As The Raven Dreams Podcast - ATRD Ep. 222 - 12 True Scary Stories | Spring, Catfish & Stalker/Stranger Stories

Episode Date: April 24, 2026

Today, on the 22nd episode of the As The Raven Dreams podcast, we have 12 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 Stalker/Strange Encounters, Spring Stories & Catfish 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 on supports it! I upload episodes every 3 days, so there are 2 days between new uploads. The podcast consists of new scary story collections, Glitch in the matrix collections, and also what I call the "Dark Dreams" collections (which are older stories, remastered and layered with rain sounds). 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 Thank you to all of the authors that have stories in todays episode... Flowerchild, MomOfTwo, BradyJ, Margaret, GreenHeron, DadOfOne, RachelDoesn’tDate, Melissa P, GMD, Plumine, Caroline, Tom K As Well As Any Author That Has Requested Anonymity. TimeStamps… Ad breaks after Story 1 & Story 4 1 ➤ 00:57 2 ➤ 11:03 3 ➤ 23:46 4 ➤ 31:29 5 ➤ 40:59 6 ➤ 46:05 7 ➤ 50:13 8 ➤ 1:00:52 9 ➤ 1:14:32 10 ➤ 1:17:01 11 ➤ 1:23:16 12 ➤ 1:38:19 ----- 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. None of my audio is AI Generated, I am a real person reading real stories into a real microphone. Note: The podcast nor the host endorses any advertisements played during the podcast, ads are not chosen by ATRD or Raven Adams, they are chosen automatically by the advertisement systems by the platforms that host the podcast. I do not endorse, support, or promote any opinions or statements made in any adverts played during the show. #ScaryStories #UnexplainedMysteries #GlitchInTheMatrix Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. Hey there, friends. guess who forgot to schedule an episode of the podcast on his birthday the 22nd. Well, if you randomly guessed that the person who forgot to schedule the podcast episode on their birthday, the 22nd was me. You're wrong. No, it was me. I'm kidding. Yeah, so here's this episode of the podcast. Sorry about that. It won't happen again. It's a lie. It happens. more often than it should.

Uh, today we have some creepy encounter stories, catfish stories, and spring stories. Hopefully some stories you guys enjoy. Uh, some good ones here, of course. And always, always fun, well, as always fun topics. Get to the stories, Raven. Anyways, enjoy you guys. And hi, how are you? Hey, Raven.

I wanted to share something that happened to me last spring. That was pretty freaky. And to this day, I still have no answers. I live in a super-quiet neighborhood. It's quiet because it's pretty much an older neighborhood. What I mean by that is that the houses along this block were built in the 50s, and they've practically had the same owner since, or maybe even two. Everyone in these houses are older.

I don't mean that in a mean way either, it's just a fact. I know this because my house was actually my grandparents, and instead of getting rid of it, I told my dad, that I would buy it from them. I loved the house. I loved the huge maple tree in the backyard. I loved the little garden patch that my grandpaw built for my grandma. It even had a cute little fence around it.

And all the neighbors knew my grandparents. I remember checking the mail as a kid and seeing Martin next door. He would always give me stuff from his garden for my grandparents. I even learned that one of my old teachers lived down the street too. So, anyways, yes, they all lived and grew older together, but to me, that also meant a quiet and probably little to no problem-style neighborhood. And I was right. I never had weird neighbor issues. But this event still throws me for a loop.

Because it was an older house, and my grandparents were unable to do much as they got older, it definitely needed. touch-ups and repairs here and there. One of those things was the windows. They were old, and while they were still there, no cracks and still functioned, some of them stuck pretty bad. This was a problem for me because I loved having the windows open, especially in the spring and summer. I love the warmth, I love the breeze,

and my dog and cats all love sunbathing. So, sometimes, I have to read. really put in some power to push the window open, but it's doable. I have them open so much that I often forget to close them, too, but again, that's how comfortable I am with this neighborhood. My yard is fenced in, too, but no one really bothers you. No one goes into your yard unless they're going to your door to get to you specifically. So, just a quick rundown of the neighborhood in my house to give you a little idea.

The windows are really the important part of the story anyways. The house is also one floor plus the basement. My bedroom is on the west side of the house, with a window facing my neighbor's home and a window facing my front yard. It was early April, and I had an extra day off work as a comp day, so I decided to take the time and catch up on some cleaning. I had all the windows open, music blasting, and was deep cleaning some cabinets.

I'm the type to start in one place, catch a glimpse of something else that needs to get done, and then we'll start working on that, forgetting about the previous task I'd started. So when I saw the basket of clothes I had on my bed that still needed to be put away, I started working on those instead. This is when I opened my bedroom windows,

as there was a nice breeze. Once I finished that, I continued on my spiral of cleaning, which somehow I managed to come up, bleed all of it. I rewarded myself by ordering pizza for dinner and finishing a puzzle I had started. I wore myself out that day, so when I started getting tired, I went to my room and crashed pretty hard. I'm actually a pretty heavy sleeper, too. My boyfriend likes to tease me because when he stays over, he says it's pretty much impossible to get me to move over and share the blanket with him. Bless his heart.

But this night was a bit unusual. I did wake up slightly. I thought I heard something which made me open my eyes. I was facing toward my door, away from the window, and I just saw my dog Sally sitting in the doorway. She was staring at me, and she had her head cocked to the side, but was otherwise just staring at me. I was pretty tired, and at the time I thought nothing of it,

other than just waking up for a brief moment. Sally didn't seem hurt or scared, so I just closed my eyes and went back to sleep. It wasn't until the next morning that things got kind of creepy. There was a slight chill when I woke up, and my blanket felt a little damp. That's when I remembered that I didn't shut the windows. I got up slowly to go close the windows closest to my bed and realized there were several flowers sitting on my window sill. They were small wildflowers, like crocus and dandelions that grew all over my yard. But there were probably a good dozen of them evenly lining my windowsill, and arranged by size.

I had a screen, but it was really easy to pop it out, unfortunately. At first I was confused. I was trying to remember why I would have put flowers there. Remember, I just woke up. And then I realized, no, that's certainly not something I would have done. Then I looked at my door and saw Sally lying in the doorway, head down but eyes open watching me. She never lies there. She has a bed that she loves to sleep on in the living room and sometimes she'll sleep on the ottoman in my bedroom. This just added to the weirdness of the situation when I remembered how she was sitting in the doorway when I woke up overnight.

I got up, and I immediately went to the living room to check out the rest of the house. The cats were asleep on the couch, and everything else looked untouched. The front door was still locked, but I opened it and went outside to check near my window. As anticipated, there was a spot that was flat, as if someone had been standing there or sitting there. There were also flowers growing along that area, too, but I knew they were all. all over. This got me pretty freaked out, thinking about the possibilities, so I went back inside and checked my doorbell camera.

I remember feeling sick when I first saw it. There was a guy walking by along the sidewalk in front of my house. He was wearing a hood, but you could tell that he was looking down until he slowed and looked over at my house. When he got to my gate, he stopped and just stared up again. After a few seconds, he looked around and then opened the gate. He walked up the sidewalk and stairs to my front door, but kept his head down so I couldn't see his face.

He got right up to the door because his body was blocking the camera. I heard some kind of light scratching or tapping sound, and then after a few seconds he walked away, to the left, where my window was. The front door goes out a little further than the side of the house, so when he went around, he was out of view of the camera. For nearly 20 minutes, he was out of view, before he finally walked back around, through the gate,

and continued on down the road. I don't know what time I woke up that night, but I would bet that that was probably why I woke up. I heard something, and Sally was probably staring at him. She's not a mean dog. She hardly even ever barks, so I could honestly believe that she was just watching this stranger place flowers on my window. But why did he do it? I don't know if he was trying to break in when he was at the door, but the thought that he did take the time to push out my screen, pick flowers, and line them up along my window sill was alarming.

I pretty much slept through it. What if he did break in? My pets weren't exactly guard material, and I slept like a brick. Needless to say, I was pretty freaked out. I couldn't prove what he was doing at my window, and there wasn't really a break-in, so I didn't know what I could actually report to the police. Instead, I took some screenshots from the video,

and I made a post on Next Door, asking people if they knew who the person was. and also to warn them of someone going to people's houses late at night. Unfortunately, I didn't get much in ways of responses. One person said they heard something similar happening to a friend, not even in the same city. And one person said they would keep an eye out, but that was it. So to this day, I am still left with no answers.

However, they never came back. I don't know if for some reason my house just looked good for the house. the occasion or if it was possibly targeted. Either way, they definitely gave me a good scare. I do still like to keep my windows open, but I always make sure they are closed and locked before I go to bed or leave the house. Oh, and I also replace some of the screens so they don't come off as easily. If someone does try to mess with them, I should be able to hear it now.

I just hope that it never comes to that. This spring, denim gets a softer, lighter update. Introducing Old Navy's drapey denim wide leg, a new fit that moves with you. It's everything you want denim to feel like for summer. Easy, breathable, and effortlessly cool. With a fit that creates natural movement and a wide leg that feels modern, not overwhelming.

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Just style you love and quality you can trust. Visit Wayfair.ca. Wayfair, every style, every home. I've been hesitant on sharing this, given the circumstances, but I'm thinking if I keep real locations and my name out of it, I can manage. I'm also probably overthinking this, but once you're, hear my story, you might understand where I'm coming from. So, I met this guy named Aaron on a gaming Discord server a few years ago.

We started as friends and then it quickly turned into something more. We would voice chat while gaming, text throughout the day, and often talked before we went to bed. He was 24 at the time, only older than me by a few months. He worked at a car shop. It was also pretty crazy, but he only was. lived about an hour away from me. We had the same sense of dark humor, same taste in music, and clearly games and hobbies.

And within a few months, we were calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend. We talked a lot on the phone and Discord, and we shared pictures and videos of each other. Nothing too crazy, just your normal selfies. But he never video called. He seemed to always have excuses, bad camera, insecure about his appearance, anxiety, but I understood. I was always anxious about it too, so I was patient. It didn't change how I felt about him. But after a few more months, some things started to feel off.

He seemed to struggle to recall some of his memories that he would tell me about, like he would hesitate to tell a person's zes. name or location. Like when he told me about how his sister crashed her bike, he struggled to recall her name. It wasn't the struggle you hear when someone says the wrong name or something, like he had multiple siblings. It was more like he was trying to come up with a name. He said that he only had the one sibling.

I started paying closer attention and noticed that he was doing that more and more. lying about past memories just seemed odd to me. It's not like I could prove them, so why lie? And it's not like they were these crazy entertaining stories, so what would be the point? But it was really strange. So I know this was kind of manipulative, but I tried to test him. I asked him to recall a memory he told me about, and I used one from my own childhood memories and asked him about the time his mom threw a cupcake at his dad,

and he started talking about it. I asked him for his mom's name again. Oh yeah, you said that her name was Charlotte, right? He confirmed yes. But he had previously told me that her name was Darlene. That's not something you would ever get wrong. So I confronted him about it. at first he got defensive, giving excuses like getting mixed up,

claiming he had a head injury that makes him forget things. I told him that it didn't make sense, and he wouldn't admit it. So, I told him it was best to step away from the relationship until we could have full honesty and just ended the call. He tried calling once and then didn't call back. It was a few days later that he messaged me saying that we needed to talk and clear some things up, and it made me think that he was ready to be truthful. So I called him.

He finally confessed. He told me that a lot of the stuff that he had told me about was made up, and to my surprise, his name wasn't even Aaron. His real name was Jacob. He also said that he didn't work at a car shop, but at some kind of parts warehouse. The only thing that seemed to be true was that he really did live an hour from me. He said that he felt the real him was just too boring and simple, and that he wanted to seem more interesting so that I would stay with him. I was pretty upset. He clearly

didn't fake his personality, and I loved him for that, so why fake the rest of it? I didn't care about all of that anyways. We had a very long talk about the whole thing. He apologized profusely and asked for another chance. I told him that I was willing to give him another chance, but he had to be completely honest with me going forward, and he agreed. No more lies. And from there, we tried again.

I learned about his life all over again. Everything went back to normal for another month or so. We even video-chatted finally, and he looked just like his photos, maybe a few pounds heavier, but to be honest, I myself am not skinny either, so neither of us had problems with it. Since I had more flexibility in my job, I had made plans to go see him over the weekend, and he loved that idea too. Now, at this point, my relationship wasn't a secret. I had told some close friends, my own sister, my mom, and my sister knew that I was going to go

see Jacob that weekend. I packed a small bag and drove up to his place. Once there, he showed me his apartment, and then we went for dinner into a local arcade. It was a great day. He looked just the same in person as he did in the videos. He was funny and kind and protective. Some kid mid-tantrum threw one of those ski balls, and it nearly hit me in the side, but he managed to stop it.

It was sweet. We went back to his place and stayed the night, comfortable enough to stay in his room. Nothing happened in there. I wasn't quite ready for that, but he also respected it and didn't pressure me. The next day is where things went south. We got up the next morning and made breakfast together. Then we watched some TV in the living room. Shortly after, he grabbed our plates.

and began washing them, and I told him that I was going to go get dressed. I grabbed my bag and walked into his bathroom, and as I was finishing, I realized I grabbed my toothbrush and not any toothpaste. So I started looking around for some. He didn't have a holder or a cup on the counter, so I checked the mirror-slash-medicine cabinet. I certainly found the toothpaste there, but I saw something else that caught my eyes.

It was a prescription pill bottle. Normally it's not a big deal, but he hadn't mentioned being on anything, and it could have been for some temporary thing, or it could have been more serious. I know it was none of my business, but to be completely honest, with how our relationship actually started, I was kind of curious. I grabbed it and read the name of the medication. I can't recall what it was now, but I do remember that it was just, an antibiotic.

But that wasn't the important part. What was important was the name on the bottle. It did not say Jacob. It said James. Jacob's middle name was Lee, so it's not like he even went by a middle name or something. So who the hell was James? My stomach dropped and I was quickly beginning to worry. I was in this person's home and now I wasn't even sure that I knew who he really was.

I finished up, put everything in my bag and went back to the living room to put everything else away because I was just ready to dip. Or at least have my stuff by the door and ready to leave quickly if I needed to. Jacob, or James, was still washing dishes. So I made a bold move and went to check his wallet that was sitting on the half wall dividing his kitchen and living room. I opened it to see his license right in front. It was not for the state that we were living in either, but that's less important. What was important was that the name read James with his picture. He continued looking away at the sink while I did this until I finally asked him,

Hey, who's James? He glanced over his shoulder with a curious look, until he saw me holding his wallet. He quickly shut off the water, ran over to me and grabbed his wallet from me. I was expecting him to say sorry. to start down all these excuses or maybe even just be angry, but instead he looked scared. He said that he was sorry and that I should just leave. I told him I wanted an explanation, and he said that I was better off not knowing. But honestly, I was pissed.

He fooled me for the first time, and I thought that his confession was sincere. His stories didn't seem all over or made up. I even stayed over at his place, and now I'm freaking out mentally that I don't even know who this guy is. I demanded an explanation. But again, he just looked scared. He made comments about how he shouldn't have lied to me and how he was sorry, but then also said that he shouldn't have gotten me involved. I asked him what he meant by that, and he again pleaded for me to leave. He grabbed my shoes, placed them next to me in,

went to grab my purse, and he said that it would be better if I didn't know. He kept rushing me to leave, still freaking out, talking about how, if I knew the truth, we would both be in trouble. He said that he really cared for me, though, and didn't want to see me hurt, and told me to just forget about him. So, there I was, standing outside his apartment, my shoes barely on, my stuff on the floor next to me. and all I could think was, what the hell just happened. I went home after that, in a state of confusion, and tried to look for someone by the James name that I saw on the bottle an ID.

The weird thing is, I could find nothing. The closest thing I could find was an obituary for a guy that died several years earlier. It said that he had a son who was a junior, but that he lived across the country. I suppose it was possible that it was him, but it was the fear and him rushing me out that really confused me. Why was he so worried about me knowing the truth? What did that even mean? I held off at first, but I couldn't wait any longer, and I tried texting him the next day. No response.

I called, straight to voicemail. I went to Discord where our relationship first started. Unknown user. He had deleted his account. I tried throughout the week to contact him, but he never responded. I probably looked crazy, but I even drove out to his complex the following weekend, and he didn't answer the door. Thankfully, it was a fourplex, and he was on the bottom floor.

I walked around the back to look in the sliding door, and the room was empty. It was like he just packed up and left. I went back home and updated my friend and sister, about what happened, and they found it all just as bizarre. My sister was talking about how he may have been in trouble with the law or maybe hiding out, and that's why he was being so secretive, but I'm still left with this weird hole. I don't know who I was really seeing, or if I was actually in any danger. The way he was acting and some of the things he said made me feel like I was,

but I guess I'll just never know. So there's my story about how I was kind of catfished. And to this day, I've never heard from him again. And I still have no answers. I've been a long-time listener to podcasts where people tell their scary stories, and I've read countless threads online, but I never personally expected to have a story of my own. It's not to say that I've never dealt with weird. or creeps, who hasn't.

This is just one of those where I actually was scared for my life. And now that I have a story to share, I figured I would send it in. It did happen a few months ago, but I thought now was a good time. So, yeah, again,

this happened a few months ago. I live in a fairly large state that is known for having a lot of empty land. Very middle of nowhere like. For privacy reasons, I would rather not say the exact location, but let's just say that I do not live in the city, and my nearest neighbor is not within shouting distance.

My husband also travels quite a bit for work, and this particular week he was out of the state. I'm usually pretty okay with being alone. We have a security system and a dog, and I'm generally not a jumpy person. I had a major project to do at work the next morning, so I stayed up way later than I should have. It was around 11.30 p.m. when I was finally shutting everything down to head to bed. I was in that groggy state where you're physically tired, but your brain is still kind of buzzing from stress. I was just walking into the kitchen to get a glass of water when I heard something that made me jump. Three solid knocks on the front door.

My dog started barking almost immediately, which made me feel even more tense. Like I said, we live out in the stick. so you don't just happen upon our house. You have to drive down a long gravel driveway to get there. And honestly, nobody really knocks on our door at all, much less this late on a Tuesday night, unless something is really wrong. So I crept up to the door and checked the viewport

while holding the dog's collar to keep him quiet. Standing on my porch was a guy who looked, well, to put it in. in the nicest way, weird. Not necessarily scary, just weird. He had a bizarre haircut. It was like a military-style buzzcut on the sides, but the top was longer and slicked back

with so much gel that it looked wet. He was wearing this loud, vintage-style windbreaker, the kind that was very 90s with bright blocks of purple and teal. It was the kind that made the swishy sound when he moved. I made sure that the dead bolt was secure and shouted through the door. Hi, can I help you? He leaned in closer to the door and I could see him trying to peek through the window panel on the side. He then said,

Hey, I'm sorry to bother you, but my car broke down a mile or so down the road. Can I come in and use your phone to make a call? He was calm, almost too calm. Now, I've heard similar setups and scary stories. So I was getting alarm bells immediately. While I was nervous, I also didn't want to leave someone that may have actually needed help out there with no assistance. So I responded calmly with, I can't let you in, but I can call you a tow truck.

Do you have a preference for which company? I'll get their number from Google. I didn't know what to expect, but I didn't expect several beats of silence. I watched as the man looked around as if he was trying to find. something to say. After those few moments of quiet, he shook his head and turned back with a bit of an edge to his voice. Please, I just really need help. Like right now, my baby is in my car and I just need to make a quick call. I froze. Did he just say that there was a baby in the car? It almost caught me off guard because this guy was asking to make a call so he could get help for himself. And now there was

also a baby in a car a mile away from my house? If the car was a mile down the road, that meant that he had walked a mile in the direction of my house, all the way down the driveway, which probably took a while. Who in their right mind would have left a child, a baby, in a car in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere? I actually said as much. I asked, you left your baby alone?

He huffed and tried to say something like he was trying to defend himself, but it was like he couldn't quite get the words to defend his stated actions. So I spoke for him and said, Hey, go back to your car and get your baby. I'll call the cops and get them out here to help you. The change in his demeanor was instant.

There was no more pleading. I saw his shadow shift through the peephole as he slammed his shoulder against the door. The whole frame shuddered, and I screamed, stumbling back. He didn't say another word. He just kicked the door once, then twice, and then he yelled. Not words, just like an angry shouting. Then I heard the heavy swish, swish of that windbreaker

as he sprinted off the porch and into the darkness. I pulled my phone out and called 911 immediately. My hands were shaking so bad that I could barely hold the phone. I explained everything. The guy, the situation, the baby, and the fact that I was home alone. The police arrived about 20 minutes later. They patrolled the area, and sure enough, they found a car parked about a mile down the road on the shoulder. Here's the part that makes me sick to my stomach.

They found the guy sitting in the driver's seat. The car started up perfectly fine. There was nothing wrong with it. And there was no baby. There wasn't even a car seat. When the officer questioned him, he denied everything. He told them that he had stopped to check on a tire, saw my house, and asked for a jack because his was broken.

He told them that I was hysterical and rude, and that I had screamed at him to leave, so he respected my wishes and walked back to his car. He acted like he was the victim of a crazy woman who overreacted to a polite request for help. Since he hadn't actually broken into my house, and it was his word against mine regarding the threats and the baby story, there wasn't much they could do other than tell him to move along. So that was that. They told him to move along.

He did. And I was just stuck there scared out of my mind. I don't know what the hell has planned. was, but it was definitely not to call a tow truck. My mind goes to much darker places and much more malicious intent when I considered the situation as a whole. We actually bought a new camera to put over the door, one that allows you to talk through it and hear the other person because if anything like this ever happens again, I want

video proof of my claims. This took place two years over a course of about a week or so. My family, which consists of myself, my husband and my two kids, live in a pretty normal neighborhood. It's not perfect, but it's not like we had people trying to rob homes every night, if that makes sense. The school system was good. Our neighborhood had a decent amount of kids in it too, so I felt safe in my home as well. The school was even close enough that, when weather permitted, I often walked my kids to and from school. I always pulled around our little wagon because sometimes they get tired of walking, too.

We live in Texas, so it's perfect to do this in early spring when it's not too hot. The first day this started, we were walking to school, but we were a little behind where we normally were. I always make sure to leave early to give us plenty of time, but my daughter was in a bit of a mood. mood that morning. She rode in the wagon most of the way. Sometimes we see other people walking with their kids. Some were familiar with, but I certainly don't know everyone that we see along the way. This included a guy that was walking on the other side of the street.

He had his phone down and was looking at it, and would occasionally look around and then back to his phone. He was pretty normal looking, though. average height, wearing a light jacket, nothing that really stood out. I quite literally registered him like anyone else passing by and forgot about him within the hour of me dropping the kids off and walking back. The second time I saw him was two days later in the same general spot, but this time he wasn't looking at his phone.

He was just standing there facing our side of the street. I remember him because he was. he was wearing the same jacket. When we passed, he turned to begin walking the opposite way. I remember this because the first time he was walking the same direction as us, until he paused and continued looking at his phone. I just assumed maybe he was waiting for someone, since he didn't really look like he had a destination either way.

But I didn't dwell on it. After that, the weekend rolled around, the man was completely out of my mind. until that following Monday. I saw him again, but this time his phone was nowhere to be seen. Instead, his eyes were on us. He didn't wave or smile, especially when we made eye contact. He didn't even try to talk to me. It was kind of weird.

Usually, when you make eye contact with someone, you smile, nod, just look away quickly, but he did none of those things. I tried to play it off and look around the area like I was looking for someone, but I could tell that he was continuing to stare at us. This continued multiple times. It wasn't every day that week, because there was one day we were running really late, so I just drove the kids to school, but otherwise, he was always there. I was starting to get a little weirded out by it. I never saw him with a kid or even a dog, so I was starting to start to get a little weirded out by it. I never saw him with a kid or even a dog, so I was starting to start to be there. to become suspicious of him.

Why was he walking the same short path? It was entirely possible that he was just walking, but it was always odd to me that he did it at a time when people were walking with their kids, or kids were riding their bikes alone to school. Like I said, our neighborhood was fairly safe. But it was what my son said to me that really freaked me out. He asked me,

why is that man always looking at Cora? Cora is my daughter. She was seven at the time. I looked down at them and my son pointed at him and explained again. He's always looking at her. My stomach dropped. He had to be mistaken, right? Surely he just saw him staring and assumed that he was staring at Cora.

I told my son that he was probably just watching people and joked that he wasn't taught not to stare. He didn't find it very funny. He actually said the guy looked scary. Again, it was something I didn't really think about until he said it. He just looked like some guy staring at people, but my son clearly saw more in him. He scared him all the way from over on the other side of the road. I've always been a believer that kids and animals can pick up on things that we as adults can't, so I trusted his intuition.

I got them to school, and instead of leaving right after, I went to the office and I mentioned the man to them. They said that they hadn't gotten any reports about a stranger around the school, but they would take note of it and pass it around to the staff. The playground was all fenced in, and they take threats and things like that very seriously, which I loved the school for, so I felt that they would be safe there,

and I felt better knowing that they would keep it. an eye out too just in case. If it was nothing and I was overreacting, fine, but at least I had more eyes on the lookout. The next day we saw the same guy, but I was not in the mood that morning. I had a lot to do that day and was already in an amazing mood. I got up early, the kids were up on time and listening. I was feeling great with how I looked and I just had the energy. You moms out there might know the feeling.

I really cling to those days that I feel good about myself, especially after having kids. Anyway, I was feeling quite productive that morning and was not going to let anything ruin it. We started on our walk when I noticed the same guy. This time I paid attention. When we rounded the corner, he was on his phone until he saw us. Then he started walking, too. I went over with my kids what to do if a stranger ever approached. them, and I told them not to say each other's names when they saw that man.

I didn't want him to know them, but then afterwards I did something I would not normally do. My mama bear instincts were coming out. I made eye contact with the guy and shouted, Hey! I could see his head slightly move up and look at me. He was definitely looking further down, like he was watching Cora. And then I shouted, You like watching kids?

Why are you watching my kids? Who are you? Immediately he looked down, turned on his heels, and then started walking back down the way he came. Not only was I successful at calling him out, but I noticed other adults looking at him too. One of them who had a kid in my son's class said that she had noticed the guy as well,

but didn't know what he was doing. Now I had multiple people around that had seen him. while also letting him know that we saw him too. I got the kids to school and continued to have an awesome day. From then on, we started changing up our routine. We walked a different route, we drove on random days, anything to change things up. But even when we drove, I saw the guy occasionally on the other side of the road. I saw a few people post about the guy on Next Door too,

saying to watch out for him, and I was feeling, feeling a lot better about the whole thing. We had eyes everywhere now, and he would be known. But yes, just in case something did happen, I did also make a police report. I explained everything that we were seeing. I even snapped a few pictures of him one day, which also got him to walk away, and gave those to the police. Since he hadn't technically done anything yet, nor was he trespassing near the school. They couldn't really do anything.

but I felt a little better that they knew about the situation. To this day, I never got a letter or call from the school about a stranger in the area, and we've not had any incidents in our neighborhood about a child being abducted, and I really feel like it may have been the actions I took and my son speaking up. I stopped seeing the guy after a few weeks. I assume he was probably pushed out with so many eyes on him. I knew after the first time that he walked off that he was up to something. If you weren't planning something sinister, why would you not talk to us,

wave at someone, or potentially even explain yourself when called out? So, I'm proud of what I did. It's a scary thought that someone like that was so close to our home, but I really feel like I may have saved someone. So I have a story about a time where I was. was an absolute idiot. I did something stupid, committed a mortal sin, to be honest. I set up a deal to sell something on Facebook Marketplace, an Xbox 360 for 50 bucks.

And the person agreed with me that they would meet with me at my place. At that time, I was living in a trailer in a trailer park. It was a pretty basic, lower-income kind of property, and I didn't really care if someone knew where I lived. The Xbox was a late model, but the Xbox Series X had come out, so no one really wanted one, so to find someone that was willing to give me 50 bucks for it, it was pretty great. When Mike messaged me about it, he actually said he could come get it right away, and that he was looking for one for a while.

I expected him to talk me down to like $30, but he said he would do the full 50. So I told him I would throw in the games that I had if he wanted, along with the wired controller. He pulled up to my unit in a decent car. It was a newer Honda Civic, I think. It was a fairly nice car. I remember that much. Nicer than mine, that's for sure.

He was wearing khakis and a polo shirt, and really he looked like he had just gotten off his shift at Best Buy. He came to my door and I invited him into my living room where I had the console hooked up so that I could show him that it worked and that all was well with it. He was polite, didn't haggle with me at all. He handed me a crisp $50 bill right away and said he would take it.

While I was holding the bill up to the light, which is habit from where I worked, he started making small talk. He motioned toward the TV and said that it was a nice setup. I had a 65-inch OLED and some decent speakers. I told him that I got it from a buddy that had upgraded, and I was pretty happy with it. While I was packing up the system, he kind of walked past me and looked around the living room. Nothing too out there. I assumed he was as ADHD as I was.

He made a comment about the view from the kitchen window and then asked if I had a dog because he saw the bowl in the kitchen. I laughed and just said, no, just a really fat cat. Don't know where he is right now, though. That was pretty much the end of that conversation. I packed up the Xbox in the box, put the games in the control. controllers in a plastic bag and handed them over. He grabbed the Xbox and left. The whole interaction took maybe ten minutes.

I locked the front door behind him, felt good about the easy 50 bucks, and then went about my night. Around 3 a.m.ish, I woke up because I heard a whoosh, thud-like sound coming from down the hallway. I grabbed the baseball bat that I keep under the bed and crept out of my room into the hall. The living room was dark, but the streetlights outside cast enough of a glow that I could see a silhouette standing in the middle of my living room. This person was just standing at the TV, putting his hands on it like he was trying to figure out how to lift it. I yelled, Hey, get the F out of here. I'm calling the cops. And then hit the floor with my baseball bat.

I'm not a threatening guy, but I think it actually came out aggressive enough to frighten. him. He turned and bolted out the front door, disappearing into the night. I looked over and noticed that the window by the kitchen was wide open, and the screen was cut. So this guy got in through the window, probably unlocked the front door right away and was trying to figure out how to get the TV out of the trailer. I called 911 and got the cops out there. They looked at the window and took my information, and then they asked me if I had any idea who it could have been. And after thinking about it, it actually clicked. I told them that a guy named Mike had come over to buy something from me earlier that day.

I opened my Facebook app on my phone, and much to my surprise, that's sarcasm, Mike's account was completely gone, completely deleted. That pretty much sealed the deal for me. He didn't come over to pay 50 bucks for the end. Xbox. He paid 50 bucks to get into the house and look around to see if there was anything worth taking. And he thought he had scored when he saw the setup. He probably asked about the dog to make sure he wouldn't get mauled when he broke in. The police never found him and he never came back, thankfully. But I learned my lesson. I don't care if I'm selling a $5 toaster. I will never do

business out of my home again. I'll just drive to a Walmart part. parking lot or something. This happened back when I was a sophomore in college. You know how in every lab class there's always that one guy who sits in the back and doesn't talk to anyone, and looks like he's terrified of his own shadow. That was Evan. Now I'm the type of person who can't stand awkward silences, so when we got paired up for a semester-long project, I made it my mission to include him.

I thought he was just shy. He dressed normally, looked average, and mumbled a lot, and I kind of felt bad for him, thinking maybe he just needed a new friend. For the first couple of months, it was fine. He was actually pretty smart, just socially stunted. We would meet up at the library or the coffee shop to work on our reports. He started getting a little clingy, texting me at two in the morning just to say hey, or getting weirdly annoyed if I mentioned hanging out with other friends.

But I brushed it off. I figured he was just lonely or awkward and didn't pick up on social cues. The incident with him that haunts me, though, happened right before finals. We were studying in his dorm room because the library was packed. It was getting late, maybe 11 p.m., and I packed up my bag to leave. I stood up and said, all right, I'm going to head out now, man. I'm beat. Evan stood up too, cut me off walking over to the door, locked the deadbolt, and just stood in front of it.

He didn't look angry. He had this weird, blank smile on his face, and then he said, no, you can't leave yet. I laughed, genuinely thought he was just joking. I was like, very funny, Evan, move, I need to get to bed. He didn't move. He just stared at me and said Promise me you'll hang out with me this weekend If you promise, I'll let you leave

At the time I rolled my eyes I thought he was being a dork Like a puppy that doesn't want you to stop petting it I sighed and said Yeah, sure, whatever man, I promise, now let me out He stared at me for another five seconds Acted like he was going to say something else but then unlocked the door and stepped aside like nothing happened.

I just left thinking, wow, that was awkward, and basically avoided him for the rest of the semester. I ghosted him after the class ended, and he eventually stopped texting me. Well, fast forward to last week, approximately two years later. I was scrolling through Twitter, this was before the name changed, and saw a news article about a string of violent assaults

in the city where I went to college. The police had finally caught the guy who was breaking into women's apartments and doing horrible things. It was Evan. Seeing his face on that screen made my stomach drop through the floor. I read the detail of what he did to those few women,

and suddenly that memory of him locking the dorm door didn't feel awkward anymore. I realized he wasn't joking that night. He wasn't being a socially awkward kid who didn't know how to ask for a date. He was testing me. He was seeing how much control he could exert and how I would react to being trapped. I laughed it off and gave him what he wanted, a promise, so he'll let me go. I don't know what would have happened if I had gotten angry or tried to just push past him,

and I really don't want to think about it. And so Evan, the quiet, nice guy from chemistry? Enjoy prison, you creep. Shortly after graduating high school, I left the state to go to my dream college. I knew it was going to be costly, but I had heard so many good things about the program they offered, and it was for the exact field that I wanted to major in. I did everything I could to budget, too. They had these small studio apartments for rent, and I looked out and got one.

There was a waiting list, and someone was moving out, giving me an inn. This saved me a lot on rent. I found a part-time job near the campus, too, so I walked there, saving me on gas. Overall, it was worth it, and I actually loved my time there. But the story took place back in 2002 when I was driving home for spring. break to spend some time with my family. I didn't normally do anything for my break other than pick up some extra shifts, but I decided to change things up and make the drive.

I was also craving some of my mom's homemade cinnamon rolls, so it was worth it. I had an old 93 Civic with a tape deck and manual windows, but she still ran like a champ, thankfully, because I don't know squat about cars. so I was anticipating a seven-hour drive with just me and my thoughts. Really, no big deal. I left in the late afternoon on a Sunday. By the time I had crossed into Tennessee, it was early evening and the sky had darkened in an unusual way.

It wasn't the normal darkness setting in for the evening. It was greenish, yellow color, almost like the sky had a bruise. The radio had been cutting in, and out, so eventually I was driving in silence, left to just sing to myself, which is always a bad idea. Then, it got really dark, and I could feel the temperature drop. I rolled the window up because of how chilly it had actually gotten, and shortly after, began to downpour.

Of course, it was pretty clear, and there was no indication that there was even a storm coming back at my apartment, but now a few hours into the drive I could tell that clearly wasn't the same forecast here in Tennessee. The rain wasn't gradual either. It was a straight downpour. My poor wipers could not keep up, so I had to slow down drastically and eventually turn on my hazards. I could barely see the car that was ahead of me with how slow I was going. I didn't want somebody else to hit me. But I clearly wasn't the only one having trouble with visibility, as I finally saw another car in the distance that passed me with their hazards on. I saw one car pulled over on the shoulder with no indication that there was an accident. If I had to guess, they probably stopped

due to the storm. The problem is, as a young girl, I was getting pretty nervous. I wanted to stop too and let the storm pass, but I wasn't comfortable with stopping on the storm. shoulder of the highway. So I kept driving as slow as possible and watching the signs for an exit. I was about a quarter mile from an exit to a rest stop and I figured that was my best bet. I saw at least one car in front of me and behind me, as well as lights in the distance, getting off on the exit too. Clearly I wasn't the only one with this idea. The parking lot was nearly full. It was the first time I'd ever seen a rest stop so busy. I parked and sat in my car for several minutes,

hoping that the storm would pass soon. That wasn't happening. Sometimes there was a small break in the rain, but that was about all the relief that we were getting. All the rain was doing a number on me, however, and I was feeling a little tired, and I needed a restroom break, so I figured I would just go in and give myself a chance to take a break.

When the rain let up for a split second, I grabbed my jacket, threw it over my head, and I ran inside. I had never seen a rest stop so crowded. There were so many people in there. The main area had a few round picnic tables, and they were all full of families. Kids were sitting between the adults, eating something likely from a vending machine or playing with toys. Some kids were running around chasing each other. There was an older couple sitting at a table in the back, leaning in to talk or just observe others. It looked like there was a line of three people waiting to use one of the two pay phones along the wall.

It was pretty crazy. I used the restroom, which was also crowded, girls sticking their heads under the hand dryer to dry off, I'm sure. One of them asked me if I had something, and I offered to grab something from my car, but they told me not to, joking about drowning out there. Once I was finished, I went back to the main lobby

and started checking out the machines for a Coke. I was going to need some caffeine. I got my fix, and I moved toward the front trying to figure out my next plans. I didn't have any coins on me, at least not the ones I would need to use the phone for, but I wanted to call my parents

to let them know that I had stopped. I managed to be brave enough to ask someone to exchange one of my bills for quarters, and I got in line to use the phone. I stood there, looking around and sipping on my soda, when I noticed how still it looked outside. I was in a short-sleeve shirt, and I remember that the hair on my arms was standing straight up. There was a charge in the air, and I actually knew what that meant. and then in that moment there was a very bright flash of light from the back of the building where a fenced area was. Then it was quickly followed by a boom, kids screaming, some were now crying.

And as the parents all tried to comfort their kids, we heard it. Tornado Sirens. If you've never experienced them, lucky you. I remember hating them when they tested them as a kid, but this was not a test. These were definitely tornado conditions. And I think part of me knew this, but refused to acknowledge it, until it shoved its way to the front and held my eyes open. That's when I had a little bit of panic set in.

I was 24, surrounded by people that I didn't know, but yet still very alone. The room seemed to go quiet for a moment, and as we Midwesterners do when we hear a tornado siren, and multiple people went outside to look. I stayed inside. Several people were talking now, and others were still trying to keep the kids calm. And I watched some of them get up and walk into the restrooms.

Entire families. It made sense. There were no windows in there. These people were heading in there in groups. They were taking this seriously, which made me panic just a bit more. I immediately followed them in. and I watched as they lined the walls sitting on the floor.

I did the same. I sat next to the older couple that I had seen earlier, and I even let the man use me as a railing of sorts to get down. We talked for a while, the couple and I. They told me they were going to see their grandkids that were about my age, and I told them that I was going to see my family too. They definitely helped keep me calm by talking to me, and I thank them for it.

There were two guys that were walking in and out of the restroom, talking to someone on the outside and then coming back in. I feel like they were playing guard and making sure that everyone was safe. It felt like a lot longer, sitting on that cold, hard, tiled flooring, but I think we were in there for maybe half an hour. We could still hear the rain hitting the roof until suddenly it was silent again. There were no doors, just a wall that curved inward into the restrooms, so we could see the light coming through the lobby. It had lightened up quite a bit.

Some people left and came back to report that the rain had stopped, so we all started getting up. I helped the old woman and her husband pick themselves up from the floor. I think most of us were a bit shocked by the amount of damage around us. We certainly didn't get stuck in a tornado, but, something tells me that we may have been close. There were tree limbs down everywhere. There was a large one that landed on someone's car, but it was just the hood. It didn't seem to affect how it ran, thankfully.

There were wet leaves plastered to everything, trash cans knocked over, and there was one tree in the back that looked like it had been struck by lightning, split right down the middle. I'm guessing that's what the really close flash of light was. Thankfully, it either didn't catch fire or the rain saw to it that it was quickly put out. I went back in and called my parents to let them know what had just happened and to calm me down a bit. It was pretty scary, to be completely honest. People were nice, but being there by myself, no one I knew around me,

none of my loved ones even knowing where I was at that exact moment, it was pretty alarming. If something were to have happened to me that way, how hard would it have been for someone to ID me or even contact my family? Either way, I put it out of my mind and got back on the road after I calmed my nerves. The storm appeared to be heading in the direction I had come from, so while it was wet and a little humid, I didn't see any more storms after that.

I made it to my parents in one piece, and with a crazy story to talk about. talk about. Stay safe out there and please take the tornado sirens seriously, y'all. I am a single father of a little girl, Jade, who is my world. It's been just the two of us since she was four and at the time of the story she was nine. Her mother is a story in and of itself and I don't want to get into that right now, but maybe I'll write it up in the future. Anyways, after five, Five years on my own, I was getting pretty lonely, to be honest. After a lot of talking with both my therapist and some family,

I decided that it was okay for me to start looking for someone, which is how I ended up with this story. I matched with this woman that I'll call Amy on a dating site back in 2012. She was a nurse, no pets, no kids, as she put it. She didn't have the time, but she loved kids and was totally fine with being with someone who had kids. That alone was a relief because some people have issues dating people with children. Amy did not.

She was funny, down to earth, and just easy to talk to. It was like we had known each other for a while and just picked back up where we left off. After talking for a few months, we went on a date, a simple dinner and to a local market, her choice. And it was honestly a lot of fun. conversing with an adult again was enlightening. When we parted ways, we hugged. She said she had a great time and wanted to continue with our relationship.

I hadn't introduced her to Jade yet. I showed her a picture of us, but that was about it. I didn't want to bring her around Jade if this wasn't going to be a more long-term or permanent thing. Thankfully, Amy understood this too. So after our date, we continued to talk, but finally, Ending another day to get together became pretty difficult. She was a nurse, so I understood. She was either too busy, didn't have the day off, or was too tired from all the work,

so I accepted it, and we continued talking on the phone whenever we could. Then there was this random day that started completely normal. I got Jade off to school, and then went to work myself. As I'm sitting at work, I got a weird email to my personal email. It didn't have a subject, and the sender seemed to be a random email address with seemingly random letters and numbers in it. I'm curious as to what it was, and thinking it was just spam that my email didn't catch, I opened it for amusement. The email immediately seemed like a scam, trying to play on fear. I know where you live. I know where you work. I know everything about you.

You have 48 hours to get me $5,000 or things are going to get very bad for you. Yeah, okay, sure, I thought. I marked it as spam and continued working. The next day I got another one from the same email address. This one started greeting me by my name. A little more personal, but that's not hard to figure out, so I just ignored it. But then later that night, as I was in bed, I got another email. But this one had a little more information.

It included my home address and the name of my work. Okay, so someone had more information. Definitely a bit alarming, but again, something you can find online with a little digging. So I still didn't respond. But it was the next day while I was working that it escalated pretty quickly. This time it was a text from an unknown number. It had a picture of the front of my house, and a picture of the back of my car with the license plate.

It again said that they were serious and to not be hurt, that I needed to send them $10,000 now. I text them something about buzz off, but in much meaner words, saying they were stupid if they thought that that would convince me. But then, they sent a photo of Jade's school, kids playing on the playground, and then a grainy zoom-in of Jade, as she played jump rope.

The text with it included Jade's full name, the school name, and it mentioned her route home. I dropped her off in the mornings on my way to work, but we live close, so she usually walked home with a few other kids. I always met her at the corner. They mentioned in the text something about how it would be a shame if someone stopped her on the way home. It was one thing to try and threaten me.

It was another to bring my daughter, into it. I immediately called the school and asked them about Jade. They confirmed that she was in class at the moment. They confirmed it and said that they hadn't seen any strangers around but would keep an eye out. I messaged them back, threatening them if they touched my daughter, and that's when they upped the stakes. They said that since I was wasting their time, I needed to send them $15,000. Otherwise, I would never see Jade again. I told them they out of their mind and stopped responding. I took a moment to calm down and told myself that they were clearly just working on my fears

and that it doesn't mean anything. Still, I left work early to make sure I could pick up Jade from school. She was there, safe, and said that she didn't see anyone new either. I tried to continue on as normal. Dinner with Jade, talked with Amy about our day and told her about the weird text I got. She was just as worried as I was. and she asked if Jade was okay. She told me I was probably right,

that it was a bad joke and that I did the right thing ignoring it, and to try not to make a big deal about it. The next day started normal, but then I got more pictures. One was a close-up of Jade's window to her bedroom, and it mentioned the weak points on the back door and one of my windows. They mentioned some things that I won't repeat about taking Jade, and my stomach dropped when I saw the picture of her in her pajamas that she was wearing the previous night.

They told me that this was my last warning, and that if I ignored them again or went to the police, they would take Jade, and this proved that they could. I wasn't thinking straight. I know this now. I was scared and I was angry. I've done everything I could to keep her safe and happy,

and now someone was targeting her. us. I know it was stupid, I can admit that, but I asked them how they wanted the money. They said they wanted no trace, and that the demanded cash. I told them I needed the time to get it, and they agreed to give me until the following night. I pulled the money from wherever I could, including savings, cash advances on my credit card, emptying my accounts. I even borrowed from my 401k to get me by after that because I had nothing left. The game of the game. The game of gave me instructions to leave the cash in a park, but I didn't want to leave Jade alone, so I had taken her to my sister's house for the night.

She had two kids close to Jade's age, so I knew she would have a good time. I left the plastic container of cash where they told me to, and they instructed that I leave immediately. I did just that. I thought everything was done. I was $15,000 in the hole, but at least they would leave me in my family alone. But then, a week later, I got a text from a new number that now included a photo of my sister's house. They mentioned my nephew and how he was very nice to strangers and explained how easy it is to pick her ancient lock on her door. Then they demanded more money. I was worried this would happen.

They're now threatening my sister's family and wanting more, and I truly had nothing left to give. This had to stop. They warned me in the beginning to not go to the police, claiming that they would know, so I had to figure out what to do myself. It could have been dangerous, but I did what I thought was right. I told them that I had the money, and that they wanted it in the same place. I dropped off a container with random things in it to make it feel heavier. I left, but I parked my car a distance away, got out, and walked toward the park.

I stayed out of view with my phone recording, hoping to be able to catch them on camera even in the dark. I didn't even need the camera. There were two people that were walking the path, a man and a woman holding hands. The woman was very clearly, Amy. She had her hair up, wrapped with a scarf or headband that I saw her wearing in one of her pictures. They stopped and grabbed the container, opened it, and opened it. and then the guy threw it on the ground and yelled. I was angry and heartbroken.

I was doing all of this to keep my daughter and family save. Amy was the only person I mentioned this to. I told her about the initial messages, and she told me that I should just ignore it and not even bother going to the police. Of course, she would tell me that. But then I was also startled because I didn't tell her anything about where Jade went to school,

her schedule. how she got to and from school. And the only thing she knew about my sister was that she also had two kids. She had managed to track down so much about my life, and that scared me. Who the hell was I actually seeing? And who was the man that she was with? Were they really dangerous? Hell, were they capable of following through?

I finally had to face the truth and take action. I told my sister first, since she was affected. affected by this. She was upset and concerned, not to mention disappointed in me, but she told me that I needed to report it to the police, which I did. I went to the station that day and told them everything. They asked for all of Amy's information, including her profile, her phone number, and I provided it. I did have a picture from that night to at least prove that it was her and gave it to them too, even if it was dark and blurry. It was... better than nothing.

We filed a report and they said they would get back to me if they brought her in. Problem is, they never did. I had tried calling her that night and she didn't answer. She texted me later saying that she was really busy at work and would call later, but she never did. I had an idea of where she lived, but not an exact address. We met up when we went on our date. I started to realize that she knew so much about me. much more than I ever told her,

and she clearly knew much more than I ever knew about her. The police explained that the numbers they used were from prepaid burner phones most likely. The email they were still working on, but it was clearly just some random one they used. It could have even been taken over or stolen. The number she was using wasn't in her name either. I think they said it was an internet number, so it was harder to link to her. All of this to say that if they can't find her and arrest her, I was out that money, and she and her accomplice were free to do this to someone else,

or maybe even follow through with their threats. I was a nervous wreck for weeks after this. I didn't know if they would actually try anything, and I felt so guilty getting my daughter and my sister's family wrapped up in this. My boss wasn't happy, but I completely changed my schedule to make sure I could drop off and pick up my daughter from school. I checked in on my sister all the time, even though she told me not to worry about them.

She had her husband there, and he was a big guy. They had also installed one of those camera doorbells and better locks. Still, I felt guilty. However, I guess my actions must have spooked them or something because nothing ever happened. I never heard from her again. I never even got a message to say that we were through. She just ghosted me.

I told the school about my concerns, and they said that they would keep an eye out for people, but never had any concerns themselves. I didn't get any more emails or texts, so it was clear that they moved on, but that also meant that I was out the money, because the police never tracked her down. I'm not going to lie and say that I wasn't upset about the whole thing.

I really thought things were going to turn around, for me and that turned around and backfired in one of the worst ways possible. I was catfished, baited, and scammed perfectly. And I will never forgive myself for it. So, for now, unless I already know the person, I guess it'll just be me and Jade. Hi, I'm from Canada. Kimberly, B.C., to be precise. Dear Raven, I believe that I've got a creepy story for you.

I'm glad that I'm here with you guys today, sharing a crazy story from my past. Let me tell you the story of how I was in love with a murderer. The year was 1998. I was 19 years old. He was my first love, and I was so naive. His name was Derek from Quebec. I'm French, as you can tell, and was born there. We met at work. He was a receptionist, and I was a bartender.

We both were really single and good looking, so we both thought, why not? And started dating. When we were together, we always had so much fun. Until he started saying things like there were cameras everywhere. He told me that electric plugs were making noises. He was always spying on me after work, and he was making sure that I was alone after work all the time. so jealousy and weird vibes. They were becoming more and more frequent as our relationship grew.

After spending nine months together, he broke up with me. That breakup broke me, but eventually I moved on. I realized how weird all of it was. Fast forward to 2022, I got a phone call for my friend, Joel, who knew my ex because we live in the same town. She was asking me if I knew about Derek. I guess he was all over the news back home. I was surprised, confused, and really curious about what was happening.

She then started telling me that my ex, who was working for the mine back home, stole dynamite from work, then he went back home, where he proceeded to blow up himself and all of his kids in his house. The story was that Derek was getting a divorce. force and went crazy about it, so he destroyed everything that she loved in the process. So, yeah. That was my story about my murderer ex, who was way crazier than I thought he was. Recently, my friends and I were sharing some creepy stories that we remembered as kids,

and while I didn't really have much that stood out, there was one that I did remember. As a kid, I kind of think I was more curious about it, and I thought it was strange, but the older I got, the more I thought about it, and the creepier it actually became. So after sharing it with my friends and all of us bouncing ideas around, I wanted to share it with others. My childhood home was kind of in the middle of nowhere, in a slowly developing area. There was our neighborhood. One more block over and down the street was a small retail area, and by small I mean a gas station, a grocery store, and a downtown bar and grill. They were trying to expand the area for more residential options,

and due to my dad's job, we were one of the first ones to move in. In the beginning, I didn't like it. I felt like I was being taken away from my friends. I had to go to a new school and I just saw all the bad things about it. So, yes, I was a bit of an hanksy kid after that. However, I did come to love the place because it was developing, and we were surrounded by a lot of trees and open land. And I loved to explore.

When I was bored, I would go for a walk. If I was upset about something, I would leave and get lost in the woods. There was virtually no crime in that area, other than maybe a speeding car on the nearby highway, but that was it. My parents allowed me to go and really didn't mind either. I knew when to be back and sometimes my little brother even went with me. This experience happened on one of those walks. We were on spring break, so we had been home already for a few days. My mom ran a daycare out of our home, so we couldn't exactly go anywhere.

However, some days I didn't even want to hang out with my brothers, so I would just wander off. I told my mom I was going for a walk, she approved, and I left. There was a spot in the back of the woods that I liked to go to. There was a tree with a trunk that split pretty low, making it easy to climb. I would get in the tree and just watch the area for wildlife. I took a screwdriver one time and was carving stuff into the tree. the tree. The other spot that I liked to visit was this, well, what I referred to as a pond.

It was an area that they had been working on, I guess, digging or leveling it out to build more houses, but because it had been sitting there, water started collecting in the giant holes. And yes, I liked to play in it, too. I would use the water to make mud, build things with it, whatever. But there were also creatures in the water. Crawdads, tadpoles, worms. It was a treasure trove for a young kid like me.

I would try to catch them and then let them go. I was hoping to do the same thing this time, but I wanted to try to bring a tadpole home to keep. I had even brought a jar to carry it back in. But this time, the little pond was dry. However, it was not empty. The little hole was now filled with shoes. and from what I could tell, they were all women's shoes.

I saw a few that looked like heels and sandals, and they all appeared to be just tossed into this pit. They had to have been in there for some time, too, because they were all dark and very muddy. I had never seen anyone else in that area before, not even evidence of others like footprints or anything. Not really thinking about it. I picked up a few that I could reach.

and I could tell that they were all different sizes, too. At that moment, it was definitely strange, and I remember getting this weird feeling like I was being watched. I didn't scare easily, but out of nowhere, I was pretty freaked out. I made a mad dash back home looking around when I got back to make sure that no one would follow me. I didn't tell anyone that day, or for the next few days. I finally told my parents about what I saw, several days later.

They both thought it was weird, but then told me it was probably someone pulling some kind of prank. I trusted my parents and pretty much forgot about it. But like I mentioned in the beginning, I told my friends about this as an adult now, and they think that the pond of shoes was something a bit more sinister. Like someone had to get rid of them fast. Or maybe, they were slowly being added. and when it dried up, it revealed what was at the bottom.

It was very dirty, so I couldn't normally see the bottom. I tried asking my parents if they remembered it, but neither of them said they did. I even started looking into missing people around that time, and while there certainly were some, I can't imagine that all those shoes belonged to the same, like, three or four people. I tried looking up news reports to see if the shoes were reported, didn't find anything about it. That's what was strange to me,

that somehow it wasn't reported by anybody. So the question still remains. Who did those shoes belong to? And how did they end up there? Did I really stumble upon something darker as a kid? And was that weird feeling I got out there because someone may have seen me? At this point, I don't think that I'll ever know. Hey Raven.

I wanted to share one of the scariest and craziest things that has happened to me. This is about a guy that I matched with on a dating app back in 2016. I'll call him Derek. I'm using made-up names here so that the real victims can keep their privacy. Derek was 32, two years older than me at the time that we started talking. He said he lived in a city right outside Portland. It wasn't really ideal because I was living in Kentucky, but I was open to trying. I always thought that if you really connected with someone, really loved them,

then things like that could work out. And maybe if it got serious enough, we would be willing to move for the other person. I for one loved the idea of moving somewhere out of state, so I thought it would be worth giving it a shot. Thankfully, we clicked immediately. He said that he worked at a local software company. He liked doing stuff outdoors, like hiking and camping, and he also had a cute little terrier he named Rusty.

We texted constantly. He remembered little things that I would tell him about, like, how my Thursdays are usually really stressful at work, and would always send a sweet text of encouragement in the morning and some cheesy joke at night to get me in a better mood. Within a month, I was practically an open book with him. Now, within this time, we had taken pictures and sent them to each other and even talked on the phone. We never video-chatted, though. He said that he had a really old laptop, and the camera

on it was broken. We were going to with our phones, but then, unprompted, he texted me saying that he dropped his phone at work, and had cracked the screen, including the front camera. He was very upset about it, and I had no reason to think anything else. I just told him, it was no problem and that we'll get to it eventually. I also had no reason to disbelieve him because we actually did meet in person, too. About three months in, he said that he had to come to Kentucky for some kind of conference for his work, and he was going to be a part of that, and he asked me to meet up. I was ecstatic, as it was unexpected, and I agreed to it.

We met up the second day he was here, and he looked exactly like his photos. It was definitely him, and he was just as charming and funny as he was over the phone. We had dinner that night, went to the bar at this hotel for drinks, and then I went home from there. I even drove him back to the airport the next day where we hugged and actually kissed. He said that he wanted to make this more official and said that we should talk about weekend trips. And again, I was ecstatic. I went back home after that, told my friend what happened, and she was just as happy for me. I thought this was really going to work.

I knew that it was too fast, but I was even looking at apartments in Portland to possibly move closer. He was back home and everything continued as normal. But then, I made the decision to do something I didn't normally do one day and completely flipped things on its head for me. After a particularly rough Thursday, and not much left to do work-wise, I decided to take a half day. I left and drove nearly an hour to go see my sister and go have lunch with her. After lunch, she had to pick up her kids from school,

and I decided to check out this new thrift store that she had told me about earlier. We both love to thrift, and are constantly showing off our finds, so I wanted to go look around for a while. I was going through the aisle with the various arts and decor when I heard a voice that sounded familiar. But I couldn't quite place it at first. I looked around and didn't see anyone, so I figured it was just another person somewhere,

not really important, so I let it go. But then, I walked past another aisle where I saw a couple that made me pause for the smallest moment. He was wearing a beanie and looking at something on the shelf, but his side profile looked so much like Derek. That's when I realized the voice I heard was from this same guy. He just looked and sounded just like Derek. It was crazy, though, right? Derek lived in Oregon, far away from me here in Kentucky.

It just had to be a crazy coincidence, especially since this guy had his arms all over some woman. It was definitely not my Derek, right? But something in my mind was telling me to keep watching. I felt crazy following them from a distance, making sure they didn't see me, but I just needed to hear or see something to confirm it for me. Not wanting to just approach these people, I went out of view and text Derek asking him what he was up to. Right as I sent it, I went back to look at them and watched. As the guy grabbed his phone, looked at it, and then put it back in his pocket.

I didn't get a response immediately. I was starting to panic. I seriously felt like I was acting crazy. It all had to be a coincidence. I couldn't think straight, so I just left and went straight home, waiting for him to call or text me, but he never did. I called my friend when I got home and explained everything, and she did her best to try to calm me.

explaining that I had taken him to the airport, so it probably was just a crazy coincidence. But then we got on the topic of trying to find him online somewhere. When we started talking, he explained how he wasn't on social media. He said his family was too dramatic on Facebook and he wasn't interested in Instagram or Twitter. I was a little surprised, but otherwise just didn't think much of it. I do admit that I did try looking for him on all of them, but searching by different name variations, his city and job.

I found nothing, so I figured that he was clearly being honest as all. While I was in the middle of this, Derek finally responded about an hour later, apologizing, explaining that he had been working out. We continued with a little small talk as I continued looking for him. I needed something, anything to confirm. I was being paranoid. Well, I ended up confirming the opposite.

I actually did something I didn't think to do in the first place. I started reverse image searching the pictures he had sent me. One of the pictures he sent looked like a professional photograph of him in a swimming cap, smiling at the camera. I found that same picture from a local newspaper, about a swim team beating a school record. The problem with this was that. that the newspaper was for a city in Kentucky,

the same state that I lived in. And the person's name was not Derek. It was completely different, like Michael. And he was actually seven years older than I was. From there, it was pretty easy to find him on Facebook. I found a profile for Michael Jones in the same city, from that newspaper. And it looked just like Derek.

Michael's picture also included one from his wedding and his lovely wife. I was heartbroken and livid. It had to have been him at that thrift store. The woman that he was with looked identical, and it was close to that city too. I sent Michael a friend request on Facebook as me. I figured if it really was, Derek,

I would probably hear about it soon enough. Derek tried calling me within minutes. I didn't answer. He texted me saying that we needed to talk. I didn't respond. When he kept going, I told him that we had nothing to talk about and to have a good life. I then blocked his number. I was very upset, and I called my friend back to tell her what all had happened,

and she came over to comfort me too. He even tried to message me on Facebook, and I told him that if he didn't leave me alone, I would tell his wife. Apparently that was good enough because he stopped, and I tried to move on. It was barely a week later. I had taken my dog to the park. I also had a small dog, and when I got stir crazy and just wanted to get out, I would take her to the park to walk around.

After walking for a bit, I stopped at a bench and was checking my notifications on my phone when I heard someone say my name. I looked up to see Derek, or I guess Michael, standing by the tree behind the bench. I told him that I didn't want to see him anymore, or even talk to him, but he begged me to hear him out. Nothing he said could change my mind, but I didn't want to cause a scene, so I listened to him. He said that he wanted to be with me, and that he was planning on leaving his wife but hadn't gotten everything finalized yet. I told him that he should have said that from the beginning, but it also didn't make sense as they seemed to be all over each other at the thrift store,

which he confirmed was him. He said that he was trying to keep up appearances, which again confused me. You typically get a divorce when you're unhappy, so why would you publicly pretend to be happy? That's when he started being cryptic. He was talking about how he was trying to get a bit of, her to leave or disappear. He mentioned things like being in an accident. Part of me knew what he was

saying, but I wanted him to say it out loud. I asked him what the hell he was going on about, and that's when he mentioned that if something were to happen to her, we could be together and cash in on the life insurance. He was dead serious about this. I felt like this was a nice, nightmare, like I was stuck in some bad dramatization and wasn't being let in on the whole thing. I was terrified. If he was truly serious about this, then what all was he capable of? We were in public, thankfully, but would he try something if I rejected his idea? Or what would happen if I just said I was going to go to the cops? I didn't want to tip him off that I was scared, so I did my best to keep the anger.

in the front. I told him he had already broken my heart and that it was over. I told him that I never wanted to hear from him again, and if he left me alone, then I wouldn't say anything to anyone. He looked disappointed, but that was it. He didn't even look scared, that he had just confessed to wanting to kill his wife to me. And I thought I was in love with this psycho. Once I saw him get in his car and drive off, I got mine, went home and made sure that he didn't follow me before I went in. I carried my dog to the apartment, and I locked my door immediately. I'm not going to lie. After that, I was pretty worked up. I was afraid that he would come back and try to do something to me for knowing his plan. I didn't tell anyone for a few weeks. Then I came to my

senses when I talked to my friend about it. She asked me if I told the police, and I told her no, because I had no proof for evidence, that it was just us talking. Nothing was in writing, or text, rather. And then she asked me if I told his wife. At first, I thought the idea was kind of odd, but then I realized that was the right thing to do. I would want someone to tell me if my spouse was having an affair, but what if he just went ahead with his plan without help.

She could have really been in danger. So I had to go back to my amateur sleuthing. I found his wife's Instagram page, and she had what appeared to be a small side hustle that she posted on Instagram all the time. She had an email linked to it, so I made a throwaway one, and emailed her asking if she was Miss Jones.

When she confirmed, I took a long time sending an email explaining the last, few months. I shared screenshots of his dating profile, the messages we sent, even the ones where he discussed coming into town, making me realize that he made me waste so much time and gas driving him to the airport. After I included everything, I even explained what he had said about planning her demise, even though I had no proof of that. I sent it all to her, expecting a reply with questions, telling me on, something, but I never got anything back. Weeks, months, went pie, nothing.

I never had a resolution. I just had to move on from there hoping that I did the right thing. I moved on with my life, shared my experience with a few people, and joked that I was done with dating for quite some time. It wasn't until the beginning of 2017 that I checked that throwaway, email. I had used it for signing up for some kind of trial thing when I didn't want all their junk mail. When I checked it, I noticed I had a reply to that email that I had sent to Ms. Jones, about a month prior. All it said was, thank you, Rachel, with a heart emoji.

I didn't put my name in the email just in case, also not thinking it was really necessary, but somehow she learned what my name was. I'm sure it wouldn't. I'm sure it wouldn't. I'm sure it wouldn't have been hard, but she did. And all I can think and hope was that meant good news. That, hopefully, she was able to escape that cheating and possibly homicidal husband of hers. There are so many stories that start with the old tropes. Obsession or fixation, curdling into rage and exploding violently. This is not one of those stories. This story is about access and things that today we probably take a little for granted.

This is a story from a time when there was a category of harmless information that ended up being far less harmless than people ever expected it to be. This is a story about how proximity can be manufactured, about how information, once regarded as harmless, can silently remove every layer of protection that a person still believes they have. and it's about how a system can claim that they did nothing wrong, even as receipts detailing the collateral are still rolling in. Amy Boyer was a young woman living in New Hampshire during the 90s.

She had a job, her routine, and a life that by all appearances was ordinary and unremarkable. Amy was not a famous woman, nor was she pursuing attention. There was no invitation of contact. That matters a lot more than. you might think. When people think of stalker stories, there are often unspoken questions buzzing in the background, even if they won't say them out loud.

Why her? Or even worse, for some it dives into victim blaming. What did she do to invite it? In Amy's story, there's only one brutally true answer. Absolutely nothing. The man that would ultimately one day murder Amy Boyer wasn't some faceless stranger that appeared out of nowhere. It was someone that she had known very briefly, years earlier while she was in high school.

There was no relationship, no romance, no ongoing connection. Whatever interest he developed in Amy existed solely on his side, unrecipricated. After high school, Amy would move on with her life. He, however, would not. Over time, he attempted to contact her. letters, messages, just little attempts to reinsert himself into her life and her world. Amy, of course, did not engage. She never responded to him and actually did the very thing that people are often advised to do in these situations.

She created distance. For a while, that distance held. Now, this is the part of the story that often gets rushed, but this is actually. the most important moment to kind of sit with, regardless of how uncomfortable it might make us. Up until this point, Amy has done everything right. She did not reward persistence. She did not negotiate or escalate the situation. Amy simply lived her life. What ultimately undid the distance that Amy had so deliberately built between her and her stalker wasn't some confrontational. It wasn't a mistake that Amy made, or even a lapse in judgment on her part.

It was a simple purchase. In the late 1990s, personal information was increasingly being bought and sold by data brokers, companies that aggregated addresses, phone numbers, employment information, and other personal details. This information was marketed as useful, convenient, and harmless. It was sold legally with very little oversight and even less restrictions. This meant that Amy Stalker didn't need to follow her. He didn't need to break into her home. He didn't even need to intimidate her.

He simply paid for her information. Through a data broker, he legally purchased Amy Boyer's workplace address. And that single transaction erased every boundary that Amy had so diligently built. On October 15th of 1999, Amy Boyer arrived at work. just as she had countless times before. There was no warning, no confrontation, no fight, no chance to identify a threat and retreat, no chance to prepare herself.

Amy Boyer's stalker was waiting for her, and he shot and killed Amy outside of her work. The violence was sudden and devastating, yes, but it was also the final step in a process that had been building up for years. The murder didn't come from a loss of control. It came from preparation, enabled by access that he should have never

have been granted. Amy was only 20 years old. In the wake of the violence and Amy's death, attention inevitably began to focus on how had her killer found her. And that answer was equal parts terrifying and mundane. He hadn't tracked her through surveillance, not through her acquaintances. He hadn't even guessed.

He had simply bought her location. And that fact shifted the focus of the case in ways that most stalker cases never do. This was no longer the story of one man's fixation. It was about the system that made that fixation actionable. Amy's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the data broker that had sold off Amy's information. The entire story exposed just how casual

sensitive personal information was being treated and how little consideration had been given for how it could be abused. The argument of the industry was, well, trite and typical. The information had been sold legally. The service was widely used, and of course that no one could foresee how it was going to be misused. But Amy's death made one thing irrevocably clear. Misuse was no longer hypothetical. In the aftermath of Amy's death, the identity of her killer was no mystery.

The man responsible was Liam Ewan's, someone that had known Amy briefly in high school, as stated. There would be no courtroom reckoning and no deep dive into his motives or his life, nor does he really deserve deep retrospectives. That absence is strangely appropriate. For years, Amy had made it clear that in her life, he was irrelevant,

universal white noise. And now after what he did that, day, he is just universal white noise to the rest of the world, a brief blip that did a very bad thing and then faded from all relevancy in the same act. It's not like knowing his name explains what happened to Amy. It doesn't magically make everything make sense. It doesn't account for how easily her location was obtained or why the systems involved saw no reason to intervene. Focusing on him only offers a false kind of closure, one that says that the danger ended alongside a single individual when it really didn't.

And armed with the facts, Amy's family turned their attention where it truly belonged. The companies that had treated her information as a commodity rather than a responsibility. And the wrongful death lawsuit they filed against the data broker meant that uncomfortable questions were going to be asked and answered in the open. If access can be sold legally, then who is responsible when it gets some of the problem? someone killed. The industry's standard defense was exactly as we already established. Legally sold, widely used service, blah, blah, blah. They tried to claim that no one could have predicted how the information would ever be abused. However, Amy's death stripped that argument of its plausibility. The risk had always been there and no one had ever wanted to account for it,

or take it seriously until it was impossible to ignore any longer. In 2003, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that information brokers could be held liable for foreseeable harm caused by the sale of personal data. It was a landmark decision. It acknowledged, at least in part, that access is not neutral, and that selling proximity carries real-world consequences. Unfortunately, these changes came far too late to protect Amy. But they changed how personal data could be handled. going forward, introducing a duty of care where none had meaningfully existed before. That is the bitter arithmetic of a story like this. The system adapts, but only after someone else

has paid the price. Amy was taken from the world far sooner than she should have been, through no faults of her own. We'll never know what kind of great things she could have done, given more time. Rest in peace. Amy Boyer. Hello there, friends. Raven here. Welcome to the end of this episode of As the Raven Dreams. I hope that you genuinely enjoyed this collection of scary stories,

as I enjoyed putting them together for you. If the platform you're on has the option to follow the podcast or leave ratings or reviews, please do consider doing so as it helps the podcast grow. Of course, if you enjoy the content, that is. If you didn't enjoy it, then feel free to also leave a rating as honesty is important, and I take all feedback seriously.

Also, I do have a YouTube channel. It's a lot of the same content, but we do live streams on Saturdays around 6 p.m. Central, so if you're free one Saturday night and want to come over and say hi, I would love to have you there. We just kind of have a good time doing whatever we want for the few hours that I'm online.

You can also join the Patreon, patreon.com slash as the Raven Dreams, for early access to all this content. Check out the website, as the ravendreams.com for information and where you can listen to the podcast, find all my social media links, find the merch store, and send in your own stories to keep the podcast going, as it pretty much exists on crowdsourced content at this point. All of you really do keep this show going, so a huge thank you for that.

Also on the website is information about the book that I wrote, titled The Insomniacs Experiment by Raven Adams. It's a psychological thriller, and I think it's pretty good. You might actually like it. Check it out. It's available on Amazon. Or if you want a signed copy, you can email me to see if I have any left. And I will absolutely oblige if I do.

All that said, friends, I hope you have a lovely rest of your day. I hope I see you again here very soon. But until then, remember that you are loved. You are valid. You are important. And the world is a better place with you in it. Don't forget that. Until next time, much love, and sleep well.