. It was just an area that was a bit of, lower income, really. The best way to describe it is somewhere in between pretty decent and a tad sketchy, if that literally makes any sense. I will mention that I am not white, and while I don't like to play the race card for anything, I'm pretty certain that this had something to do with the situation that played out. Like I said, I had just moved into a new apartment,

and it was actually my second night living there. I was watching TV and I had this idea that I should go buy some ice cream to celebrate moving in. You have to treat yourself every once in a while, right? Just celebrate those little milestones and everything. It was a brisk night walk to the store, quiet and peaceful. Little did I know that the trip back was going to be the complete opposite of the walk there. I walked back on the same path that. I took to get to the store, except this time I was carrying a bag with a tub of Rocky Road.

A bit into the walk, I noticed a group of three guys standing up ahead. At first, I thought they were just some guys out enjoying the evening like I was, until they turned toward me and started walking. I tried to avoid being paranoid thinking it was just good timing, and that they were just randomly heading in my direction. It became pretty quickly apparent that they weren't just heading in my direction, they had intentions. They very quickly stopped me and had me backed up against a wall.

Initially, I thought this was a mugging. I told them that I didn't want any trouble, and I put my hands up basically saying, take what you want to take, I won't fight back. Mostly because it was three guys, at least one of them with a gun. and me armed with nothing but a container of Rocky Road ice cream. I assumed that they would take my wallet, probably my cell phone, and maybe even my ice cream,

and that they would just run off and that would be that. But, of course, it was actually much worse than that. The leader, I'm assuming, or at least the guy with a gun, barked at me to drop the bag. I did. He then told me to get down on my knees and, I did what he asked. He told the other two guys to pat me down, which was weird, but I wasn't going to question the guy that literally had my life in his hands.

They patted me down, and one of them said that I was clear, whatever that meant. But then it got even weirder. One of the other two grabbed my hands and pulled them behind my back and then cuffed me. My mind immediately went to, are these some kind of rogue police officers? I actually summoned the courage to ask them why I was being arrested, and the leader just told me to shut up. No more than a couple of seconds later,

the area was lit with flashing red and blues, as a car pulled up to the scene. The car parked and I heard a stern voice shout, What the hell is going on here? The guys responded in a manner that was far from scared or concerned. The one just saying something along the lines of, Don't worry, Sheriff, we got him taken care of. Apparently this was the wrong thing to say to the sheriff as he lost it.

He told all three of them to get on the ground and immediately called in for backup. The three guys started yelling at the sheriff about how they were helping and how I was one of them. Again, whoever them was, and saying that they were helping him. The sheriff told them they were a bunch of idiots, and yelled that the one guy needed to drop his weapon and they all needed to get on the ground right then. The whole time, I'm just sitting there on the ground, hands behind my back, thinking, I really chose a bad night to get ice cream. When the other officers arrived, they swiftly handled the faux cops while the sheriff uncuffed me and asked if I was all right. I told him that I had no idea what was going on. and he confessed that he was just as baffled as I was.

He told me the obvious and mentioned that those guys were not cops, and he was clearly just as confused about their endgame as I was. He offered to take me back to my apartment, and, when we got there, he took my statement. He promised me that he would see to it that those guys would face the consequences of their actions, and then followed that up by suggesting, with genuine concern, then it may be safer for me to avoid late-night strolls in the area. With the guys' comments of me being one of them, and the way he said that, it told me all I needed to know.

I told him that I understood. He offered me his business card and then told me to call him if I ever had any trouble. I was shaken, of course, but at least I knew that someone out there was looking out for me in this crazy part of town. Looking back, that night could have gone much worse. If the sheriff hadn't pulled up right when he had, I can only imagine what those guys were going to do or what their next step was. I was completely defenseless. And honestly, if that guy had wanted me dead,

I think that I would have been dead. Thankfully, that didn't happen, and I'm grateful that the timing was on my side. While I have had to deal with people like them a few times since that night, it's never been anything that terrifying or life-threatening. I still live in the same apartment, and thankfully most of my neighbors are friendly. I will say that this lovely welcoming party did go away for some pretty serious crimes. And of course the guy with a gun was a felon, so you shouldn't have had the weapon in the first place. Also, when I go to the store now, I drive. No more late night walks to get my rocky road.

Back in the summer of 2008, my parents decided that they wanted to take us kids on vacation to the beach. It was something that we had never done before. We never had the money to go on vacation, but something happened at my dad's work and he ended up getting a major promotion or something. so they wanted to celebrate and do something nice for the family. Now, it was 2008, and I was 14, so I was in that awkward phase between being a kid and a young adult. And let me just say that everything in my wardrobe was black, so I wasn't exactly looking forward to my family bonding time. I'm the middle child and the only girl. my older brother was 17 and my little brother was eight at the time,

so while my parents were talking to my little bro about swimming and building sandcastles and whatnot, I was rolling my eyes thinking that that was dumb and childish. My point is, I was more independent and I wanted to do my own thing more than spend time with them, which is actually what kind of led to what happened. I will say that the beach was beautiful, and the whole scenery was quite alluring. One evening, as we were having dinner at a cute little beachside restaurant, I had finished eating and I asked my parents if I could go for a walk on the beach. I wanted to get some alone time just walking in the sand barefoot while listening to my music.

I was allowed to go as long as I didn't go too far or stay out too long. So, I quickly grabbed my iPod and started out into the sands. It was as lovely as I'd hoped. The stars, the clouds, the moon and the water rolling into the sand. The beach was deserted at this point. It was just me and my in my inky teenage thoughts. A couple moments into my walk, I went to skip a song on my iPod, and in that half-second between it's stopping and playing,

I heard something. At first, I thought it was part of the track by the used that I was listening to, but I paused it to check, and the sound persisted. I pulled my earphones out and listened to see what I was hearing, thinking it was another person or an animal or something, and it was then that it kind of clicked in my head what the sound was. It sounded like it was a young child crying. I don't know if I would say,

that it sounded like a baby, but definitely still really young. I looked around for a moment thinking that I just wasn't seeing the child or family with the crying young one, but there was nobody around at all. I had a weird feeling while I was standing there and listening to it. Like something was off, which, yeah, I was hearing a child crying on an empty beach. I started to walk towards the direction of the crying. thinking maybe it was someone's kid that had gotten lost or something. After following it, I found a small cove that had been formed by some larger rocks,

and I determined that it was definitely coming from inside the cove. It felt eerily secluded from the rest of the beach, and I was just terrified that this was seriously some little kid that had cut and lost, and didn't know what to do, or worse. was abandoned. I hopped down into the cove from the higher rocks to see if I could find him, but when I got down there, there was no child. Worse yet, the crying seemed to have stopped abruptly.

Obviously, I was confused, but as I glanced around and shined my little pocket flashlight into the cove, I was certain that there were no children there. What was there? however, was an old, beat-up, stuffed teddy bear, just lying in the damp sand. It was dirty, with signs of wear and tear, and it certainly had been there for quite a long time. Honestly, it being there alone in the cove made the whole thing more disturbing. I picked him up to see if maybe he had one of those little sound-maker things in him, but no, he was just a little. just an old, basic, cheap little teddy bear with a blue sweater.

No noise maker or anything like that in him, just fluff. I looked around to see if there was some sort of speaker or something that could have been playing the sound, just trying to make sense of it, but there wasn't anything there. For a moment, I just held the bear and stared at him. He was a cute little bear, and I thought about taking him with me, thinking that maybe someone had dropped him earlier, but as I thought about that, something washed over me,

and the sound of that crying kind of played in my head. The isolated cove, the crying, the poor forgotten teddy bear, all of it felt off. It kind of felt like I was disturbing something that I wasn't supposed to. I was always into paranormal and spiritual, and spooky stuff, and my mind went to the possibility of the crying sound being from a spirit of a child that maybe lost their life being attached to the bear.

The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I decided to go ahead and place the bear in the back of the cove, sitting upright so that he could watch the night's sky. I actually took one of my bow hair clips off and clipped it to his little sweater. I don't know why I did that, but part of me thought that it would just make him happy. And if he was happy, maybe the spirit could rest a bit easier too. I told him that he was okay and wished him a good night and went ahead and left the cove. I walked back to my family and I didn't say a word about any of it. Now, looking back, I think I was being a bit silly with how I handled it, but part of me firmly

believes that there was a spirit attached to that bear. The crying on the empty beach at night, him just sitting there in the isolated spot, and the fact that there was that certain energy when I thought about taking him, I don't know. It just makes me think that I did the right thing. The whole thing was a bit haunting for sure,

and it really does give me chills when I think about it more. Was this some kind of haunted item? Attached spirit? Or was it just a bear, and I'm a bit loopy? Who knows? All I know is that it was weird, and there was something about it that made me feel the whole thing was supernatural. And if it was the spirit of a child,

I hope that I helped it in some way. I'm a driver for one of those rideshare app services. I got a practically brand-new car a year ago, and I thought it would be an easy way to make some extra money. And so far it has. Most of my passengers have been great, but I've had a few that were just unpleasant. I do have a day job,

so I usually do this in the evenings or at night, and sometimes during the day on my days off. This particular event took place on a Friday night. I had just dropped someone off, and was debating on taking one more, but since it was already pretty late, I instead decided to grab something to eat and head home. I went to a nearby drive-thru,

and as I indulged in my fries driving home, I noticed a woman walking down the street, nor more so stumbling. She was pretty obviously intoxicated. She was wearing a dress and carrying heels into small clut. Being a woman myself, something made me think that I should stop for her. She could just be making her way home, but there was something inside of me telling me that something was wrong, and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I heard something on the news about this.

So I did a U-turn, slowed down on the side of the road, and rolled down my window. I greeted her, and she jumped, as I'd rolled up behind her. her, startling her, I'm sure. I asked her if she was okay or if she needed a ride. She leaned down and looked into my car, but not in a casing it out kind of way. She seemed suspicious of me, and I really couldn't blame her. How often does a person offer a ride to someone walking down the road like that? I tried to assure her that I was alone and that I actually worked for the ride share company. But I just wanted to make sure that she was okay.

She said she'd used the same company in the past, but that she had lost her phone. That's why she didn't use it that night. She definitely seemed like she may have been having a rough night, so I again offered her a ride, no cost and no catch, and even asked her if she needed to use my phone to call someone to let them know that she was safe.

I thought that this would also make her feel more at ease since, you know, cell phones and calls can be traced. She declines to make the call, but said that she would love a ride and quickly hopped into the back, thanking me. I watched as she buckled in, looking back down the way that she came, and let out what I would say was the biggest sigh of relief. I asked her where I could take her, and she gave me an address that was around 20-plus minutes from where we were. I looked up when I got home, and that would have been almost two hours by foot. I shockingly asked her, Were you really planning on walking that far, girl? She let out a small laugh and said that that was the only option she really had,

but was worried that she wouldn't make the whole trip. I laughed as well and made a comment about how that was definitely further than I was willing to walk, especially in this awful heat. To which she gave her. gave a weaker laugh and said, Yeah, this heat is definitely one problem, right? I caught on to what she said, and her inflection told me that there was something else going on. I asked her if she was okay, but she confirmed that she was just tired, so I left it alone.

I didn't know her, so I didn't feel it was right for me to pry. I drove in silence for a bit, but it was awkward, so I asked her if she wanted some of my fries. We both laughed, and she took a handful and said thank you. I was probably about halfway to where she asked me to take her, when she suddenly asked, Actually, could you take me somewhere else first? When we get to my place, I can run in and grab you some cash that I keep at home. She wanted to stop and get something to eat, too, and I wasn't really worried about it because I just felt better about getting her home safe.

So we stopped and got her something, and she asked if I'd be willing to just eat somewhere with her. At first, I will say that I thought it was unusual that someone would want to eat in a car with a stranger, but, again, I've definitely had weirder passengers. So I agreed. I stopped at a nearby park, and we ate there and talked. That's when she told me her name, and I shared mine. She talked about a park that she remembered going to a lot with her dad when she was a kid and mentioned how much that she missed it. She even told me about how much her work takes out of her, so she couldn't often do things for fun.

That's when she talked vaguely about how she ended up in the situation she was in that night. She said that she went out for a change, but everything quickly spiraled out of control and her ride abandoned her, and then she lost her phone. With the way she was dressed, I assumed that she may have gone to a club or something. Maybe there was a fight that her ride was involved in and so forth. I apologize that she had to deal with all of that and tried to be optimistic about it to cheer her up.

It actually seemed to work, as she perked up some, and our conversation became light-hearted again. Once we both finished eating, we left the park and made our way to her destination. I remember us talking and laughing and honestly just enjoying the company of a complete stranger, up until I pulled up to her house. I asked her if she wanted me to pull into the driveway,

as some people prefer I stop on the side of the road. When she didn't answer immediately, I looked back at her and saw her staring out the window towards the house. I could see her eyes darting around as well as her head, as if she was looking for something. I asked her if she was okay, and she quickly responded by asking, Does it look like someone is standing on my porch? I strained my eyes to look, but it was a distance, and it was dark, so I couldn't really see anyone. I told her that I couldn't see anyone and asked if she saw someone,

or if someone was waiting for her, but she didn't respond. I told her that I could wait until she went inside to leave or take her somewhere else if she would feel safe her, but she just quietly sat there, staring out the window. I called her by her name, and when she finally answered, she said she would be okay. She smiled and thanked me for everything that night and opened the door. I still waited to make sure everything was okay,

but she only got maybe three feet in front of my car when I saw a person step out of the shadows of her fencing. I saw her stop in her tracks for a split second, and then she ran back to my car hysterically. Please don't leave me here. Please, just take me somewhere else. I swear I will pay you. The urgency and terror in her voice told me all that I needed to know.

I burned out of there before she could even buckle up. I asked her who that person was, and she told me that it was her psycho ex-boyfriend. She then broke down crying and telling me about the horrible things he did, and how he was the reason she ended up where she was. She had left him. He followed her to the club that she went to, taking her phone. She got kicked out since she was, quote-unquote, part of the problem, and had no other way home.

She never had a ride to begin with. She had used the same ride share to get there, and she actually thought that he may have been involved with me, which is why she was hesitant to get in. When she finally trusted me, she felt relieved because she didn't know if he would try to snatch her from the street and do God knows what. I was both horrified for her, and also relieved that I did stop as the other scenarios swirled in my head. She was visibly shaken up, so I thought I would just drive until she gave me some idea on where to go. Regretfully, I was so involved in her story and watching to make sure that she was okay, that I didn't realize the car that was behind me until we stopped at a light. They were so close to me that I couldn't even see their headlights.

I paid attention to the car from that moment on and realized they were still full. following close and making every turn that I did. Then they turned on their brights, causing both of us to look back. I don't know how she could tell, or if maybe she just knew, but once again she became hysterical, screaming that it was him behind us. I was now terrified myself. I knew at that moment what kind of person he was, but I didn't know what he was willing to do in front of a complete stranger.

All I could process was to keep driving. Do not stop and stay where there could be potential others around to witness whatever he attempted. Apparently he had other intentions because as I slowed down at another stoplight, I was going to turn without a signal, but he was not slowing down. I embraced myself for him to hit me, but he managed to hit his brakes enough, causing them to squeal, and he stopped before smacking into. to me. But then he slowly inched his way to my bumper until he was pushing my car into the intersection. We were going to need help to get out of this, and there was only one place that I could think of that

would have the right people to potentially help. I grabbed my phone and called 911 as I made my way to a nearby hospital. I told the operator that I was being followed and that the driver was now hitting my car. I told them where I was headed, and they said they would contact the officer that was on duty there. I knew they had police officers at this location. I pulled up to the entrance that the operator told me to get to, and thankfully I saw the officer at the door.

I guess the guy didn't see him because he barely parked his car before he was at my window smacking it, and telling me to get out. The girl with me was terrified. crying and screaming at this guy to leave her alone. The guy continued slamming my window, and the officer was also approaching, yelling at the man and holding a taser. I was frozen in fear praying that my window would not give out. After several shouts filled with warnings from the officer, he hit him with the taser, and the guy fell to the ground.

By the time he was restrained, another cop showed up and told us that we could safely get out. From there, the cops asked us what all was going on, what all had happened, and we obliged, explaining everything. That's when the girl went into more detail about that night, what all he did, and how she had ended up with a complete stranger. It was obvious that this was not a one-off situation either, which was all the more terrifying. After all was said and done, the cops said that they would take her to a safe place. I told her that I was not worried about getting paid and she hugged me, thanking me for being so kind. They also got his information from her, as I was still paying for my car, so I definitely had to report the damage. Of course, I was still a bit nosy about the situation, and also wanted to make sure that he got charged with things, so I looked him up.

That added to my nightmares. This guy was arrested and charged with battery, B&E, destruction of private property, I assume he must have done some damage at her place, and conspiracy to kidnap. They had found zip ties, duct tape, and trash bags in his car. The thought of this horrified me. The thought that he obviously had these things and was waiting for her in the dark, makes me sick to my stomach. If I hadn't picked her up that night or just left her at her house

To think of what could have happened And then I wonder if he would have tried to do something to me too If he would have caught us somewhere with fewer people My friends always try to get me to think about the better side of that And keep in mind that I did the right thing And that's all that matters But sometimes I still catch myself looking at least

looking over my shoulder to make sure that I'm not being followed. Hey, Raven, you're an amazing channel, and you do such a great job. Keep it up. Anyways, I live in the city, and I don't want to give my exact location. It's a pretty prominent city in the U.S., but it's expensive to live here now. But city life is the best. I can't ever imagine living in the country or in the suburbs somewhere else. I live, work, and I guess you could say that I play out here too. The area in the city that I'm in is pretty well known for having an active nightlife, and it isn't uncommon to see other people out at all hours of the night or early morning. You could say that I'm a fitness nut,

so I go out to a local park for a jog nearly every single morning. I love getting out there for exercise. You know that stereotype that things only really happen at night? Well, I didn't think that things would happen around 8 to 9 a.m. There were people around walking their dogs or going to work or school. Despite things happening in other parts of the city, it's kind of unthinkable for where I live. Anyway, there was supposedly a group of men that was following women who were out alone all hours of the night. But I've never been the type of person. to let someone force me out of something I enjoy.

I decided to go for walks late at night with a friend, or a couple of friends at a time. I organized with them at a local corner store. Perfect. I headed off and waited. It isn't uncommon for my one friend to be late, but I'd been waiting until around 11 p.m. for close to 30 minutes. I tried calling and texting her to make sure she was okay.

On the fifth try, she told me she was okay, but that she didn't feel like going out with me. I was mad at her, and I kind of told her off for it. I didn't want it to ruin my evening. I came out with a purpose, and I was going to stick to the plan. The park is fairly well-lit, and pretty safe. I could see some other people walking around at the time, so I wasn't really worried. I set off down the long path, listening to some music, and just... enjoying the cool air. I pondered starting a permanent habit of going out at this time by myself.

I kept going. I was sweaty and gradually the people started to become fewer and fewer. As I was walking, I heard what sounded like a scream, even though I was listening to my music. I stopped, took my earbuds out, and listened for any more sounds. I was right under a light and tried to look to see if I could see anyone nearby, and then I heard it. the distinct sound of a baby crying, and I waited to see if the baby would quiet down. But why would a baby be out at this time at night? Did something happen to the mother? I was too scared to call out. I slowly walked toward the sound and the baby's cries got louder and louder. I saw a baby carrier, the kind that you place in a car near a blanket, and close to some

trees. It looked really damn suss. I froze. I wasn't sure of whether I should check the baby or call the police first. If the baby died or something before I went over to look, I would have never have forgiven myself. I jogged over, and I didn't see anyone, so I pulled the car seat back. It was covered in a blanket, and I pulled it away. There was a doll in the car. There was a doll in the car seat with a small speaker taped around its neck. I let out a scream and backed away, nearly falling over in the process. I didn't see anyone hiding or anything. I didn't wait to find out if there was anyone there.

I turned and ran as fast as I could out of the park and into a well-lit area. I could hear some people running behind me and I could have sworn that I heard someone tell me to wait or stop. There was no way in hell that I was going to. to be stopping for anybody. It was only when I was at a nearby restaurant that I slowed down, and I told them what happened to me in the park. I don't know if this was a human trafficker or just people who wanted to rob me.

Either way, someone who does something like this does not have good intentions. I should have called the police instead. I called the police afterwards, and I did report it. These sort of crimes happened in the rougher areas of people. town rather than where I lived. They were mainly robberies. I only go jogging with people now or during daylight to prevent these things from happening. The sad thing is, people stopped walking through the park as much, including me.

It's said that the actions of a few can impact so many people. And what's worse, I used to feel so safe here. I wanted to share something that actually happened to me, just a few weeks ago. It still gives me shivers thinking about it, but after talking to my friends and girlfriend about it, I decided that I should share it with you, since you provide me with such great content, too. I'm currently living in Texas due to work.

I've been here for about three months, and I'll be here for another two months, at least. Sorry to say it, but I'm not a fan. I do not do well in the heat, so if I'm not at work, I'm usually lounging around at home or using the pool at the local gym. At least I have my girlfriend here with me to help me keep in a better mindset. However, during this event, my girlfriend had gone back home to Oregon to see her family, and, of course, I was alone that night and having trouble sleeping, so I wanted to try to go on a walk. hoping to just wear myself out.

However, to my surprise, it was a lot cooler than I was expecting, so it immediately made my mood turn around. It was refreshing. I put in my earbuds and started on the sidewalk that lined our quiet suburban neighborhood. I continued walking down the block, and I wanted to really take advantage of the cool air, so I rounded the corner and thought I would walk around the new cul-de-sac a sack that they were developing. They had the foundation laid for three of the houses, and the walls on one, but that was about it. But going around the back of the houses, there was a walking trail that looked recently repaved. It made sense enough with the new houses being built.

I took the new path expecting to go through the trees and get a serene view. I could hear the crickets chirping over my music. I only had one earbud in, but there were. so many, and it was pretty loud. The moon was shining right above the trees, giving the only light source back there. I was just taking in the unusual but welcoming night, until I started to get this weird feeling in my gut. It was the same feeling you get when someone's watching you, or when you know someone is looking

over your shoulder. I took out my earbud, stopped where I was, and looked around to see if I could spot someone, or something looking at me. I didn't immediately see anything, so I continued to walk with my guard up just in case. As I continued forward, I was watching the trees, noticing the imperfections in the trunks,

when I saw what I thought was just a twisted trunk until it moved. This stopped me in my tracks. I started staring at this shadow, squinting and straining my eyes to make out of the same, what I was looking at. The moonlight was working in this thing's favor, as all I could see was a dark shadow. As I stared at it, the earlier feeling I experienced was now more intense, making me feel pretty uneasy.

My first thought was that maybe I walked in on something I shouldn't have, maybe they were going to try and rob me, or maybe it was just someone doing the same thing as me, and I startled them. I thought the best thing to do was to acknowledge their existence, so if they were planning on something bad, maybe they would think twice if they knew that I knew they were there. So I simply said, good evening. When the figure didn't respond, it made me feel even more on edge. I was no longer feeling comfortable walking any closer to them, let alone passing them,

so I took a few steps backwards ready to turn back. However, something was telling me nantes to turn my back to this thing. I pulled out my phone ready to turn on the flashlight and hopefully get a video, just in case something happened. But before I could, the shadow finally moved. The movement was unnatural. It was choppy. Almost like I was watching a skipping-go.

video as this thing reached his hand straight up towards a tree. As I watched its arms, I could see this thing had clawed like fingers at the end of its hands. It seemed to turn towards the tree, letting me see what I think was the sight profile,

and its spine looked twisted. But one thing I didn't notice until it started moving was the stench. It started as just a sickly sweet odor reminiscent of decaying leaves, but quickly turned into a putrid smell of sulfur. The smell quickly found its way down my throat, making me gag.

Between this weird, unnatural smell, and this inhuman creature in front of me, I was now shrouded in a sense of dread, and I told myself that I needed to get the hell out of there. I started walking backwards as fast as I could, until I saw the creature seemingly climb up the tree on all four, fours. It looked like a cat climbing up a tree. My fight or flight instincts finally kicked in full force, and I ran. I kept looking back to make sure that nothing came up behind me, and thankfully

nothing ever did. I got out of those trees and was now back in front of the cul-de-sac. The smell was gone, but with my senses now elevated, I realized I could no longer hear a single cricket. I could hear them across my entire walk, but now the air was still and silent. That made me feel like I still wasn't safe, so I quickly walked home, looking in every direction the whole way. When I finally stumbled onto my front porch, I quickly went inside locking all the doors and turning all the lights on. I didn't want to be in the dark alone anymore. That walk was supposed to help me sleep, and now I was wide awake with no chance of sleeping. Once it was early enough, I called my girlfriend and told her what I had seen.

She was worried, but thankful that I made it back home in one piece, but we both agreed to not go back there alone, and definitely not at night. What I saw, smelled, and heard is still very vivid in my mind, and it gives me the chills just thinking about it. I've always loved listening to cryptid and creature stories, but I never wanted to experience one. I have no idea what that thing was, and part of me wishes that I would have went through with taking the picture or video,

but at the same time, I fear what could have happened if I had stuck around any longer. Every job out there has its chat. challenges and its difficulties. But, for some reason, part of me thought that the late shift at a local gas station, in the small town that I live in, wouldn't be that crazy. The job itself is fine. It's a fairly simple job that has me constantly restocking shelves until about 10, when I have to break down the store and clean everything. We certainly had some interesting people enter the store, people I didn't know even lived in my small town.

But there was one incident that happened after a long shift that actually terrified me more than any of those. It was a pretty typical night. My shift ended at one in the morning, and I had spent the last few hours cleaning up the day's messes and getting everything in order for the overnight and early morning shift. I was tired, but I needed to still make the walk home. So, I put in my earphones and started down the same road that I always worked. walked to get back. The night was pretty much silent.

Nothing going on, as is the normal for one in the morning. I'd walked the same path hundreds of times, and I've never had any issues, so I will admit that I let my guard down, because it's not a terribly long walk. And like I said, there's usually no one out that late at night. I was about halfway home when I saw what looked like a beamer. of light click on ahead of me and shine in my direction. No big deal, really. Just someone else out going for a walk, I assumed.

I kept walking the way I was going, which was towards the light. But then I heard what sounded like someone yelling through the podcast I was listening to. I paused it, and I pulled my earphones out to be absolutely sure I was hearing someone yelling, and not just thinking I was hearing it. Sure enough, I was. The guy that was holding the flashlight was yelling something like, Hey, are you even listening to me? I apologized and mentioned that I had my earphones in,

and then asked, do you need something? He then said, Yeah, I want you to come here. Obviously, that wasn't something I was planning on doing. I responded by asking him what it was that he needed for me, and he started on a tirade. He started screaming about how I needed to come there right now, and that I needed to help him because it was my job. I kindly responded with,

I'm sorry, I think you have me mistaken for someone else. I'm trying to walk home. Then came the profanities and names. This guy started calling me every inappropriate and unsavory title that he had ever heard, yelling about how I was required to help him if he had. he asked, and that everything was my fault. I started to back up a bit when I saw that the light was getting closer, but how much danger I was in didn't really click until he got under one of the streetlights.

I originally thought that this was just some random person, and he thought that I was someone else. But when I saw him under the light, I was certain that this guy was not all there. This man had been chewed up and spit out by life. His clothes were torn up, his hair was horribly messy, he was limping and stomping on the concrete with bare feet, and his face was sunken in and bright red. The thing about him that really caught my attention, though,

was the broken glass bottle that he was gripping in the hand that wasn't holding the flashlight. I nearly froze in fear as this guy was walking towards me. But it quickly occurred to me that if I just stood there, this guy was going to use that bottle. I spun on my heels and took off back towards the gas station at a full sprint. I could hear him continuing to shout threats at me, and just screaming seemingly random things that made no sense. I turned to look back once, and he was still coming towards me, but he wasn't running.

He hadn't picked up the pace at all, so thankfully I had put some distance between us. Out of breath and still shaking, I made it back to the gas station. My co-worker was surprised to see me, but I mentioned what happened, and he told me that I should call someone to come get me, and just stay there in case the guy showed up at the station. I agreed, and I ended up spending way too much money on an Uber. As they pulled up, and I climbed into the back seat, I actually saw the guy. He was standing on the corner of the street just huddled there and rocking back and forth.

It was pretty clear that this guy was not okay, and clearly he needed help, but why did he lash out at me? Was it just a random act of aggression? I'm guessing that I was probably just the unlucky soul that happened to be in the wrong place. at the wrong time, and he decided that I needed to be the target of his anger. I did make it home all right, no other issues, obviously. I mentioned it to my manager the next day, just in case the guy did come into the store and decide to be a problem there. I also changed up my route to get home at night, heading up a block or two north and then

heading west. It added a few extra minutes, but it's been pretty calm. I haven't seen him again, and I hope that he got help, but honestly there was nothing that I could do for him. And I'm obviously thankful that he didn't decide to run after me, and that nothing more happened during this encounter. Welcome to via Rai, embarked and profite, embarked and celebrate, wriggolet, publié, savouring, admire, admire, and profite. So I wanted to share something that happened to me back in 2019 that I personally cannot explain. Something that left me nothing shy of shook and uncomfortable in my own home.

It was in the middle of summer, and I was living alone in my second-floor apartment that was located in a sleepy suburb. It was the kind of suburb that has a lot of kids that are always always. outside playing in the daytime, but around eight, it goes completely silent. I've never had any issues with any of my neighbors. My upstairs neighbor is a friendly older lady, and the ones next door are a couple with some really young kids. They can all make their noise, but it's never really been disruptive or a problem for me at all.

on some nights when I had trouble sleeping which would happen a lot I would often step out onto my patio and just sit in my outdoor lounge chair and watch the stars I would sit there and close the screen door but keep the glass door open and just chill in the darkness watching the night's sky as it slowly drifts past

poetic right and one of those nights it was around midnight I was sitting out and just doing what I did when I started hearing what sounded like music. I sat up and just kind of glanced around, trying to see if I could figure out where it was coming from, because it was way too late for someone to be listening to music in the building.

As I focused a bit on the music, I realized that it was old-timey music, like something from a 1940s vinyl record. It was a bit staticy and crackly, but it sounded like a jazzy tune with some piano interlaced into the rhythm. Intrigued, I decided to try and find the source. I walked back into my apartment and then opened up my front door to see if I could hear the music and where it was coming from. But when I walked out into the main hall, the music seemed to be quieter. I walked down the hall towards my neighbor's place and then up the stairs, but

the music was completely gone. I went back, but when I got back into my living room, the music was still gone. So I figured it wasn't anything important and just moved on from there. Then, a couple days later, I had another late night on the patio. And as I was sitting there, I heard the music start up again. I checked my watch, and once again it was exactly midnight. I paused and listened, and sure enough, it was the same type of music, the distinct sound of music playing from a vinyl record, complete with crackling, popping, a slight bit of distortion but nearly clear as day. It was a different tune, but still jazzy with an eccentric piano sound in the background.

I took it a bit slower as I entered my apartment to see if I could hear the direction it was coming from. and it seemed to be coming from the back end of my apartment, not near the front, which meant that it would have had to have either been my neighbor upstairs or the one directly downstairs. The next day I went up and asked the older lady above me if it was her, not in a way that was upset or anything, just like, hey, have you by chance been listening to music at midnight randomly over the past week? She kind of chuckled and told me that she's usually in bed and asleep by 9.30. So, it wasn't her.

She mentioned that it was really odd that I was hearing the music, because she wasn't hearing anything, or waking up to it. I agreed, but thanked her for her time, and then went downstairs to ask the other neighbors. Of course, it wasn't them either. I wouldn't have expected a couple with two really young kids like that to be listening to a vinyl, in the middle of the night. They also both mentioned that they hadn't heard any music,

and he apparently worked in his office late into the night, so he would have heard it. So asking the neighbors if they had heard it was a complete bust, and I was no closer to figuring it out. Over the next couple of nights, I had purposely spent every evening out on the patio to see if I could figure it out, but the music wouldn't say,

seemed to play. Then, about a week after that, I was actually lying in bed and I woke up to the music. I immediately jumped up and listened, and was genuinely surprised when I realized the music was much louder than it had been out on the patio. I started listening harder and, sure enough, the music was coming from the direction of my hallway. And when I stepped out of my bedroom, I was certain that the music was coming to. directly from the spare room across the hall.

Two things about this room. One, it's been unoccupied since my roommate moved out a year ago, and two, I've treated the room as a giant walk-in closet. So the only things in there are a lamp and some clothing racks. I know for a fact that there were no electronics in that room. No radios, no speakers, and certainly no record players. I pressed my ear up to the door, and I was 100% certain that whatever was playing that music was inside this room, just on the other side of the door. I was a bit hesitant as I was freaking out, but I grabbed the handle and I threw the door open and nothing.

As soon as I opened the door, there was nothing special on the other side, nothing playing music and nothing unexpected. The music stopped as soon as I opened the door, like dead stopped, almost as if it had never existed. The only thing of note for me when I opened that door was that the room was very cold, like way colder than the rest of my apartment. I immediately shut the door and decided that I was just going to go back to bed and ignore it if it happened again. Shockingly, it hasn't. like at all. This was almost four years ago at this point,

and I haven't heard the music at all since that night. I checked the room during the day, and I confirmed that there was nothing capable of playing music in that room, so I have no clue where it was coming from. I know some people may say that it was just coming through the walls, like I initially thought, but I honestly do not believe that it was any of my neighbors, as none of them heard it.

nor admitted to it. And then there's the fact that it just stopped like it did when I opened the door. As mentioned, I have no way explaining what this was, where the music was coming from, or what it meant. But I'm pretty thankful that it hasn't happened again since. This is the first time that I've ever sent a story in. My life has been pretty boring in comparison to some other people, so I hope that my story is something that you can use.

My doctor told me that I needed to start exercising more because of my health. Where I live, it gets extremely hot during the day, even during winter, so working out at nighttime is just easier. I was still too embarrassed to go to the gym to exercise, and I didn't want to be judged. I decided to go for walks at nighttime when it was cooler and that there would be fewer people out. Even then, there were still other people out, and while it may have been safer, I still felt really self-conscious. On a whim, I decided to go for a walk at one in the morning, so technically I guess it was early morning. This was also quite a long time ago. I didn't have a cell phone with me that I could take.

I went for a walk and naturally there wasn't anyone around. Over time, I was getting used to and enjoying my night walks. My neighborhood is normally quiet and has a reputation for being one of the safer ones. I walked a good distance away from my house, and only the occasional car drove by. Occasionally, I would get a honk of hello by one of my neighbors and I would wave back. There were some parked cars along both sides of the street, but this was nothing abnormal, nor did it draw my attention or cause me to be concerned. I continued on my way when I saw a car slowly driving behind me.

The lights were on. I gave a wave thinking it was someone who knew me, and perhaps they decided to play a prank on me. After a while, though, I started getting a terrible feeling that they did not have good intentions towards me, and I tried to stay in well-lit areas where I would be safe. I was about halfway home, and I wanted to get home as soon as possible, but I didn't want to lead whoever this was back to my house, just in case they decided to come back later on, or whatever they were planning on doing.

There was a local servo, or gas station, nearby that's opened 24 hours, and I started to walk in the direction of it. I knew there would be someone there, and I would be able to get some help. I kept checking behind me, and sure enough, the car kept following. I tried changing directions to see what the person would do. They changed lines and kept following me. I saw a glimpse of a man in the car, but I couldn't really distinguish any of his facial features. I was beginning to get incredibly scared now, but I kept a level ahead.

I walked to the servo, entered, and spoke to the man behind the counter. I told him that this car had been following me. We looked outside for the car, but it was gone. At first, I was relieved, but it was only when we looked around the corner that we again saw the car, waiting for me to come out. The lights were off this time, and he was clearly trying to hide. The man was so kind and called the police for me. I waited and actually bought some snacks.

counterproductive to my diet, but I needed the comfort because I was so nervous. I'm not sure how long it took for the police to come, but when they came, the other car drove away and I didn't see them again. I still went on my regular walks, but I ended up going with a friend to keep me company, and for safety reasons. I never leave without a mobile phone in case of an emergency now and actually bought one as soon as this happened. There was an update on the car that followed me.

It had actually been stolen. There were women who were walking who had gone missing in the neighboring towns, who were grabbed when they were walking, either in the early morning or late at night. There were rumors that it was some kind of serial killer or something, but since there were no bodies or anything, we couldn't really be sure if this was true. From what I heard about these women,

they weren't the sort to just get up and leave their families behind. So, yeah, it probably isn't good. The OP actually emailed me after sending the story to me for an update. Hey, sorry about the second email. I wanted to give you an update about my story, and I hadn't heard it on your channel yet. I did some extra digging and found out that one of those missing women who went out for a late-night walk had actually been found deceased, and was likely the victim of a murder. The others who had gone missing hadn't been found yet.

There isn't anything specific to say it was the same person, or if it was connected. But it made me wonder what could have happened, so I guess going to that servo was a good idea. Anyways, stay safe out there. This happened when I, male, was a kid, back around 2004. My friends and I loved to be outside and explore place. that we've never been. We played in the trees behind my friend's house, climbing them and making a makeshift hammock in them.

We loved to find new places to explore, and had been itching to go through this old house that had been abandoned and empty for as long as I could remember. I never saw anyone on the property or anything about it change, other than the grass and weeds growing taller and taller. Then, my sweet parents, unbeknownst to them, got me a birthday gift that would push us to explore that house. I'd been wanting walkie-talkies for quite some time. I loved the idea of being able to go anywhere in the park, the woods, and even between rooms,

and being able to talk to my friends. I had some cheap ones that didn't work very long, or from very far apart, So I wanted to get a better pair, and my parents followed through. I told my friend Troy, and he came over one day, so we could try out my new walkies. We were walking all over my yard and in the house, trying to see how far they would reach, and, to our surprise, they still came out clear and crisp with him standing at the tip of the front yard, and me standing at the edge of the backyard. This seemed like quite the distance for us, enough for us to do a lot of things.

So he instantly brought up the idea of exploring that house. The house was a lot closer to Troy's place, so we planned it all out, and I was given permission to stay at Troy's for the weekend. After I was dropped off, we went up to his room to gather a small backpack of stuff that we might need. It wasn't much, and probably wasn't even anything that you would actually take while exploring, but hey, we were still kids. We hopped on our bikes. I was allowed to ride his older brothers, and we made our way to the house, telling his mom that we were going to a nearby park. Once we arrived, we ditched our bikes in the tall grass, hoping that they were hidden enough

so that no one would see us. We walked up to the house, both of us nervous, and tried the door. I don't know why we were surprised when it was locked. After trying a few times, we decided to try and look for any windows that we could access, and maybe climb through instead. There were a few of them that we could reach, but they also seemed to be locked, or seized, again, leaving us at a dead end. Now, even though we were kids and we were willing to trespass, I suppose, in order to explore this place,

the thought of breaking in did not even cross our mind. We were pretty disappointed, and since our curiosity and exploration wasn't fulfilled, and we thought we could at least try the backyard and see what we could find. The backyard was actually pretty well hidden by the dilapidated privacy fence, so we were surprised by what we saw. We broke off a plank that was already rotting and falling apart and crawled through. The yard was filled with different decorations, like gnomes and lights. There was a garden lined by red bricks and small fencing with those tomato stands in them.

There was a small table with a dried up and cracked coffee mug resting on it, and two chairs tucked under the table. Then the part that got our attention the most was a small cracked stone path that led straight back through the yard to another gate. When we opened the gate, it appeared to just lead to trees. It was so dense that we couldn't really see through them. This immediately set our eyes aglow, ready to explore. We could see the trees from the front, but it didn't seem like anything we would have expected. We immediately pulled out the walkies, tested them, and agreed to head in opposite directions to explore.

We probably walked 20, 25 feet apart as we talked to each other through the walkies. We weren't really seeing anything of interest, other than some cool-looking trees, so we were just talking to each other, cracking jokes, and saying curse words, because we thought it was cool. but then we started getting some interference on the walkies. At first it just sounded like singing, so I assumed we were picking up a radio station or something. After confirming with Troy that he could hear it too,

I told him that we should go back to the gate. Once back, we could tweak with them to see if we could clear it up and listen to it better. We were still just expecting it to be a radio station, but we were hopeful that it may have been something more entertaining. As I was walking back, I was already eager to listen, so I started flipping through the channels and listening. And, sure enough, I found one that was clearer, but still had a bit of static. However, it was not a radio station,

and it clearly did not sound like a phone call either. What we did here made our blood run cold. It sounded like a woman, or maybe a young girl crying. Crying may be an understatement. She was sobbing. You could hear the hiccups and gasps of air between each cry. We both looked at each other, probably trying to read the other's expression, and carried on listening like, surely this was just a prank.

Maybe someone saw us or was playing with another radio or walkie and just wanted to scare us. But we couldn't stop listening. I wish we would have. The woman sobbing would then break in between and start talking. Again, the static was there, so it was hard to make out everything. But we both agreed on parts of what we heard. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I don't want to die. Please, God help me. Those words pierced through the airwaves accompanied by heart-wrenching sobs.

It was as if someone's very soul was crying out for us. to help, drowning in anguish and fear. Troy and I exchanged terrified looks, and we knew that we needed to tell somebody. We ran back through the yard to the front and jumped on our bikes, trying to head back as fast as we could go. We kept the walkies on hoping to still hear the woman, but it sadly faded away completely when we returned back to his house. The thought of us being in trouble because we lied didn't even cross-oroughed.

our mind. The cries and the pleas from the woman were far too important for us. We ran inside and I let Troy do the talking. His mom looked confused at first, so we had to slow down, and explained it all to her a second time. She seemed pretty disappointed in us for lying, and got pretty stuck on that. She told us that we needed to stay home and not leave the yard. We then tried begging her to go with us and explained what we heard again, but she didn't seem to believe us. She said something pretty similar to what we originally assumed, that someone was probably messing with us, and probably were inside that old creepy house. Bottom line, she refused to consider the idea that it was real and dismissed us.

We went to his room and tried everything we could to get the sick. signal back, but it was long gone. We tried playing games, watching TV, but the mood had been pretty well spoiled by our earlier experience. I couldn't help but feel this sense of guilt, knowing that we were helpless and there was nothing that we could do about it. Even when I went home, I told my parents about it, and they didn't seem convinced either.

They too were disappointed that we went to the house, but while my mom did look a little curious and maybe even concerned, my dad said that what we heard wouldn't have been possible and explained how we choose to hear things within the static. I felt frustrated and helpless. Over time, I would slowly make peace with this incident, but it was never fully gone from my memory. Some things would happen that would bring it back to the foreground.

When I heard about a missing person, I thought about her. The older I got, the more I wanted answers, and I began scouring the internet and news for any information that could explain the eerie incident. I tried looking into radio interference and how it worked, and I even looked for anything about people that may have gone missing in my area around that time, or even people found, but nothing matched up. I found nothing conclusive, and no trace. of an explanation.

It was as if the incident had vanished into thin air, leaving me with nothing but lingering questions and a deep sense of unease. To this day, the memory of that spine-chilling encounter remains etched in my mind. The sobbing on the airwaves, the helplessness in those words, I can still hear them echoing in the depths of my consciousness.

And all I can do is hope and pray that my parents were right. A friend of mine and I decided to have a girl's day out. Life was just starting to go back to normal, or so I thought, after all the COVID shutdowns. I noticed my friend was acting a little different towards me, not in a bad way, but different nonetheless. We stop at a store and a man walks up behind me.

He insisted on paying for my purchase, which was only two sons. small items. I thanked him, but declined the offer. He appeared visibly upset, and then asked if he could at least carry it to the car for me. Again, I declined. We later stopped at a very busy restaurant. My friend tells me that people are staring at me like crazy.

I then begin to notice that she was right. As we were leaving the restaurant, a man approaches me and asked if I dined there often. I told him that I stop in every chance that I get. He then says that he looked forward to seeing me again. I walked to the register and tell the cashiers that the man was so nice. They were both looking very confused. They told my friend and I that that man was actually the owner, and they had never seen him do that in all the years that they had worked for him.

My friend and I got in the car to leave, and she said, that something creepy was going on. I kind of chuckled, but she had a serious look on her face that I didn't understand, at the time at least. We then stop at a Walmart, and men start following me around. Two of them almost got into a fight over who would get some chips off the shelf that I had reached for. I walk over to my friend who of course witnessed that scene, and we laughed it off. I tell her that it would be nice if one of the men would have been a Lenny Kravitz look-like.

Then, I swear to you, we round the aisle, and there stands a man who looks identical to Lenny, with the exception of being a little bit taller. My friend then says that that was insane, and I had to agree. I was looking through the sail rack when an elderly lady approached me. She was just absolutely darling, and she had to have a little bit of her. and she had the sweetest smile. The lady looked to be in her late 80s, and she told me that she had been hoping to see me again

before she was gone from this world. She said that she'd been waiting since she was a child. Of course, that wouldn't have been possible as she was much older than I was. A much younger lady who was accompanying her tells me that the lady is her grandmother and that she kept talking about hoping to see me again. Okay, so at that point my friend and I are ready to get out of there.

As we're on our way home, my friend suddenly asks me if I remember a classmate of ours passing away about ten years ago. I tell her, of course I do. Not only was he a friend, but he was also living with my sister's best friend when he passed. My friend had the spookiest look on her face, and then tells me that our classmate is now still alive. and apparently, according to his Facebook, had never been with my sister's boyfriend. She pulls over to the side of the road and shows me his Facebook. I went into complete shock. My friend then looks at me and asks,

What are you? This all happened about two years ago, and it still gives me anxiety to this day when it's mentioned. This happened to me back when I was a little seven-year-old. Boy. My family and extended family were also close to one another. I remember always having people over at our place. We had parties for every holiday and every birthday. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, a lot of cousins. So the Fourth of July was no different for us. We were going to be hosting the cookout and celebration. I was the second youngest of six kids. we were a big family alone. I remember going grocery shopping with my mom, and I helped pick out some of the snack foods and desserts. My mom made the best cupcake arrangements.

She was a baker-slash caterer, so she always went all out on the desserts. We picked out some ingredients to make what my mom called surprise cupcakes. She would make them as normal, but the center would be filled with different things, such as frosting, sprinkles, or candy. Since it was the holiday of fireworks, I wanted to try pop rocks. So when we got back home, I was excited to not only make them, but eat them too.

However, my mom told me that I wasn't allowed to have one until after I ate actual food. I was a kid with a sweet tooth, and she knew that I would go a little crazy over them and probably make myself sick. But that didn't mean that I understood her reasoning at the time either. So, as people started showing up, everyone was talking, snacking, and having a good time. My dad was the cliche dad, with a giant grill making everything you could imagine on it.

Steaks, hamburgers, hot dogs, kebabs, beans, you name it. My parents were both pretty, cheesy and cliche, but they were all so wonderful. I only hope my kids nowadays think the same of me and their mom. Anyways, I helped my dad where I could, which is typically flipping things as he held me. But I more so wanted to monitor when it would be done so that I could eat and have a cupcake. When it was finally done, I made a plate and ate it a little faster than I should have. Once we were done, I was finally granted permission to those beautiful strawberry lemonade pop rock cupcakes.

They were just as fantastic as you could imagine. I don't know how my mom did what she did, but I was a lucky kid. After enjoying my first one, I asked for another one and my mom told me to wait for a bit. I was kind of disappointed, but I obliged and busied myself doing something else. I played with my cousins for a while, and then we started lighting off some fireworks. After what I thought was a substantial amount of time, I asked for another cupcake, but my mom was busy talking and sorting things out, so she told me to wait. After a short pout, my mom walked back outside with the others, and I realized I was alone in the house with the cupcakes. I took the opportunity to sneak one and would eat it in my playhouse in the backyard.

The party was taking place in the front yard and I had a clear path to my house, confident that I could get away with it too. It went just as planned, and the little cake was just as good as the first one. But this successful plan just made me once to press my luck. So, yes, I went back for a third one. I brought it out back and started eating it when I heard someone in the house, fearing they may notice the missing dessert, or me, I tried to eat it faster, when I started coughing really hard. I had swallowed part of it wrong or something, making me choke on it.

The last thing I remember was feeling very scared, but also very tired, until I closed my eyes. Shortly after, I woke up, and I was lying in my bed. I remember looking around my room and stretching until I remembered our cookout and party. So I sat back up, ready to go back out there with everyone else. That wasn't until I noticed a young woman standing and looking out my window. Being a little kid, I just said, who are you? The lady looked over at me smiling and, and said that she was Becky.

She then started asking about the different items in my room, and about me. She pointed to one of my shark-stuffed animals and asked me what kind it was. She would ask me what my favorite one was, and complimented me on being able to name the different ones. As we talked more, she would then stop and smile at me and say things about how smart and handsome I was, and how much I looked just like my dad. It definitely made my little self feel pretty good, and I tried to offer different toys to her as a gift. She again smiled at me, but declined.

Then she told me that I should go back to the party because they would miss me. I thought it was a silly thing to say and just mentioned something about how I was right here in my bedroom. She again smiled and said that it was very important that I listened to my mother and get back to her quickly. So, being that she was an adult, I figured it was probably wise to listen to her, but before I went, I told her to join us, and, of course, talked about the cupcakes. She kept on smiling, but then she also looked kind of sad. She said that she might look for one later, but again pushed me to go quickly. So I shrugged it off, not really knowing what was going on. Then I looked at my door, and I could hear my mom screaming my name, which startled me.

And as if I had been dreaming, I woke up with my mom over me, screaming my name and crying. Seeing my mom like that scared me and made me cry, but I noticed how I couldn't catch my breath. After a brief coughing fit, I calmed down and realized that I was sitting against my playhouse, with several people around me. My mom made sure that I was all right, and then picked me up and brought me inside. I got a stern talking to by both of my parents, because they figured out that I had taken the cupcake,

and they explained why it was so important. They found me unconscious and choking. Apparently, whoever had walked into the kitchen could hear my coughing, and they knew it was a kid and how it sounded pretty bad, So they went and looked around for the kid. That's when they noticed me in the playhouse, but I'd already collapsed on the ground. My face had a hue of blue and purple, according to them. Obviously, they cleared my airway and I came, too.

Turning out fine, but it was definitely a terrifying moment for them. It was scary for me, too, though, seeing how scared my mom looked. I made sure to listen to my parents for the rest of them. the night, but I was also too afraid to leave my mom's side. So that was pretty scary alone, especially now as an adult, knowing that I could have died, but the part my family and I still don't understand was the lady in my room. Later that night, I remembered her and asked my mom about her. She had just started naming off people at the party, but I recognized them all.

I told her how I had never seen this woman before. She looked confused, but she took me to my room and said that there was no one in there. I explained how she was at my window, how she liked my shark, and how she even said I was handsome like my dad. My mom looked puzzled until I explained that all this happened right before I heard her screaming at me and woke up in my playhouse. Then her face looked more shocked than anything. As a kid, I could tell something was wrong with her, but I didn't know what. She just told me at that time that it may have been a dream when I was actually out in the playhouse, and I just left it at that, thinking it was just a crazy and real feeling dream.

The next day, while I was having breakfast with my family, we were talking about the night prior and everything that had occurred, when my mom again brought up the cupcake situation. and scolding me again, but in a more light-hearted way. My dad was aware of the situation, too, and he joked about it. This caused me to bring up the dream that I had. My parents were both open-minded, I suppose, so my mom immediately said,

Oh, yeah, tell your dad about this dream that you had. So I explained it to him. The whole time he had his normal interested look, as I told him, until I got to the part about the ladies saying that I looked like my dad. It was clear that this had piqued his interest, so he asked me to describe the woman. However, as I did, he mentioned that he didn't recognize the woman. So, again, we all said that it was just a kind of weird dream and left it at that.

Now that I'm older, my parents and I have talked about it on several occasions, trying to figure out who this mystery lady was. They, of course, would have more ideas than I would. The closest we've gotten was possibly my dad's great-aunt, as the home we were in was once hers that he inherited down the family. The only thing was that the woman I saw was very young, and no one could find photos of her as a young adult. So, we've always just referred to her as my guardian angel,

for possibly having saved me that night, telling me to go back to my mother. And, since then, I've never forgotten about her. Okay, time for another story that is unrelated to my previous story. I was recounting an incident that happened to me over a decade ago to the same friend. I told him how when I was young I would often have alien abduction dreams, and I would lay awake in bed with the feeling of a presence in the room. This would happen on occasion as an adult as well.

I'd be paralyzed by fear and be afraid to look at where I felt this presence was staring at me. Later, as an adult, I wake up and I find the most stereotypical gray alien standing at the edge of my bed and looking at me. I immediately jump up and punch it in the face. the punch never connects and it disappears. I figure, oh, I guess it was just a hypnipompic hallucination. I've never had such a large and detailed visual hypnipompic hallucination, but was familiar with the concept,

and I don't have much reason to think it was anything else. A hypnipompic hallucination, for those that don't know, is a hallucination had when you're waking up, but not completely awake, and dream content can spill into your perception of reality. Hypnagogic is basically the same thing except when falling asleep, for anyone interested in that little piece of trivia. So, my friend asks what I mean by stereotypical gray, and if I could be more specific or maybe find a picture.

I think this will be easy. I've seen pictures of this particular type of gray, exactly as I saw it all over the internet. And that's probably how the idea of this alien got into my mind. However, I cannot find anything that looks quite like what I saw. I remember seeing the stereotypical alien being all over the net. But the closest images or drawings or whatever that I look up, at the closest, look two steps away from what I remember Gray's looking like.

Like, they're all based on the grays that I remember, but trying to change things to be original. I suppose since this one is just me, it can be easily written off as a memory issue, but I remember it so clearly, and seeing the depictions so often. Anyways, good news, since I jumped up and punched that thing in the face, real or not, I've never felt the presence in the room again. I'm not scared of what might lurk in the dark. If I wake up to an intruder or presence in my room, alien or otherwise, my fight or flight or freeze response is no longer freeze.

The default is fight. And I feel much more at ease laying in bed in the dark because of this. This happened about four years back, in the early summer of 2019. My wife and I had just purchased our first home. a quaint little two-bedroom home in the older part of town. It wasn't too fancy, but we were proud of it and we had made a ton of plans in what we were going to do with it, both inside and out. The street that we lived on was lined with maple trees, and it was honestly beautiful. It was aptly named, too.

We lived on Maple Street. Most of the neighbors were kind enough, mostly just older folks that kept themselves. but there was one house on the block that was a bit different, the one across the street and slightly to the left, which in this case was 405 Maple Street. Something about the house always seemed to emit this creepy vibe. It was a weather-beaten, old structure with paint peeling off like aged skin. The window stared blankly,

like the house had eyes and was just staring off into the ether. The house was actually empty, or was supposed to be. The old man that had lived there had passed away a few years ago, and no one seemed willing to move into the house. As an aside, there was a for-sale sign when we moved in to the house, but after a year or two, they removed it, and the house is just sat empty. Anyway, about a month into living in our new home,

I started to notice some oddities about that house, house. Firstly, it was empty, and sometimes when I would look outside, I would see the lights turn on or off. Of course, this could just be squatters, but in our town that didn't make a whole lot of sense, so I assumed more likely that it was just some rowdy kids or something like that. The strange thing about it was that there were no curtains, so when the lights were on, you would think you would see an intruder, but there wasn't anyone there. It would just be a light turning on in an empty room. Then, when I would be walking my dog, Mack, I would notice shadows around the house. I know that sounds a bit vague, but it's the best way to explain it.

I would see shadows standing outside, like person-shaped shadows just standing in the yard out of the corner of my eyes. And when I would look directly at them, they would vanish. I would see them standing inside the house, just inside the window. Mack hated walking by that house, probably for the same reason. Every time I would see them, it would send that freaky chill down my spine, and make me just want to run. But I just shook it off as a trick of the light, or me being tired.

and no, I didn't even try to logically explain why Mack hated the place. Then, one night, it took a pretty sharp turn for the creepier. It was around two in the morning. I was working on something at my desk, and Mack came into my office whining, which meant that he wanted to go outside. With this house, at that time, our backyard was not fenced in, so we couldn't just let him go out back to do what he needed. We had to take him out.

I figured that it was late enough that I could go ahead and shut off my computer, go for a quick walk with him, and then head to bed anyways. So I grabbed his leash and we stepped outside for a quick walk. The street was completely silent. And there weren't many streetlights, so it was pretty dark outside. We walked down the street, and when we went to pass 405, Mack slowed down and started to growl. Mack was a super chill dog, so him growling was weird.

I turned to look at where he was staring, and I could literally feel the hair on my arms start to stand on end. There, in the window of that house, was the clear silhouette of an old man. I could vaguely make out the details of his hair, and face, but he seemed to be surrounded by those shadows that I would frequently see when walking by the house. He just stood there, watching us from the window and not moving.

I felt a knot start to tighten in my stomach, and I just kind of stayed there watching this vague image of an old man stand there and watch me. After a few seconds, the lights that were on shut off, and I could see that there was nobody in the house. At that point, I was pretty well done with the whole thing. I grabbed Mack, and I rushed back to our home. I tried telling my wife about the whole thing, but she was pretty well out of it already, and she laughed saying that I was being silly.

I don't think I slept that night. I kept looking out the window of the house to see if I would see it again, but I didn't. It was a bit silly, I guess, but the next day, when I got the chance, I actually asked one of the neighbors about the old man that lived there, and she told me that Harry, the man who had owned the house before passing away in 2018, was a bit of a grumpy and nosy old man. Apparently he was well known for always staring out his window with an aggressive scowl as people walked past his house, and he would do so with the curtains wide open to make sure

that you knew he was watching you. She also mentioned that he had major issues with people walking their dogs past his house, and he was known for being verbally aggressive towards them. With that, I assumed that the reason the shadows always seemed to show up

when I was walking Mack past his house, and the reason I saw him that night was because I had upset him. Even in death, Harry seemed like a bitter old man, and as much as that creeped me out, I really didn't want to deal with it again. After that night, we didn't walk past 405 at all. If Mack and I went for a walk, we would get to his property line, cross the street, and walk past his house.

I never walked with Mack directly in front of his house again. Interestingly enough, I never really dealt with anything paranormal again after that, at least not involving Harry's old house. I still notice the lights on randomly, but I don't pay it too much mind, because I don't think that has anything to do with me. That's just Harry being an active spirit. Sadly enough, Harry's old house is actually still empty, and I don't know if it's even on the market anymore.

But I kind of pity anyone that does end up moving in there, as they'll be moving in with a very angry old man as a roommate. Look, Air Canada F. Aholds Worldial. Super, an offer for the assort.

Station Thermal, Volcan. You've seen the price for the Japan? Mepargue and sushi. Wow,

the solds are good for for Mayork also. We could go to to the beach

and make a to see a on the sea-sill. Mm, I'd adore the canol the

Cannoli. Attain, you're a money limited, this sold is endurring to RKanda

com or to your agent of your So, I know that my story is going to sound horribly cliche, but it did actually happen to me, and it's something that honestly scared me nearly to death. It's easy to look at a story and say, you should have done this or that, but to end up in the situation

is a totally different story. At the time, I panicked, and I took the easiest way that I was the easiest way that I was a totally different story. I could to get out of the situation. And if I were in this situation again today, I think I would probably still do the same thing as my potential stupid actions are most likely what saved my hide. This happened about five years ago, when I was living in the heart of the city, in an apartment that was only a few blocks from my office. I'm a night owl, always have been.

There's something about being out in the world. when it's completely still and silent that has always appealed to me. It was during one of these late nights, around two in the morning, to be exact, that I was walking home from my office. It had been a particularly stressful day at work. I mean, obviously, I was leaving it too. And I was looking forward to the cool night air to calm my nerves and to help me center myself a little bit. I took my usual route down the familiar.

familiar sidewalk that was illuminated by the dim streetlights, past all the closed shops with their metal shutters down and locked, towards the local park that was always deserted this time of night. I will say that there is this strange and eerie piece that emanates from the deserted cityscape at night that I've just kind of always felt comforting. That is, until that night. As I was walking, I heard what sounded like soft rustling coming from, from behind me. I didn't pay it much attention,

assuming it was just a newspaper getting blown around in the winds, or maybe a stray cat doing straight cat things. As I continued walking, I noticed that it wasn't fading away. It was persistent, and it seemed like it was following me. I slowly pulled my pepper spray off my clip that was attached to my purse and turned to see if there was someone there.

And, sure enough, Enough, there was. About 30-ish feet behind me was a man in a hooded sweatshirt and gym shorts, walking it around the same pace that I was. His hood wasn't up, but he was doing everything he could to make it look like he was not looking at me. Looking down at the ground, turning slightly to the side. Now, I don't like to think the worst about anyone that I see, especially when I first see them. but the way he reacted to me turning around was not normal, and it put me on edge. I figured the best thing to do was to keep walking and to pay attention to how far he was from me the whole time.

I didn't have that far to go to get to my apartment building, thankfully, and after a couple more moments of upping my pace a bit and putting a little extra distance between us, I came up to an alleyway that had the side entrance of my apartment building. At that point, I was faced with two options. Make a run down the side alley and make it into the side door quickly, or take the chance and walk all the way around the building to the front to get into the front door. I decided that the side entrance being quicker and a straight shot was my best bet. As I approached the alley, I quickly turned and did a slight jog towards the table. door. When I turned back to see if he was following me down the alley, I was surprised to see that

he was still just standing there and staring at me at the entrance. At this point, it was more than clear that he was definitely following me, and that he intended to make me the victim of whatever it was that he was plotting. I kept walking towards the door of my building, my key card in one hand and the pepper spray in the other, intending to get into the building quickly. When I approached the door, I heard a sound that sent me into overdrive, the sound of feet rapidly smacking onto the concrete. This guy was now running at me in a full sprint. I nearly fumbled everything as I beeped in with the keycard, stepped in and slammed the door shut behind me. Thankfully it was a good door, and thankfully it locked immediately when it shut after being beeped in,

because as soon as I got to the other side of the door, the man was right there, his face pressed against the glass and staring at me. This guy really just stood there with his face literally pressed against the glass door, laughing and smiling at me. I turned back and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time, until I got to my floor and my apartment. I actually called the police and reported the incident, but since he hadn't attempted to break in,

there wasn't really anything they could do. The next day, I contacted the leasing office and they pulled the camera footage so that we could at least get a picture of the guy so that we could hang it up and warn the tenants about him, which we did. One of my neighbors mentioned that they had seen the guy standing outside the building a few weeks prior

and that he had asked them for change. When they said no, he got mad and started yelling that, Whatever he ended up doing was going to be their fault. So that was nice to know. Unfortunately, I've never really been able to forget that night. The fear that I felt as I turned to see him sprinting at me, I no longer walk from the office to my apartment, and actually moved to a different location a few months later for unrelated reasons.

The whole thing was a chilling reminder of how a simple stroll from one place to another, can quickly turn into a nightmare. That night, the city that I loved definitely showed me a darker side, one that I hope to never encounter again. Have you ever experienced something so unnerving and inexplicably bizarre that it makes you question yourself and everything around you? That's a dramatic way of telling you about what happened to me on the night that this event happened. The whole thing really gives me the creeps just thinking about it.

And rewriting it out makes me feel a bit ill, but I think it's a story that's honestly worth telling. Some people may hear my story and think, Oh, that's not that bad, nothing really happened to you. Which, sure, it could have been worse, but in my opinion, it's those possibilities and unanswered bits that make this whole thing so much creepier than it needed to be. I work the late shift, not the overnight shift, just the late shift, which means I get home at a super awkward time. Because of this, I need to find or make time to do things for me, things that I enjoy or to keep me happy and healthy. One thing that I love doing is going for long walks, and thankfully, since I get home when everyone else is in bed,

I get to enjoy the cool summer nights all to myself. I've found that the empty roads at midnight really make for a nice backdrop for those walks that you need to take to clear your mind. And as such, I've made them part of my daily ritual. The stillness of the town really adds some contrast to the overall heat of the day. Walking at nights can be a pain in the winter, but in the summers, it's heavenly. on one particular night, about halfway into my usual route, I noticed that there was a familiar glow of headlights hitting me from behind, and brightening up everything to my left.

Initially, I didn't really mind it. It happens as cars pass, and while it's not terribly common on my walks, it's not unheard of. However, where normally the car would pass me within a few seconds of illuminating my path, I noticed that whatever car was behind me was not passing. I kept walking, just staring at my shadow being cast onto the road from the lights, until it had been probably a couple of minutes, which made me start to feel a bit uneasy and confused.

I started thinking about and figured that it was possible that the car had pulled over, or maybe it was an officer that was tailing me to ask me if I was okay. Again, it was midnight, and I was a fairly small woman walking on the side of the road. I decided to go ahead and turn around to see who it was. When I did, I think it made the situation that much worse. It wasn't a cop or a car on the side of the road. It was an ice cream truck, moving at a pace that was uncannily slow for a vehicle just driving on the road. At this point, I was more or less.

certain that whoever was driving this thing was following me. Not just driving on the slow or going at a leisurely pace. They were driving slow with intent. The whole vibe of the situation was enough to set off a flurry of alarm bells in my head. Why the hell would an ice cream truck be out at midnight? And why was it following me like this? My sense of unease skyrocketed when, after a few more steps of me walking backwards and just staring at the truck,

they abruptly shut off the headlights and turned on the music. The street was completely dark at this point, save the overhead street lights that were randomly placed. But I could still see the truck in the bright colors of the cloud and ice cream cones painted on it. Enough was enough. My instincts were screaming at me to get away from this situation.

I paused for a second, pulled out my cell phone from my pocket, and started walking back the way I came. I started recording the truck and yelling, Why are you following me? Who the hell are you? Trying to just be loud and obnoxious. Either this person was going to jump out and grab me,

or they were going to drive off when they realized they were being recorded. I made it very clear that I was recording and trying to get a shot of the driver. I started screaming about having 911 on the line, and that I was filming him for the police. As soon as I said this, the truck's engine suddenly revved up and it sped off, screeching its tires right in front of me and leaving me in the distance. At no point during him driving off did he turn the headlights back on either,

which, again, cemented that this was an odd occurrence. After he was out of sight, I was left just standing there with my heart racing, and a mix of relief and fear coursing through my veins. I know that my response to this person was not one that others would ever recommend, but I really didn't know what else to do. If I ran and they were going to grab me, they would have just spent up and chased me.

It was the middle of the night, so going to any of the nearby houses wasn't really a solution. In the end, I decided to be big and loud, like I was. dealing with a bear, and it worked. Looking back, though, I cannot shake off those unsettling questions. Why were they telling me? What were the driver's intentions and how much danger was I actually in? The logical part of me struggles to find a rational explanation, but I guess it's easy to speculate, if nothing else. I still enjoy my late-night walks, but I've taken a different approach to me.

my safety, and let's just say that I can defend myself if it ever were to come to it. I never advocate violence, but I do advocate for being able to keep yourself safe. If nothing else, this event has left me with a bit of a heightened sense of vigilance. Always be aware of your surroundings, and never let your guard down, even when something is seemingly routine, because you never know when that routine will be broken by something unexpected. This happened to me and my sister back in the early 2000s, but it's still fresh in my memory as it still creeps me out.

At the time, I was 12 and my sister was six. Even though we had several years between us, we were always super close. We did everything together, shared all of our toys, rarely fought. We also loved playing outside and pretending. to be explorers. We would climb trees and collect leaves and branches, crawl under the porch and look for rocks and bugs. We loved trying to make houses out of mud and the supplies gathered for our dolls, and just always had a creative and imaginative mind. So when my little sister, Katie, started talking about an imaginary friend, no one, including my parents and myself, were surprised. Nor did we think

it was odd. Katie started bringing up her friend when she was moved into her own room. She technically always had her own room. It was just a nursery, but due to health concerns when she was born, she pretty much stayed in my parents' room until she just randomly decided that she would stay in her own room. It literally went like that. We were getting ready for bed. She went to her own room and she said she wanted to sleep in her own room. So they converted her crib into a normal bed and she started staying in there. So now I would walk by her room to go to mine or intentionally be going to hers and I would hear her talking. I figured she was just playing with her dolls and would walk in her room and ask what she was doing.

She would respond saying that she was playing with my friend. At my age, I assumed that she meant her dolls and then we would continue with our plans. then there was one time later at night where my mom told me to go get my sister since dinner was ready I started towards her room and noticed that her door was cracked open I was preparing to quickly open the door to scare her but again I heard her talking this time it sounded more conversational and she seems to be explaining to someone how to do something So, instead, I slowly opened the door and saw her standing near her window putting her toys on the ledge. I asked her what she was doing and she again said that she was playing.

I asked her who she was talking to and she said, Jimmy. I was curious myself, so I asked, who's Jimmy? And she claimed that he was her imaginary friend. I thought that it was kind of silly at my age, but I just went along with it. I asked her how she met him, and she explained how he just showed up in her room one day, and that he wanted to play with her. It sounded like a true story for an imaginary friend, so I left it at that. We had several incidents like that, where she would be talking to someone and she would say it was Jimmy.

even while we were around our parents. She would say things like, Oh, that's Jimmy's favorite color. And Jimmy is afraid of that. I like to play dolls with Jimmy. We all thought it was cute and creative and just left it where it was. I even recall one time when I was playing with Katie in her room. She mentioned Jimmy, and I said that I can't wait to meet him one day.

She seemed very happy and said that he wanted to meet me to meet him. me, too. Being that he was imaginary, I asked her where he was, and she told me, well, he's not here right now, but he should be later. So, okay, maybe she just didn't feel up to pretending at that point. So, life goes on as normal for all of us, and before we know it, summer has snuck up on us, giving us more time to play. One day, when we were playing outside, we had started a whole game similar to what I mentioned prior,

where we were collecting treasures and making up what they could do. At one point we stopped and we were just laying in the grass in the backyard, which kind of made us want to sleep out there too. And, thankfully for us, when we asked our parents for blankets and pillows to turn the porch into a fort, my dad gave us one better and set up a tent that we had in the backyard. I just remember being so excited to camp in our yard. And our parents weren't even going to be in there. My parents said they were going to be staying in the back room,

which was like a smaller living room. That room had a door that led to the backyard so they would be nearby in case we needed them. So, we got ready for bed and grabbed a few things. things to keep us busy, like coloring books and flashlights, until we fell asleep. We were pretty well nestled in our tent, singing, and coloring, and we'd probably been in there for about an hour when I would say that we both were getting pretty drowsy. So we cleaned up, and we snuggled into our sleeping bags, ready to end our night. But shortly after, I heard someone

walking in our yard. I just assumed it was one of our parents checking in on us, so I said, Hey, who is it? In a curious and playful tone. And a voice whispered back, it's me. I could tell that it was a man's voice, but I couldn't tell if it was my dad because of how they were whispering. However, right after he responded, Katie jumped up and quickly unzipped the tent, giggling. As she did this, we were met with the face of a man that I had never met before. However, Katie seemed excited to see this person, and she also answered some questions when she shouted, Jimmy! I was shocked and honestly horrified. Jimmy wasn't imaginary, but was a real, grown man. He hugged my sister and I asked suspiciously,

Who are you? That's when he gave me a sickening smile and said, I'm Jimmy, your imaginary friend. Like I said, I was old enough to know that imaginary friends were not real. And when I did have one, they didn't look like this. Maybe everyone was different, but mine were always close to my age, and they never had their own voice. I would give them one.

Oh, and they were typically 100% imaginary. Like, not real people. I don't know if it makes sense to others, but what's important is that this guy was definitely not imaginary. Unlike Katie, I was scared. I couldn't explain why at the time, other than maybe a strange man was standing in our backyard, but then he asked if he could stay in the table.

tent with us. Instantly, I knew this was not okay. He should not be there, and if we agreed to let him, something bad was going to happen. Unfortunately, Katie said yes, but I simultaneously said no. The disappointed look on his face alarmed me even more. I didn't know if he would try anything if I tried to fight him, so I had to think fast. I told him something about not having another blanket and pillow, so we would have to go get him one first. He said that he wouldn't need one, but I tried to perk back up and insist on it, so I just said,

No, I don't want you to get cold and not want to come back. So we'll be right back. We'll grab some more snacks, too. He smiled and agreed, telling us to just hurry back. I grabbed Katie's arm and pulled her along with me inside, and as soon as we were in, I shook my parents awake and told them about Jimmy being out in the tent, and I tried to make the most terrified face I could to let them know that this was not a joke. Thankfully, they caught on quickly, and my dad dashed out the door immediately.

My mom told us to stay on the couch with her, and she was looking out the window toward the tent. so I looked too. I saw my dad enter the tent, walk around it in the yard, until he finally came back in. The guy was gone. My dad asked us what exactly happened, but his tone instantly told me that something was wrong. Katie explained that Jimmy wanted to join us in the tent,

and I agreed with her story, further explaining everything. They then called the police and report, reported it, but, of course, he was long gone. My parents told Katie that she was not allowed to play with Jimmy again, and that if she ever saw him again, she needed to tell them immediately, but we never did see him. Katie and I have talked about this at length as we've gotten older, and we make more and more sense of it each time. She told me about how he just showed up one day at her window, and when she's...

noticed him, she asked what he was doing. She said that he was the one that called himself her imaginary friend, and kept pushing that as a way to get her to not talk about him, or to give an excuse when people like myself or parents asked why he seemed to have such a personality for an imaginary friend. He never did anything to her, thankfully, but he told her that he just wanted to watch her sleep and she was okay with it. Sometimes I'll check police reports, offender lists, and the news to see if I ever recognize a face, but nothing so far. I guess it would probably be better if I did see his face, to at least put my mind at ease

that he's not still out there, doing the same thing to other kids. Hey there, friends. I hope that you enjoyed this collection. of scary stories on this episode of the As the Raven Dreams podcast. If you did, make sure that you follow the podcast on whatever platform that you're utilizing, and if the platform you are on has a rate the podcast option, please consider doing so. Those ratings push the podcast into the algorithm, and we all know how the algorithm controls everything, so yeah.

I also do have a Patreon, if you can do. go to patreon.com slash as the raven dreams, you can support the channel further. For as little as a dollar a month, you can get early access to all of my content in audio format. The content's a little different as it's based on what I upload to my YouTube side, but it's the same stories, just in different collections of stories than how they're presented here. Speaking of stories, if you have one you would like to submit to me, please go to ashtherravendreams.com and click the button in the middle of the screen that says submit your story. These stories are mostly sourced by listeners, so let's keep the podcast alive.

If you've got one, I'd love to read it. Anyways, friends, I hope you're all having a beautiful day and a lovely week. And I hope I see you again very soon. But until then, remember you're loved, you're valid, you're important. You're the best you that you can be, never forget it. And until next time. Much love and sleep well. Fan of soccer, you could assist at a moment historic.

You could gain these tickets for the final of the Cup of the World of the FIFA 2006 with Visa. It's just to have a card of credit visa BMO for participate. Inscribe you at BMO.com bar-obligic concourse. The reglements of the concourse is applicable.