As The Raven Dreams Podcast - ATRD Ep. 144 - 8 TRUE Scary Cave Exploration and Home Alone Stories

Episode Date: October 4, 2024

Today, on the 144th episode of the As The Raven Dreams podcast, we have 8 True Chilling stories. These stories come from the shadowy corners of reality, where everyday life takes an eerie twist & ordinary people experience the extraordinary. Today we will be diving into some Cave Dwelling Stories and Scary Home Alone Stories. 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... CrazyForCaves, WanderingFiend, Brandon Y, Unknown, MovingAlong, Marc Gillihan, Ewebb, Ethan kimm As Well As Any Author That Has 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you have a true scary story you'd like to share with the podcast, go to as-the-ravendreams.com and click the button to send it my way. Also, if the platform you're on has the option to rate the podcast or leave a comment, please consider doing so. And as always, thank you. Hey, Raven, I saw you asked about cave stories and I thought that I finally had a story I could share. I liked to go caving and prefer to go to new ones to change things up. Unless a cave has different paths to take and places to explore, I tend to get bored. However, I don't live near any actual caves, and the first ones I experienced were the caves in Missouri with my girlfriend at the time. They were great, and I really enjoyed them, but it made me want to see more.

I wanted to walk through caves on my own, experience it, and take as much time as I wanted. This opened a new door for us, as well as future adventures. My girlfriend, Kaylee, and I started taking annual trips around our anniversary to different caves. One year we looked into some caves in Utah, and after seeing some great things about them online, we planned our annual trip to go check them out. The first one we went to wasn't too big. We were able to get through it in one day with little variation to the paths available. We saved a bigger cave for one of our last days.

I had read online that this cave was pretty expansive, and had plenty of different paths to check out. It should also be noted that this was not a cave that had any sort of touring path or ride in it. This was all for individual exploration. It wasn't illegal or anything, as in there were no trespassing signs, but there were signs stressing caution due to the many risks of exploring an unmonitored cave. However, this wouldn't be the first time for us, so it certainly didn't deter us. We went in with our normal gear, such as headlamps, an extra flashlight, ropes, and climbing gear, a first aid kit, a multi-tool, and plenty of other things that we always brought with us.

It started out as normal, walking a narrow path, climbing over some boulders, and jumping deeper into crevices. Then we came across a very small hole in the wall. Some of those break off and lead into other parts of the cave that may never have been explored before. Sometimes they are created by another person, someone who is a lot more professional than us. Sometimes folks have a cave survey or map it out themselves and they try to make their own paths,

two parts of the caves they couldn't get to. I've never done it myself, but I've seen others do it, which was pretty cool. Either way, I knew I needed to. to check it out. The only issue was, when I say crevice, I mean it. We would be crawling on our stomachs through a very small tunnel. Because we didn't know if this would lead anywhere,

there was no point in both of us going, so I told Kaylee I would go first to see what I could find. Since it was a new cave, I told her that if I wasn't back in half an hour, and I wasn't responding, to get help. And she agreed. when we separated like that we had similar agreements we can never be too careful we've never had to follow through on one of those agreements thankfully but this time it really challenged us Kaylee told me to be careful and I climbed in the tunnel with nothing but my headlamp I wouldn't fit with my backpack and I wouldn't be able to reach back and get anything anyways

I started crawling through and the further along I went the darker it got if you're claustrophobic this may get pretty difficult for you, so just a warning. As well as the tunnel getting darker, it also got smaller. It got to the point where I had to completely exhale and wiggle a few inches forward before pausing to breathe and starting again. I've done something similar before, but I at least had people with me and had an idea of where the ending was. In this one, I was going in blind. The crawling was pretty exhausting,

and because of how small it was it started to get warmer too. At one point, I stopped just to take a break. I shouted back to Kaylee to say I was all right, but I didn't get a response. I assumed I was further in than I thought I was. I finally picked up my speed some when the path seemed to open up a few inches as it curved. Finally, the tunnel opened up to a wider hole and shining around my headlamp. I could tell there was a small cavern. It was at least big enough for me to crawl.

That was one of the best stretches ever. However, the happiness was quickly shot down. First, my headlamp had flickered a few times, indicating it was running low. I didn't grab the spare battery in my backpack thinking I wouldn't need it. Stupid me should keep it in my pocket regardless. There wasn't much to the cavern, so I decided to go back anyways. At least I had checked it out, so I knew. that we weren't missing anything.

I started turning around to go back in the tunnel when I felt something drip on my face. It was water. I turned off my lamp and looked up to see if I could see light coming through. I couldn't really see one, but we were still above ground level, so it was

entirely possible that it was raining and was now seeping down into the cave. This wasn't good. Sometimes it could just be a small stream, but in the worst-case scenario, the place could fill. I needed to get out of there quickly because I didn't want to find out which one it would be.

I jumped back in the tunnel, but this time I put one arm in front of me so I could turn my headlamp on and off to preserve the light. As I started crawling through and hit the tight spot again, it seemed to go on a lot longer than I remembered. I told myself it was just because I was tired and worked myself up with the water, and after a few breaths, I continued on. I would flick my light on briefly to see the long dark tunnel ahead and keep wiggling. I stopped again, feeling this sense of dread.

I needed to calm down because otherwise this was going to get very difficult. My oxygen alone could become an issue. I again stopped and tried to get a grip. I didn't have issues like this normally, so I didn't understand why it was happening to me now. Stopping only made things worse for me. the silence in that tunnel was deafening. There was nothing, no wind, no ambient noise that we were all used to in these caves. I only heard the small pebbles falling off the bottom of my boots.

I could hear the blood rushing in my ears, and I could feel my heart beating in my temples. Stopping would not help me calm down. It just made everything worse. I found myself crawling faster in a panic, wanting to get out. I called out for Kaylee, but still had no response. I just pushed forward until I slammed my hand into something hard. I clicked on my lamp. It was a dead end.

How could I have hit a dead end? This was the same tunnel I took, the only tunnel. The only thing I could do was scoot backwards and look around to make sure that I didn't miss a turn. That's when I remembered there was a curve. Did I take a... A curve? I couldn't remember. I told myself that that had to be what happened, and kept my lamp on to make sure I didn't miss anything. Thankfully, I did see a small pocket that curved to the right, and after backing up enough, I lifted myself up over the slight lip and kept going.

I was starting to not think my moves through. I was just going, which was reckless. But I couldn't think straight. I just wanted to get the hell out of there. I felt like I had to have been in there for a good hour by now. This was taking a lot longer, and surely Kaylee had already run off to find help, and hopefully I would see a light soon and someone would help me on to the other end. And that's when I saw it. I had turned my light back off and I could see a faint light in the tunnel. It had to be the exit. I continued on and yelled for Kaylee when I saw what looked like a dark shadow walking by as the light disappeared and came back. I called out for Kaylee again, but no response.

I was confused and upset. If I could see the light in her shadow, there's no way she didn't hear me, right? I just kept crawling until finally I reached the exit, but as I fell out, Kaylee was nowhere around. And worse yet, that wasn't where I had entered. I was in a completely different part of the cave. I stood up, took a deep breath, and stretched. Being back on my feet really made a difference.

I hollered again for Kaylee, but still did not get a response. I continued walking when I started hearing the sound of rushing water. A little further into my walk, I found another tunnel, much like the one that I was in that had water flowing right through it, acting like a drain pipe. My stomach dropped, thinking that it was quite possible that the tunnel I was in was now filled with water, too.

I had to walk up a slight incline when I heard someone clear their throat. Kaylee? I once again called out. I heard shuffling like someone running, and soon enough, I saw Kaylee come around the curve, smiling but looking confused. She asked where I had come from, and I explained the tunnel. I apologized for being gone for so long, but then asked why she seemed so calm,

and why she hadn't gone for help. She again looked puzzled. You've only been gone for like 20 minutes. How the hell was that possible? It felt like I had been in there for at least an hour or two. But then there was the shadow that I had seen. I asked her if she heard me shouting or why she had been deeper into the cave, but again she declined. She looked concerned and explained that she hadn't moved from where I entered.

She hadn't even considered me coming out from another tunnel. but if it wasn't her, then what was that shadow that I saw? She said no one else had gone far into that cave. There was an older couple that entered and talked to her for a moment, but didn't want to go any further when they noticed it had started to rain. She assumed at that point that it had only been about ten minutes, and that I was going to either turn around or just go back because of the rain. But again, if she didn't move and no one else had gone that deep in,

into the cave, whose shadow did I see? I told her my whole experience in those tunnels. I told her how I found the small cavern pocket. I explained the water I started to feel. I explained how I somehow got lost in the shadow that I had seen. She seemed visibly worried about me and thought that maybe being in there, in the dark and silence, that maybe I was experiencing some sort of sensory deprivation.

We didn't stay in the cave after that. It can get dangerous when it rains anyways, so we left. I later learned that cave syndrome is absolutely a thing too. It's entirely possible that it was all in my head due to me being in those tunnels for so long, but I honestly don't know which is worse, knowing that I was practically going crazy when nothing was wrong whatsoever, or that maybe I wasn't so alone in the tunnels, and there really was another unidentified person or thing in there with us that we didn't know about.

So after listening to some older and similar stories, I thought mine might fit along here. First off, all names are made up for reasons that will be obvious. This is a story about something that happened to me when I was 14. This is a story about how I could have died in a fire alone, and nearly went to jail for it. My family, which consisted of my parents, myself, and my two siblings, lived in a pretty nice little neighborhood. This was back in the 90s, so it was a time where kids were always outside playing in the yard,

in the streets, with all the neighborhood kids, and no one feared for our safety. As my parents described it, the saying, it takes a village, shined through here, If one of us started fighting with another kid, our parents knew quickly as someone would call the other parents. But fights rarely happened, unless Josh was there. Yes, I will call you out, Josh. Anyways, I remember having a lot of great memories there.

I may not have been the perfect kid being a bit of a nuisance at times, but I never did anything worse than what a normal young boy would do. Our next-door neighbor, Mr. Martin, was especially nice to us kids. He would always crack jokes and tease us when we were in the throes of some games. He would also toss out juice boxes for us. He didn't have any kids, and I don't recall any kids ever visiting him, so I think he got the juice boxes strictly for us. But he was never weird about it.

Before anyone thinks that. He treated all of us kids this. same, and honestly, it was like having a grandpaw next door. Sometimes he would ask us kids, when our parents were around, if we would pick up his mail for him while he was out of town. He had an adult daughter that he said he would visit on a regular basis. He just asked us to collect his mail and put it in this latching container in his backyard. I never questioned it, because that's all we had to do, and he would give whoever did it

like $5. At the time, that was a lot of money for a kid my age. But being one of the older kids in the neighborhood, he asked me if I would be willing to house sit over the summer for him, as he was planning on being gone for about two weeks. I went and told my parents and they came outside to talk to Mr. Martin about the logistics of it. From what I remember, and after confirming the details with my parents,

Mr. Martin was going to be staying with his daughter for that time because she was about to have a baby. He was going to stay there with her to help her out when she came home from the hospital and spend some time with his new grandson. He asked me to collect his mail, this time I could just put it on the kitchen table. He asked me to run the water every once in a while

and just basically make sure that everything was looking okay in the house. He even told us that I was free to help myself. to any drinks or snacks that I wanted, as long as I cleaned up after myself and that I was welcome to watch any TV or movies that I wanted. The more and more he talked about it, the more excited I was to do it. I was going to feel like an adult, being in his place by myself. And to add to it, he offered me $50. My mom tried to talk him down, but he insisted. It was good pay for an important job and that I would deserve it. So it was settled

I was going to be house sitting for a few weeks And I was going to get paid to watch TV and collect his mail And the first couple of days went smoothly I'd stop by after school get his mail and then drink a soda as I walked around his home Prior to this event I had only been inside his living rooms so I didn't know what the rest of his house looked like It was nice though He had what I assumed was his bedroom the bathroom and another room that looked like an office.

There was a small table with a computer monitor on it, a chair at the table and a small filing cabinet, along with papers strewn about. All the doors were closed, and so I kept it that way, too. Overall, it was a pretty simple and, dare I say, boring task. But it livened up by the third day. I decided I would sit over at Mr. Martin's place while I did my homework. I wanted to watch TV and not have to fight with my siblings over the remote, so it was a good excuse to be there.

While I was sitting on the couch, I thought that I heard someone walking in the house. It was that distinct sound of feet dragging across the floor. It immediately put me on alert. Even though I was 14, I felt responsible for protecting this man's home. I was supposed to be watching it, right? so I went to the kitchen, grabbed the largest knife that I could find, and slowly walked down the hall.

I opened each door, slowly, and I didn't see anyone. Nothing looked out of place or disturbed. So I went back to the living room and told myself that I was just hearing things and moved on. I was alone in someone else's homes, so of course there were still some nerves there. You don't know the spots on the floor that, or the windows that whistle when they weren't closed right.

There wasn't anyone in the house, and I just had to assure myself of that. I actually got caught up in whatever show I was watching and dozed off. It wasn't uncommon for me. I quite enjoyed a quick nap after school, before dinner, and to be honest, being there alone and without any distractions, it was pretty easy. But while I was in that in-between state, I started to do that. having trouble breathing. I think maybe I was dreaming because I remember waking up annoyed, feeling like one of my siblings was sitting on me causing me to not be able to breathe.

And that's when I woke up and all I saw was smoke. The hall, where I left the light on, was now filled with thick, dark smoke. I immediately jumped up wanting to figure out what was happening. I started walking down the hallway, I opened the bathroom door, Nothing there. I tried to open the office door and the doorknob was extremely hot. I started to panic. I was worried that I did something wrong that caused this, and now I had to fix it. I ran to get the biggest cup or something to fill with water and a towel to open the door.

I now know that that's not the best thing to do, but I didn't know it at the time. There was a gush of hot air on my face, making me drop the water and towel and grab my face. When I finally focused again, I noticed most of the room was in flames. I don't know how long I stood there, but when I finally heard the smoke alarm going off in the kitchen, I snapped out of my stupor. In tears, I ran out the front door and barged into my house, yelling at my parents about the fire.

My dad told my mom to call 911 and then ran out the door. I followed him back. He told me to stay outside. while he went in. From the outside, I could see the flames to the office window. I watched as my dad ran from the kitchen and back down the hallway, where I could no longer see him. I remember standing there terrified,

terrified that maybe I had done something, and terrified for my dad's safety. Shortly after, I could hear the sirens and the firemen talking to my mom, asking if I was all right and if I knew if anyone was inside. They then told me to stay back as they went in. I stood there next to my mom and siblings and did the only thing I could do. Wait. Shortly after, my dad walked out unscathed and the firemen were still in there.

Then the flames became more and more dull until it was just a lot of smoke. That's when the big tears came out. I felt like such a failure. I was supposed to be watching his house and somehow it caught fire. Some people came and talked to me and my parents, and then after what seemed to be hours, I was allowed to go home and go to bed. My parents tried to tell me that everything was all right, and that they would let Mr. Martin know what happened.

But it wasn't that simple. The next day my parents told me we had to go talk to the police, and we all went together. My siblings stayed with my grandparents. I hope that I never have to step foot into a police station again. At first, it wasn't like the movies. The lobby and waiting area looked warm and inviting. The lady at the front was even nice and offered us all drinks. But then, when they took us to the room in the back, I quickly realized why I was there.

They told my parents that the fire looked to be intentionally set, and guess who their prime suspect was. My parents were adamant that I would never do anything like that, and my dad was beyond. pissed at the time. I was in tears all over trying to plead that I was innocent. They threatened my parents that I would end up being charged with arson and potentially tried as an adult. I didn't know what I was going to do. And to make matters worse, Mr. Martin returned the day after the fire and he would not

back me up either. There was even something in the local news where Mr. Martin said that he was disappointed in me and that I seemed troubled. I heard my parents talking about it. I was angry and upset. I felt betrayed and even set up. If the fire was intentional, who had done it because it wasn't me? And yet, I was taking the fall for it.

It didn't take long before we saw trucks at Mr. Martin's house, and he eventually moved and we never saw him again. I was never charged because they didn't have proof that I did it. but the damage was already done. My parents and close friends believed me, thank God, but that didn't mean that everyone did. Some people in the neighborhood started looking at me differently, and it was obvious. We did what we could to move on, our true friends staying by our side. I just had things that I had to deal with on my own.

I didn't like being alone anymore, smelling smoke or hearing smoke alarms go off, as it would set me off. and I would have panic attacks. But as I got older, I got better. Then, nearly a decade later as an adult, I went to visit my parents one night after dinner, and we talked about our old neighborhood. That was when my mom went, Oh, did you hear about Mr. Martin?

I hadn't. I had moved out of town and had all but forgotten about him. He had actually been arrested and charged with insurance fraud. Apparently after three house fires, a car wreck, and a work-related incident, they finally thought that it was suspicious and started investigating. He admitted to setting the fires, including the one that I was at. He was found guilty and went to prison. I was shocked. Mr. Martin was once a great guy.

He watched over us kids and stood up for us. But he was so greedy that he was willing to either let me die in his house. house alone, or go to jail for it. What kind of man does that to a kid? I was angry and hurt all over again. I was happy that my mom told me, relieved that it was finally outed that I wasn't a crazy fire kid, but I still hold that anger towards him.

I thought about trying to visit him to get answers straight from him, but I decided that it wasn't worth it. I finally got answers and I could move on, knowing that the truth was out there. So, just remember, there are always two sides to every story. I love going hiking in the woods. It's one of the most relaxing things to do. You can visit the same place and every single time it feels different.

Getting away from people in the noise of the suburbs is essential. Sometimes I fantasize about running away and living permanently in the woods. Sometimes I take my family and friends out with me, and this time I took some friends on a relatively easy trail. Not too easy that it would be a breeze for them, but nothing that would be too dangerous. We walked through chatting about nature and the wildlife that we saw, or didn't see. Along the trails are a network of caves nearby, and they were regularly frequented, so I wasn't worried about animals being inside. There are stories about the caves. Some were about how people used to live down there,

that they were holding places for bounty hunters who were after enslaved people, and that serial killers would drag their victims there. For all the local tales, from what I know, there have never been any bodies or crime scenes officially found there. It is kind of ironic that people now bring their kids here to check the place out. One of my friends loves photography, and we spent hours there taking photos for her Instagram. She took some using her phone and other more professional ones with her camera. We stayed a bit too late, so it was getting dark, and we needed to head back.

We weren't set up to walk during nighttime. I told them to wrap it up that we needed to get back before dark, when I heard a scream coming from deep in the cave. I wasn't sure if it was an animal or a person. We packed up quickly, but my friend didn't want to leave in case someone was hurt. Before I could stop them, they took a flashlight and walked down into the tunnel, shining the light down to find the source of the noise, and asking if they wanted help. We didn't hear anything else.

I yelled at her that we had to go and said that we would make a report just in case, so that we wouldn't be stuck out here. When my friend turned back around and started walking, we heard footsteps behind us. Keep in mind that the person didn't ask for help or call out. When she turned and shone the lights down the tunnel and saw a dark outline of a person walking up, she screeched loudly and it echoed. We ran out and hurried away. Only when we were back at the parking lot and were safely in our cars did we talk about what had happened.

She was shaking and crying. She said that she saw the outline of a man running up to us, and she had a sick feeling in her stomach. Something told her that he wanted to hurt us. Worse yet, she wasn't sure, but she said that she saw that he was holding something in his hand. Was it a weapon of some kind? I really don't know, and I don't want to know.

Now, there is a chance that she was simply anxious due to all the stories she had heard. that could have influenced her. I'm not sure if it was a ghost or maybe a person who was down there just waiting for the right time to attack. All I really remember was the frightened scream.

Unfortunately, we don't have any photos of what happened because she dropped her camera on the way out. Unless it was stolen, there is a chance that someone at some point could pick it up and see. I went back the day afterward with some of our friends to see if we could find anything.

There was no trace of a crime or anything, no blood, and we left empty-handed. We didn't even find the camera. Since we got there as soon as the park was opened, it was unlikely that it was another visitor to the caves. Maybe the person didn't want to have any evidence left about who they were and took it for themselves? I'm not sure. Maybe one of your viewers could tell me what they think might have happened because I really don't know. My mom thinks it was someone playing a prank on us and probably thought watching us would be hilarious. Thanks for reading my story, Raven. Cheers.

You're one of the best. Well, thank you. This was back in the early 90s. My parents had gone to Reno for the weekend. This left me home alone for the entire weekend. Now, I was a boring kid. I was 13 years old and was just excited that I could stay home and play video games all weekend.

On Friday night, I cooked up some pizzas from a delivery service called Schwanz. I had put a couple of sodas in the fridge to chill, and then I hooked up my Nintendo, that my dad hardly ever let me play. I would maybe get a half hour a day at best, that was when he fell asleep on the couch. Even then, most of the time when I went to play, he would wake up enough to say, I'm watching that. No joke. This man would be snoring on the couch, but if you touched the remote, he would wake up and say, hey, I'm watching that. It's hard to describe how frustrating it was,

that between snores he would hold conversations. I now know that he was suffering from an advanced case of sleep apnea. Sorry, I'm just trying to explain how excited I was to be able to play for a few hours straight. So, there I am sitting in a few hours. front of the TV the first night, and I get this weird, oppressive feeling. I had mowed through one of the little pizzas and one of the sodas. Now, I was trying to take my time on the next set. I just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

To my right was a large bank of windows. It was an 80s double-wide that had a bank of windows facing the driveway. Looking out there, I couldn't see anything, nor was our inside dog bar. or the outside dog. They are both very protective of the place and good guard dogs. So I let it go as much as I could and went back to playing. That was all it really was the first night, just an oppressive feeling. The second night, Saturday, I had the same thing planned, but this was the last night,

so I had wanted to stay up as late as I could. I had cooked up a bunch of the pizzas and chilled the whole half rack of the soda. I kept playing and drinking soda, occasionally getting one of the pizzas. As the night were on, that oppressive feeling came back with a vengeance. Like Harry and Mars from home alone were skulking somewhere, but again neither dog seemed to be bothered. So I turned to face the window a little more, still keeping my eyes on the TV. After another little while, I thought I saw something outside. A black little shape ran by the window, just like our inside dog.

I thought she had gotten out, so I got up and went to let her in. When I opened the door, she came running from the back bedroom ready to bark at the person at the door. No one was there. I chalked it up to a cat or something going by the window. I sat back down and picked up where I left off. As I was getting back into the game, out of the corner of my eye I saw another. shape move in the front yard. This one was larger, about man-sized,

but I didn't get a good look. This freaked me out. It was like someone was dressed in all black running in my yard. The problem was that they were not alerting my dogs. Holly, the inside one, didn't even look up from her perch on the couch. Cindy, the outside one, was silent. This scared me. I was afraid that whoever it was may have hurt her.

So I went to my room and grabbed Excalibur. Yes, I named my bat that. It was just a solid wooden bat. However, I had jammed rocks and bits of metal into it because it was splitting. I don't know why I did this other than I was 13 and liked exploring the desert. So I got up to go outside and check on Cindy. I turn on all the outside lights and walk around the house, to check to see if she was at her house.

There she was, wagging her tail and happy to see me. There seemed to be nothing wrong, so I pet her and tell her she's a good girl. I just had to guess that I was being paranoid at being home alone for the first time. My older sister had just moved out, so I was the last kid at home. I'd go back in, determined to get some more gaming in. I ignored the black shadow at the edge of my vision. The volume was up on the TV, so I couldn't hear anything from outside. I just kept playing.

But then, the shadows started to gain color. It was like whatever it was was moving closer to the window. I looked over and it was a horde of barbarians. Like straight out of my video game. They looked like they were coming from my blood. Thank God my rational mind kicked in, and I knew what I was seeing couldn't be real. That was actually how I found out that certain fake sugars

caused me to see things. The soda I had been drinking was a diet one. So, to this day, I still remember seeing the salivating horde of weapon-wielding barbarians at my window. I can look back on it and laugh now, but that night, I had both Holly and Cindy in my room with me, when I went to bed. And thanks for taking the time to read this.

This may be a little different than normal stories you hear, but it was still a terrifying moment for me, and, well, everyone involved, actually. I have been enjoying Spelunking and exploring caves for quite some time. Throughout my childhood, my family lived close to some caves that were often explored by those of us that live here, as well as plenty of tourists.

I was not immune to it either. I loved going to the caves with my parents. That love only grew as I got older, and it became a pretty normal activity for my friends and I. We liked to go out to the caves on the weekends, or depending on how much time we have, for a week. We can go to the same cave multiple times and find new paths or veins that we would have to wiggle through,

but it was always worth it. No challenge was too much for my squad. There were typically four to five of us total. Myself, Stephen, Drew, Drew's girlfriend Angie, and sometimes Angie's friend Liz. All of us were big cave people, and we all knew what to do in difficult and dangerous situations, but sometimes you just don't know what you would do until you're in that very situation. We went into this cave that was less ventured in. It wasn't very big, and for those that don't do this as a hobby,

they probably wouldn't find the beauty in it. It didn't have any minerals in it or plants growing and neat crevices. In fact, there was quite a large boulder that nearly blocked the entrance, but once you got past it, the back of the little cave was dark and serene. There was a small stream of water that was coming from the cracks in one of the first of the water. the walls, but otherwise, it was silent. It was peaceful, and it was one of our favorite places to go. Once past the boulder and down the small drop, there was a small, rounded area that we liked to sit in and just BS and chill. We would bring some snacks and just sit around and enjoy

our time. We never drank or smoked when we were in the caves. You needed to be at your best in these situations because you never knew what could happen. This time was no different. We had a few things to eat and plans to be there for a few hours. The first step was getting past the boulder-like door stopping us. The boulder was easily 15 to 20 feet tall and wide enough to nearly block the path. There was a slight gap underneath it that I'm sure you could probably squeeze under, but no one was brave enough to do that.

not knowing when or what could cause the boulder to finally fall. It seemed to be remaining in place by the slightly narrower ceiling of the cave. So, as for getting past it, there were two paths you could take to get by it. The first option was on the right, which was a very narrow path where you had to be standing with your back to the cave wall, nose to the boulder, and step left and right, shimmying your way through. However, I had a little pudge on me and I wasn't comfortable sucking in and holding my breath to get by it. So I preferred the alternative route. This meant jumping up, grabbing onto the boulder, and kind of propelling yourself off the other side.

It was pretty simple. You just needed the upper body strength to do it. We've all taken both paths before, but we also all had our preferences. I liked the top left jump as well as Stephen and Liz. Angie was a very small girl, so she was comfortable with the shimmy path. Drew didn't seem to mind either way, but typically went with Angie. Liz would also typically follow Angie, but once she took the high grounds, she preferred it. We got past it and settled into our spot for the next few hours.

We ate, we talked about life, and Drew even seemed to doze off for a bit. This was what I liked about this place. It was always so peaceful and a great place to get away. Then we started hearing the familiar sounds of strong winds whistling past the large boulder. The strong winds told us that there may have been a storm coming, and no matter how much you may know a cave, it's not best to be in there during a storm. Who knew how much it could flood? We packed up and headed back to the boulder ready to leave.

Liz went over first, then Stephen, while Drew and Angie took the lower right path. path. I typically went last. Once Stephen was out of view, I jumped up on the boulder, and that's when everything went horribly wrong. As I pushed myself on top of the boulder, I could feel a vibrating in the boulder, and my heart dropped, as well as the boulder. Everything was in slow motion at that moment. I quickly jumped off the side and heard the piercing scream from Angie, followed by a loud thud from the boulder and then silence. That boulder had come loose on our side and slid down the only way it could, into the open gap on the right.

Drew began yelling for Angie and we all hesitantly looked for her. All we could see were her fingers sticking out from the boulder. She wasn't responding. Stephen and I had to try to stop Drew from trying to do something careless. If he tried pushing or climbing over the boulder, he could wedge it tighter. He was too emotional to try and climb under it, nor would we let him. It had already slipped. It was entirely possible it would do it again.

While he was under it, I told Liz to get out and call for help, as we didn't get a signal in the cave, so we left our phones in the truck. Once we got Drew calmed down, we had to figure out what to do about Angie. We couldn't see anything else but her fingers being crushed between the wall and the boulder, and it wasn't looking good. But then, right as we were talking about options, there was a groan. It was Angie. We listened as Drew tried to talk to her and get her to respond, but she started crying.

She said that she couldn't feel her right arm and leg, and that her hair was stuck. She had slightly longer hair, and it was pulled up into a ponytail that day, so I assumed she probably turned her head to flinch and her hair got caught. as well as her limbs. She was alive, but there was no way we were going to be able to get her out on our own. Liz came back and said she had called for help, but it was going to take them some time to get to us. The only thing we could be thankful for was that the boulder was probably stopping her from bleeding out somewhere. It took rescuers about 15 minutes to get there, and they inspected the situation.

Angie was responsive but seemed to be fading. She said that she felt cold and tired. We had to wait even longer for people to bring the equipment to get her out. They drilled through part of the boulder near the bottom so they could crawl through. Once on the other side, and able to see Angie, they could better determine a course of action. Once there, they mentioned trying to drill out part of the boulder to pull her leg out since it was lower. However, based on where her arm was against the wall in Boulder and by the looks of her fingertips, her arm was practically dead, and the best thing they could do would be to amputate it.

It was awful. Drew and Angie were both hesitant. They didn't want to. We're begging for any other option, but finally Angie calmed down and accepted it. She understood that in order to get out, this was her own. only option. There was a very small chance that her arm could be saved if she got out without it anyways. So they gave her some anesthetic and went about it. I could still hear Angie crying and the grinding as the saw or whatever they used went through the bone. I felt sick. This was my

fault. I should have made sure that they were through before I climbed over the boulder. All I needed to do was call out, and I didn't. And because of that, I almost killed my friend. Now she was losing her arm and possibly her leg because of me. I was a mess. Stephen having to help me out of the cave and into my truck when they finally got her out. I don't even remember the ride to the hospital. I just remember being helped in to the back of my truck.

I don't even remember them taking Angie away or Liz talking to even on the way there. I sat in the waiting room with everyone else, waiting for an update. Angie was going to survive, but obviously not unscathed. Once they were able to get her arm out, they confirmed that it had been dead

before they even got the equipment there. The bone was crushed, and the boulder cut the circulation off. Her femur was partially crushed and her thigh torn open to the muscle, too, but she was able to keep her leg. She also had a few broken ribs. The boulder did catch her hair too, which had to be cut off, but that was a lot less serious, as you could imagine.

She had to go through physical therapy due to her femur being replaced, but she was a trooper. She never gave up and worked so hard to get back to being independent. She even got fitted with the prosthetic arm since it was her right, and also her dominant arm in hand. I never got over my guilt, but I have gotten better about it. about it. We had a long talk, and she demanded that I not ever feel bad. She said that she also should have checked, and that there were no reasons that I should ever take the blame for it. She also explained her moment as it happened. She said that she felt the bolder move, and instead of trying to scoot back into the cave since she was closer to that side, she just froze and

said that she blamed herself for that. We both agreed that it was a crazy series of events. We grieved, and then we told each other it was time to move forward, and that's what we did. We all still go caving, Angie included, but we're all a lot more aware of our surroundings and options. We became obsessive about safety, triple-checking everything and making sure paths were clear before we did anything. It's been a real eye-opener to, even us, people that do this on a regular basis. And I wanted to share this as a reminder. No matter how confident you are in doing something, no matter how much of a pro you are,

you are never good enough to not have to make sure you are doing it in the safest way possible. You are never good enough to outsmart nature. Stay safe. Lasagne sur-gillet, puissance-moleaned for 15 minutes. We'd say that's their dojo. Enjoy?

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via Rai Embarked and celebrate. This happened, savouring, admire, and profite. This happened to me last year,

and is something that still gives me the hebi-jeebies whenever I think about it. I had just moved into a cute little studio apartment downtown. It was pretty typical of a studio apartment, not huge or anything, but well-built and I was able to organize it comfortably for myself since I live alone. I was on the top floor of the building, which was a pain when I moved in,

but I was pretty excited about having my own place for the first time. I had just turned 22, and my roommates and I decided to part ways after two years of disagreements. One night I was home and sitting in my dimly lit work area, just working away on my laptop. It must have been around 1 a.m. My windows were open because it was a lovely night, and all I could hear were the crickets and the occasional car that passed by the building. I was getting into the flow of my work when I thought I heard something. I had my earphones in, but I had them in pass-through so I could hear the noise. I paused my music and looked around trying to figure out what it was I was hearing.

After a few seconds, it kind of clicked that it was a scratching sound, like something was scratching, on wood. Initially, I tried to ignore it, thinking it was coming from downstairs, or maybe it was the building settling or something, though I'm not sure why settling would sound like scratching, but it kept going. It was soft, but it was definitely there. After a few moments, my brain had honed in on it, and I couldn't ignore it. It was bothering the hell out of me, so I leaned back and just glanced around like where the hell is that coming from? When I stood up, I realized that the scratching was definitely coming from near the front of the apartment, like near the front door.

I walked over to the front door thinking that maybe I should just yank it open and confront or scare whatever it was. Maybe it was a rat or squirrel or something. But I paused and decided to just look through the viewport first to see if there was someone there, thinking that was the smart. or move. I leaned forward to see if I could see anyone, but I couldn't. There wasn't anyone there.

I thought that I saw a shadow off to the side, but I figured it was just the wall or something. So I stepped away and went back to my desk. Of course, that's not the end of it, because within minutes the scratching started up again. This time it sounded like whatever it was was doing it more hastily, like they had sped up, trying to finish up whatever they were doing. I angrily stood up and walked over to the door and looked out the viewport again. This time there was somebody there. I could see a man that I had never seen before on the other side of my door,

holding a large bowie knife and pressing it against my door. He had this creepy grin on his face like he was practicing to be the Joker. His eyes had a thousand-yard stare Like he was looking through my door While he was running his knife across it Obviously, I freaked the F out I grabbed my phone and called 911 Telling them there was a crazy man

Standing outside my door with the knife They told me that they would send out an officer As quickly as possible I just sat there waiting in the dark room Listening to this man scratch at my door with the knife After a few more minutes the scratching stopped, and I heard this weird, guttural laugh, and then nothing. I stood there in silence holding my phone in my hand, until I finally heard a knock on the door

and someone yell, police. I looked out again, and sure enough, there were two officers standing out in the hallway, looking at my door and pointing and talking to each other. I slowly opened it and greeted them, and the officer asked me if I had called in someone with a knife, standing outside my door. I explained how I had heard the scratching noise, and when I looked out, I saw the man standing there with the knife. I described the man as best I could,

and the officer asked me a strange question. He looked at me and said, uh, by chance is your name, Tina? Now, my name is not Tina. It's not even close to Tina at all. I told him no. I told him my name and asked why. He motioned for me to step out and look at the outside of my door,

and that's when I saw what the weirdo had been carving. There, in the blue paint, was a crudely carved heart with the name Tina in it. I had no idea who Tina could have been. It certainly wasn't me, and I didn't know the guy that did this. The officer said they would give me an incident report and that they would circle the area to see if they could find the guy, but they were as confused and weirded out,

as I was. After they left, I struggled to fall asleep, thinking I was going to start hearing the scratching again, but thankfully it seemed like this guy had moved on. The conversation with the rental office was fun the next day. I gave them the incident number, and I even asked if Tina was a former residence to my unit. And the answer was no. They didn't even have a Tina on any leases as far back as the office team could remember. They had never had anyone named Tina living on the property.

So that's my creepy story. They replaced my door, and thankfully nothing else has happened since then. I'm a bit jumpy any time I hear late-night noises in the hallways, though, and I've been on the lookout for Tina. If, for no other reason, then to let her know that some weird guy is carving her name into random fourth-story apartment building doors at like one in the morning. This all began for me when I decided to take a solo road trip to Oregon from California.

I had never done a solo road trip before, but I figured since I'm 21 and wanted to experience life outside my small town, it would be a great opportunity to explore a little. So I started my journey going up Highway 1 on the coastal road, making good progress and stopping along the way for pictures and making memories for myself. I met some cool people along the way and was always careful to avoid any suspicious people. Most people were friendly and polite,

but as I got to the end of my trip, something odd happened. I was near Bend, Oregon, at the Boyd Caves. If you don't know what that is, it's basically a series of cave systems made by prehistoric lava. I decided to check them out because it was only about 30 miles away from the main highway. I got to the caves and noticed one other vehicle parked there. The parking lot was dirt and gravel and very uneven.

I noticed this vehicle was parked more tilted because of the uneven terrain. I got out of my car and checked out the other car. It had a replacement tire on and seemed to look abandoned. As I turned my gaze towards where I thought the cave entrance began, I thought to myself, this is kind of scary. I'm in a completely unknown place. Nobody knows I'm here and there's a car parked here, and nobody around. I had also been listening to unexplained encounters the whole trip, so maybe I was overreacting.

I got to the cave entrance, which was a hole in the ground, and a staircase going down into it. I looked down into the cave, working up the courage to go down. I started making my way down one step at a time and called out, Hello? Anyone down here? No reply. I got a few videos and then returned to the surface. I walked back to my car and uploaded it to Instagram, which I felt made myself feel better. Like I was connected to the people who will view it, and if I disappear, someone will know where to look. I went back to the entrance of the cave, and I wanted to get some more videos. I started down the stairs again, and as I'm walking, I was. I was going to go. I was. I went back to the entrance of the cave, and I wanted to get some more videos. I started down the stairs again, and as I'm walking. I was I walking down, there was a woman just standing there on the left of the stairs. I look at her as I'm videoing and ask her if anybody else is here with her. She replies no. I talked to her a little more trying to not freak out.

I asked her where she came from. She said that she had been deeper in the cave and had just walked back up to get some photos. I was freaking out because she had a nice dress on and just her phone. so she had just been wandering around with just her phone flashlight and nobody down here to make sure she was safe she could tell that I was freaking out and she asked me are you scared I reluctantly said no I'm just trying to understand this for myself we talked for a while in this dark cave in the middle of nowhere

and I eventually got her Instagram honestly this was such a weird thing I actually got our first interaction where I met her on video. I'm not sure where I could post it, but it was such a weird experience. Regardless of all this, I'm still in contact with her, and we might go meet up in the woods. So, more updates coming soon. Hey, Raven, this is the first time riding in.

I listen to you to fall asleep. I need something to focus on when I go to bed partially because of reasons I will be divulging in this story. There are several instances I could cite that have to do with this issue, problem that I have. I visited my doctor a few years ago telling her about these hallucinations I've seen and voices I've heard. However, sometimes I'm not so sure if there isn't something spiritual about them too. My doctor said she didn't really have a safe guess as to what my issues could be. I'm not schizophrenic. They always seem different and they are not consistent, nor do I suffer from any other symptoms of the condition.

In this instance, I was around 12 or 13. I lived in a rural area of Indiana for most of my childhood. We had a large modular house, three stories tall with several bedrooms and bathrooms, an office, a large living room and massive yard just over five acres, filled with trees and pastures. I'm the youngest of four, and we have several years between all of us. The next oldest is five years older than me. My father worked out of state and would visit on the weekends.

It was a pretty disjointed home, and this often meant I was home alone a lot. My mom would come home late from work often because we lived around 40 minutes from her job, and she would sometimes go to the store after. My other siblings were all out of the house, except for the family. the next oldest. But she was driving now and worked in town as well, and hung out with friends a lot. Our computers were on the third floor, and I remember playing a lot of Age of Empires and RuneScape at the top of those third floor stairs. I would shut the door, though, because I hated having the open door to my back. I remember on one of these nights sitting up there playing, and my mom

yelled up from the first floor that she needed help hauling the groceries in. I got off the chair and scurried downstairs to help her, only to find an empty kitchen. I was confused. Did she go into the garage? I opened the door and the garage was empty. Only the faint sound of crickets and frogs came in muted from the walls. I walked back into the kitchen disturbed and a bit confused. I heard her voice.

I know that I did. I then saw her headlights pull into the driveway and was both relieved, and a little surprised. Did I just predict when when mom would be back? I was happy to not be alone in that house for that moment. I've had several other experiences

with both visual and auditory hallucinations that have ranged from amusing, weird, and terrifying. Here's a quick list of what I can remember. My toys moving on the shelf and watching me when I was younger, a giant balloon ghost floating through my yard, weird, I know,

A large wasp in my room, a big black snake coiled on my closet door, people walking past my room, hearing my name called by my mom's voice a second time. This was in front of my sister and my wife. I responded, yeah? And they all looked at me funny. My mom was in the next room and I thought she called me, but it was soon confirmed that no one was talking at that moment that I thought I heard it. again it was so clear that it was like she was in the room and yelled it. Anyways, it feels good to finally share this. Most people are not sure how to react when I tell it,

so it's a nice experience to unload a little here and not have the people look at me like I'm crazy or something. And thanks, everyone. Hey there, friends. I hope that you enjoyed this collection of scary stories on this episode of the As the Raven Dreams podcast. If the platform you're on has the option to follow podcast and you enjoyed my work, please do consider doing so. Also, leaving ratings and reviews are super important for the algorithm to support the growth of the podcast.

I'm just one guy doing this. I don't have a team. It's literally just me doing everything. So any supports like that is greatly appreciated. Never expected, though. So if you go above and beyond with that, I do appreciate it. Some platforms also allow you to leave comments, and if you feel inclined to do so, please do. I would appreciate that.

I do have a Patreon in a merch store that you can also check out if you want to support a little further. The Patreon side of things get you early access to all of my content. It is formatted differently as it goes in line with what my YouTube channel is, but it is the same stories. Just different collections. There is also a website, as the ravendreams.com. Or you can check out pretty much everything about me, my social media platforms, fiction stories I've written if you want to read those, as well as submitting your own stories,

which there's a big button on the front page you click to do so. And those stories basically keep the podcast alive, to be honest with you. So, yeah. All that said, friends, I do hope that I see you again here very soon. Until then, remember that you are loved, that you are valid, that you are important. You're the best you that you can be. don't forget it. And until next time, much love and sleep well.