Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast - 11x14: The Best of Season 1 (pt 2)

Episode Date: September 25, 2023

Stories in this episode: - A Man Wanted to Buy my Laptop, by SMILEY_ATTACK (1:14) - Apparently, I "Got Lucky", by FrappeInMyStache (5:04) - RING Doorbell Stolen and Used to Scare Me, by cheeseylump ...(8:20) - My Encounter at an Abandoned Hospital, by boygenieous (10:15) - I Like to Watch You Sleep, by devilinkneehighs (19:30) - Freeway Flirting Turns Frightening, by Ne0nCobra (24:30) - Russian Regret, by adventurousash (34:48) - Creepy Hotel Staff in Egypt, by rissebit (44:13) - Old Lady Sleep Over?, by OrangeEevee (49:36) - My Brother Saw a Ghost, Two Decades Later I Realized What He Acutally Saw, by florianizer (52:45) - The Person in the Basement, by Big-Man-E (58:29) - I Found a Dead Guy on the Beach and Possibly Met His Murderer, by AKangelic (1:06:50) - Creep At Disneyland, by iruleudrule (1:10:51) - Pastor Six-Piece, by backingawayslowlynow (1:14:10) Extended Patreon Content: - This Time There is a Gun, by Hailea - Let's Not Meet, Dad, by Nicole Due to periodic changes in ad placement, time stamps are estimates and are not always accurate. All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission of their respective authors. Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast is not associated with Reddit or any other message boards online. To submit your story to the show, send it to letsnotmeetstories@gmail.com.   Get access to extended, ad-free episodes of Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast with bonus stories every week at a higher bitrate along with a bunch of other great exclusive material and merch at patreon.com/letsnotmeetpodcast. This podcast would not be possible to continue at this rate without the help of the support of the legendary LNM Patrons. Come join the family!  Check out the other Cryptic County podcasts like Odd Trails, Welcome to Paradise (It Sucks), and the Old Time Radiocast at CrypticCountyPodcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts! You’ll be amazed at what you can do with Grammarly. Go to grammarly.com/GO to download for FREE. Higher quality ingredients mean a healthier and happier life for your kitty. So head to Smalls.com/MEET and use promo code MEET at checkout for 50% off your first order PLUS free shipping! Listen to A Ghost Ruined My Life with Eli Roth wherever you get your podcasts! Check it out at here!  All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission of their respective authors. Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast is not associated with Reddit or any other message boards online. To submit your story to the show, send it to letsnotmeetstories@gmail.com.   Get access to extended, ad-free episodes of Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast with bonus stories every week at a higher bitrate along with a bunch of other great exclusive material and merch at patreon.com/letsnotmeetpodcast. This podcast would not be possible to continue at this rate without the help of the support of the legendary LNM Patrons. Come join the family! - Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/433173970399259/ - Website - https://letsnotmeetpodcast.com/ - Patreon - https://patreon.com/letsnotmeetpodcast - Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/letsnotmeetcast/ - Twitch - https://twitch.tv/andytatelive/

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Starting point is 00:00:00 You've got goals for your small business. That's why now's the time to level up your marketing with constant contact. With powerful tools to find and connect with new customers, manage your social posts and events, and send automated emails and texts, you'll stand out, stay top of mind, and see results fast. Constant contacts cutting-edge technology
Starting point is 00:00:20 makes marketing easy, so you can focus on running your business. Start achieving your small business goals with a free trial at constantcontact.com today. This podcast contains adult language and content. Listener discretion is advised. If you have a story to share, send it to let's not meet stories at gmail.com. Enjoy the show. music Welcome to our second edition of the Best of Season 1. This week we have an especially lengthy collection of the scariest tales from the proper first season of the show.
Starting point is 00:01:19 I know you'll enjoy this one, but worry not, we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming next week. For now, enjoy the show. In 2017, I got a laptop for Christmas. Definitely nice, but not what I needed it for. It couldn't run games for shit. I let it go till about May of 2018 until I had had enough and put it up for sale on Facebook Marketplace, hoping to take the money and put it towards a new desktop. Of course, you get the occasional bot, and I did, but then I got a real person, a man who lived about 45 minutes away messaged me and asked if it was still available. I answered in a heartbeat, and he asked the specs and when a good time to meet Wes. I informed him and said the next day
Starting point is 00:02:26 at the local McDonald's at 1 p.m. He agreed and we went from there. He said he drove a grave an. Weird, I know, but I just went with it. Maybe it was a hand me down car. To be quite honest, I just needed the money. I walked inside the McDonald's and he flagged me down. I wasn't hard to recognize, I was carrying a laptop. We sat down at a table and I handed him the laptop. He began searching around, going on websites. So $200, right? He asked, as he stared at the screen, yes. By that time, I was there for about 15 minutes and my patience was dying quickly. He informed me, he was a schoolteacher at a school where he lives, and that he needed the laptop for music. It was weird, as it was 2018, and most people used Spotify or Apple
Starting point is 00:03:21 music, but I had no issue with that. But he then took a flash drive and plugged it in and started going through it. I couldn't see what he was doing though, as I was on the other side of the table. Then he looks at me and goes, so what do you want me to do?" And I just said it was up to him. He closed the laptop and said, yeah, I don't think it's what I was looking for, and walked out the door. It was weird, to say the least, but I grabbed some lunch from the McDonald's and proceeded home. Curiosity filled me, so I decided to go to the school's website that he told me he teaches at and search his name Nothing
Starting point is 00:04:09 Not a lick of his name Things were starting to get weirder by the second What the hell was on that flash drive Soon after I cleaned my laptop with an antivirus and it formed me it Found a tracking file This fucker found a tracking file. This fucker put a tracking file on my laptop. I cleaned the laptop, and was extra cautious for the next few days. Paranoia filled me. Why the hell would he put a tracking file on my laptop? I called ADT, and scheduled to set up the next morning for a security system.
Starting point is 00:04:46 That night I slept with the handgun on my nightstand and all of the doors locked. Call me paranoid but the man was downright creepy and I didn't know what he was capable of. It's been six months since but it still keeps me up at night. I've been getting asked a lot about why I didn't call the police and to be be quite honest, as stupid as it sounds I didn't think there was anything they could do. So creepy computer dude, let's not meet. I was a teenager in the 90s and on this particular night, I found myself stuck downtown. It was around midnight when I finally found a semi-well lit bus stop. I looked at the bus schedule and realized I may have missed the last bus of the night, unless it was late.
Starting point is 00:05:55 I decided to wait on the bench. Moments later, a tall man walked up and sat right next to me. There was plenty of space to sit elsewhere for him, but he huddled up nice and close. He was wearing all black, including a black leather jacket. He started making smooth conversation with me and I finally looked over at him. He was very tan, had shiny, wavy black hair and orange eyes, like bright hazel orange, snake-like-looking eyes, which contrasted with his dark features and clothes. He really looked like the devil and person. He took off his leather jacket and laid it across my lap to, quote quote unquote, keep me warm. I took it off and handed it back to him and said no thanks.
Starting point is 00:06:52 He kept draping it back on my lap. I looked around for other people and only saw a passed out homeless person sleeping on a bench. He was trying to coerce me into getting a ride with him because it's too late, and he is worried about me. Plus, my bus isn't coming, and I'm not safe. I said no, my bus should be here any minute, and my mind I didn't know if the bus would be here at all.
Starting point is 00:07:22 The streets were dead and dark, and I was scared to leave the only spot that was well lit. After what seemed like an eternity, my bus finally came. It was the most beautiful bus I had ever seen. I quickly got up and said, my bus is here. He sneered at the bus. And he said, under his breath, you got lucky. I got on the bus and saw out the window that he was walking to his car in the parking lot
Starting point is 00:07:58 across the street from where the bus was. He stood next to his car waving at me to come to him as if that would change my mind. It did not. I was a wild teen that partied a lot and would stay downtown all hours of the night, and I thought I was invisible. But after that incident, I'll never stay out that late again, especially alone. I really did get lucky and I have never stay out that late again, especially alone. I really did get lucky and I have no intention of pushing it again. I live in a pretty rough neighborhood. I have four other housemates, but they're all away for the holiday season. At Christmas, I was gifted one of those ring doorbells that has a camera.
Starting point is 00:09:01 I attached it to the frame outside of my door, which looks outwards towards an old pub. A couple of days went by, and then a postman rang the doorbell, which was pleasant, because it worked like a treat. However, a couple of days later, on my way back from work, I noticed that the bell had been stolen. I hadn't even thought about this. Of course it had been stolen. I was annoyed, but I wasn't surprised. This is where it gets creepy though. Last night, the doorbell rang through my phone. It was very late, and I was still alone in the house. The screen was completely dark, but it was just an image of the house. The person that stole it was sitting outside filming my house with my own doorbell. That was shaken.
Starting point is 00:09:59 The area is rough and I've been assaulted and robbed once before. The image quickly turned black as if the culprit had placed the doorbell back in their pocket. I peered out the curtain, out around the area where I thought the person had been filming the house from. But no one was there. To give a little background, I'm a film student in college right now, and my buddies and I are always looking for new locations to film our movies at. I make horror movies, so all the places I'm looking for and exploring are abandoned. And tonight, me and my group of friends, and their ten of us total, decided to check out this abandoned
Starting point is 00:11:05 hospital down the street from our school. They had been there before and said that it was a great spot for filming and I should check it out. Tonight was that night. So when we get out there, I have my Nikon DSLR out with a handheld LED light attached to the top of the camera to scout out the place when we get inside. I didn't film any of the encounter because I usually only filmed the inside of these places, but I had my camera and my light out to shine my way through.
Starting point is 00:11:35 I was leading the way down this narrow path that led to these walls that we had to climb to get to the roof of the place where we would access one of the rooms to get inside of the building. Because I was carrying my camera in bag, I was trying to look for another way up. So I walk a little further down this narrow path and I start noticing a lot of clothes and random shoes, cardboard boxes lying around the area. There was even an empty sleeping bag. That's what I knew that we probably weren't alone, and we were likely going to run into someone if we made the wrong move. And boy, did we ever. One of my friends walking behind me down this path
Starting point is 00:12:21 notices a door to my right. It's closed, and my guess is that it was locked and just not worth trying. But he already has his hand on the door handle and starts tugging. I look over and it barely cracks open, but something is holding it from the inside. I shine my LED on the inside and I see a shirt tied to the inside door handle to another part of the room acting as a lock, but my friend being the way he is tugs again and rips that shirt right off and the door swings open. Inside, there's someone sleeping Inside, there's someone sleeping on a table alongside a group of terrifying-looking people sitting inside by a light in that room. They all stop and stare at us. In the short glimpse of what I got, my friend yells, oh shit, get the fuck out of here!
Starting point is 00:13:25 And slams the door. He just bolts past me. I was standing there a little shaken, almost feeling like I should apologize, but I just follow him instead. My other eight friends are already on the roof at this point, asking what's going on, and we just run for our lives out of the area. I hear the door and the paths wing open. But I couldn't look back. From there, me and my friend rendezvous back to the higher part of the area, away from the entrance leading to the hospital. There's a small gap that you could jump across to get from one of the roofs
Starting point is 00:14:04 to the building that my other friends were on. About four of them follow us and jump across to get from one of the roofs to the building that my other friends were on. About four of them follow us and jump across, ready to get out of there. But the others stay on the roof and watch us stuck like statues. They look at them, confused at what they're staring at. And I begin to hear this metal dragging on the concrete. I turn around, and there's a crazy-looking man. Maybe mid-twenties, dragging a baseball bat with nails all along the end, walking towards us as he drags the bat along the concrete.
Starting point is 00:14:43 My heart sinks. At this point, I turn off my light, and all that is shining is the moonlight. I keep my hand on my pocket knife, desperately trying to think of anything I can do if he starts swinging. But I knew that there was no way I would come out of it alive if I tried anything. Plus, I got to take care of my camera. way I would come out of it alive if I tried anything. Plus, I got to take care of my camera. So he walks closer to us and the first thing he says is, you're going to want to keep that light off. And everyone is silent. I'm shaking. He then starts circling around us as he says, you guys are never going to come back here, right? He walks past me and sees the camera, raises his bat, saying, and you're going to put the fucking camera away,
Starting point is 00:15:37 right? I just barely say, yeah, yeah, it's off. He looks over to my friends watching on the roof past a gap. And he points to them. And he says, jump. And they stand silent. The guy says again, fucking jump across right now. Just run in jump. You'll make it. Keep in mind the gap doesn't look that bad, but the drop is fatal if you don't make the jump. And my four
Starting point is 00:16:15 friends are all staring down at the drop, fearing what could happen. One of them says, I don't think I can make it. The guy replies, run and jump, or else you're going to regret it. So my friend steps back, runs, and barely makes the jump. From there, one by one, the other three make the jump across. All the while, this guy is standing right behind us with his bat, dragging it along the concrete. Once we get across, he says to us, You're never coming back here again. You understand?
Starting point is 00:17:00 We awkwardly apologize and run away back to our cars in the distance. I get in my car and look back at the area. He's still standing there, watching us with his bad as we sped off. Realistically, we could have probably ganged up on him as a group if anything had happened, but who knows who else was back there. Sadly, the hospital is a no-go from here on out, but I'll be looking around for some other locations. What scared me the most about all of this was how fearless and disturbed this guy looked. He definitely has seen some shit and had undoubtedly used that bat before on someone else. He looked like a killer. Maybe he was a killer.
Starting point is 00:17:47 And it was his calmness that really got to me. Definitely a lesson learned, but regardless, let's not meet again. I want to share a secret with you, a game changer for anybody who's ever stared at a blank screen struggling to find the right words for that crucial email job application or even social media post. We get it. Writing can be a real challenge, especially when life's throwing a million things your way. So let's talk about Grammarly. Picture this, you're stuck on that first sentence of a make or break email.
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Starting point is 00:19:17 And the best part is that Grammarly is completely free. Yes, you heard it right. This amazing tool helps you conquer your writing challenges without spending a penny, whether you're a student, a pro, or just aiming to up your writing game. Grammarly's got you covered. Try it out today. You'll be amazed at what you can do with Grammarly. Go to Grammarly.com slash go to download for free today. That's g-r-a-m-m-a-r-l-y.com slash go. Now back to the show. My sister has been married for several years, but this is the first time she genuinely felt unsafe in her own home. Her husband was finishing up school and they had just had a baby so she was pretty sleep deprived.
Starting point is 00:20:14 She had gotten sick, and my brother-in-law wanted her to get some decent rest, so he stayed with the baby in the living room in the nursery to take care of her while my sister slept. He stayed with the baby in the living room in the nursery to take care of her while my sister slept. My parents wanted to see the baby, so my brother-in-law came over to our house for a bit, and just let my sister rest. It should be noted that my brother-in-law is extremely paranoid, even though we live in a low-crime area. He's from a sketchy Midwestern town, so that makes sense. So he makes sure the doors and windows are all locked before
Starting point is 00:20:45 leaving. And half wakes my sister up to let her know that he's going to our house with the baby, and that'll pick up some dinner on the way back. My sister sleepily agrees, and falls back to sleep. Fast forward a couple of hours. My sister has to wake up to breastfeed, slash pump, because her chest was starting to hurt. She prolongs this and tosses and turns for a while, because she was still exhausted and didn't want to get up just yet. Once she starts coming too, she realizes that the house is really cold. She actually opens her eyes and hears the front door shutting, but she's super out of it.
Starting point is 00:21:28 Assuming that it's her husband, she calls out his name, but no one answers. The room is pitch black, and all other lights in the house are off so she can't see anything. Suddenly, she gets this really horrible feeling that she can only describe as stepping into a freezing shower. She gets up and checks the thermostat, which is fine. She assumes she just feels cold because she's sick. She turns on some lights and does a quick turn about through the house and realizes that no one else is home and the front door is still locked. This obviously freaks her out and she texts her husband to ask when he'll be home.
Starting point is 00:22:11 He gets home not long after. They have dinner and he stays with the baby in the living room and sleeps on the couch. My sister notices that one of the windows in the bedroom is open and she says she doesn't remember opening it, but that would explain why it was so cold earlier. Her husband makes sure to check all of the windows and the doors. But my sister explains to him that weird feeling she got earlier. Later, she wakes up again around 2 a.m. to pump, and that disgusting feeling creeps up again.
Starting point is 00:22:47 She shoots up out of bed and can barely make out someone standing at the foot of the bed. She thinks it's her husband, similar height, similar build, so she asks him to bring her some water while she's prepping to pump. The figure doesn't move or speak. She repeats herself, and in what she describes as the most terrifying moment in her life, he answers. No, no. Go back to sleep. I like to watch you sleep. The voice definitely does not belong to my brother-in-law. She turns on her side desk lamp and starts screaming at this person wearing all black. definitely does not belong to my brother-in-law.
Starting point is 00:23:25 She turns on her side desk lamp and starts screaming at this person wearing all black. He starts giggling. Her husband jolts out of his sleep and she scrambles for the knife that she has on her table, and this person books it out the window. He had opened it and climbed through. She knows for sure that he was watching her sleep earlier when she was napping and that it was probably him that she had seen shutting the bedroom door earlier. They call the police and file a report, but nothing really comes of it because he technically
Starting point is 00:24:00 didn't do anything besides trespassing because they said that they couldn't be sure that they could charge him with breaking and entering, because my sister doesn't remember if she opened the window or not. Idiots. They have no idea how he didn't injure himself when he jumped out the window because my brother-in-law ran out the back to give chase, and saw that he had just disappeared. It's been a few years and nothing really ever came of the investigation. And they had the windows and locks replaced. So creepy guy that likes to watch people sleep stay away from my family and you better hope we never meet. The story takes place in 1999 when I was a stupid 18-year-old kid with nothing better to do than cruise around at night.
Starting point is 00:25:08 At the time I lived in a very small southern California town, and the only places open after dark were the pharmacy, some fast food restaurants, and a very gross bar. So like all kids, I made my own entertainment. I spent a lot of time driving around with friends listening to the radio and talking. It was better than sitting around or parents' houses, I guess. But after one particularly terrifying encounter that summer, I was just fine hanging out and our cozy well-lit home. One night, my friend Shawna and I decided to do our usual loop around the main part of town, out behind the high school and back to our houses via the freeway. We had been driving for about an hour, and it was close to 11pm when we decided to do
Starting point is 00:25:56 one last loop before calling it a night. Along the way we noticed some guys in another car. I don't remember how many there were. At least two. The driver and the passenger. But there might have been more. We first noticed them at the red light, stopped in the lane to our left. The guy over there is checking you out, my friend said. I tried to play it cool and pretended like I was looking at the totally boring scenery. and pretended like I was looking at the totally boring scenery. Oh wow, an abandoned gas station. I have to see this. Oops, caught your eye.
Starting point is 00:26:30 Sure enough, the passenger of the car next to us was checking me out. I don't really remember what he looked like, but it was 1999 and this was a real white trash town, so probably like Fred Durst. Anyway, I gave him a small smile, turned up our radio, and sped off as the light changed. The car stayed at a normal distance behind us, and my friend kept looking over her shoulder telling me to slow down so we could see if they were cute. I wasn't creeped out or anything. I just wasn't interested in playing flirt
Starting point is 00:27:05 tag with some dudes, so I maintained in my pace. By the time that we got to the next light, they'd gotten behind me and switched lanes so that they were pulled up to the right of our car. My friend immediately glanced over. The driver gave her the what's up nod, and I could see their passenger leaning forward, trying to look at us. Shawna gave them a little wave as the light changed, and we took off. A few blocks later, I pulled up to a stop sign where you could either go straight or turn right. The other car, who had been a couple of car lengths behind us, and to our left, sped up to catch up to us at the stop sign,
Starting point is 00:27:44 and jerked to the right-hand turn lane. They were slightly behind our car, but we could hear them shouting hello. My friend turned to look at the driver who was leaning out his window, motioning for us to follow them, loudly. Nope. It wasn't going to happen. Red light flirting was one thing, but neither of us were so desperate to meet boys that
Starting point is 00:28:05 we'd follow them in a car late at night, especially when there was nowhere even to go. She waved goodbye and we drove off, heading to the freeway entrance. In my rearview mirror, I saw their car flip around from wherever they'd been heading, and start to catch up with us. I got on to the freeway, hoping that they wouldn't follow, but they totally did. They stayed a few car lengths behind us, but kept switching lanes. Now if this happened today, I'd call the highway patrol on myself, but back then neither of us had one.
Starting point is 00:28:40 And at this point, I wasn't certain we were in danger, but I knew something felt off. Their car continued to switch lanes behind us for a couple of miles, but didn't try to catch up. Eventually, I hit part of the freeway that was a little bit more populated, and I started to calm down. They're probably heading downtown, we said. Or maybe to the beach, I thought they just wanted to try and talk to us. We cranked up the radio, decided to drive a little further, and thought we had lost the car.
Starting point is 00:29:12 But we were wrong. About 15 minutes later, we exited the freeway and turned around to head home. I'd been driving for a couple of minutes when I see a car pull off the shoulder of the road and start following us. At first I thought it was a speed trap, but almost instantly I saw that it was the same car from earlier. They had been waiting for us on the side of the road. They caught up to my car on the passenger side, and in my peripheral vision I could see the driver gesturing angerly at us. Neither of us could tell what he was saying, but Shauna started shouting. I don't know. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:29:51 In response, and doing an, I'm sorry, gesture, with her hands. I tried to keep my eyes on the road, but it was also thinking, what the fuck? What's going on? So I kept glancing over. Then it happened. The driver pulled out a gun from his lap and started tapping it on the side of his car window at us. Shana immediately threw her seat back, which I realized she was trying to save herself, but thanks for giving them a clear shot at me. I looked over and saw the driver's face, which was absolutely furiously contorted with rage. He was shouting so hard I remember seeing spit all over their window, which
Starting point is 00:30:31 he was still tapping on with the gun. I don't know what kind of gun it was. It was black. And I guess looked dangerous. I began reviewing a mental map of the area, trying to figure out the easiest way to get to the police station. We were about six exits from where we started, and I knew there was a fire station pretty close there, so I decided to floor it and try to outrun them, quickly gain distance and pulled into their lane, which was the fast lane and the one closest to the exits. They were driving some kind of Toyota sedan and I was in a Honda with a lot of pickup, so I managed to clear out pretty fast, but they did catch up.
Starting point is 00:31:12 They pulled into the lane to my right and I could see the driver waving his arm outside the window. The passenger was flipping us off out his window and then pulled what looked like a crowbar out, waving it out the window, like a fucking warboy looking for victory on Fury Road. I am getting off at the next exit and I am heading to the fire station. I told Shana, they're basically cops, right? Or they can call the cops. And we're going to be fine. I said, reaching over to grab her hand. She was still flat, but she was crying and shaking. Today, 20 years later, I am a mom of toddler,
Starting point is 00:31:55 and I still never felt the intense pressure of responsibility I felt in that moment. They had to keep us calm and safe and get us away from these guys. The next exit was approaching and they hadn't caught up or moved into our lane. I quickly exited the freeway, heard them pass, and immediately gunned our car in the direction of the fire station, hoping all of the firemen were having a midnight party with armed police. I hadn't gotten very far away when I see a car tearing ass to catch up with us. All I can think of is they flipped a U-turn on the freeway and drove the wrong way to double back and exit because nothing else made geographic sense. I ran a red light hoping that God a hidden cop
Starting point is 00:32:38 would pull me over with no such luck. They were about a block or so behind us. With one eye on my rear view mirror, I drove as quickly as I could, hoping that they were done trying to scare us and would fall back. But instead, by the grace of God or karma or whatever you believe in, their car either hit some kind of debris on the road or they simply lost control, because they crashed into a mailbox on the sidewalk and stopped. I saw the driver get out as I was peeling away and I swear to God I almost peed my pants with relief and gratitude. Now before you say that the gun was probably fake, let me tell you the last part of this story. As we were driving off, we heard an actual gunshot from their direction. I didn't look back, but Shauna sat up to look and said,
Starting point is 00:33:25 she saw the driver standing in front of their car, aiming his gun in our direction. I quickly turned in the direction of the fire station and we heard another shot. I finally got to the fire station and for a second time that night, I felt like some divine presence was watching over us. There were three police cruisers outside with cops standing around. I told you it was a small town. I pulled over and told them my story and embarrassingly fear vomited halfway through. The cops were very nice and immediately went to look for them. One stayed behind to get our full statements and make sure that we were okay. One stayed behind to get our full statements and make sure that we were okay. I'll never, ever forget what she said to me.
Starting point is 00:34:08 You must have done some fine-out running tonight and I'm glad you finished the race in one piece. Here's what I know. They did not catch these guys that night, if they ever did. I never found out about it. They were driving a stolen car with stolen plates. We gave our statements, and I kept my eye on the news for the next few months, but I never heard anything about any kind of similar reports.
Starting point is 00:34:35 Twenty years later, Shana and I are friends and often reminisce about that night. Neither of us have any theories about what their intent was, but I know it wasn't good. So, in honor of this fine, sub-tradition, late 90s, probably Freddurst looking mother-fucker, and your gun-toting buddy, that's not me. So I'm at the club with my then best friend. Near the end of the night we were approached by a random guy who was alone. He has a heavy accent and tells us that he just moved here from Russia. He tells us his name is Jesse. It doesn't sound like a very Russian name, and I'm immediately on guard. This friend of mine has a tendency to pick the worst guys. And what I mean is, in a room full of people, she will somehow manage to pick the single
Starting point is 00:35:48 craziest guy in there and start dating him. And being as close as we were, I always managed to get sucked into it. This night was no exception. I pull her away from Jesse, but not before he manages to get my friend's phone number. Later, as we are in her car ready to drive home, she gets a call from Jessie. She answers, and his voice rings out on her car speaker. Can you give me a ride home? No.
Starting point is 00:36:20 I immediately mouth from the passenger side, still silent. I just live around the corner from the club, he persuades. She reluctantly agrees and hangs up. I ask her why he can't take an Uber or walk if it's that close. But it's my friend's car and she wants to be nice and give him a ride. So we pull back in front of the club and he hops in. During the short car ride, he manages to get out a sob story about how he moved here to start over with his one-year-old son. His wife back in Russia died in childbirth. My friend is eating
Starting point is 00:36:58 it up. I hate him almost immediately. The next day, he's texting and calling my friend, asking her out. She at least has the same sense not to want to go out with him alone, asking me if I'll come along with a guy I was dating at the time. So we get to the beach, and we drink a few beers. Jesse takes his and wanders off alone. My guy joins him, and I see them chatting for a while. I distinctly remember him describing Jesse later that night.
Starting point is 00:37:31 I like the guy. He just seems a little lonely. I'm wondering why no one can see all the red flags but me. Then again, I always did have a sense for these types of things. That night goes relatively smooth. As the weeks go by, the four of us hang out a couple more times. Jesse tries to invite himself over to my friend's place. I beg my friend to, if nothing else, keep her address private, do not let him know where you live. Thankfully, she thinks this is a smart policy. He seemed oddly fixated on going specifically to her home. As the weeks go by, he shows his pictures of his son
Starting point is 00:38:14 and even shows a picture of his son's birth certificate, which seems a bit like he's overcompensating. But I never meet this supposed son, and I have no idea where he is during all of these outings Jesse was going to be on with us. I asked him plenty of personal questions trying to figure him out. And I think he knows I'm on to him. But soon enough, my friend starts dating someone else, and Jesse wants to be the only guy in her life. He becomes possessive and makes her choose him or the other guy.
Starting point is 00:38:50 Unfortunately for Jesse, she chooses the other guy. He's furious. The next day, Jesse is blowing her phone up, texts, calls, voice-mails. When we finally listen to them, they're increasingly violent, full of cursing. The last voicemail reveals everything. It was all a lie. There was no sun, no wife. He calls us idiots. The last words, he speak, say that she'd regret it and that he will, quote, make her explode. A shutter to think of that now. She blocks him and life goes on, but due to the next boyfriend being even crazier than
Starting point is 00:39:31 this one, I eventually need to take a break from this girl. We go our separate ways. And yet, the nagging feeling about Jesse never goes away. Jesse often pops into my head and I get the worst eerie feeling. A while down the road, I end up catching up with her over text. Even after our falling out, she can hardly wait a few texts and to reconnecting to ask if I remember Jesse. My blood instantly turns cold.
Starting point is 00:40:02 I say yes. She sends me the link to the news article. It's about a Russian man arrested for a crime while trying to flee the country. He has a very Russian name I've never heard before. As I read the details of the crime, I'm horrified. Turns out, he murdered his ex-girlfriend by shooting her five times. I also took a photo of the suspect. It's Jesse. He got life in prison after making a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. His real name was Igor. He was 27. He requested a plea deal in 2016 after prosecutors indicated that they would pursue the death penalty in the 2015 killing. Police alleged that he used a key that he never returned to break into the 22-year-old Shaily Estez home near 16th Street in Phoenix.
Starting point is 00:40:59 Igor brought with him a handgun purchased earlier that day through a private internet cell according to the police. After an argument between Igor and Shelly when she returned home, neighbors heard a gunshot and found her body in the home. Igor's relationship with Shelly ended in 2015 according to her roommate's statement to the police. An order of protection was obtained by Igor shortly after. Court records said that Igor sent Shaili's roommate a threatening text after an order of protection was served.
Starting point is 00:41:38 It said, she will be brutally murdered from Russia with love. Igor was apprehended at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on July 24, 2015, according to authorities. He had purchased a one-way ticket from San Francisco. Court records said that he told the police the shooting was an accident. When I shared with my dear friend, who happens to be a devoted cat enthusiast about smalls, her interest was immediately peaked. She mentioned that she had come across the name before but wasn't well versed in their offerings. See, she was in a bit of a bind trying to get her finicky cat to eat, having experimented
Starting point is 00:42:40 with various brands to no avail. That's when I decided to gift her a subscription to Smalls. Upgrade your cat's diet, switch to Smalls, protein rich recipes with no preservatives, just fresh, fridge-like ingredients, delivered right to your doorstep. Founded in 2017 by two cat-loving individuals, crafting small batches of home-cooked cat food,
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Starting point is 00:44:16 for 50% off of your first order. One last time, that's promo code Meet for 50% off your first order plus free shipping. Now back to the show. I have lots of creepy encounters during my travels, but I'll start with the most recent one. This is fairly long as I had two creepy encounters, one after the other. For clarification, I'm Asian with distinct Asian features, 5'1, small, and in my 20s.
Starting point is 00:45:00 Last year I went to Egypt with a big group of 40 people. For one night, we stayed at this beautiful villa-style hotel on top of the mountains. The layout for this particular hotel is there is a very long pole in the middle surrounded by small villas with about 20 rooms per villa. Our group got assigned to the furthest villa from the lobby. It was around 10pm when I decided to go out for a walk and watch the stars. My grandma, who I was sharing the room with, was tired and went to sleep early, so I went out by myself. I walked around the pool, enjoyed the weather, and the stars.
Starting point is 00:45:44 I sat on one of the benches by the pool, enjoyed the weather, and the stars. I sat on one of the benches by the poolside. It was then that I noticed one of the hotel staff, a bag-poorter, who helped me with our luggages when we checked in. They were approaching me. I thought nothing of it, but he came by and made small conversation. I brushed it off as him trying to be friendly and courteous to guests. He asked where we came from, and I answered politely. When he said next, gave me the creeps. He said his friend was actually looking for a wife from my country. Okay, all right, dude.
Starting point is 00:46:23 I laughed it off, lied that I'm married. He asked where my husband is. I kind of panicked and told him my non-existent husband got left behind because he had work. He took out his phone and called someone, but I guess the person he was calling wasn't picking up. He told me to wait, but my spidey sense is we're tingling in overdrive. I had two options. I could walk back to the villa as quickly as possible, but risk letting this man know
Starting point is 00:46:52 the room that I'm staying at with my grandma, or I could walk towards the well lit lobby, hoping that there are people from my group still there. I stood up and started to walk fast towards the lobby. The man was still trying to call someone on his phone and tried to call him after me, but I waved goodbye hurriedly. When I got to the lobby, I was relieved to see that our tour leader, our Egyptian tour guide, and probably three ladies from our group was still there. No more creepy hotel staff. Or so I thought. In the hotel lobby, they have a bunch of souvenir shops set up. One of the ladies that I was close with, B, was browsing inside a souvenir shop. Our guide warned us beforehand that the paintings
Starting point is 00:47:42 that they sell at this hotel are fake, or just generally low-quality tourist trap souvenirs. So I went inside the shop to tell B about that, in case she forgot. Inside the shop was B, me, and two salesmen. One of them was standing near the door and blocking the only means of exit. B asked for my opinion between two paintings, and this salesman standing out front told us that these paintings have a different pattern show up that glows in the dark and asked us if we wanted to see it. I firmly said no before, be could answer. I had enough for the day, and I just wanted to go back to our room. However,
Starting point is 00:48:26 this persistent salesman said something to this other man standing behind us, who then proceeded to close the door and turn the light off. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I do not like the idea of being in a pitch-dark room with two men, I don't know. I could also sense that B was panicking, and she held onto my wrist. Like an angel in disguise. The door suddenly opened from outside, and it was B's aunt, who was also in the lobby with our tour guide. They shouted at us, and asked what we were doing. She motioned for us to come out quickly. I swear I do not know what would have happened if Beesont didn't open that door at that time. She made a fuss over it, and the rest of the group walked back to the villa together
Starting point is 00:49:15 with our tour leader. On the way to the villa, Beesont asked us if anything happened, if our phones and wallets were still with us and all. We checked our belongings, and everything was fine, no one followed us back to the villa, and I was happy that we were also checking out the next morning. So creepy porter and salesman at this hotel, if I ever find myself back, let's not meet. I was very young when this happened. About seven or eight. But I remember it vividly. It was kind of scary. So I was a pretty naive child.
Starting point is 00:50:14 My grandparents did warn me about stranger danger, but they mostly focused on how bad men were. So when an old lady started talking to me, I didn't think much of it. I was actually very happy someone older was talking to me. She lived across the street, so I saw her every day when I went outside. She was very nice. She gave me sweets and little toys and knick-knacks whenever she saw me. The first red flag I saw was that she would sneak into my backyard late at night and tend to our garden. At the time, I didn't see it as a problem, though, because she planted cherry tomatoes, and I loved those. Something
Starting point is 00:50:52 I recently realized, though, was the fact that the only way to get into our backyard without needing a key was the side of the house that had my window, which was usually open due to it being summer. Which is scary. The second red flag was the first time I went into her house, and this time I actually took it as a red flag because to this day, I won't drink milk. So I went in. She gave me some brownies and she ended me a glass of milk. That's all I'm fine, thank you, because I already had a lot to drink at my house. Her response was to make me drink the whole cup. A full adult's ties cup, by the way, and I wasn't allowed to leave until I did. I finished it while crying. I left in a hurry and didn't see her again for a couple of weeks. Eventually I did get over it, though, and went back to apologize. We hung
Starting point is 00:51:53 out for the whole day, and when it got late, she asked me something which, sadly, I got excited about. She asked me to sleep over. I was excited because I was never allowed to sleep over at a friend's house, and my logic was that since she's older and mature, then I would be allowed. I ran to my grandparents, and obviously, they were pissed. She followed me home, and when they said no, I ran to my room in tears. I heard my grandpa yelling at her through my window. And when I looked and made eye contact with her, I will never forget the disappointed look on her face when she said, Why did you tell them?
Starting point is 00:52:37 The old lady across the street, my younger self would have loved to meet you again, but I've grown up and I definitely don't want loved to meet you again, but I've grown up and I definitely don't want to ever meet you again. I was about 7 years old, my brother was about 10. It was well past our bedtime when our mom woke up off of the couch and told us to get to bed. Our dad worked construction out of town back then, so it was often just the three of us at the house for weeks at a time. Up the stairs into the immediate right was our parents bedroom.
Starting point is 00:53:36 Going left put you in the middle of the hallway. Taking another left down that hallway led to my brother's room. The opposite end was my room, which was also across the hall from the upstairs bathroom. At either end of the hallway are window doors which we always kept locked and rarely used. The door on my end led to a balcony overlooking our front yard, and the door on my brother's end opened to our back porch, the house kind of leans into a small hill. My brother and mom both had a habit of waking up in the middle of the nighties the bathroom.
Starting point is 00:54:12 I only knew this because I was a light sleeper and they just couldn't help flushing with the door wide open. This night however, my brother stopped on his way to his room and came back towards the bathroom. I'm going to try and pee before I go to bed. The past few nights I've been too afraid to walk to the bathroom. I keep saying a man wearing stripes at the end of the hallway," he said. I don't know if my mom wrote it off as my brother telling ghost stories or trying to scare me, or if she was already half asleep
Starting point is 00:54:47 and didn't catch it. But she didn't react at all to my brother's confession. I, on the other hand, was terrified by it. The fear of seeing a ghost like that at the end of the hallway or through the windows is the reason I started running from the stairs to my bedroom at night. Years later, when I was about 18, my mom and I were having a conversation in her car about a dog we had for a very short time when I was little. We were sharing stories about Max's tendencies towards destroying my shoes and other unruly behaviors when my mom blurted out. Do you remember that time I opened the front door for the cops and Max ran inside to the
Starting point is 00:55:30 kitchen and started tearing open that big bag of dog food we had? This really caught me by surprise, because in all the years that I had lived in that house we never once called the cops. We were a gun-owning family in a quiet rural West Virginia neighborhood. I asked her what she was talking about, and she looked equally surprised as if she had just revealed something by accident. Oh, that's right. I never told you because you were too young at the time. One night, I woke up hearing noises outside my window. I went and looked and I saw a man staring into my bedroom. She went on to
Starting point is 00:56:11 describe how turning on the lights caused him to take off running and how she grabbed my dad's pistol before calling the cops. I can't remember all of the details, but I gave them to the cops when they showed up. A tall white male wearing a striped shirt in jeans, short dark hair, something like that. They said it matched the description of a man that they were looking for in the area. Now I know it sounds so obvious hearing those two stories back to back, but it wasn't until a few years ago, and my mid-twenties that I pieced together that my brother had unknowingly warned us about a man who spent multiple nights casing our home. My brother already knew about my mom's story. He still can't remember much about how he saw the person, but it sounds like it really
Starting point is 00:56:59 scared him, as much as the story did for me when we were kids. He said he's probably suppressing the memory, and I can't tell if he's joking about that or not. My brother did remind me of a piece of the story I didn't know was related. For the week after my mom called the cops, our older cousin brought a shotgun and stayed with us until my dad returned. Of course at the time I didn't know why he was staying with us. I mentioned this to my mom and she told me a detail that I didn't know. Our cousin who was sleeping in my
Starting point is 00:57:29 brother's room set up a makeshift alarm system with some string and bells on the door in case anyone came around again. It was a string, some bells, and a shotgun. Affordable home security in the 90s, I guess. The funny part about my cousins makeshift alarm stories that it led to my mom revealing another detail about my life that I never knew about. But as long as I can remember that door, which was replaced several years ago, had a rope bloop of some Christmas bells around the doorknob. The sound of those bells is burned into my memory because they would jingle any time someone
Starting point is 00:58:07 opened the door and my mom would always check that door before going to bed. As I got older and started doing more work around the house, I would have to use that door a lot and would get annoyed by it falling off every time I opened the door. I remember getting frustrated and throwing it in the closet once or twice, but my mom got upset and made me put it back. She said that our cousin's alarm system gave her the idea to leave those Christmas bills up on the door year-round. This happened a couple of years ago, I don't like talking about it that much. It just never seemed like a big deal to me as a kid, but the older I get, the more I think about it and the more it haunts me.
Starting point is 00:59:09 It was New Year's Eve 2011, and me and a couple of my friends were having a sleep over. My friend's neighborhood was relatively new, so there were still houses being built all around him. We were going to stay up until midnight, but it was only about seven o'clock, and we wanted something to do in the meantime. One of my friends had the idea of going to play hide and seek in one of the houses being built. We asked his mom, and she said that it was okay, but she gave us her phone to hold on to and told us to text my friend's dad in case anything happened.
Starting point is 00:59:46 We took the phone, got our coats on and headed outside. The house was only a hundred yards away from the front porch, so it wasn't that far of a walk. We jogged across the street since it was relatively windy out and we didn't want to stay in the cold air. We decided to play in pairs, but if you were hiding, you had to stay with your teammate. I volunteered to be the seeker. So the two hiders headed into the house, while me and the other seeker began to count.
Starting point is 01:00:17 Once I hit 60, the game began. The house was dark and cold, and the only source of light was the bright moon shining through every window and door. We were standing in the empty shell of someone's home. No inner walls had been put up yet, and there was no carpeting on the floors. The only thing on the inside were dozens of thick wooden beams. I told my friend I'd take the first floor if he wanted to take the second, and he agreed. He walked past me, and up the steps, I was now alone. I walked around the first floor with a smile on my face, braver than ever.
Starting point is 01:00:56 I called out the names of my friends, trying to hold in my laughter. Since the house was so dark, you can only see about five feet in front of you, so I made sure to check every nook and cranny. That's when I found the basement. It was a dark, eerie hole in the floor that looked like it would swallow anything that walked into it. They couldn't have gone down there, I thought to myself. There's no way. But I had checked the entire first floor and heard nothing from my friend upstairs, so I sucked it up and began down the steps. I walked down slowly, taking careful steps because it was nearly impossible to see anything. My footsteps echoed throughout the dark room, and I was only able to see the tips of my
Starting point is 01:01:42 fingers. I walked slowly listening for any type of noise in the darkness. Then I heard something, a slow moving of feet. Hello, I said, following with my friends' names, no response. For a quick second, I contemplated turning back around, but I knew if this was them, they wouldn't say anything back. I called out their names again. No response. A smile came across my face. I had found them. Come on out." I said, as I walked towards the source of the noise, I heard you guys move. I began to see the silhouette of something in the corner of the basement.
Starting point is 01:02:29 It was a person, but only one. Didn't we say the hiders had to stay together? I said to the person. They didn't move. They stayed crouched down in one corner, facing the wall. I began to walk closer, fully convinced that it was one of my friends. Hey, I found you, you're out, I said. At that moment I just wanted to get out of the basement.
Starting point is 01:02:58 I continued to walk closer. I still wasn't close enough to make out any body features. Whoever it was was breathing rather loudly, loud enough for me to hear it from a couple of feet away. Me being the naive kid I was, still thinking it was one of my friends just trying to scare me. I smiled again. I didn't know what else to do, but I wouldn't take a step closer.
Starting point is 01:03:27 That's when the breathing was overpowered by laughter, and loud footsteps from upstairs. I found you. I heard through the ceiling. I quickly turned around and ran back upstairs to see who was found, hoping whoever was in the basement would follow me. I waited on the first floor as I heard them coming down the steps. I got them both," my friend said, as he came into my view. I stood there, a confused look on my face.
Starting point is 01:03:56 "'How did you find both of them?' I thought to myself. But to my surprise, here came both of the highters, walking from upstairs. My heart dropped. I felt my blood rush out of my face and my legs go weak. I slowly turned around and stumbled toward the front door without saying a word. Where are you going?" they asked. I couldn't open my mouth to speak. There was only one thought in my head at this time.
Starting point is 01:04:25 Who was in the basement with me? I was only able to utter the words. There's someone in the basement. I made it to the front door, slowly turned the knob and slipped outside and began running back up to my friend's house. I wanted to get as far away from that house as possible. I began feeling tears, wiling up in my eyes. I made it to the front porch and collapsed. Barely being able to catch my breath because I was so hysterical. I lay there for what felt like ages. When I heard my friends come up behind me. I don't even remember what they were saying,
Starting point is 01:05:06 all I could think about was the person in the basement. After I calmed down, I told them what had happened, and they all seemed to freak out at me. The fact that I talked directly to the person for so long is what scared me so much. I decided not to tell his parents since we figured they wouldn't believe us. I didn't sleep for a week after that. I still have nightmares about it sometimes. A few months after that night, the house was finished and a family finally moved in. I never heard any complaints about the squatter or anything.
Starting point is 01:05:40 The older I get, the more I realize it was probably just another kid in the neighborhood trying to scare us, but still, it's pretty scary to me. So, to the person in the basement, let's not meet again. I'm sure plenty of you are familiar with Eli Roth. He's directed Hostel Cabin Fever and the Green Inferno, and he hosts two podcasts. He's one of the best. On a ghost ruined my life with Eli Roth from Travel Channel, here are the real-life stories of people who have been through terrifying confrontations with the unknown and come out alive. For this podcast, Roth has gone through hundreds of submissions from real people whose lives have been ravaged by a ghost demon or sinister entity.
Starting point is 01:06:46 Each episode focuses on one person's story, handpicked and introduced by Roth, and retold by the victims themselves. They talk about some of the most terrifying, unexplainable events that they've experienced, and now you can listen to a new season of all new, real-life stories of terror on a ghost ruined my life. Listen to a ghost ruin my life with Eli Roth wherever you get your podcasts. This took place back around 2008 if my memory serves me right. Me and my family had just moved to Costa Rica, and we enjoyed spending most of our time at the beach.
Starting point is 01:07:37 One beach in particular, which was near a lovely little river I like to swim in. It was on the same beach that nine-year-old girl me found a dead body floating in the ocean. To give a little context, I had been playing on the beach. We thought it was a relatively safe beach, so my parents were further up. How wrong they were about it being safe. I remember seeing something floating in the water, but I wasn't sure what it was, so I went to investigate and found a dead man. Just floating there. Part of his leg had been hacked off. It was obvious he had not drowned. The man was clearly murdered. Around this time we had heard about a recent string of murders that had happened,
Starting point is 01:08:24 both on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica that had happened, both on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica where we were, and on the Pacific side. The murders had been happening every six months, rotating in between both regions of the country. So there was reason to assume this murder had been done by the same person, since it seemed to fit the timeline. As far as I can remember remember the details of the murder were never disclosed in any of the local newspapers, only that the man had been a tourist from
Starting point is 01:08:52 England, so there was no way for anyone who had not seen the man on the beach to know the specifics of his murder. Eventually, the whole thing blew over, and we returned to the same beach. I can't quite remember a time frame, but it was definitely within a few months of me finding the dead man, that the next part happened. One day I was swimming in the river with my mother, when a very strange man popped out of the water, startling us. He had a spear gun in his hand, and a snorkel
Starting point is 01:09:27 mask on. Anyways, he began talking to my mom and I. I think we could both tell that something was just off about this guy. I wasn't really paying attention to most of their conversation, but I do remember him bringing up the recent murder on the beach, and he seemed to know a great amount of details about it, which as I previously mentioned were not available to the public. It almost seemed as if he was trying to confess that he was the one who murdered the man, but without directly saying so. He also talked about how he traveled between the Caribbean and the Pacific side of Costa Rica, spending
Starting point is 01:10:06 half a year in each spot. Eventually, they got onto the topic of what he did for a living. He spent a great deal talking about how he made the masks for the movie Eyes Wide Shut, and that he would make those masks, and I presume other ones based on real-life human emotions, and that he specifically liked capturing the look of fear. We were totally taken aback by this guy, and didn't really know what to do. Eventually he just got back into the water and swam away, and thankfully we never saw him again.
Starting point is 01:10:47 I do not know if this is related or not, but the weird strain of murders suddenly stopped after that. I don't remember exactly how old I was. I remember definitely being in elementary school, probably around 5th grade. My mom and I loved to go to Disneyland. We lived about an hours drive away and had annual passes. One of my mom's favorite rides was the Tower of Terror, which was very scary for me because of the drops. Right in the middle of the ride, there is a little area for fast passes. And for anyone who isn't familiar, there are just small machines where you can get passes to skip the line. This is where I would wait for my mom while she went on the ride. There's always a worker there, plus many others viewing from the distance. And I had one of those flip phones in case I got lost. As I'm sitting there,
Starting point is 01:11:59 I hear the worker behind me talking to a man, asking him to move out of the fast-pass area since they were closing them for the day. The man walked out and sat next to me. He was about 18 to 20 years old. He asked beforehand if I would mind if he sat next to me to which I said no. I didn't think anything of it, and there was plenty of space between us. Now I was a very friendly kid so naturally I was going to start conversation with him while we waited. When I turned he was already looking at me.
Starting point is 01:12:30 He stuck out his hand, offering to shake hands with me, and gave me his name which was light. I introduced myself to him, and we began to talk. As the conversation went on, he scooted closer to me again. I didn't think anything of it, because we were still pretty far apart. I figured he just wanted to be able to hear me better. It was a relatively normal conversation, asking where I was from, my hobbies, and how old I was, etc. That is, until he asked, do you have a phone? What's your phone number? Luckily,
Starting point is 01:13:03 I had my phone in my bag, so I just told him that I was too young for one. He followed up with this question. Are you ticklish? Remember, I'm tiny, a fifth-grade girl, and he just told me he's 19. My froze, and felt all of the adrenaline rushing into my body, as he proceeds to grab and squeeze very high up on my thighs in the sides of my stomach. That lasted for about five seconds until I saw my mom which prompted me to get up and run to her. I walked up and she looked very mad and annoyed. She was looking past me, and from behind me I heard,
Starting point is 01:13:41 hi, I'm light. He shook hands with my mom. I was wondering if I could spend the rest of the day with you guys. My mom said no, and he walked away. I began to ball my eyes out to her. She explained the reason why she looked so angry is because when I was a little kid, I used to invite people over to her house to hang out with us. So she assumed that I had done it again. I didn't tell her about him touching me until I began high school, which I definitely
Starting point is 01:14:08 should have, but for some reason I had the idea in my head that I would have been in trouble if I would have told her. So creepy Disneyland man, let's not meet again. Long ago, when I had first gotten into college and moved to a new city and a new state, because of it, I was approached to help in a haunted house by the activities director at my college. I didn't know the people who were asking for help at their event that well, but it was supposed to be in a huge church that looked like a castle since it was a former monastery, and all the proceeds would go to help various local charities that the church was involved in. I saw it as my chance to meet some new people and make some new friends.
Starting point is 01:15:09 Participants were encouraged to come and costume, to help with the setup, and to bring about a general festive mood. I decided to go with Harley Quinn as this was a full decade before the Suicide Squad movie, and I thought it would help me find other geeks in the process to befriend. So I have the pigtails and whatnot, and I arrive to a very large stone building that does indeed look like a castle, and that no one but me, the event coordinators, and one other girl, showed up to. Side note, I've always looked younger than my age, so I was clocking in it 15, the
Starting point is 01:15:46 oldest, in this costume even though I was well into 19 at the time. The people who approached me were there. We'll call them Bob and Sue. Along with the other girl, they were able to find who went to a different college. They said that more people would show up later. Spoiler alert. No one did. And we started unloading the cars and bringing things into the church. I very quickly found out that this place was 10% actual service hall and 90% sub floors, towers, and abandoned classrooms. They had mapped out the whole thing for a medieval-themed, guided-haunted house tour. They complimented me on my quote-unquote jester costume, and I shrugged and rolled with it.
Starting point is 01:16:32 Happy that I had accidentally matched the theme. The first sign of trouble came about 45 minutes after we started setting up the concessions room. I was sent down into the lower floor to look for another girl who had yet to come back after being sent to fetch cupcakes from a fridge and the old kitchen down there. She was named Becca, and she was dressed as a fairy princess, so the directions Bob and Sue gave me just barely got me to where I was going. This place was a massive maze on the inside. When I suddenly hear heavy breathing, I stop and peek my head around the corner to see a person standing
Starting point is 01:17:14 in the dimly-lighted hall, back to me, looking through a space between two doors into a very bright room just beyond. I was having none of this and said in a very clear and overly loud voice. Can I help you? This guy spins around like a top and proceeds to stare at me with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. Classic body language for someone who just got caught doing something that they should not have been. At that moment, the door behind him starts opening and he moves behind it. And Becca comes through the door, cupcakes in hand. She looks really scared. And in a very fake chipper voice says that she needs help carrying all of these cupcakes and we should really
Starting point is 01:17:57 start heading back now. I look behind her as the door closes and see the creepy guy bolt away down the hall and turn a corner to who knows where. I nod, not wanting to leave her alone and we go back up to the higher floor. When we get to the room where the concessions were being set up, no one was there and as Becca sets the cupcakes down she informs me that there is a lot more downstairs but she's too scared to go. She says that that guy was following her around for a while, ducking behind corners whenever she would turn around.
Starting point is 01:18:32 When she got to the kitchen, she had engaged the lock at the top of the door, and she stayed in there gathering things and pretending that she didn't hear the dude's heavy breathing and being a creeper'soid. She didn't have a cell phone because of her costume, a fairy princess. It didn't have pockets. She was ready to cry when she suddenly heard me call the guy out and decide that now was the time to act and unlock the door and came out as quickly as she could before I left. Bob and Sue had pulled a Houdini, and were nowhere to be found in the immediate area, and she said she was too scared to go back downstairs. I told her she should stay
Starting point is 01:19:11 up with the concessions, and the much more brightly lit area and tell someone as soon as they came back, and that I would go back down to snag the rest of the stuff. I know this sounds like a pretty bad idea, and it was, but that guy was scrawny and looked to be in his 50s, and the same height as I was. So I was pretty sure that I could take him since I was still pretty tough from constant farm work all through high school. So I head back down in this dude tries the same thing with me. Following but ducking behind corners, every time I turn back around, not saying anything but breathing heavily. I was far more angry than scared at this point, and when I heard him standing outside of
Starting point is 01:19:55 the kitchen door, like he had done with Becca, I threw the door open as quickly as I could, so my face was about an inch from his and said, I have the strongest feeling you're not allowed within 500 feet of a school zone." He was once again very shocked, and before he could answer, I slammed and locked the door and then proceeded to sing happily and loudly, as soon as I heard him scuttle away back into the darkness. I gathered the soda bottles and boxes of candy bars into a couple of bags to reduce trips which probably took about 10 minutes. Unlock the door after checking for signs of creepy Mick Creeperton and headed back upstairs. When I got to the concessions room, I opened the door, and Becca was circling the concessions
Starting point is 01:20:42 table to be away from him. Who else? The creep himself. I set the bags down, stood between him and Becca and said very loudly in his face. Back the hell off, Grandpa. He took offense to this and proceeded to storm out of the room, this time rather than sneak away. As soon as he was gone, Becca started crying, and I told her we needed to go upstairs to
Starting point is 01:21:05 find someone, and if we didn't, to go home and call the police from there because this was quickly escalating out of hand for either of us. We head upstairs to see no one, so we head for the door. When who should stop us halfway down the stairs, but Sue? She wanted to know why we were leaving, and we told her everything. She said that that was impossible and that she had only left 10 minutes ago, and that was hardly enough time for all of that to have happened. I pointed out that we had been unable to find her for several hours and wanted to know why that she had ditched us in this church by ourselves.
Starting point is 01:21:42 She straightened up and said that traffic to the Costco was heavy and that we should be grateful for this opportunity to help the Lord. I pointed out that the nearest Costco was easily an hour and a half away. But before she could respond, Bob was behind us on the stairs saying that he would be glad to take Becca home, but first we had to help with the rest of the supplies and get them out of the car. Becca agreed and I decided to stick around since these people were beyond weird and I didn't want to leave Becca alone in case they decided to go to a movie or something and ditch her with Dr. Creepinstein.
Starting point is 01:22:23 We finished unloading the car and just as we were about to leave, Sue pops back up and says, we have to introduce ourselves to the pastor of the church before we go. So we start following her down these hallways. The whole time she is gushing about this guy like he's an anthropomorphic Bible. We get there and who should it be,
Starting point is 01:22:43 but Baron von Creepy Creep? Now, complete with pastor robes. As soon as he sees us, he looks uncomfortable and is trying not to look at us. As Sue is going on and on about this and that and the other. Then Sue brings up our wild imaginations about a man in the church, and this dude actually straightens up and says that it was him and he was simply trying to help us, but we kept being very disrespectful. And that he had to hide in his office from our terrible and inappropriate behavior. Becca looked as stunned as I was, and this dude steps closer to me and asks for my parents' number so that he can have a
Starting point is 01:23:21 talk with them about raising a child that knows how to respect their elders. I proceeded to snap hard, so hard that I developed a rage-induced, forced-wittaker-eye. First off, I'm a 19-year-old girl, and I will not be giving some psycho with a god-complex and a thing for underage girls, any phone number of anyone that I care about. Secondly, you're pretty tough in those robes in front of someone who knows you publicly, but we both saw how fast you ran when I cornered you spying on my friend through that gap in the door. Like you get good housekeeping lessons from Michael Myers.
Starting point is 01:23:58 Thirdly, newsflash. Pigtails and fairy wings are not antennas, beaming out a signal for you to follow girls down dark hallways, but hey, it looks like that asthma attack you had the whole time you were alone has magically cleared up. It must be a miracle." At this point, Pastor creeps a lot, looks mortified. I guess he thought I wasn't going to call him out on it. Becca looks like she wants to hug me and Sue looks like she wants to kill me. I mean, she was livid. It was at this point that Bob, who I had not noticed, come in from the room as I was ripping
Starting point is 01:24:34 into the pastor, proceeded to slap a hand on my and Becca's shoulders at the same time and demand we apologize. I slapped his hand away from both of us, told him to fuck right the hell off, grabbed Becca and marched through the halls, out the door and down the street to the bus stop downtown, hoping we could figure out the quickest way to get her home from there. We didn't say anything while we waited, but once we were on the bus she thanked me and pointed out the worst part of the story. That the church was going to have a haunted house still, and that Bob and Sue had told
Starting point is 01:25:09 her on the ride over that the pastor was supposed to be the tour guide for the kids while the parents waited at the concession stand. I was horrified and said, we had to warn people and stop this. She agreed and said to leave to her since she had a computer and a bit of clout back at her university. I had neither as I had just moved there and so I just left to her. We found her bus hugged as she got on and I never saw her again. What I did get was called into the activity director's office and regaled about the nasty message left by Bob and Sue stating that I was barred from ever entering to the church because of my lies spread about their beloved pastor.
Starting point is 01:25:52 Bob and Sue had a terrible turnout at the haunted house and none of the parents trusted their kids with the pastor anymore. Essentially, we had ruined their Halloween. I recounted what had happened to their activities director and they said I was obviously making it up and barred me from future school events for the year. I didn't fight it, since I had a job that I was starting in a week, but I will always be grateful and did to save those kids. [♪ Music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, music playing in background, a little easier, with discounts on healthy food, and gift cards for pregnancy and child checkups. We include vision and medical help 24-7. See more benefits at OptimaMedicaid.com slash hello. It's time to say hello to Optima Health, a health plan you can count on.
Starting point is 01:27:08 encounter. Thanks for listening to this week's Best of Season 1 Part 2. This week you have heard a man wanted to buy my laptop by smiley attack. Apparently I got lucky by frappe and my stash. Ring Doorbell stolen and used to scare me Cheesy Lump My encounter at an abandoned hospital by Boy Genius I like to watch you sleep by devil and me highs Freeway Flirting Turns Frightening by Neon Cobra I just moved to a new place and met the neighbors by Dufors Russian regret by adventurous Ash Creepy Hotel staff in Egypt by
Starting point is 01:27:45 Rizovet old lady sleepover by orange EV my brother saw a ghost two decades later I realized what he actually saw by Florianizer the person in the basement by big man E I found a dead guy on the beach and possibly met his murderer by A.K. Angelica. Creep at Disneyland by... I rule you, D'Roll. And finally, past her six-piece by backing away slowly now. Don't forget to stick around after the music for your extended at-free version of this week's episode if you're a patron.
Starting point is 01:28:19 If you'd like to sign up and get access, head over to patreon.com forward slash let's not meet podcasts. To sign up and support the show today, you'll get access to all kinds of bonus content. All of the stories you've heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission of their respective authors. Let's not meet a true horror podcast is not associated with Reddit or any of the message boards online. Make sure you send your stories to Let's Not Meet Stories at gmail.com and we'll take
Starting point is 01:28:41 a look. And finally, check out the new episodes of my other podcasts, like Odd Trails, my true paranormal podcast, Welcome to Paradise It Sucks, and the Old Time Radiocast, all at crypticcountypodcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts. I'll see you all next week. Everyone, stay safe. I'm on my free set of my mind. My mom, my three siblings.

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