As The Raven Dreams Podcast - ATRD Ep. 178 - Creepy Encounter & Scary Park Stories

Episode Date: June 2, 2025

Today, on the 178th episode of the As The Raven Dreams podcast, we have 7 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 creepy encounter/Stalker stories & Scary Park Stories. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like or rate the podcast, and leave me a comment with your thoughts if the platform your own supports it! Scary story episodes 2 to 3 times a week (New stories On Wed/Fri, Comps/remasters on Sundays) If you have a story to submit, would like to find where to listen to the podcast, or want to find me on social media platforms, all of that info can be found at https://www.astheravendreams.com You can also send stories into my subreddit (r/theravensdream) or email them to me at [e-mail] Want to check out some ATRD Podcast Merch? ➤ https://teechip.com/stores/astheravendreams Or for signed merch ➤ https://ko-fi.com/AsTheRavenDreams I wrote a novel, "The Insomniac's Experiment" by Raven Adams! Check it out on amazon (Or you can email me for a signed copy!) Join Patreon to get early access and support the Podcast! ➤ https://www.patreon.com/AsTheRavenDreams Check out my gaming channel with my pal Ghost_Ink ➤ @superNefariousBros On YouTube Disclaimer ➤ Episodes include a content warning for language and sensitive/disturbing content. Listener discretion is always advised. ALL Audio and visuals on this podcast are copyright of AS THE RAVEN DREAMS / RAVEN ADAMS and may not be duplicated, in any format. Bless This Mess. Thank you to all of the authors that have stories in todays episode... Danny, MorningGloria, Will, Quinton, Hidden Fox, Wendy, Terra S As Well As Any Author That Has Requested Anonymity. TimeStamps… Midrolls after the 1st and 4th stories. 1 ➤ 01:18 2 ➤ 12:48 3 ➤ 23:12 4 ➤ 28:13 5 ➤ 40:58 6 ➤ 50:37 7 ➤ 56:32 ----- #TrueScaryStories #AsTheRavenDreams #StalkerStories #RedditStories 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

Hello, and I hope you are having a fantastic week so far, my friends. That might be strange to say that, because it's, what, Monday? Yeah. Hopefully you're having a wonderful week. I know I'm probably having a decent one. I have a lot of stuff to do this week, including driving north, as I have consistently said, to move more stuff. I intend to move my desk and my workstation up there, so next, probably not next episode. I'm probably going to do both episodes for this week on the, today, if I can.

But next week's episodes will probably be made from Minnesota, be my first ones. So that's pretty cool. It may not be cool to you, but it is cool to me. Not really relevant. Today we have a collection of some creepy encounter slash stalker stories and some park stories, scary things in a park. Hopefully you all enjoy these stories. If you do, please do let me know if the platform you're on has a comment section.

Let me know how you're doing. what kind of scary stories you'd like to see on the channel, or podcast or whatever I want to call it? Um, yeah, that's about all. So anyways, enjoy my friends, and, uh, much love. Come to think of it, I've had some interesting stories happened to me over the years, and I haven't shared many of them, mainly because I didn't have anyone around me who cared to hear about them. My previous stories were from friends or situations that I was close to, but this one is directly about something that involved me for a change.

If I had to give this a name, I would call this story The Hitman Got It Wrong, because it involves myself, a landlord, my ex, and what I could only describe as the weirdest hitman I have ever known. In late 2017, I finally had enough of a friend, my ex, who was rude, unsupportive and all-around a negative person, and thus, despite my best efforts,

made me a negative and quite depressed person as well. When I finally had enough, I told my ex how I felt, and how my ex made me feel, and we broke things off before we were to be married in a few months. My ex spent all of her money on stuff for the wedding,

even though I told her not to because we needed the money for bills and rent. But once we broke it off, she told her friend that I owed her thousands of dollars. This began the prank calls and the taunting. Someone broke into our, my apartment, stole my computer, my instruments, and my music production equipment. But nothing could be done because my ex let her friends steal my stuff and the police said that I couldn't file charges without proof that it was stolen, or get warrants to search their houses for my stuff. So I was a bit irritated, but what got me was what happened next.

I worked part-time as a martial arts instructor, and I usually put my phone in other belongings in my locker when on the mat. But there was a Thursday afternoon in April 2018 that I didn't put my phone away. I got a phone call during my off-mat period from an unknown number, and all I heard was the stereotypical breathing. And me, being the ass-kicking, well-trained fighter I was, answered back, either start talking or get a breathing treatment. I said this, to which the random person replied,

Look outside. The only problem here was that there were several cars in the parking lot, since the martial arts school I taught at was in the shopping strip, but it didn't matter either way because the random caller hung up. Later that night, after classes, I got another call. This time from my ex's best friend, demanding that I do the right thing and replace the supposed $3,000, I supposedly caused my ex to waste on our not-hapening wedding, to which I replied that I didn't owe her money that I told her not to spend. and she told me that either I pay up, or she escalates things to bringing in what she called additional support,

to get the money from me. And I told her to screw off and blocked her. About a day later, one of my students' moms who knew my ex and her family told me that she had seen her recently and that she had been joking about hiring someone to off me, to which I finally realized that Mr. Breeder from a day, day ago was probably some friend of theirs they talked into trying to intimidate me. But just to be sure, I let my boss at the martial arts school know that someone was potentially

being talked into harassing me, just in case, and then I went home. That is when things started getting weird. At the time, I lost my apartment thanks to my ex taking money out of my account, so I couldn't pay rent, and had began renting a room from an older gentleman in the area who was very loud, very political, and also had the only room in the area cheap enough and available for me to move into. He spent most of his days working from home as a network supervisor and often hung out on political chat rooms, which often fueled his chaotic rants and long one-sided conversations he would often rope me into when he could.

Anyways, I came home to him ranting over the phone about something political and went upstairs immediately to my room, where I realized I had several texts from an unknown number. They were all photos of me at work, taken through the front picture windows of the martial arts school that I worked at. Part of me was getting a little uneasy at this point, and then I got a text simply stating, We know where you work, and we know where you live, pay up or pay the consequences. I didn't bother replying to the text and blocked the number. A few minutes later, my phone began to ring and I didn't answer.

It rang back to back for hours, almost all night. And then I finally got another photo text from yet another random number. This one was a photo of the front of the house that I stayed at. I didn't really know what to do this time, but I was starting to get pissed because I was now dealing with my phone being assaulted with phone calls and texts from random numbers.

I do remember looking out my room window on the second floor and seeing a black car with dark windows slow rolling down the street, but I wasn't sure if it was whomever was harassing me. The next day I went to work as usual and kept my phone on silent because I still had to deal with random chain texts. demanding payment or sending photos of me.

And I let my boss know once again that someone was spending a lot of time trying to harass me on behalf of my ex, to which my boss just said to ignore and block the numbers. But after about a week of this, things came to a head. I remember it was a Friday evening, and I contemplated going to a movie to get some air, but ultimately just went to the local game store and got to. got some games and junk food, and decided to watch movies all night at home. When I left, my landlord was yelling at someone about something and ended with saying, Oh yeah, you want to come say that to my freaking face?

I live at a dress, and you can come over here and say that crap. And I remember that it caught me off card because the address that he gave was actually the house around the corner. Odd, but then again, I didn't care. I remember I walked past someone up near the front of the neighborhood while I was walking to the store there, and I made a mental note that the person was wearing headphones, a black hoodie, and black sweatpants just like I was. On the way back from the store, I heard several sirens and saw a handful of police cars, followed by an ambulance enter the neighborhood, heading towards where I was going. The closer I got, the more afraid I became, and once I arrived on my street,

I noticed that the police had the street blocked off and a crowd of people were standing around. It took me a minute to realize that there were two different things happening at once. The house around the corner had the ambulance and several police cars at it. And it took me a minute to realize that the front of the house has a giant hole in it and a minivan had driven into the front living room. I stood for a while and looked around. and one of the bystanders eventually told me from what they got, the minivan driver hit someone with their van,

and then lost control and plowed into the front of the house. The police were also interviewing people, and I wanted to get home, but an officer stopped me when I was walking up to the house that I was renting a room at and asked me if I knew anything. I told him I had been at the store at the time and was just returning home. He asked if I saw anything or anyone suspicious, and I told him that I didn't. Just the other guy in the hoodie who was walking back.

I asked if they interviewed that guy since he probably saw more than I did. The officer then gave me a stern look. Actually, the young man you're referring to was hit by the van around the corner. The officer told me, I do remember how chaotic it was for the rest of the night. and I didn't really get back on the phone until much later. My landlord was unusually silent and seemed shocked at the entire ordeal, but I felt more confused than anything.

I never connected what happened with the chaotic situation, with what I was dealing with until I got a visit from the officers the following day, who said they had recovered the phone of the deceased driver of the minivan, and my number was one of the last that he had been texting. and the driver had apparently been using different VoIP numbers to contact me after I would block a number. The officers asked me about it, and they wanted insight on what all the messages meant. So, I told them the whole story about what happened with my ex, the threats, and the fact that I was being harassed by someone that I assumed was a friend of hers pretending to be a hitman,

and that a friend of hers told me that my ex was joking about how. hiring said hitman. They asked for my ex's information as well as the number of her friend who called me and had me make a formal statement. The young man who was hit by the van died at the scene, along with the van driver. But from what the officers could gather, they didn't think it was an accident. According to what the officer told me next, one of the witnesses with the ring doorbell said that the van intentionally drove up the sidewalk to hit the young man and then lost control.

and plowed into the front of the house across the street from them. I don't really know how the van driver died, just that the police said he did. And this was in 2017, before every house in the neighborhood had a ring or some kind of video-enabled doorbell device. That was the last I heard about the case. And even though I had no idea if the hitman was actually a legit one,

I haven't heard from my ex in years, and the harassment stopped. And I moved out of the house that I was renting a room in and found a new place across town. Oh, and my former landlord had a nervous breakdown because he thought that he was the reason that a random man from the internet drove his car into his neighbor's house, since he gave the wrong address on purpose during an angry call over Facebook Messenger. I didn't bother to correct him about anything. All I know is that the hitman got it wrong.

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Some days I just don't have time. But back in 2021, after not doing much outside for a full year, I was getting back into it quite frequently. Running on a treadmill is nice and all, but it's just not the same as an outdoor run. I usually stick to the same routes in my neighborhood, but one day, I was feeling really good and had extra time to spare. So I decided to try the hiking trail at a nature reserve. I had heard a lot of good things about the park and had been wanting to check it out. I take the bare minimum when I'm running.

Usually just my phone, earbuds, a water bottle, and my ID. If I have to drive wherever I go, I have my keys, but I keep them light, so that I only have a tag and my car key on me. It was early April, around 5 p.m., so I knew I had a few hours before dark. One thing I don't do is walk or run at night. The area that I live in isn't a bad area per se, but I still don't like being a lot. alone at night. The parking lot was half full when I arrived, not crowded, but not deserted, either. Perfect for what I look for. I got my music going and headed for the main trail. There were two

loops, a shorter, two-mile path that was well-traveled, definitely more common, and a longer five-mile loop that ventured into a more remote area of the park. I was in a good mood, but I wasn't familiar with the area, so I opted for the shorter one. The first mile was exactly what I had hoped for. The trail was well maintained with clear markers. The trail was smooth with minimal damage to it. I passed a few people, two older women walking together, a man with his dog and then another older man taking photos of the trees.

Normal park stuff. But it was nice seeing everyone being very respectful of each other's space. Around the halfway point the trail forked. To the right was the path back to the entrance, completing the two-mile loop. To the left was the continuation of the five-mile loop with a warning sign that it was more challenging with less maintenance. It had a clear path, but it wasn't cement. It was more so just dirt and gravel, to be more of a nature trail. However, I was feeling pretty good.

I got through that trail fast, and with plenty of daylight left, I decided to challenge myself and take the longer of the two paths. I knew I probably wouldn't get through the whole thing, but even an extra mile would be good before I had to turn back. About ten minutes down that trail, I noticed how quickly the atmosphere changed. The trees grew denser, which blocked out a lot of the sunlight. The trail certainly narrowed and became less of a trail and more, so just well walked and worn in path.

And, on top of it all, I hadn't seen any people on this trail since the beginning. There were a few people taking pictures near the entrance, but none since. I was about to turn back because I didn't want to be walking around in the dark, but then I spotted something a little further ahead off the trail. From a distance, it looked like a makeshift tent. At first glance, I assumed maybe someone was staked. in it, but as I looked at it more and walked closer, I realized it wasn't tall or wide enough for someone to actually be under it.

It looked like it was just for covering something up. To be honest, I was curious. This was a nature reserve. It was a place where people walked around. There was a small building towards the entrance that had a few animals in it, information about the location and little activities for children. This place didn't have a camping grounds. It didn't have overnight camping, per the signs posted in the front,

and it didn't even look like there were any large resting spots on this trail, like a gazebo or shelter. So, why was this out here? So then, I did something that I probably shouldn't have. Something that I regretted. I approached the tarp and called out asking if anyone was there, injured or in need of help. When I didn't get a response, I approached it further.

Standing next to it, I realized that it came up a little past my hip, so maybe about three feet. I ran my hand across the top and realized it was flat and sturdy. After looking around for anyone in the area, I finally lifted the tarp to reveal what was underneath. There were two plastic tubs, both dark blue so you couldn't see him. into them. There was nothing on the outside. No scratches, damages, leaks, or scents. So I was still curious about the tubs, but not really scared. I had no reason to be. So I kept going. I opened the tub and inside was a small cardboard box. The flaps were only folded over to keep it closed. It wasn't taped closed. So I opened that too. I was confused by what I

saw. Tons and tons of cards, IDs, credit cards, papers, like statements, pictures of women. I picked up a handful of the cards and IDs and realized they were all female names. What the hell was I looking at? It was like someone was collecting all those because they were all different, and not even from the same state. They were from several bordering states. Were these being taken? stolen? And what of the women that they belonged to? Were they even aware that they were missing? Hell, were they all okay?

Whatever the reason for those being there, I knew that it wasn't good. Something malicious was going on there, and I stupidly stumbled upon it. And now, it had my fingerprints all over it. I stepped back and pulled out my phone, wanting to take a picture of what I found so I could report it. But as I pulled out my phone, I heard something behind me, something from the trail that I had just come down. I looked up, and I could definitely make out a person standing near a tree. There was still sunlight, so I'm not sure what their intentions were,

but as soon as I made out a person, I took off down the rest of the path. I wasn't thinking straight, and I knew that I would still have a ways to go that way, but I was not comfortable running past the person in the trees. But let me tell you, I don't think I have ever run so fast in my life, and I kind of wonder how fast I actually went. I made it out of the path and once more back in a more populated part of said path,

and then I slowed down. I think I startled some people with how fast I approached, but I stopped to try and calm myself down, not breathing as I should have been, and it all caught up with me when I slowed down. I guess this couple could tell something was wrong with me, and they asked me if I was okay. Once I caught my breath, I explained them what I had just witnessed, everything from the tubs to the person in the trees. The man wanted to go look, but his girlfriend and myself both stopped him.

I didn't know if the person in the trees was the person that brought the tubs there or just a witness. They could have thought that I brought them there too. The couple let me walk with them back to the front as they tried to small talk with me to calm me down. But to be honest, I was too worried that the person in the trees may have caught up with us or maybe watching us from somewhere. If they were, would they try to attack us? Once back at the front, we went into the building and I relayed once again what I experienced. The lady gave me a curious look and confirmed that they're definitely. shouldn't be anything like that in the park,

and that it definitely seemed suspicious and dangerous. They took down my information and said that they would look into it, but then otherwise said that I could leave. The lady definitely did look concerned, like she wanted to take care of it, but I didn't know what this little lady could do. But with nothing left to do, I left and waited to get a phone call or something.

However, I never. did. I don't know whatever happened to that tub of identifications. I don't know if they found it, if the person in those trees were caught, or if they managed to carry those tubs off.

I regret not being able to get a picture of it, or even remembering some of the names to look the people up. I'm still left with questions years later. I hope that they did find the tubs and that they were able to give those women their stuff back. Even

though, by that amount, I am sure they probably already reported and had replaced everything. But all I can think is that they were stolen, and hope that it was just that. But then, why would you store something like that out in the open? Like I said, I have a lot of unanswered questions, but I do double-check my wallet when I'm out in public now, and I have not returned to that park either. I really don't know what I did to provoke this if I did anything. When I was a kid and teen, I didn't have a lot of supervision, and the adults who were in my life were not good people.

I have many stories about creepy people in my life, and I have two short examples. I chose these two because they weren't too graphic for the internet rules. First, when I was 13, and my friends used to hang out at the $1 movies, which was located in downtown Calgary where I was raised. This was 1993, so no cell phone. The movie ended around midnight, and I walked to the train with my friends. They got on their train, and I was left alone to wait for mine. I noticed a man at the train station that was at the theater as well, and I didn't see anyone else.

The station speaker announced that there were no more trains due to an emergency. The bus had already ended and I was 13 with the bus pass and nothing else. I saw that man getting angry and swearing. I didn't know what to do and he was the only one that I could see, so I decided to ask him for a quarter for the pay phone so I could call home for a ride. I didn't know the collect call trick yet. The man yelled at me in a super scary rube. rage, like saying that I should go ask my pimp. I let him know that I didn't have a pimp, and he grabbed me by my hair and slammed my head into the

wall. All I could do was scream at the top of my lungs, as I was only 110 pounds and 13. I didn't know how or where this other man came from, but he appeared and started beating the man who had grabbed me. I'm not sure what I would have done if that other man. had not been there for me, and he also taught me the collect call trick. Second, when I was 18, I was walking to the train station after work in Calgary, near McLeod Trail. If you know, it's a very busy four lane in each direction, very noisy and very busy intersection.

I crossed the first north-south, and was waiting for the east-west crossing, and I saw a man waiting to cross the north-south-south. side staring at me. I made eye contact and he started screaming at me from his side. I have no idea what he was saying, and I debated waiting for the next light,

but I got a really bad feeling. And my side changed to walk, so I just went and he crossed on his side. But we were still separated by the North-South crossing. I was so scared as he started

yelling even louder and punching his chest. test. I made it across and his light was about to change, and all I could think to do is run. As soon as my foot reaches the curb, I did a full-on sprint. It was about one mile to the station, and I didn't look back until I got the very long steep stairs down to the train station. The steps were about five to six sets of ten. When I looked back at that point, I saw him full-on chasing back. I thought maybe he would have gotten the hint, but I was even more secluded where I was now, and I jumped each set of ten steps, landing on each landing, and I finally reached the train station,

and I saw a bus parked. Looking back, I see the man still running down the steps. I ran on the bus and ran straight to his seat, and I yelled that a man was chasing me and that I didn't know why. The bus driver closed the door and used the radio to call for an emergency. The man ran up to the door and was punching the door with both hands, and the bus driver told him that the police were on their way. He just ran away to the train station.

Right away, the police came and ran into the train station as he got on, and he got away at that point. I stayed on the bus until the police came to me and then gave my side. They let me know that they got him at the next station, and I proceeded on the next train home. While we were passing through the next station, I saw several cops restraining the guy, and I made eye contact with the man, and he started raging again and flailing around. I was so happy when the train started moving again. I'm lucky, to be honest.

Someone or something has been protecting me throughout the years, and I'm thankful for all the protection that I have received. This was something that happened to my daughter and I, back when she was seven years old. I'm a stay-at-home dad. I do have a small business that I started myself that I handle from home, but my wife works in office. Since I'm home, I take care of a lot of stuff from my daughter, including taking her to and from school, and sometimes participating in the day trips her class holds. Some people might think that our family situation is a bit odd, but my wife and I both enjoy it.

She loves her job, and I love being able to be there for my little girl whenever she needs us. With me being home, I'm able to get her any time something happens, if she's feeling sick or if she forgets something at home. I've even had to bring her some clothes to change into after an accident at recess. It really works out the best for us. Sometimes when she's out of school for a holiday and conferences, I'll take her to the park so she can play with other kids, since she's an only child and, to be honest, to get some of that extra energy out of her system.

That's what led us to this situation. My daughter, I'll call her Abby, seemed a little more stressed than normal because her best friend was moving and she would be going to a different school. She was young and didn't understand the whole concept, so she was thinking that she would never see her again. In reality, her family was just moving to a nearby city, and she would just be in a different school district.

But to Abby, it was the end of the world. The stresses of a seven-year-old child, huh? So I decided to take her to the park after school, in hopes of making her feel better and getting her mind off of her friend moving. We went to her favorite park that was about 15 minutes from our place. It was Abby's favorite because the main playground was castle-themed, and she loved to play king and queen. The park wasn't too busy either.

There were two women sitting on a nearby bench talking and watching three other kids playing near the swings. Abby immediately ran to the tower that has a slide that circles around, said tower. She got to the top, and we started playing together for a little while, until I told her that I was going to go sit on another nearby bench. I watched her from the bench as she played and shouted things out to herself, and then as expected, she ran over to the other younger kids and started chatting with them. She's always been very outgoing. About 20 minutes after we arrived, I noticed a man enter the park.

He was probably in his mid-40s, wearing jeans and a dark blue windbreaker despite the warmer weather. He walked over, looked over, looked at a little. around and then, of all places, sat next to me. There were several benches lining the park, so to sit next to me did kind of annoy me, as I knew it meant conversation was inevitable. I didn't mind talking to people, but there were certain times, like now, watching my daughter, then I wasn't interested in conversation. He chuckled and said,

Hey, cute kid you got there, as he nodded towards Abby. I smiled and said, Thanks, as this was a conversation I was used to hearing at playgrounds. He then mentioned how she looked just like his own daughter, and mentioned her unruly curls that you couldn't do anything with. That got a chuckle out of me because her hair is incredibly curly, and we have no idea where she got it from. Both of our families have thin and straight hair.

It made me ease up at first, but then I recalled that he came to the park alone. So I asked where his daughter was, playing it off like I was wanting to see the comparison. He looked around the park and told me that she wasn't there yet. I didn't want to pry. It kind of sounded to me like an arranged visit, so shared custody or whatnot. I was all too familiar with that as a kid myself. Our conversation kind of ended there, and I went back to watching Abby. Then the guy moved closer, leaned toward me, and asked me one of the most alarming things a parent could ever hear.

Hey, do you think I could borrow her for a few hours? I remember looking over at him, and I had to have the most horrified and angry face I could muster. And I said, excuse me? This dude thought that I needed clarification to his question, and he was trying to explain how he just wanted to borrow her. her for a few hours for father-daughter time. Like I said, I was horrified by his comment, and immediately became defensive of not only my own daughter but the other kids in that park. I wasn't the type to back down to stuff like that, especially if it involved my family.

So, I told him straight. That's not a normal thing to ask someone, man. And frankly, it's incredibly inappropriate and creepy. The man just threw his head back and laughed, slapping his knee and everything, like I had just told him the funniest joke. He claimed he was just messing around and that the state was actually bringing his daughter there too so he could spend time with her. I didn't believe him for a second, but I tried to keep my face neutral. If that was his only way of seeing his daughter, that sucked, but there must have been a reason. And if what he asked me was his version of funny, well, then maybe there was more too.

him. I reached down to grab the bag that I take with me. It has snacks, water, and other things we might need while we're out. And as I did, the man said that we should set up a play date for our girls. I didn't even respond to him.

I just waved him off and walked up to Abby. I asked her if she wanted to go sit at the gazebo and have a snack, hoping to get away from this guy, and she agreed. She grabbed my hand and we walked together to the gazebo to have our snack. As we ate, and Abby told me about her day at school, I was taking in the view when I saw that same guy. I noticed he was walking in a wide arc around the playground

and I could see the two other women wrangling up their kids. I'm sure he was making them nervous, too. But as he left the playground, I could tell that he was making his way closer to us. And to be honest, I didn't want to deal with him. I was afraid that I might say something worse to him, especially if he tried to say or do anything to my daughter. So, I started wrapping up our snack, to which Abby started pouting a bit, but I convinced her that we needed to get home

and she could finish her snack in the car. I felt bad because we didn't stay long, but I was not feeling comfortable with him around, especially since he still did not have a kid with him. But to make things worse, As we walked towards the parking lot, I saw him change directions, and he was now heading straight towards us. Tell me he wasn't following us at this point. I picked up my daughter, knowing that I would be able to get more distance between us that way, and she didn't mind.

However, it was the yelling that started behind me that caused me to stop in my tracks. The guy started shouting, That man, he's taking my daughter. My stomach dropped. was he really accusing me of taking her? I was carrying a little girl and quite clearly in a rush to get out of the parking lot. I'm sure it didn't look good, even if it was a lie. But I didn't stop moving.

I got to my car and started unlocking the door, hoping to get Abby in at least while I took care of this nonsense. As I started unlocking it, the guy had clearly caught up and was still hollering about how I took his daughter. I looked around, and to my horror, there was a couple entering the park with their own little girl. They were looking right at us. I saw the dad approaching us, too, and I was not looking forward to this confrontation. I was conflicted. Do I just leave and risk them calling the cops on me? Possibly traumatizing my daughter with what that could entail?

Do I stay and try to discuss it? Because I'm not a fighter. I watched my mom get manhandled by far. too many boyfriends to know that violence was not going to solve anything, and once again, I didn't want my daughter to be afraid of me. But when the other dad approached, I could tell he was also the Papa Bear type and was not going to just let me leave with her, so I explained it all. I explained how Abby was clearly my daughter, still holding her as she hugged my neck,

and that this guy was not only following us, but actually asked to borrow her. The guy continued to argue that I was lying and had taken his daughter. The other dad suggested that neither of us move and said he was calling the cops. I felt bad for Abby, but it was for the best. If anything, I could prove she was my daughter. I didn't have her birth certificate on me or anything, but I had tons of photos on my phone, and I could show proof if needed. What the hell would that guy have?

As the dad was on the phone, the other guy said, seemed to get more and more angry and antsy. He kept saying how this was all just a waste of time and how he should just knock me out and leave. The dad tried to keep the peace between us both, but, based on how he was acting towards me and some of his gestures, I knew that he was believing me. He was trying to keep the other guy back from us. He would nod towards me and even try to talk to Abby to keep her calm by talking about his own little girl.

Thankfully, that seemed to do the trick. for her. She loved meeting new friends. It felt like forever, but the police finally arrived, and we all had to give our version of events to two different cops. I noticed the other dad that was there seemed to be pretty close to the cops as they talked and smiled. My immediate thought was that they must have known each other. After some time, they told me that I was good to leave with my daughter, and the other cops started restraining the guy in handcuffs. He started to shouting things from kidnapping to other ramblings that made no sense. I got Abby in her seats and buckled in, and I went to thank the other dad that stopped it.

Apparently that guy's dad was a cop, so he was familiar with the lot of the other officers. He said that he also knew from the start that she belonged to me with how she was holding on to me, versus trying to reach out to the other guy. I didn't even really think about it at the time, but none of them even tried to take her away from me. You would think if that was a concern that they wouldn't have at least taken her until it was sorted out. Either way, I thanked the man for his help because at that moment, it was hard to think straight. I know the guy didn't actually try anything with us other than the accusations and then asking to borrow my daughter, so he probably didn't get arrested for that, but they obviously

had something on him. I didn't ask, nor was it really any of me. my business. Thankfully, the whole thing must not have bothered Abby too much, because she fell asleep on the ride home. When my wife got home, I had one hell of a story for her. Now it's an ongoing joke between us that someone would accuse me of kidnapping her because of how little we look alike. She looked more like my wife, minus the curly hair I mentioned, but she is definitely, as some

would call it, a daddy's girl. She did everything with me and had a lot of my mannerisms and personality. I guess I can hold on to that at least. Bottom line, when it comes to your kids, there is no such thing as overreacting. Don't worry about being polite to creeps. Your child's safety always comes first. I don't often go to public parks. I'm single and don't have any kids, so really I don't.

don't have a reason to. However, I do read a lot. At home, at coffee shops, even at work, or while I was in college. But one day I wanted to do something different. I decided to take my Kindle to the park and read, since it was such a nice day out. It was right on the cusp of summer, so it was warmer, but not unbearable yet. And I did enjoy the summer. The park wasn't crowded either. surprisingly for a Saturday afternoon. I was expecting to see a lot of kids, but it was pretty empty with maybe a handful of them playing around. I found a bench that was a little further from the park and the water fountains. This way I was less likely to be stopped and stared at by kids needing to get water.

The bench was also under a tree, so I got some shade, too. I pulled out my Kindle and pretty quickly lost myself in my bed. book. A little over an hour into my reading session, I noticed a shift in the atmosphere. Three guys had entered the park from different areas and were meandering around in a way that seemed purposeful, like there was clearly a reason they were doing this, yet trying not to appear so. They weren't dressed alike, all jeans and t-shirts, two with ball caps and one of them also had a light jacket on, but something about them felt uniform. The way they scanned the area, their alertness, and the subtle glances they exchanged.

One of the guys wearing a cap pulled it low, trying to cover his face. Another one that had a tattoo sleeve kept checking his phone and looking around. That's when we made eye contact. His gaze lingered, which made it awkward for me, so I looked away. and back to my book. After a while, I started feeling like I was being watched. You know that feeling. Sitting at a coffee shop and you get that burning sensation in the back of your head,

so you turn around and see a kid with a handful of muffin watching your computer screen intently. That kind of feeling. I would look around and I would see these three guys looking at me, and they would casually look away. One of them was talking on a cell phone, as we made a phone. eye contact. Something was not right here. I didn't know what was about to go down.

A drug deal, kidnapping and ransom, or maybe they were just looking for someone to beat up. Was I wearing something offensive? I didn't think so because I was just in jeans and a black t-shirt with a triforce on it. Whatever it was, you could definitely feel the tension. The park was practically empty at this point. There was a younger girl on the swing on the other side of the park, but I didn't see anyone else. This was not looking good for me.

Now there weren't even witnesses if something were to happen. I felt like I needed to get out of there before something did happen. I placed my bookmark, locked my Kindle, and slipped it into my back pocket. I stood up and stretched trying to appear casual, like I wasn't freaking happening. internally. As I started walking toward the parking lot, I glanced back and saw the tattoo guy changed directions, now walking parallel to my path. This did not help my anxiety. In fact, it made it worse. I tried to remain calm, but I don't think I was doing too well. I tried to look as if I was interested in the trees, looking up at them, but quickened my pace to nearly jogging. When I looked

back, the tattoo guy had closed the distance between us significantly, and worse yet, the other two men were drawing close from different positions. At this point, I couldn't risk being casual. They were clearly coming for me. I pulled out my keys and took off in a full sprint trying to ready my car key. I heard someone shout, he's running, which confirmed my fears. They were definitely after me. I pushed myself to get to my car. I was so focused on my destination that I didn't notice a fourth man, a guy in a gray t-shirt who seemed to materialize from behind a tree until he was directly in my path.

I tried to stop myself from running into him, but I failed. I put my hands out to stop myself, and he pushed me knocking me on my ass, literally, landing on my Kindle. I tried getting up, but the new guy was put. pushing me back and began shouting. Stay down. On your stomach now. Arms out. Don't move. Several voices now surrounded me. One of them forcing me to roll over as they cuffed me. I was confused. I'm still terrified, but was I being arrested?

I tried asking what was going on, but they wouldn't answer. They kept asking, where's the package? Where's the stuff? I was genuinely confused. The tattoo guy was now crouching beside me looking very intimidating, and he asked me again where it was. I told them I had no idea what they were talking about. I explained that I was there to read and that I was from the area trying to nod towards my car. The way they talked to me, I could tell they didn't believe me, talking about how I had been sitting on the bench, watching them, and even mentioned ditching the deal because I felt the heat.

I told them I ran because they were clearly following me. I was pleading with them that I had no idea what the hell they were talking about. I told them to check my back pocket for my Kindle, explaining I was just there to read. I even told them that their staring was creeping me out, so I decided to leave. There was a pause, and I felt one of them pull out my Kindle. They helped me up, so I was now sitting on the ground, and to make it a moment, At worse, he was now showing me my shattered Kindle. As the tattoo guy crouched by me again, he unlocked the device and saw that I was in the middle of a book.

That's when I noticed for the first time the earpiece that he had. I think they were undercover cops. One of the other guys sighed and said some kind of code as he touched his ear. As two of them walked away to talk, the new guy walked over to me and asked me for my name and if I had ID on me. I told him my wallet was in my other pockets, and he pulled it out. I gave him the info he asked for, though. Name, age, address, even where I worked. He asked if I was there to meet anyone, or if I heard anything about something going on in that park.

I told him no. I was literally there to read, something I never did. After about an hour of giving my statement to three other people, two cops that weren't even there to begin with, they uncuffed me, handed me my Kindle and wallet back, and then apologized for the confusion. I was still startled from this whole situation,

but also confused and, yeah, a little upset. They had broken my Kindle. One of the new guys, who I think was a supervisor, told me to go to the station, fill out a damage claim, and they would then look into it. Sure. I think the anger took over because I asked them if I was supposed to just leave like this wasn't a big deal.

Like they didn't just handcuff a completely random person. Tattoo guy basically confirmed this, saying that he would appreciate it if I left then and left quickly. I may not know the exact details of that stint, but I could put some of the pieces together. I assumed they were doing some kind of bust, but they were obviously paying attention. to the wrong person. I don't know if they ever caught the right person. But anyway, I walked out of there, still a bit shaky, got into my car and drove straight to the station.

I told them that I needed to file a damage claim and that I also wanted to file a complaint. Thankfully, they took it more seriously than the ones in the park. And, about three or so months later, I got a check in the mail for $100 as a solution to my broken Kindle. Well, I guess they could have done nothing. I haven't gone back to that park and certainly don't go to the park now to read at all. I have gone to other parks with my sister and her kids, but that's about it.

I won't go alone. And if I see people in areas who seem to stick out, or they're too attentive, I walk the other way. I'll just stick to the areas that I know. At least this way, I know that I won't break. my new Kindle or leave with a panic attack. I've posted a lot of paranormal stories for your channel

and one about my sleepwalking and night walks. I realized recently that I forgot to include two of the worst night walks of my life. The first one was when I was 17. I was still living with my

abusive grandmother at the time and I occasionally would slip out at night when things were bad to sleep on my friend's couch until it cooled down. The district my grandma lived in is cut off from the rest of the city by a highway, on which there are only crosswalks across every few miles. So, to get to my friend's house, I had to leave my street, go down to the highway on the main road,

a mile up the highway before crossing and then over a bridge, and finally down that road about a mile. My friend's street came up on the right. All in all, about a three-mile walk. This night, my grandmother had been following me around the house, degrading me. I locked myself in my room so I could get my homework done unimpeded, but she unlocked my door and was throwing my textbooks at me for walking away while she was talking to me. I immediately grabbed what I was working on,

my emergency pay-as-you-go cell phone a friend had given me, and threw them in whatever books his, hit me into my bag and then I bolted out the door. I made it to the highway and this field lined with a fence made of decorative boulders and rope. Before I slowed down to send a text to my friend, letting her know that I was on my way and to have the first aid kit ready, as usual. I put the phone in my pocket, and then I jumped as I heard three loud bangs and saw something hit the decorative boulder beside me. I quickly ducked behind the boulder and dialed 911. Dispatch said a cop was already there, and I looked up to see one walking my way.

He had been parked on the corner of the street that I got on the highway from and saw the entire thing. He said I was really lucky they missed as he bagged the three bullets, and then he gave me a ride to my friend's house. They did catch the guys who shot at me, just some high school boys on a joyro. ride with their parents' guns. The cop had given their plate number to another officer up the highway. I was really grateful, and until that same cop dragged me back home for being a runaway three days later. The second time was a year later.

I'd graduated, moved in with roommates, and had met my first long-term boyfriend. Yes, I'm a gay man. My boyfriend lived basically on the south tip of the city, and I lived on the north side of the city. The walking route was about five miles and went through a shady section of town called Railroad Boulevard. On that street, there's houses on one side and the railroad and some small factories on the other. I would usually stay over at my boyfriends every weekend, but he sometimes had early morning classes or family things, and I would have to leave Saturday night instead of spending the whole weekend there.

And this was one of those nights. I'd made it across town and was almost through railroad boulevard when I saw a car slow down as it approached me. So I veered away from the street and towards the factory. I figured if they were looking for someone, they would speed back up. And if they were looking for trouble, I'd have an escape. I had a knife in my pocket and an old radio antenna. Neither would do much damage, but if someone jumped me on my walk, they would get it as bad as I did. But I could see at least three people in his car, and they were rolling their windows down.

That's when I saw a handgun and started running. They emptied their clip at me. Thank whoever is out there that they missed, and then they sped off down one of the residential streets. Meanwhile, I jumped the fence of the factory and hid behind the dumpster on the other side. It was one of those chain-link fences with the plastic pieces in it, so you couldn't see through it. The next thing I knew, the fence was illuminated by headlights, and I heard car doors shut. I heard a guy say, Where the hell did he go? And another guy said, I can't believe you freaking missed.

They looked around for me for what felt like ever, but for some reason they didn't jump the fence themselves. I was literally 10 feet away from it, tucked between two dumpsters and a recycle bin. Eventually I heard one of them yell, crap, security. And they got in the car and floored it out of the parking lot. I was shaking and my heart was pounding. I couldn't move. Eventually I heard the gate unlock and saw a flashlight.

The security guard said, You can come out now. They're gone. And he escorted me off the property. He apologized for not getting there sooner, but apparently the security office is on the south. side of the factory, and the parking lot is on the north side. He had to run across the whole factory to get to me, and wasn't even sure he would make it in time. I'm just lucky that they

were dumb enough not to climb the fence themselves. I did make it home that night, but I'd be lying if I said that I slept, and didn't jump at every engine sound outside my house that night. I was a teenager in the mid-80s, and my best friend and I were spray painting something in the garage for cheerleading. We left the garage door open just a couple of feet so it could air out as our painted items dried, but completely forgot to close it before we went to bed that night. It was just my mom, my younger sister and I, as my dad had been killed by a drunk driver four years prior.

My best friends spent the night, and the next morning as I was waking up, I was in that state where you're still asleep, but you begin to be aware that you're starting to wake up. In that state, I faintly heard the sounds of blue jeans swishing that you hear when someone walks. I thought my mom must be in here for something, in the very back of my mind.

Though I remember thinking how strange that was since neither my mom nor my sister wore blue jeans, We were part of a church at that time that taught against women wearing pants. I faintly heard the pants, or my mom, walk out of my room. Immediately my friend was shaking me awake. There was a man in your room, she whispered. My eyes flew open, and I stared at her. What?

She continued. I heard someone come in your room, and I opened my eyes, and there was a man standing there beside the bed watching us. he just left. We listened quietly to see if we could hear anything going on outside of my room. We were afraid to go out there, but also my mom and sister were out there. Pretty quickly I heard my mom's voice, so we went out to the living room. They were standing in the kitchen table where all four of our purses were.

My mom told us that there was a man in here, and that she caught him going through our purses on the table. She asked him what he was doing, and he stated that he was looking for a friend. And then he turned around and walked out the front door. My mom suddenly ran out the door and called out to the man who was still in our yard, but walking away. Hey, she yelled. Did you take anything? I don't know what prompted my mom to do that, but she was more angry than she was scared. He said no.

She came back inside, and immediately, called the police. We all looked through our purses and found that he had taken my mom's wallet. After looking around, we determined that that was the only thing he had taken. While the police were questioning us, the guy casually rode by on a bike, that we later found out he had stolen from a house down the street. They stopped him. My mom identified him, and he was arrested.

Apparently he had entered through the garage door that I had left open the night before. The guy ended up getting sentenced to six years in prison, since this was not the only house he had broken into. To this day, I will never understand why the guy that broke into our house got six years, but the drunk driver who killed my dad four years before only got a two-year suspended sentence. Sometimes justice doesn't make sense. To this day, I have a fear of someone coming into my room at night. Usually only when my husband is away. But that's why I took CPL classes and got my license to carry.

If my husband goes away overnight, my firearm stays right there with me. 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 support 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 site 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 astherravendreams.com, where 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.