As The Raven Dreams Podcast - Scary Stories For Dark Dreams - Vol 48 | ATRD Podcast

Episode Date: December 11, 2025

Today we have 10 More true scary stories with a late night ambience. Scary Stories For Dark Dreams is a collection of older stories, remastered and put together in a long form episode. This Collection includes the following stories; Creepy Kids Stories From Nov 2022, Christmas Stories from Dec 2023, & Home Alone Horror stories from Feb 2024 So, turn down the lights, tune in, and let the haunting tales of everyday people take you down that dark and creepy road. Remember, these aren't just stories... these are true experiences that remind us that our world can truly be scarier than fiction. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like or rate the podcast, and leave me a comment with your thoughts if the platform your own supports it! 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 TIMESTAMPS One Ad After the First Story, No ads after that Story 1: 00:24 Story 2: 07:17 Story 3: 16:28 Story 4: 21:30 Story 5: 30:10 Story 6: 34:44 Story 7: 43:45 Story 8: 50:39 Story 9: 56:12 Story 10: 1:10:16 ----- 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 ➤ And Remember; You are loved, you are important, and you are valid. Never let anyone tell you otherwise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you're aboard Via Raii. Embarked and profite. Embarque and celebrate. Rigolet. Publiere. Savory. Admire.

And profite. Viarai. The voice that we love that we love. If you have a true scary story you'd like to share with the podcast, go to as the ravendreams.com and click the button to send it my way. Also, if the platform you're on

has the option to rate the podcast or leave a comment, please consider doing so. And as always, thank you. I have always been a pretty reclusive kid growing up. I'm not much different now as an adult, but still, this event did not help me change. Anyways, because I wasn't outgoing, I often stayed home when my parents would go out. So when they went to a friend's birthday party and I was invited to join them,

I declined and decided to stay home, and just have the place to myself for, a few hours. I was a 16-year-old boy, and I'd stayed home plenty of times before, so it was no big deal. The evening started fine. I was sitting in the living room, watching TV, probably eating some junk food, when someone knocked on the door. It was odd, because it wasn't like anyone was expected over, and my friends don't ever just show up unannounced, so I answered. It was normal looking guy, maybe in his 30s or so, except he was kind of fidgety and overly curious. I just looked at him and he asked if Alan lived here. I told him no. My name was not Alan, nor wasn't my dad or brother's name. He stared at me for a few seconds and then apologized saying he

must have the wrong address and solemnly walked off. I closed the door thinking it was weird and just went back to my night. A few hours later, I started playing a game on the computer in our living room when there was a knock on the door. Now, I was curious, as well as annoyed. I answered again, and this time it was a different guy, but he looked a bit more rough.

This time, he said, Hey, let me talk to Alan. What were the odds that two people would ask for the same person at the same house in the same night? I again told him there was no one here by that name, and he tried to look past me into our house, like he didn't believe me. Now, the guy was much bigger than me, so I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little intimidated by him,

but I was going to try and stand my ground. So I started closing the door more, limiting his view, and again said that I knew no one by that name, that no one named Alan lived here. and I tried my best to give a bit of a big and scary face. He smirked and said that if he found out that he was in there, and that I'd lied, that he would come back. And I'll just say that he said he would make me regret it.

I just said okay and shut the door, watching him walk away from the window. I didn't like that there were two guys now that showed up, and one threatened me, so I called my parents and told them what happened. They told me they would try to get home soon, but told me to make sure that both doors are locked, and to keep the curtains closed, and also to not answer the door again. So I hung up and went back to my night. I started getting tired, so I got off the computer and went back to the couch, hoping to fall asleep.

By this time, it was dark out. I don't remember the exact time, and I was actually drifting off. when I damn near had a heart attack. Someone was banging very hard and very loudly on the front door, making me jump up. Except this time, the person was shouting that they were the police. They were demanding that I opened the door, or they were going to force it down.

I was terrified and didn't know what to do. My parents had told me not to answer the door for anyone, but it was also the police. I grabbed the phone and called my parents again, but as I explained to them what had happened, I felt the urgency to open the door. So I did. They immediately ran in, one of them forcing me to the ground, making me drop the phone. Two more went in and started searching the house.

The cop that stayed with me helped me up, leaving the phone behind, and led me outside asking me a barrage of questions about who I was, and then put me in the back of his cruiser. I sat there freaking out. There were cops walking around my home. Why were they there, and why did they treat me like I was the bad guy? I was shaking from fear and being cold, as I was in just my pajamas, and it was a colder night down in New Mexico.

I just hoped that my parents would be home soon, and that everything would get cleared up. Thankfully, that sort of happened. I saw my parents show up, and my mom started arguing with another cop standing by the car that I was in, demanding that they let her see me. Then the cop that put me in the back came back out, and talked to my parents, then let me out. With them standing there, they asked us if we knew someone named Alan. Who the hell was Alan?

I explained what happened that night, and my parents, and my parents, parents confirmed my story. The cops then said that they received a tip about him staying there at our house. He said he was assumed to be armed and dangerous. They asked if anyone came over asking to stay there, and we told them no. But we did have the two people come looking for him. The cops said that was definitely alarming, and said that it could have been a friend that heard something similar, or even worse, someone he owed money to.

They basically said that if they come back, to not answer the door, and to call them immediately. That made me feel really good. I may have come face to face with someone with some very bad intentions. Overall, they obviously let me go, and we all got to go back inside, with minimal destruction having occurred. Mostly, all of the doors and lights were on, and any place a person could hide, They searched. I was still pretty shaken up, and then I had the fear of answering the door for a while. My parents also didn't like me staying home alone after that.

But those guys never came back, and we never ran into the now infamous Allen. However, now when that name does come up, my parents and I have a could laugh. Lazzang sur-joled, puissance-moyane for 15 minutes. We'd say that's their dojo. Prere to play a pleasure with Leo Jo. The casino in-line that proposes the most recent machine-ass-sou and the games of casino in direct.

Profite of 50 tours gratu on Big Bas Bonanza, without exigance of mise and with payments instantane. Hey! I've got it! Woohoo! Sonture the pleasure, Play, Ojo!

18-8 and plus, 1,1,1, expo only depots only on the machine-ass-Bos Bonanza, depop minimum of $10. DePos'i dollars. Begues'allus

when you were Pets when you had braced, you on in course of recreat, always in trying to negotiate and do you make the exchange. The appli-negoti-tit-titre

T-D you can't to renew with this instinct that, with without operation gratuit, no amount of

minimum, and no free mensue. You're made for negotiate, and the T-D is there for you

help. Hey, Raven, this may be a little different than what you normally do, but I still thought you

would appreciate it. This happened to Christmas Eve in 2018. I was living in Colorado at the time, in a small two-bedroom house by myself. It was my first owned place, and I was enjoying my new home in a quieter neighborhood, outside of the bigger city life that I had left behind. My grandparents had their own piece of land, and I loved seeing them out there in the quiet, peaceful nights. It's actually what convinced me to move to the home that I have now.

That night was going just as planned. I had the day off, as well as Christmas Day, and the day after. My mom was to pick up my grandma from her home Christmas morning, and I was going to meet them back at my parents' place with my other siblings. And, to make it even better, it had started snowing. It was going to turn out to be a perfect Christmas with everyone together, and a beautiful blanket of snow on the ground. After watching TV and drinking one of my favorite hot chocolate bombs,

I decided to call it a night, knowing that I was going to need to be up early to get my car cleaned off. I remember the details from here perfectly. I can't forget it. I went to bed around 10 p.m. and was abruptly awoken to a phone call at 2.24 a.m. The number shown was listed as unknown, but... Knowing the time, I answered it to make sure it wasn't an emergency.

But all I heard was a faint and almost inaudible whisper. I couldn't make out any of the words. I said hello a few more times, but the whispering continued, until the line just went dead. I was confused, if not a little annoyed. Who would prank call someone on Christmas Eve, right? I just laid back down and charged. tried to go back to sleep, but my phone started going off again, from another unknown number.

I answered the same way, and just like the last time, all that was there was the whispering. The annoyance was now overtaking the confusion that they were still calling me. I asked, Who is this? But the whispering only continued, and I was nowhere closer to being able to make out what was being said. And then once again, the call just ended. This time I tried to see if I could call the number back, but it wouldn't. It was like a blocked number, so there was no way to call it or even block it.

I was pretty awake at this point, but still tried to sleep, knowing that if I didn't, it was going to be a very long day. However, I once again received a call, and this time I answered with a bit more annoyance, in my voice. What do you want? I said aggressively into the phone. Again, the whispering continued until I could make out one word.

Marcus. It was my name. Because I could make that out, I tried to listen closer to the whispering to see if I could hear something else. Was someone in trouble? Were they calling me for help but all they could do was whisper?

I pushed the phone hard, to my ear, plugging the other one with my finger, when out of nowhere the whispering was interrupted by a very loud train whistle. It had actually made me jump. Pulling the phone away from my face, I continued to hear the train whistle for several more seconds, before it eventually faded, and the call ended again. Now, I was, for sure, awake, and I wasn't going to be able to fall back asleep. The train whistle was obviously unexpected. I didn't live near any train tracks, so I knew at least that the call wasn't coming from around my area, but then where? And again, who was it that was calling me? Like I said, it was two-something in the morning. I was groggy, confused, and now startled,

so I wasn't thinking straight and definitely was not going back to sleep. I went back to the living room thinking maybe I could watch some TV and doze off in there. But every little sound was making me jump. The creaks and the floor, the ice maker clicking on, and even the tapping on the window from my sun catcher outside. Thankfully, my phone didn't ring again, but damage was already done. Eventually, I must have fallen asleep in the living room at some point, because I woke up to the alarm on my phone at 6 a.m.

I tried to snooze at some, but eventually I just got up. I was still feeling pretty tired and now had a little bit of a stiff neck, but I knew that I needed to get moving. I had taken a shower and then went out to start cleaning off my car. It was probably around eight at this point, when I got a call from my mother. Her voice was shaky, and she asked me where I was and what I was doing. I told her that I was about to head over to her. her place, but asked her what was wrong.

I knew my mom, and I could tell that something was wrong. And her explanation forever changed our Christmas. She told me that she had gone to pick up my grandma, but she didn't answer the door, so she had to let herself in. Not really unusual, especially if my grandma didn't hear the door or was in the bathroom or something. We even installed a ring doorbell so that she could be notified on her. her phone, but she also liked to sit her phone down somewhere and then forget about it.

She was definitely not attached to her phone like us kids, as she would always tell us jokingly. But when my mom entered, she knew that something was wrong when the TV wasn't on, and the coffee maker was empty. She called out to her and got no response, so she went to her room. My mom found my grandmother unresponsive, and after help arrived, they pronounced her. My mom already knew that she was gone. She didn't suffer, and she wasn't hurt. She passed quietly and peacefully in her sleep that night. That's when I think I pieced things together.

When we got her death certificate, I saw that the approximate time of death was around 2.30 a.m. Then I started thinking back to those calls that I got. Was that my grandma? She had a cell phone and I had her number saved. Sure, so it should have showed up if she did call me physically. But maybe it wasn't that kind of call. I even proved that when we had her phone and I checked the records. There were no calls to me.

I didn't really want to say it to anyone, but I did ask if my parents or siblings got any weird or prank calls that night. They all said no. So I got these strange calls of whispering, and my name being whispered at the same time of her death. Oh, and to add to it, she actually lived fairly close to a train yard. Train whistles were very common around her place, so I really felt like this was possible. Was she calling to let me know?

Was that her last attempt to reach me and say goodbye? I still think about that night on a regular basis, especially around this time of year, and I hold on to it as a last connection that I had with my grandmother. She was always the type to play little pranks on us grandkids, even as we became adults. And I now recognize this as her way of one last hurrah before she left this place.

And I smile when I think about it. I was definitely confused, and, yeah, kind of annoyed at first, but now I feel lucky that I got the call. We make sure to keep up our normal Christmas traditions, as we know that's what she would have wanted, not for us to be sad or mournful. And I always smile when I hear a train whistle.

2. This happened about three years ago, but I still think about it from time to time, and it still creeps me out. I, 21 male at the time, had just moved into a new apartment on the first floor of a building. It was late one night, and my roommate was out when somebody knocked on the door. This wasn't uncommon as we were in college, and my roommate had friends that would come over and hang out at all hours. of the day. I just figured it was one of his friends, so I get up and check the peephole. Staring right back at me through the peephole is an eyeball pressed against it. Again, this is something that one of our friends might do just to be funny.

I chuckled and opened the door, surprised to see a guy in his mid-20s that I didn't recognize. He was strange, to say the least. He was very hyper and immediately, launched into a door-to-door salesman type pitch. I can't remember exactly what he was even selling, but it was something about the local university, which I also attended at the time. The whole time he was talking,

he kept looking past me into the apartment. He was fidgeting, and even standing on his tiptoes to see inside. Still, I just thought this guy was weird and nervous and might not have been all there. I politely declined to buy anything from him, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. I finally had to be pretty stern in telling him that I was not interested.

He finally accepted defeat, and as I was closing the door, he put his hand out and stopped the door from closing. Before I could be like, What the hell, dude? He smiles at me and says, I like Mario Kart on the Nintendo 64 too. Now, me and my roommate had been staying up late into the night,

playing Mario Kart 64 in my bedroom for the past several days before that. But there was nothing that he could see from the apartment entrance that had anything to do with Mario Kart. I was taken aback, and trying to add things up in my head, and confusingly asked, How do you know I play Mario Kart? He then got super nervous and said, Oh, I just thought that anyone with a couch like that would be into Mario Kart on the Nintendo 64.

Because, you know, it's like a retro game, and that's a retro couch. But what the hell was that explanation? Then he was just like, okay, bye. And literally scurried away. I shut the door and locked it. I start trying to put the pieces together and how we could have known that because, obviously it wasn't because of my grandma's old couch.

Remember, it's a first floor apartment that backed up into the woods. My roommate got home shortly after that, and I immediately tell him about this encounter. He was freaked out too, so we started to investigate.

At first, it seemed as if there was no way to even see inside my bedroom. My blinds were always down. We went outside and tested it, and found that the only way to see inside would have been if you had your face right up against the window. And even then, you kind of had to crouch and close one eye

just to get a glimpse of the inside. A couple more creepy details. My window was over a balcony, and the Nintendo 64 console itself was stored inside of the TV stand and was not visible. You'd only be able to see it while, we were actively playing, which we never did until we were a little stoned and it was like two in the morning.

So, basically, this freaking creep had been jumping the railing to our balcony, pressing his face against my window, and watching us play Mario Kart in the middle of the night. I never saw the guy again, but needless to say, I was pretty paranoid for a while after that. I constantly checked my windows and woke up in the middle of the night, paranoid that he was standing just a couple feet away, watching me sleep. This was just a very unsettling encounter. I'm glad that nothing more ever came of it, and that I never saw him again.

But I have always wondered what his motives were. Okay. So this happened when I was babysitting two kids just a few months ago, and I knew that I had to share this with you. I'm in my mid-20s and have been babysitting since I was probably around 16 between my own siblings and my other family members' kids. I started getting my own regular kids that I would watch too, so that pretty much took up a lot of my time, especially in the summer. But I didn't really mind. Their parents typically paid pretty well, especially the ones that had multiple kids.

So one of my regulars recommended to me their co-worker, and I started watching their kids too. They had a two-year-old girl named Macy and a six-year-old boy named Josh. Macy was still just a baby, so when I did watch her, she was typically sleeping. If they were gone for longer periods of time, they offered to take her with them. But she was actually a pretty happy kid, compared to others that I've watched.

So I really didn't mind watching her. Josh was a good kid, too. He was your average boy, just played with cars, Legos, and dinosaurs. His favorite food was macaroni and cheese, and he hated bedtime, but he always seemed to crash immediately. So, when their parents had a corporate dinner party, they asked me to watch them, and I agreed, knowing that I wouldn't really have any problems. So I got there around 5 p.m., and I saw the parents off for the night. I want to explain their house just a little bit, since it will be relevant. From the front door was the living room, straight back was the dining room, and to the left was a hall that led to the

parents' rooms, where Macy was still sleeping at the time, Josh's bedroom, and a bathroom. Behind the dining room was the kitchen, the back door, and another hall that led to their back office, another room. And then there was the stairs to the basement. The basement had been turned into a huge play area for Josh. All the big setups were down there like the playwork bench. There was even a small play set with a slide and push around cars. I know that if I was a kid, I would have had a blast. So that's the setup of the house.

When I went over there that night, I was handed Macy as she was still awake, and Josh had been in his room playing. I said hi to Josh and then went back to the living room with Macy. After some time, she fell asleep, so I brought her into her parents' room. Josh was still in his room playing, but he'd started getting loud, And I didn't want him to wake her up, so I asked him to come play in the living room or downstairs. He had no qualms with playing downstairs, so off he went. They had also had dinner already, so I was sitting in the dining room eating what I brought.

I got carried away doing something on my phone, so I'd been sitting there for a while, but then I heard laughing coming from the direction of one of the bedrooms. I was curious because I know I asked. I asked Josh to play downstairs, and I never saw him walk by. I went to his room to see what he was doing, and he was nowhere in there. I checked in the closet, under his bed, under the blankets, and even in his toy chest, and he was nowhere to be found. I was a little worried that he may have been in the room with Macy's, so I went into that room,

and she was still fast asleep. I didn't want to snoop through the parents' stuff, so when I did a quick glance over the room and didn't see him, I closed the door and went to check his room one more time, and still didn't see him. Then I heard a thump coming from downstairs where I thought he was, so I went down to check. There were some toys sprawled around like he had been down there playing, but I still did not see him. From there, I called out for Josh, starting to get slightly worried that I didn't know where he was. When I didn't get a response, I went back upstairs and checked the back door just in case, but it was still locked. Josh knew he wasn't allowed to go outside, and I don't think he would have been able to reach the deadbolt enough to really unlock it, so I didn't think that he went outside.

Just in case, though, I went to the front. front door and I checked it too, and it was also locked. I turned around to an empty living room and at that point I wasn't worried about waking Macy up, so I hollered out for Josh again, this time with a bit more serious of a tone. I then heard another laugh coming from one of the rooms. I went back to his room and still it was empty. Now, I was starting to freak out. Josh, he wasn't the type to play little pranks like this, so.

I was confused and frustrated. Like, how was I able to clearly hear him laughing in his room? I went back to the dining room to grab my phone, ready to call his parents, to be honest, to ask if he hid anywhere to give me some kind of idea, but my phone was also gone. So, after searching the dining room, I went to the living room and I didn't find it. I thought maybe I had took it with me, so... I checked the basement and the rooms one more time. Nothing.

At this point, I had entered the room three times and the basement twice. So my last option was their home phone. I know this had to be the only family I've worked for that still had one. They joked about it because it was cheaper for them to get the phone with cable than just cable alone. It was hanging in the dining room over by the closets, so I walked over to it, called my phone, and I started hearing my ringtone nearly behind me. I turned around to see Josh sitting at the table, holding my phone. While I was relieved to see both the kid and my phone,

I was also confused as to where he had been. From the position of the phone, I would have been able to see him come out of the bedroom hallway or the kitchen. I would have heard him pull out the chair and sit on it, but yet I saw and heard nothing. I tried approaching it in a friendly way and asked him where he had been, and he just started laughing and handed me the phone. I tried being more direct, and I asked him if he was in his bedroom or in his parents' room.

He shook his head, no. I asked him if he was in the basement. He said no, and same with the living room. He just kept saying no and laughing. I ended up letting it go because I didn't want to shake up this poor kid, but I did ask him to watch some TV with me in the living room. That way I could keep an eye on this little Houdini. From then on, when I watched them, I didn't have another disappearing act, but if I didn't have a hold on my phone, it would just disappear. And I would either find it somewhere that I wouldn't have left it, or Josh would find it.

and I know that it may be asked but no Josh was not taking my phone again he just didn't do that and when I mean have a hold of it I mean physically in my hand if the last place that I had it was in my pocket it would end up somewhere else if I left it in my purse or even in my car I would find it elsewhere I don't know if this kid or my phone was able to break the matrix or what but it has a never been a dull moment since then when I have to watch them. If anything else significant does happen, I'll be sure to update you. I'm still pretty jarred from this experience, but I figured it would be easier to share about

it than keep dwelling on it. A couple of days ago, someone broke into my house while I was asleep. I work night shift, so sleep during the day is something you learn to get used to. Around 6.30 p.m., I heard, what I thought was, a loud knocking sound coming from outside, and my dog's going absolutely ballistic. For reference, I live on a farm out in the middle of nowhere. My closest neighbor is half a mile away. But back to the story.

I somewhat wake up, but don't really think anything of it since my neighbor's like to shoot their guns, and this was during hunting season. As I start falling back asleep, my heart starts fluttering, weird, like I knew something wasn't right. That's when I heard loud footsteps throughout the house. The dogs are still barking, but start to quiet down. That's when I begin to really worry. When I think my dogs would protect me in a time like this, fat chance The footsteps stop on the other side of my bedroom door

and doesn't move I think this is how I'm going to die and although I had a weapon in my room I knew that I couldn't get to it without being heard it felt like an eternity before the steps move around

and towards my brother's room rustling can be heard loudly through the house and things being thrown I knew they were in my brother's room. Some of his friends are into seedy situations, and I knew that it had to be one of them. I heard the footsteps coming back to my door,

and the doorknob handle move. I immediately turned my back towards the door and close my eyes tightly, putting a hand over my mouth to stop from screaming. The door opens, but that's it. Then he leaves, as a car drives down the road. I finally bucked up my courage to get out of bed. Everything in the house, except for my brother's room, was undisturbed. I immediately called my brother and asked if any of his friends were coming over.

He said not that he knew of, and then I told him what happened. He got off the phone with me to start calling around. I went back to bed and noticed that I still had my window cracked open from earlier and realized that I had my sheet off of me, wearing only a t-shirt to bed. If it was who I think it was, this was not a random event. One of my brother's friends has always had eyes for me,

and the fact that he saw me sleeping, and in just t-shirt, makes me freak out. Whether or not he took something out of my brother's room, or knew that I was home alone sleeping before having to work later that night, I don't know. I'll post an update when I hear from my brother. You move out to the country to get away from the activity of city life,

and you let your guard down. That's when something like this happens. Sometimes country life isn't so safe after all. Update. Sorry y'all for the late update. It's been a crazy week, but thank you for bearing with me. My brother got back with me with news that I absolutely dreaded hearing.

None of his friends said or claimed to have been at the house at the time of the incident. So now I'm even more afraid of who was at my home and what their intentions were. They could have been scoping out my house during the day. Now that my county has decided to extend the gravel on my road that connects to the farming community that I live near. I just hope that I don't.

have another visit like that any time soon. But if there is a next time, I'll be sure to be ready for them. This took place back when I was around 12, which was around 18 years ago. I'm the oldest of five kids. My mom and dad had four kids, and when they divorced, my dad remarried and they had one kid together with his new wife, our stepmom. We were lucky enough to have to deal with that wonderful custody BS of our weekends and holidays being split up. We missed out on a lot of parties and events if they fell on my dad's time,

so I think we all had a bit of animosity towards my dad's new family. Now, once we got over there, we did have fun, though. We had our own rooms and toys, and we did things together, but it still wasn't fully a home. I'm sure those that have been through this will completely understand what I mean by that. During the summer, it was even more divided where we would spend two weeks at my dad's, and then two weeks back home. It was during the summer when this event took place. My little sister, Andy, who was two years younger than me, always had the hardest time leaving for my dad's.

So she had a small meltdown when we left and pouted. it a bit when we got there. The first day went all right. We went to the pool and then the movies later that night. Andy seemed to be doing better at this point and was acting as she normally did at home. The rest of the week seemed to be fine too. It was the next week that things seemed to get a little weird. We still had fun at the pool, at home, and anywhere else that we went, but when it came to her talking or making decisions,

she seemed very dull. She never made a solid decision. Like with lunch, she would just agree with somebody else. She just followed me around and did whatever I did or my brothers and sisters wanted to. It was unusual because we actually had bikes there and she loved riding hers, but if someone didn't suggest that we ride them,

she didn't bring it up. I just thought maybe she was getting home sick, so I didn't push it or anything like that. Until the day before we were supposed to be going back home. It was a Friday, so my dad had already left to go to work. My stepmom was off, but she was going to be running errands all day, so a babysitter was going to be over soon. I was having my cereal in the kitchen.

My brothers and sister were already watching cartoons in the back room, and Andy was still in bed. As I was putting my bowl in the sink, my stepmom asked me to go wake up my sister. I went to the doorway and told her that she needed to get up. She was lying on her side and facing away from me, so I couldn't tell if she was awake or heard me, so I walked up next to her and shook her again telling her she needed to get up. That's when I noticed that she was awake, but she was obviously crying.

She was sniffling and letting out those small ones, whimpers as you do when you're crying, so I asked her what was wrong, but she wouldn't answer me. Worried that she wasn't feeling good or something worse, I went to get my stepmom and followed her back to Andy's room. She did the same as me and only called out for her in the doorway, but when she heard her crying, she approached the bed, wrapped her arm around her and tried to get her to talk. That's when I hear her say, it's finally different. She tried to get her to further explain and sit up, so she finally turned around and she was sitting on the bed with her legs crossed.

After she took a few deep breaths, she finally said, Every day has been the same, and today it finally changed. I was stuck, and I didn't know how to get out. She then had the most terrified look on her face and started crying again uncontrollably. I had never seen her like this before. I'm sure I'd seen her cry or even scared in some cases, but this was completely different. She looked like she had been fighting for her life

and was trying to figure out where she was, maybe. It actually scared me and made me cry a bit so I had to leave the room. I don't think any of us really understood because I remember my stepmom telling her she was okay and was talking about the different things that we did and asked her if she was just bored. This was when she nearly gave a play-by-play of the day that we rode our bikes and found a frog, which was about a week ago.

She mentioned how she was up first, she had a bowl of cereal, I woke up next and we joked because we had lucky charms, and she saved one of each marshmallow for her last bite. And then we both said the little rhyme. We watched TV and she explained the exact episode. She then mentioned how we were told to play outside. We rode our bikes to the park. We found a frog.

Mentioned the face that she could make out on its back. And then the name that we gave it before releasing it. She went on from there literally explaining every single detail of that day. Even the small things that one would forget about. Like the order in which she had. her dinner, with every single bite. She said she thought it was weird the second day, but then the third, fourth, and fifth day had been the same, and she started getting scared that she was stuck and couldn't figure out

how to get out. My stepmom was trying to calm her and get her to forget about it since it obviously hadn't been the same for us. Surprisingly, she made Andy oatmeal so that she had a different meal and told us not to talk about it and try to cheer her up instead. I sat with her as she ate her oatmeal still looking terrified and in disbelief. The babysitter showed up when she was finishing up, so once she was done, I followed her to our room where we both got dressed, and then went into the living room to play the N64.

I avoided talking to her about what happened, worried that I would upset her. To be honest, to kind of scare myself as well. I continuously asked her what she wanted to do that day so that she could pick, and it would be different, and unlike the prior few days, she chose with no indecisiveness. She wanted to play on the console for a bit, and then she wanted to play dolls with me, and then we even colored and made paper decorations for our room. It was completely different from the past few days. My stepmom must have told my dad about it, because when he came home, home, he gave us all hugs, but then went to talk with Andy for a bit, and I overheard him asking if she was okay, and what she experienced earlier. He then assured her that it had been a whole

week, and that maybe she just had a really vivid dream, maybe even just a bad dream. I don't think she believed it, but I think she just dropped it as she was done talking about it. As mentioned, this has been years ago. But my sister and my stepmom both remember it quite vividly. My stepmom said it actually scared her with just how terrified Andy looked, but had no idea what could have happened. She said that she was even worried if she'd had an accident on her bike or something, where maybe she hit her head, but nothing like that had happened.

She told my mom about it, too, just in case it may have been a medical thing, but nothing ever came of it. As for Andy, she still talks about it on occasion, but she has to be in a really good mood or even busy to keep her mind preoccupied, because it still terrifies her to the point that she nearly has a panic attack. Her memory is even the same as it was back then,

with every detail that happened. I don't know if anyone else has experienced something like that, but it's always in the back of my mind that my sister may have lost a week of her life, or that I was living with a creepy, mundane copy of her for that entire week. Christmas has always been a very heartfelt and magical time for our family. Most of the family has dispersed throughout the Midwest, some on the West Coast,

and we don't get to see each other very often. I still live in my hometown, so I get to see my grandma and parents, on the regular. But there are those of us that only come together during this specific time of year. Like a lot of people, my grandmother and grandfather basically run the holidays. Everyone shows up at their house because it's big enough for everyone, and they love hosting. They've hosted as far back as I can remember. And on Christmas, it is everyone there for the celebrations.

That scene being painted for you, I have a story about a very specific Christmas that happened a long time ago. One that, well, let's just say that it stuck with everyone. I was around six years old at that time. That age where Christmas is still this amazing and magical time of the year, and where the mention of Santa Claus would get me all giddy and excited. The room was full of relatives, people talking to each other, enjoying the company. My cousins and I were all gathered around the Christmas tree and trying to guess which gifts were ours. My grandma was in the kitchen with my mom, and really, it was just a great afternoon.

Then, suddenly, the festive atmosphere was shattered by a loud bang on the front door, which caught everyone's attention. Before anyone could react and go to the door to see who it was, the door literally burst open and in walked a man dressed like Santa Claus he wasn't a jolly and rosy-cheeked Santa that I was used to I remember thinking that he looked sad and like he needed to wash his hair

but in my eyes he was Santa and I was excited he bellowed out a classic ho ho ho! as he staggered into the room. I remember shouting, Guys, it's Santa! And when I looked around,

I remember seeing the adults all just standing there and staring at this man that was trudging into the house. To me, it was just Santa making this really cool, dramatic entrance. And I was sitting there clapping in delight, completely unaware of what exactly was going on and why everyone else looked like they were upset. or confused. My dad stepped into the room and angrily asked who the hell this man was. I remember I was angry with him for being so rude to Santa. Santa let out a harsh laugh and said,

I'm Santa. I'm just here to spread some holiday love and cheer. It was then that my aunt paled and said, Rick? I asked who Rick was, of course, and I didn't get an answer. Then Santa laughed and said, Oh, there's my dear ex-wife, looking jolly as always.

I was super excited at this point, because again, in my head, my aunt was once married to Santa Claus. I was confused as to why she was calling him Rick, though. I didn't know his name was Rick. It was about this point that my aunt was. My dad stepped up again and told this man that he needed to leave, saying that he had ten seconds to get out before he called the cops. It was about this point where the situation shifted in my mind.

Clearly this wasn't okay. This Santa, apparently, wasn't supposed to be there and had definitely done something wrong. This was proven to me when the man said, Now, let's not ruin Christmas for everyone. We don't want things to get ugly. I mean, I might have a gun in here. It was about this point that my mom grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the scene. The whole time I'm asking about why Santa would have a gun in his sack

and said, who asked for a gun for Christmas? It was such an awkward situation for me, and I'm sure my cousins as well, but I was just so confused as to what was going on. I remember that while my mom was talking to me in the kitchen, about nothing in particular, I could hear people shouting in the living room, including Santa, and people just telling him to get out of the house. At some point he must have realized that he was outnumbered, because he did leave. I recall the rest of that night being very, very saddened. The entire festivity had been ruined for me.

My dad had called the cops to report what had happened because the guy had threatened us, but also because he was clearly drunk and was driving away. I remember my dad talking to the cops and me trying to tell them not to arrest Santa and said that he just needed a hug because he was sad. Well, I found out much later that Rick was, apparently, my aunt's ex-husband, as he'd mentioned. They had been divorced for over three years due to his abusive behavior and his alcoholism. He had no other connections to our family, and his unexpected terrifying intrusion on our Christmas gathering was a pretty horrible reminder of my aunt's past.

My mom actually told me about all of this quite a few years later, when I absentmindedly asked her about the random guy who showed up to Christmas dressed as Santa that one year. It was a scary story to be told, especially how excited I was to see this man that I thought was a symbol for joy, when, in reality, he was an abusive drunk that was there to just cause terror in my aunt's life. Thankfully, nothing more happened, and he did just leave without doing anything else. but it still altered how I, and a lot of our family, looked at Christmas. Hey, Raven, I have a story from you when I was a child back in the 90s, and I feel really old now. I hope you're doing good, friend. Thank you. I was six or seven, and I would walk home after school.

We lived really close to the local school at the time. Since my parents both worked, I was expecting. to do everything myself. When I tell people this story now, they tend to be surprised that I was allowed to do this. I liked it. I had my own key, and I would follow the rules, which were, don't answer the phone, and wait to listen to the answering machine to see if it was mum or dad, and to not answer the door. Legally, I don't think I was allowed to be left alone so young, but, hey, I was fine.

I got in, locked the door, put my bag down, and went to the fridge for an after-school snack. I turned on the TV to watch some cartoons. My parents would be back after 6 p.m., so I had to get the chicken out of the freezer, set the table, and do some basic tidying around the house. I honestly loved having this alone time to myself. My mom called me and reminded me to sort the laundry, and then said that we would talk more when they got home. I agreed, took the laundry out and hung it on the clothes line because my parents are too cheap to use the dryer.

When I noticed someone looking over the fence, he didn't look like any of my neighbors, and none of the houses went on the market recently. I finished up, closed and locked the back door. My parents didn't have cell phones, obviously. They were too expensive at the time, and I don't think they wanted to call anyways. I went stalled all the windows and doors to make sure they were locked, and that he couldn't come in. Once I was done, I settled in front of the TV with my snacks and relaxed, completely ignoring my homework. Then I looked over and saw that there was a shadow at the window. It was the same man.

He used his hands to shield his eyes to get a better look inside, and I noticed him looking at me. I flipped him off. I was a cheeky kid, and I told him to go away. He did. I breathed a sigh of relief and went back to watching TV. I then heard the doorknob rattling, and it was like someone was trying to get into the house.

Even though I hadn't done anything wrong, I felt guilty. I looked at the phone wondering whether I should just call the police. This was the first time I had something like this house, happen, and everything my parents told me to do went out the window. Not literally, figure of speech. He came back to the window and then knocked on it, pointing to the door. I heard him tell me to let him in.

He didn't have any sort of uniform on. So I shook my head and told him that my parents were coming home soon. He got angry this time. He started hitting the window hard and started swearing at me. I know these words probably wouldn't be shocking to many people, but it was the first time that I'd really heard an adult talk like that, especially towards me or any other child. I thought that he was going to break through the glass.

I went to the home phone and lifted it up, and then dialed the emergency number. He could see me dialing it, and he got even angrier. We didn't have a cordless phone either, It was the kind that had the long spiral cord that had a set limit. The best I could do was hide around the hallway, but he could still tell where I was. I got to the police, told them what was happening, and they could hear the window banging.

The operator told me to stay on the line, but by this point, I was bawling. I asked her if I was going to die. It felt like it was forever, and then suddenly the man stopped knocking. The quiet actually felt more unsettling. She told me that the police should be there now, but to only open the door if I could see them. I looked through the window, and I saw two police officers standing there.

They were knocking on the door. I then opened the door, and they asked if they could come in and if I was okay. They came in, and my parents got the shock of a lifetime when they saw a cop car out the front, and came in. I told them what happened and they all told me that I did the right thing. There were actually reports of this guy trying to get into other houses around the local area. The cops told my parents that they shouldn't have left me alone, but that was as far as that went.

I would love to say that things changed, but my parents decided that this was just an experience that would toughen me up. And in a way, I guess it did. It scared me as a kid, though. I had some nightmares about it, where I wondered whether he would ever come back. I'm new to your channel, and I love the idea of being able to share our stories with you. I feel like it allows more of a connection with your listeners, and you make it incredibly easy to do so, so thank you for that. I have one that I often share with my friends, so I thought I would share it with you, too. This happened to me back in 2014.

I didn't have the best relationship with my family. Both of my parents were abusive in their own ways to me and my two other siblings, but our paternal grandparents were our safe haven. We liked to go over there as much as possible to have a safe place to sleep and to eat. And I think that they knew too, but didn't know how to have. handle it. Being an adult now, I think they had a hard time knowing how horrible of a person their son was, and they didn't want to call the cops, or even CPS on him, so they tried to make it up by taking

care of us. I never was really close to my maternal grandparents, so they were really all that we had. My older brother ended up moving in with his dad, as he did have a different father, while me and my little brother had to endure it until we were old enough to leave. I moved out when I turned 18 and into a place with my friend until I could get my own place. But I felt guilty leaving my brother there. I felt like I was abandoning him, so once I had my own place, I tried to have him over as much as possible.

When he turned 16, our parents more or less kicked him out. because they wanted to use our room, even though I was a girl and we shared a room, as a rented room for their friend. My older brother's room was already turned into an office or game room that none of us were allowed to go in. Because I wasn't willing to give them money for my brother, like I was paying child support for some weird reason, and they couldn't charge him for rent, they told him to leave. I had my own place at this point, so I happily took him in until he moved out at 19.

I told him that he could stay as long as he wanted, but he got a good job and got a place with his girlfriend at the time. Sorry that I went off on a bit of a tangent there, but it does help to explain why I spend Christmas the way that I do. None of us kids really spend time with our parents. My older brother talks to his dad, of course, but we have no contact with our mom or our dad. Sometimes we'll text each other happy birthday, but that's about it. And when my paternal grandparents passed, we stopped even getting together for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Us kids will get together and have dinner, but that's about it. So instead of sitting home alone, I like to make use of my time.

and put some good out into the world. I like to volunteer at a local homeless shelter. I help out year-round there, but I also like to go and decorate for Christmas. I make a lot of baked goods and put together little shelf-stable baskets for them, and I pass them out. And I also help make a nice holiday dinner for all of them. I like to go the whole nine yards, because, well, they deserve it.

Everyone deserves to have a happy holiday. On this year, we actually had one hell of a snow and ice storm, so the shelter was even more packed than normal. We would have people just stay on those nights, that had bad weather and then leave the next day. And it was looking like that was going to happen that night, too. Real quick, to explain the shelter layout just a bit, It has the main area which has a few TVs, some old couches, and tables.

Towards the back is the kitchen with the buffet bar in front of it, where we pass out the trays of food. To the left of the kitchen, we had a few rows of rooms, basically that just had beds in a small shelf or drawers. All donated, thankfully. So the night was going along smoothly with very minimal hiccups. People would line up, get their plate, then grab a gift bag at the end. We had some people that preferred to be left alone, while others were very social, and did their best to be in the Christmas spirit. One of those people was a man named Rabbit.

And no, I'm not sure if that was his legal name or anything. That's just what he told everyone to call him. Rabbit had been at the shelter for a few months already. He seemed to really be trying to make the most of the same. situation, as he was always so cheerful and outgoing, and he was always singing. It was actually quite a breath of fresh air to be around. He helped keep the shelter clean and even helped others that were staying there. So when his demeanor completely changed, it definitely stood out to everyone.

We had all been sitting around the lobby area, some people reading, drawing, a few were playing a card game and others were just sitting by watching. Rabbit was one of those people playing the card game, and when the game ended, they were starting a new round. But Rabbit stood up and waved to them like he was done. His smile quickly dropped, and I noticed this as he sat back in the chair. I watched him at first, thinking maybe he wasn't feeling well, but there was something about the empty stare that had me concerned.

I've experienced people. that were under the influence, and even those with disorders like schizophrenia. This didn't seem like any of those, but at the same time, I didn't know what it was. I asked him if he was okay, and he slowly turned his head towards me. His expression remaining the same and just said, I'm waiting. Then turned his head slowly back facing forward, but looking at nothing. Curious, I tried to push it further and asked. waiting for what, Rabbit?

Without saying anything or looking at me, he stood up slowly and walked to the corner of the room, the literal corner, and just stared at it. His hands to his side and slightly hunched over. I decided to cautiously follow him. I know people can be unpredictable, so I didn't want to put myself in a dangerous situation,

but something told me that I needed to check on him. I told Peter, one of the other workers that was still in the kitchen, since he was male, in case I might need help, and he watched as I approached. Once at Rabbit's side, I asked him

if he was okay, but he didn't respond. I asked him again what or who he was waiting for. He would not take his eyes off of the corner of the room, but all he said was, you don't get it.

His normally bright green eyes filled with happiness now looked glazed over and hollow. It honestly worried me, so I had Peter helped me escort him to the room that he'd been staying in. I was thinking maybe we could get him to lay down, and then we wouldn't have to worry about him hurting himself, or someone else. Or so I thought. We continued with our night after that, everyone enjoying their meat. the little gift bags I made in each other's company, but I kept getting this nagging feeling at the back of my head that it could not shake. I asked one of the other volunteers if they had seen Rabbit at all, and they shook their head.

No one had seen him since he went to his room, and with this odd change in demeanor, I was actually worried about him. So, once again, I told them I was going to check on him, and Peter agreed to go with him. me. As I approached his room, I could see the door was slightly ajar, but the light was off. So, maybe

he was able to fall asleep. I slowly opened the door, but I could hear him softly talking and giggling, almost. When I didn't see him on the bed, I called out his name and reached for the light switch. And I still

cannot get that sight out of my head. Once the light was on, I peeked my head to the other side of the room and spotted rabbit. He was sitting in the chair, facing the wall, and pretty much drawing on it, with what looked like blood. He was everywhere. I soon realized that he was covered in blood from the torso down and on his hands.

There was blood on the floor by him, and the wall was covered with little pictures and phrases. All done in blood. This may sound weird, but if you've been around a lot of blood, I guess, or have ever had a serious injury, you know that coppery smell that it has, and that was all the rooms smelled like. I immediately told Peter to call an ambulance, and I tried calmly asking if Rabbit was okay, but I didn't want to cause him panic. He looked at me smiling and said, I'm better than ever.

I couldn't help but be taken aback. This man was obviously injured. He had to be, with this much blood around and him being the only one in the room. I was surprised he was still conscious. Since he was still acting normal, I suppose, I tried asking him if he was hurt and not seeing any immediate source of the blood.

I asked him where it came from. Sometimes, you have to let the color out. They were trapped inside me, you see? He said, smiling at me with his arms outstretched. I did my best to remain calm and unbothered, but also tried to move fast to find out where he was bleeding from and stop it. We grabbed a few towels and asked him to clean up, but he just started undressing and wrapping the towels around him,

all while singing Christmas songs. When the medics arrived, we explained what happened and they started checking him out, but couldn't immediately find a wound. They told us to check on everyone else while they got him loaded up into the ambulance. After doing a check on the other guests and comparing it to the check-in book, no one was missing, and no one was injured. So they packed up and they took him in. We were then left to clean up all the blood in. the room. It seriously looked like a murder scene. It was eerie and almost hard to look at. We managed to get it cleaned up and blocked off the room due to the bleach smell and just hoped

that a rabbit would be okay. The rest of the night went on without any other incident. Thankfully. We have an emergency contact list at the shelter in case anything happens to the guests. They'll leave us names of people, if they have anyone, and sometimes we were even their emergency contact. In Rabbit's case, he had a brother listed, but we never heard from him, so we didn't know if it was really his brother, if they were estranged, etc. But he did show up at the shelter a few days after, to collect all of Rabbit's things. He told us that he was okay, but the bizarre part was that they couldn't find always. wound that would have caused that much blood loss. They said it was definitely his blood, because he started to become faint and pale at the hospital.

But he kept up his cheery demeanor while he was there. He claimed that he didn't do anything to himself or didn't remember either. His brother was grabbing his things as he was going to stay with him for a little while, and he thanked us for looking after him. He said that he knew Rabbit wasn't in a good place, but he didn't realize that he was homeless, and he confided in us that he hated himself for not knowing sooner. We did our best to comfort him,

because a lot of people that we see do the same. Some won't tell their family and friends how they're living out of shame, or not wanting to burden them. I was just happy to see that he did have family that cared about him, and he was able to step in and help him. help him. I just wish that I didn't have to witness what I did to learn that. So, there's my Christmas story. Thankfully nothing that crazy has happened since then, but I do still volunteer there, so

who knows what the next one will be like. The story happened three years ago, around the time that COVID started, so it was a while back, but still worthy of a post. It was early 2020, and I had just gotten a new job in a small town near my area. While looking for a place to live, my sister offered to rent her house to me. She'd bought the house two years prior, but she and her husband didn't really take to it, and their commute to work was long, so they moved out, and the house was uninhabited. Luckily, for me, it was actually pretty close to my workplace, around a four-hand.

minute drive. And my sister pretty much rented it to me for free. I just paid for the water and electricity and looked after the house. I was living there for a solid two or three months and had already gotten used to it. One night, after coming back from work and parking my car, as I walked towards my door, I noticed something odd. There was a cigarette butt on the curb to my house. I leaned down and picked it up thinking,

that it might have been mine since I am a smoker, but after looking at the brand name, I realized that it wasn't mine and threw it away. I didn't think much of it and just shrugged it off as some a-hole throwing it at my curb. I went on with my night, and nothing unusual happened. Two days later, I was once again walking to my house when I spotted a few more cigarette butts,

this time near my porch. Needless to say, I was pissed off, and I thought that someone sat on my porch and smoked, but since I didn't know who it was, there was nothing I could do about it. I noticed that they were put out pretty recently, so whoever it was probably walked off as I was approaching. That night, I was watching a movie on my laptop, and it was pretty late, past 1 a.m. so I was surprised when I heard a car passing by. It's a suburban neighborhood, and it was COVID, so people rarely ventured out at night. But I didn't think much of it. Around half an hour later, I was surprised when I heard chattering nearby.

I listened intently, but I couldn't hear what they were talking about, as their voices seemed almost muffled and quiet. By this point, I was getting a bit unnerved, so I stopped the movie. and quietly got off of my sofa and walked to the front door to make sure that it was locked. As I was approaching the door, I froze mid-step, as I heard the two approaching my porch, and reduced their talking to a whisper. I realized right away that whoever this was wanted to break in. I leaned against my door and waited, expecting a loud bang against the door or the doorknob being shaken, but it was oddly quiet.

I decided to walk over to my window to see if they had walked away or changed their mind. My windows have bars from the inside out that you have to unlock so that you can move the curtains or look out the window comfortably. I slowly unlocked the bar mechanism and lifted it up. I moved the curtains and was taken aback. Leaning up against my window was a man. He was as startled as I was because, he basically stuttered over his own steps as he jumped back.

He tightened his hoodie to cover his face, so all I could really see was his big blue eyes looking at me. His friend realized what was going on, and right away started to kick the door in. He kicked it for a solid four or five times, but the door wouldn't budge. All the while, I was staring at them frozen in fear, and trying to comprehend the situation.

I snapped out of it and slammed the bar, over my window, locking them and running upstairs to the storage room where I pushed a table up to the door, and called the cops. As I listened and expected the two to come inside any minute, I heard a loud crash and the bar from the windows being shaken aggressively. When they realized they couldn't get in, one of them let out a long, angry scream that probably woke up half of the neighborhood. By the time the cops came, they were long gone. The police couldn't find out who it was, but were more active in the neighborhood in the following weeks. Regardless, I wasn't too keen on staying there so shortly after, I moved out.

My sister sold the house a few months later, and as far as I know, nothing similar has happened since. Fan of soccer, you could assist a moment historic. You could gain any bier for the final of the Cup of the World of Lassano. FIFA 2026 with Visa. It's just to have a card of credit visa to BMO for participate. Incribe you at BMO.com bar-obliq concour. The regulations of the Concourse. The Reglements of the Concourse.