Let's Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast - 12x22: It's Risky Business Working at an Adult Store

Episode Date: May 27, 2024

Upcoming LNM Live Tour Dates: 8/10/24 : San Diego, CA @ House of Blues: GET YOUR TICKETS 8/11/24 : Los Angeles, CA @ The Moroccan Lounge: GET YOUR TICKETS 8/18/24: Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s: GET... YOUR TICKETS 9/19/24: Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall: GET YOUR TICKETS More Dates to be announced soon! Stories in this episode: Can I Take Some Before Photos of You? | SiegeJamal (0:39) My Friend was Acting Weird | I_am_dean (14:30) It's Risky Business Working at an Adult Store | ladyviking93 (19:57) A Perfect Night Turned into an Utter Nightmare | AritinaA (27:09) Stalker Stalking the Wrong Person | Vipas  (32:37) The Man in White | Redoceanwater (36:16) He Wanted Me And My Dog | CleoTaurusGreen (42:44) Two Bizarre Tales from Many Decades of Farming | midwestfarmkid (47:39) Extended Patreon Content: Animal Blood and Pizza | Jenna Welcome to Wells Fargo | Kristin My Two Pre-Teen Stalkers | Anonymous Due to periodic changes in ad placement, time stamps are estimates and are not always accurate. Follow: - Twitch - https://twitch.tv/crypticcounty - Website - https://letsnotmeetpodcast.com/ - Patreon - https://patreon.com/letsnotmeetpodcast - Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/letsnotmeetcast/ Check out the other Cryptic County podcasts like Odd Trails and the Old Time Radiocast at CrypticCountyPodcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts!    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! 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.    Go to https://crunchlabs.com/meet to sign your kids up for Camp CrunchLabs today! Head to https://Smalls.com/MEET and use promo code MEET at checkout for 50% off your first order PLUS free shipping!

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 This podcast contains adult language and content. Listener discretion is advised. If you have a story to share, send it to letsnotmeetstories at gmail.com. Enjoy the show. This happened in August of 2013. I was visiting Montreal for their Diver Site weekend, which was basically like Pride, but it took place the weekend before the official Montreal Pride. My best friend at the time had met a guy at Toronto Pride a month earlier. He invited both of us to come there and stay with him at an Airbnb altogether so that
Starting point is 00:01:05 he wouldn't be uncomfortable spending the weekend with someone that he was still trying to get to know. We arrived on Thursday and the trip started out great. We went out the first night and walked around on all of the streets that were closed off to cars due to the weekend festivities. The next day, our host made us a nice dinner, and then we went out that night as well. Just a quick note before I get into what happened. I was in a major party phase, and I partied quite a bit with drugs during this time of my life.
Starting point is 00:01:42 I also used to have a frequent tendency of losing my cell phone, so I stopped taking my cell phone with me whenever I went out. So that Friday night, we went out to a club that was called Parking. This place was really great, but sadly, it has since closed. It was another fun night. The music was great and the tequila shots were incredibly cheap. I was dancing and moving all around the club, but I would circle back to check with my friends and our host.
Starting point is 00:02:17 I was running into people that I knew who were visiting from Toronto as well. I ended up taking some MDMA from one of them, which made me dance even more. When I was completely soaked in sweat, I went to the bathroom to wipe myself down. When I got into the bathroom, someone was leaving, but other than that, it looked like I was the only one there. I went into a stall, and when I came out, I was quite surprised to see a man in the corner of the washroom smiling at me.
Starting point is 00:02:49 He appeared to be in his mid-thirties. He was husky and on the shorter side. He was wearing a polo shirt and jeans, and he had glasses on. I remember thinking that he reminded me of an accountant when I first saw him. Now I'm pretty sure that I did hear him come in, but I couldn't be positive, so I just smiled back and said hello as I walked over to the sink to wash my hands. "'Hello,' he responded.
Starting point is 00:03:17 "'Are you having a fun night?' "'I replied that I was and said that I thought "'the music was incredible as I was wiping myself and my shirt with paper towels. Do you want to do some coke with me? He asked. Now, this was not the first time I had been offered coke in a bathroom at a nightclub. I had done this in the past and ended up having some really good experiences and I met some interesting people. up having some really good experiences and I met some interesting people. That being said, plus the fact that I was already pretty drunk and high, I didn't think too much of it. Sure, I'd love to, thanks," I said.
Starting point is 00:03:56 I live right near here. The Coke is over at my place. If you don't mind leaving for a bit, we can do some lines, have a drink, and then walk back to the club," he offered. Obviously, in hindsight, I do realize I made some poor decisions. I can't imagine myself being as careless as I was back in these days. Without thinking twice about it, I agreed, and I left the club with the man that I'd just met. We chatted during the walk over to his place. I agreed, and I left the club with the man that I'd just met. We chatted during the walk over to his place. He asked me where I was from, since he said I didn't seem like I was from Montreal.
Starting point is 00:04:35 He also asked me which parties that I had gone to, how old I was, and what my name was. I asked him for his name, but instead of responding to that, he let me know that we had arrived at his place. The whole walk felt like it was five minutes, but honestly, I hadn't been paying too much attention to where we were going or how long we were walking. His apartment was in a building that had three floors. His unit was on the second floor, and you had
Starting point is 00:05:05 to climb this long, narrow, metal staircase to get there. The door to his apartment was in the middle of two other doors which seemed to be doors to two other apartments on either side. He unlocked the door and let me in first. Then he flicked on the lights and told me to make myself comfortable. As I was walking in, I noticed that he had carpet, so I turned around to ask him if I should take my shoes off. That's when I noticed that he was locking the door from the inside with a key. There was a second lock right above the regular lock. Now at that moment, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of dread like I had never felt before. The danger I realized I had possibly put myself in flooded my mind.
Starting point is 00:05:55 I was in another city with no cell phone and nobody knew where I was, and on top of all of that, I was now seeing the stranger locking their door from the inside with the key. I just thought to myself, I'm going to pretend that I didn't see that. I won't take off my shoes and I'll politely hang out for a few minutes then ask to head back. I also thought that I could be overreacting to what I saw since I was high. But as I continued to look around, everything inside of me was screaming at me to get out of there. I went and sat on the arm of the couch, and he said that I should take my shoes off and relax. I was getting a better look at him, now under the lights of his apartment. He looked pretty ordinary, unassuming, and his eyes looked shifty.
Starting point is 00:06:49 I watched as he pulled down the shades that were on the windows on each side of the door. I told him that I was okay, I didn't need to relax or get too comfortable, since I was eager to get back to the club and start dancing again. He said that he would make some drinks for us, then we could go back. The apartment looked much bigger on the inside than it did from the street. It had an open layout with the living room beside the kitchen, and then a hallway in the middle with closed doors that were painted black. I could hear music coming from one of the rooms behind one of the closed doors that were painted black. I could hear music coming from one of the rooms behind
Starting point is 00:07:25 one of the closed doors. I asked him if someone else was there as he came from the kitchen with the glass and he replied that there was not. As he handed me the drink, he looked me up and down as if I weren't wearing a shirt. An increasingly creepy smile spread across his face as he said, you have a beautiful body, especially your chest. Would you mind if I took some photos of you before we go back? Before photos? Every alarm bell was going off in my head at this point. All I could think about was Jeffrey Dahmer and all his Polaroids. I had no idea what I was going to do. That was such a creepy thing to say. All I could manage to do was politely laugh as I took the drink and I said, "'Sure.'
Starting point is 00:08:18 "'Excellent,' he replied. Then he told me to take off my shoes while he went to get the coke and his camera. He told me to finish my drink. He walked down the hall and took out his keys to unlock the second door. He opened the door enough to slip in and close it behind him. The second that door was closed, I jumped up and ran over to the sink, then dumped my drink out. My shirt was tied around a belt loop on my shorts, so I put it back on and ran to the front door. I was able to turn the knob and unlock the regular lock, but the door wouldn't budge.
Starting point is 00:08:59 I kept turning and pulling the knob, but nothing. The door would not open. Then I heard from behind me, What are you doing? I turned around and he was standing at the entry of the hallway. He had one of those professional cameras slung around his neck as he was holding a square mirror with a pile of white powder on it. I thanked him for the drink as I gestured to my empty glass and said that it was getting late and I needed to get back to the club. I suggested that we exchange
Starting point is 00:09:31 numbers and maybe meet up the next day. His demeanor changed. He was still smiling, but the tone in which he spoke sounded irritated. He asked me if I was nervous about having my photo taken, and he said that I should just wait for my drink to relax me. I said no, I want to go. This exchange of him telling me to stay and me saying no went back and forth for about a minute until he suddenly glared at me, put the mirror down, pointed at the couch and sternly said, sit down now. Not knowing what to do or how to get out of this,
Starting point is 00:10:13 I remembered that there were other units on each side of us. It had to be 2.30 in the morning at this point. So I started screaming at the top of my lungs like a madman. I was banging on the door and the windows and the walls Shut up. Be quiet. He snapped at me as he ran to the door He quickly unlocked it and told me to get out as he stepped aside. I Bolted out of the door and ran downstairs. I Skipped the bottom steps and hopped over the side of the railing just to get out of there quicker. I looked up behind me when I landed and he
Starting point is 00:10:50 wasn't there. But I heard a door slam and I took off running down the street. I hadn't paid attention on the walk so I didn't know which way to run but I knew that the club had to be close by. Luckily, I was able to wave down a taxi passing by to take me back there. When I got back to the club, I found my friend in the same spot, dancing. The whole incident must have been a half hour at most. I was so embarrassed about the decisions that I made. When I was back at the club,
Starting point is 00:11:25 I started to feel bad about freaking out on this guy. I felt like it was possible that I overreacted, and maybe he was being nice. So I didn't say anything about what happened. I just stayed with my friend by their side until we decided to leave shortly after I got back. The entire thing felt surreal. I thought about the situation the next day, and I decided to tell my friend about it. As I was telling my friend, I was kind of laughing it off
Starting point is 00:11:56 and joking about getting murdered. I was trying to make light of it because, well, it was so scary. It wasn't until years later after joining message boards and reading similar stories about creepy encounters that I started to think about what happened that night. Reading other people's stories made me realize how much potential danger I put myself in. So to the strange man in the bathroom who lured me to his place and wanted to take before photos of me? Let's not meet ever again
Starting point is 00:12:52 Thanks to Crunch Labs for sponsoring this portion of the podcast. Crunch Labs Buildbox is a STEM subscription where you get a really fun build-it-yourself toy in the mail. But it's not just for kids. Actually, I worked one of their kits with my parents recently. They were visiting last week and we built this really cool gyroscope walker. Honestly, we had a blast. I really like them. I'll be signing up for Crunch Labs myself, but it's especially great for kids. For the summer, starting in June, Crunch Labs is hosting Camp Crunch Labs, where kids get 12 build-it-yourself toys with one shipped every single week. Plus,
Starting point is 00:13:24 you get access to exclusive Mark Rober videos and weekly challenges that are chock full of the juiciest engineering nuggets yet, growing kids' brains all summer long, making it the least boring summer ever. It's definitely going to become a weekly thing for me and my family. Mark Rober, the head engine nerd at Crunch Labs
Starting point is 00:13:44 and former NASA engineer, will assign six challenges during camp, and he'll choose a winner from submissions posted on social media for each challenge. One lucky winner will get to visit Crunch Labs and be in the final summer video with Mark Rober. Crunch Labs is an exciting company to partner with because they teach kids, and kids at
Starting point is 00:14:06 heart, to think like an engineer. We need more of this in today's society. Go to KronchLabs.com slash meet to sign your kids up for Camp Kronch Labs today. Now back to the show. This happened over 10 years ago when I was a sophomore in high school. My parents had just enrolled me in a high school at the beginning of the year. I was 16 and had previously homeschooled for the past six years. I didn't know anyone who went there except for my older cousin Anthony, who was in the grade above me.
Starting point is 00:14:53 I was nervous about this new venture, so I had my parents call Anthony to ask him to help me transition into being in this new learning environment, also a new social environment. On my first day at the new high school, my parents dropped me off, and I saw Anthony right away, since he was waiting for me. He greeted me and said that I could hang out with him and his friends.
Starting point is 00:15:19 Then he immediately brought me over to a group of six guys. They were odd. All of them were sporting death metal shirts, and they were just standing around, not talking. It was a stark contrast to myself, a 16-year-old girl who did ballet and was rather outgoing. I quickly inserted myself into the group, and they took to me right away and started calling me their little sister. One guy in particular, who we'll call Mark, especially took a liking to me. He was by far the strangest since he was always talking about death metal and death in general. He loved me like a sister, though though and we hung out all the time.
Starting point is 00:16:07 Fast forward a few years to my senior year. My cousin Anthony, Mark, and the rest of the friend group had all graduated. Anthony and Mark were attending the same college and sharing a dorm. Their school was 45 minutes away from where I was living but they told me that I could make the drive whenever I wanted to stay with them for the weekend. So I did. I took them up on this offer, and pretty much every single weekend. After I finished ballet practice at the end of the week, I would then drive up to visit
Starting point is 00:16:41 them. One Friday night, my cousin called me and told me that under no circumstances was I to come up for the weekend. Now I was looking forward to my weekend visit, so this upset me, and I asked him why. At first, all he would say was that Mark was being weird. I questioned him further, and my cousin eventually explained that one day, when he went to work, Mark texted him and said that he was going robo-tripping. Now robo-tripping is when you consume excessive amounts of Robitussin to experience a high,
Starting point is 00:17:20 and sometimes you will have hallucinations. Mark asked my cousin if he wanted to join. My cousin said no and thought that that was that. A few hours later, Mark called Anthony and he sounded really messed up. He told my cousin not to come home and advised him to go to his parents' house for the weekend. My cousin was frustrated because he didn't want to drive 45 minutes at 10 p.m. to go back home. He asked Mark why he should come home, and Mark just said, The voices are telling me to kill the next person I see and I don't want to kill you,
Starting point is 00:18:00 Anthony. As jarring as this was to hear, I wasn't too surprised since, as I said before, Mark had always been a little weird. Remember, obsessed with death. During high school, at parties, he always tried to get people to stab him. He always got in weird random fights and seemed to feel genuine joy when watching other people experience pain. So I listened to my cousin, and I agreed that I would not come up to visit. About thirty minutes after my cousin called me, Mark called me. He asked me to come over, but I lied and told him I had to go to ballet practice the next morning
Starting point is 00:18:45 and I couldn't come. He was annoyed, but he said, okay. The next day, Anthony picked me up and we went to his dorm. When we walked in, we saw Mark. He was passed out, clutching a knife in his hand. He carved, I must kill, into the walls. He also had numerous cuts on his arms and he had smeared his blood on the walls. We took the knife away from him and woke him up. He said that he was fine, but when he was robo-tripping, he heard voices.
Starting point is 00:19:22 They were telling him to kill. I've since moved out of state and lost touch with Mark. I graduated with a degree in chemistry, and the last time I talked to my cousin, he said that Mark was doing well. That was good to hear, but I'm pretty sure if I had gone over there that night, I would be dead. This is a story about one of my memories from when I worked at an adult store. I was 19 when I worked there, and since I don't want to give too much information, I'll just refer to the store as The Spot. So The Spot was a mom-and-pop run chain that had at least 12 locations.
Starting point is 00:20:19 On average, two people were working in the store. The two staff members would alternate days, so every other day of the week an employee would work a whole 9 a.m. to midnight shift all by themselves. I didn't mind this schedule since I kept myself busy. I always brought a taser with me just in case, though. One evening at around 11.30 p.m., I heard the basic beep at the front door, notifying when somebody opened it and entered the store. When I looked up from the register to greet the late-night guest, a nauseating smell began to slowly creep up my nostrils.
Starting point is 00:21:03 It was a strong concoction of a barn with way too many animals in it and a hint of something very old and rotten. His choice of clothing rather complemented the smell. He was wearing horrendously dirty boots that instantly flaked bits of dried mud on my recently cleaned floors. He was also wearing faded jeans that were just as bad as the boots. They were caked with dried mud up to the knee and flaking everywhere. His red button-down flannel was tucked in and covered in dark stains. His freckled face and sandy blonde hair were surprisingly clean, though.
Starting point is 00:21:47 It looked like he had just showered and put all of his dirty clothes back on. Hi, I greeted him with a fake smile. Welcome to the spot. Is there anything you're looking for in particular this evening? I was trying not to look bothered by the god-awful barn smell and the dirt flaking everywhere. He smiled and stated that he needed bed restraints. He wanted to browse our selection of toys that would, and I quote, satisfy a more sadistic pleasure. He flashed me a big smile as he made this request.
Starting point is 00:22:21 Now, this didn't strike me as strange, since I heard weird comments like that all of the time. So it didn't bother me. Yet. I showed him the three different options that we had for restraints. He picked one out, and then walked over to our little stand of whips. I let him know that everything we had was out on the floor, and that if he had any questions, just to let him know that everything we had was out on the floor and that if he had any questions, just to let me know. This was when things got weird. Every few minutes, he would pick up an item and ask if we had something bigger or more
Starting point is 00:22:56 invasive or intense. Every time he asked, he wouldn't break eye contact with me, as if he didn't want me to miss a twitch of discomfort that he was deliberately trying to cause. Every time he said something, I stood my ground and flatly told him, Sir, as I said before, unfortunately, all of our stock is on the floor. By the time he asked me about a red vinyl tarp. I couldn't stand it anymore. Do you happen to have this in another color? He asked, almost hopeful that we might have something he'd prefer in the back. I told him we didn't have any other colors, almost desperately, as it was eleven fifty-five, and I just wanted this guy out of my store. It's a shame you don't have this in any colors."
Starting point is 00:23:46 He sighed as he looked at me, waiting for some kind of reaction. I figured I should just say something to try and satisfy him so he would finally leave and let me for-breeze the barn smell into oblivion and go home. I said, I'm not a huge fan of the red tarp. Personally, I think it looks like something someone would use in a snuff film. He giggled nervously at the end of that comment. He then chuckled and looked at me excitedly, like he was about to blow my mind with some amazing information.
Starting point is 00:24:23 And to be fair, I guess he technically did blow my mind. You're too sweet and young of a thing to know anything about those kinds of films, Babydoll. But I'll be upfront with you. People who watch or make those movies love gory ones. The more blood, the better. They drink that shit up like a desperately needed Monday morning coffee." He then paused, winked at me, and checked his phone. I stood there completely frozen, trying to wrap my head around what he had just said. Then he gasped. I'm sorry, it's 122, you need to close.
Starting point is 00:25:05 I'm ready to go. He quickly dashed to the register and I instinctually followed and logged into the register to complete the transaction. I handed him his bag and his receipt as he decided to take a step back and look me up and down. Looking rather pleased, he asked how far I planned on going into the adult entertainment business. I said I was just interested in working at the store and that was as far as I intended to go. He frowned slightly and replied, That's a shame. You would be a hit as the star in the upcoming
Starting point is 00:25:41 film I'm producing. I laughed nervously and said that I wasn't interested. He laughed. Oh, I'll be back for you. Then he called me baby doll. I just don't let pretty young things like you out of my grasp. I'll see you again. And with that, he slipped out the door and I quickly locked it behind him. I stood there for a couple of minutes, my hand never leaving the lock.
Starting point is 00:26:10 Thoughts filled my head to capacity as I began to think of reasons as to why he had dark stains on his shirt and smelled so terrible. Thinking of the smell made me realize the scent was still lingering in the store. I hastily closed down the register and scanned the empty parking lot before unlocking the door to exit the store. As I was walking to my car, I held my taser in one hand and my keys in the other. Thankfully I got back to my car safely and made it home. I worked there for a couple more months, and he never came back, as far as I know. So to the creepy film producer who told me how much snuff film fans loved Blood and then
Starting point is 00:26:56 asked me to star in his upcoming film, let's not meet. It was late summer when my teenage friends Natalie, Owen, and I went to a dance club on Hollywood Boulevard on a Saturday night. We had a perfect night. We danced our 18-year-old butts off and at about 2 a.m., we headed out of the club to Owen's car since he drove us all to the club. Owen's car was parked one block south of Hollywood Boulevard, right across the street from Hollywood High School.
Starting point is 00:27:38 As we were walking to his car, we heard several footsteps behind us. We turned around and saw six or seven guys walking fast. I figured they were probably going to their car, until I heard the footsteps pick up the pace as they drew closer. Natalie was nervous, so she started running towards Owen's car, which was now in sight. When she took off, Owen and I didn't have to be told to run. We followed Natalie, immediately, and all three of us were running as fast as we could since at this point we realized those guys were coming after us.
Starting point is 00:28:14 Natalie got to the car first, and luckily, she had left the back door unlocked. So she got inside the back seat and opened the front passenger door for me. I hurriedly got inside and slammed the little button down, locking my doors. As I looked over to the driver's side, I saw Owen unlocking his door. He got inside the car, but before he had the chance to close his door, one of the guys grabbed the door and flung it open. Then he and the other guy started punching Owen in the face repeatedly. Meanwhile, the other guys were trying to open my door and Natalie's
Starting point is 00:28:51 door. They were screaming, open the fucking door you bitch, and banging on the car windows. We were frightened, we were crying, screaming, crouching down and praying that they didn't get to us. Lucky for Owen and all of us, a group of people turned the corner and started walking down the street that we were on. When our attackers saw these people, they abruptly stopped and ran away. After they ran away, I was finally able to look at Owen. Into my horror, I saw that his face was covered in blood. I was shaking, crying, and laughing.
Starting point is 00:29:27 I was in shock. It was the weirdest reaction, but I just couldn't help myself. I had no control over anything. I finally wrapped my arms around Owen's neck and asked him, through tears, if he was okay. I also asked if we should go to the hospital, but he stoically said, I'm alright. It looks worse than it is.'" Owen was always and still is the most loving, peaceful, spiritual, mellow, and kindest person
Starting point is 00:29:53 that I've ever known. It hurts even now thinking about what he had to endure. Why would anyone do that to three 18-year-old kids? It's beyond my ability to comprehend. To this day, this is the worst unprovoked and terrifying thing that has happened in my life. It took me a long time to be able to go out after sundown after this happened. Cats make wonderful companions. I see it in the relationships my closest friends have with their own cats.
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Starting point is 00:32:14 One last time, that's promo code meet for 50% off your first order plus free shipping at Smalls.com slash meet. Now back to the show. I'm a person with pretty long hair, but I'm not female or trans. But there is a girl I had a class with at my university last year who had the same hair color and style that I do. She has long, black hair, she's quite popular, and usually gets asked out a lot. Sometimes people confuse me with her, due to both of us having similar hair and similar
Starting point is 00:33:02 height. One night, last February, I had finished all my schoolwork and then packed my bag since the university was being let out for our term break. My hometown is in British Columbia, and my university was far away, so I needed to fly home. I opted to leave that night instead of waiting for the next day since my trip was long distance. As I was leaving, it was dark out but I figured that walking the single kilometer to a friend's house when it was dark wouldn't be dangerous.
Starting point is 00:33:35 Plus, I used to play a bunch of sports in high school, so I feel like my personal strength was enough for me to be able to defend myself if I needed to. Additionally, I live in Canada. It's quite safe here. So I walked on. It was around 10.30 when I started walking. A lot of the students had already left the campus by the time I was heading out, so there weren't a lot of people out and about with me.
Starting point is 00:34:02 Those who were probably just decided to spend another night in the dorms before leaving for break. After around 800 meters of walking, I felt the presence of somebody walking behind me. Suddenly a man approached from behind. He put his arm around my neck and started choking me. It took me a good second to realize what was going on since I was in shock. I couldn't believe that somebody was choking me. I was being choked so hard I could feel my jugular vein expanding and throbbing due to the lack of space for blood to go through. So then I kicked my leg back behind his and kicked the back of his knee as hard as I could. I kicked him back there since it's usually a sensitive spot.
Starting point is 00:34:52 I knew that this was my best bet. That made his knee bend forward and he started falling to the ground. He was still holding on to me, so I kicked him in the groin and finally he let go a bit. Then, once I was out of his arms, I punched him in the face. In this adrenaline-filled moment, I thought that he was going to attack me again, so I punched him a few times to make sure that he would stay down. I then ran and called the police. Thankfully, other than being choked, I was okay.
Starting point is 00:35:26 I didn't have any damage done to me. And it turns out the guy who snuck up on me was a stalker. He was stalking the girl I had a class with who looked very similar to me. He confused me for her. He ended up getting arrested. He was charged with assault and stalking. However, I don't really know what came of that, if anything.
Starting point is 00:35:50 I hope that this story can inspire others to not panic in situations like this. it as soon as possible. This took place in 2002. I was 13 and I had just started middle school. I was open to hanging out with many different groups of people, but I found myself very interested in the punk goth group, mostly because I had a crush on one of the boys who had shoulder-length straight black hair and constantly wore a black floor-length trench coat. Shortly after meeting him, he became my first boyfriend and I wanted to
Starting point is 00:36:46 make sure my style complemented his. I loved the style anyways, but matching him made it seem even cooler back then. He also gave me an old skateboard to practice skating with because he loved skateboarding. I came home from school one day and I begged my mom to take me to the mall to get some new clothes. My poor mom, who had just bought me tons of new school clothes, was kind enough to take me to get new clothes in this new style that I wanted. She was a saint. So, we went to the mall and I headed straight for Hot Topic, Zoomies, Spencer's, and
Starting point is 00:37:26 PacSun. My mom wasn't ready for me to be shopping around Hot Topic, so she ushered me over to PacSun where she bought me a pair of black wide leg cargo pants, a black hoodie with a red independent logo, and some skate shoes. Essentially a skater girl starter pack. We got home at around 8pm and I asked if I could go to my friend's house to show off my cool new look. She said no since it was getting late and it was a school night.
Starting point is 00:37:56 So I put all of my new clothes on and decided to go out to the driveway to practice some kickflips. As I was heading downstairs I decided that maybe I should bring the cordless phone with me. This was before kids having cell phones was commonplace. The cordless phone didn't have much reception beyond the front porch, but I felt better having it with me. I put the bulky phone in my pocket, took another look at myself in the mirror, and decided
Starting point is 00:38:24 to put my very long hair into a ponytail so that I could tuck it into my hoodie and pull the hood up. I had a gut feeling that something might happen, so I felt safer disguising myself a bit. My dad was playing video games in the family room, which had windows facing our court and driveway. I told him I was going to leave the front door open and close the glass storm door to let some light out for me in the front. I also wanted to make sure that my mom and stepdad could easily keep an eye on me.
Starting point is 00:38:58 I have no idea why I had all of these inklings, but I was listening to them. I walked out the door to the end of my driveway and started messing around with the board. I had been out there for maybe five to ten minutes when I spotted a figure in the distance. When I got a good look, I realized it was a man dressed in all white. He was wearing what looked like an all-white Sean John sweatsuit with high-top sneakers and a white pageboy hat. He stood out in the dark night as his clothes were practically illuminated under the glow of the street lamps. I didn't recognize him, and we didn't really have a lot of random people walking around my house since my court sat at the bottom of two inclined roads.
Starting point is 00:39:50 People typically took different routes that didn't require walking uphill or downhill. He was walking purposefully with a sort of limp, but the limp was intentional as that was actually the vibe back then. I could tell that he thought it looked cool. His head looked down towards the ground the whole time as he slowly made his way down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. I stopped kicking my board around and stayed quiet, watching this guy. Once he got to where my court was, he crossed the street. I could feel myself getting
Starting point is 00:40:26 nervous, but I kept watching him while he continued straight ahead. As I passed my court, the worry left me, and I went back to my skateboard. I did a kickflip, landed it, and then turned around to see if this guy was still on the path walking away from my house. Suddenly, I saw him turn around and start walking back toward my court. I stood there so confused because he wasn't picking up the pace, but he finally looked at me. I waited to see if he would continue straight forward or turn into my court. I was hoping he would just keep walking, but then I saw his body shift to the left and turn onto the sidewalk that led directly to my driveway. I kicked my board up into my hands and darted to my front porch immediately.
Starting point is 00:41:17 When I turned to look back, he was standing on my driveway, inching himself forward. As I swung the door open, I heard him call me a bitch, and then I ran inside. I locked the door and ran upstairs to my sister's room to look out her window, which overlooked the driveway. He was still standing there, with a wide-legged stance. His hands were clenched into fists. He wasn't moving at all. I was frozen in fear, and he appeared to be frozen in anger. After about thirty seconds, he turned around and went back in the direction he had originally come from. I don't know what he wanted or what he was going to do, but this situation, it gave me a terrible
Starting point is 00:42:03 feeling. I didn't tell my parents until the next day. I'm not sure why I waited, but at that point, there wasn't anything that we could do. I'm so glad that I had all those prior feelings that something was going to happen, and I'm even more glad that I listened to my instinct and I stayed very aware of my surroundings. That was one of the first times I ever had a scary encounter, and it's definitely stuck out in my mind. Always be aware of people around you. You never know what could happen. This happened a few years ago when I was walking my dog as I always do.
Starting point is 00:42:50 We were in a small town where nothing really ever happened, as most people who lived there would be in for the night by 7pm. I used to walk my dog every evening at around 6, so not too many people were out, and I walked the same route every day. I typically went with my mom, but that night I went by myself since my mom was busy. I was walking by the main road, and on the other side of the path was a shop. My dog decided to stop right outside of the shop. Just then, I saw a silver car pull up and stop outside of the shop as well. At first I assumed it was just somebody stopping to go inside of the store.
Starting point is 00:43:35 I was about to continue walking when the man in the car rolled his window down and said hi to me. I could tell that he wasn't English, so I assumed he must be on a holiday, and I figured maybe he just needed directions. In the passenger seat, there was another man holding a notepad and pen, and in the back, there was a dog cage. I said hi back, and he asked where a certain hotel was. I knew where it was, so I told him where to go,
Starting point is 00:44:05 and he thanked me. When I was about to walk away, he asked, How much for the dog? I stopped and looked at him confused, so he repeated himself. How much for the dog? I told him, She's not for sale. I noticed the man in the passenger seat seemed to be taking notes during all of this. He was writing something in that notebook. The man in the driver's seat laughed and said, I love dogs, but since your dog isn't available, how much for you then? The fact that he asked how much my dog was creeped me out enough, but this was even creepier. The fact that he asked how much my dog was creeped me out enough, but this was even creepier. I laughed nervously and replied, I'm not for sale either.
Starting point is 00:44:49 Again, I noticed the man in the passenger seat writing something down. The man in the driver's seat laughed again, but I just said that I had to go and started to walk quickly in the direction I would go to go back home. When I turned around the corner, I looked behind me and I saw that the silver car was following me. I didn't want to walk home since they would know where my house was, so I went down an alleyway where a car could not fit so that I could lose them. About a year later, I was on a Zoom call for school, and a few people, as well as a teacher, were exchanging stories, telling each other about strange things that had happened to them.
Starting point is 00:45:32 One of the boys on the call said that he had a silver car pull up next to him when he was walking his dog. He said that the driver was asking weird questions about the dog, then asked the boy if he had any sisters for sale. I chimed in and let him know what happened to me, and we knew that it had to be the same man. This was further confirmed when he said that there was also a man with a notepad taking
Starting point is 00:45:58 notes in the passenger seat. Then, a few months ago, my mom's friend said that a friend of hers was walking her dog when she was approached by a man in a silver car who was asking to buy her dog. And her. He followed her all the way to her brother's house in his car, and when her brother came outside, the car sped away. To whoever that man in the silver car was, it sounds like you're still actively trying to buy dogs and women. So let's not meet again. Hey everyone, I'm taking Let's Not Meet on the road this year. Tickets for my next Let's Not Meet live tour dates are available now. On August 10th, I'll be at the House of Blues in San Diego, California.
Starting point is 00:46:58 August 11th at the Moroccan Lounge in Los Angeles, California. August 18th here in Sacramento, California at Harlow's and on September 19 in Salt Lake City, Utah at the Metro Music Hall. Links to tickets will be in the show notes as well as at let's not meet podcast.com. This is a great opportunity to hear your story in person. So if you're a local who's able to make it out to the show, make sure you let us know in your story submission so that we can add it to the setlist. Write to us at letsnotmeetstories at gmail.com. I'll see you there. I have many stories about both my farm and my boyfriend's farm that are pretty interesting,
Starting point is 00:47:47 but I'll just share these two for now. Farms in general have a lot of history, and my family's farm is no exception. My family has been farming in the exact same spot since the 1870s when my family arrived from Germany. My boyfriend and his family have been farming in the same area since the 1930s. Therefore, there are a lot of tales. My boyfriend's dad, who I will refer to as my father-in-law, since he essentially is, has seen everything at least once.
Starting point is 00:48:21 He has the most interesting stories, so I'll share a couple of his. For context, my boyfriend's family farms on both sides of the Iowa and Missouri border since they live fairly close to the state line. They have corn, soybeans, and beef cattle on pasture. I particularly loved the cattle because I love getting to jump in the ranger and ride around the pasture with my boyfriend to check on the cows. We do this almost every single night in the spring, summer, and fall to make sure that they're healthy. We are particularly checking to make sure that they're not injured.
Starting point is 00:49:02 We also account for the calves, make sure that they have enough grass, and look to see if there are any holes or breaks in the fences. In the wintertime, they get moved to a lot with a covered shed to protect them from the elements and while they're not in the pasture, we feed them hay. In the mid-2000s, my father-in-law was out in the cattle pasture. He was in the wooded area, where the trees were quite dense. This area often serves as a great deer hunting spot in the late fall or during the winter once the cows have been moved to their covered shed for the season.
Starting point is 00:49:40 That fall, he was setting up trail cams in the woods to watch out for deer in preparation for hunting season. After some time, he went back out to retrieve the memory card from the camera to review what was captured. He wanted to see if there were any big bucks roaming around. When he took a look at some of the pictures, he saw that there had been an unusual-looking man. He didn't think too much of it, as trespassers aren't exactly uncommon.
Starting point is 00:50:09 Often, it's just an annoyance rather than a cause for concern. There was no way to tell who it was, so he just forgot about it. And a few days later, he went back to hang the camera up in the tree again. When my father-in-law went back a second time, about a week later to get the camera to see the pictures, he noticed that somebody had dug three makeshift graves in the back corner of the pasture. At the head of each grave was a wooden cross with a first name on it. He unfortunately didn't catch whoever did this on the trail cam, but he alerted the
Starting point is 00:50:45 police about the situation. It seemed that, based on the names on the crosses, the police had an idea of who it could have been. Although the rural Midwest is vast, it's smaller than you think. My father-in-law wasn't sure about what came of that since he didn't pry and never attempted to get a follow-up or anything like that, but he's always said that if he hadn't discovered those empty graves in the pasture and alerted the police, they might have been filled.
Starting point is 00:51:17 This second story took place on some farms that my father-in-law had in Missouri that were bordered by the Missouri River. The Missouri River flows down through the Dakotas along the Iowa-Nebraska border. Then at Kansas City, it takes a turn and divides the state of Missouri into two until it reaches Mississippi. One spring in the late 1990s, my father-in-law was out in a field next to the Missouri River, planting corn. This was before the high-tech tools that farmers have at their disposal now were available. Nowadays, it's possible to tell if you have an issue with your machine right from the cap. As he was working, something seemed wrong, and he thought that his planter was having some issues,
Starting point is 00:52:04 so he jumped out to check if something was broken. When he got out of his tractor, he noticed a very strange smell. A bad smell. If you know anything about farming, then you know that planting season is a fast-paced time to try and beat the weather. He didn't want to get sidetracked from getting the planting done, so he decided he was more concerned about completing the planting rather than investigating the smell. He just assumed that it was a dead deer or animal of some sort washed up on the river
Starting point is 00:52:35 and continued. He kept planting crops until the planter was having problems again a few hours later. When this happened, he was at the end of the field, closer to the river. The smell was stronger and unlike anything he had experienced before, but still, he and his hired workers continued working. They just kept working until one of the hired men asked if anyone noticed the strong, bizarre smell coming from the river. My father-in-law confirmed that he had as well, and he told them that he wondered if it was a dead deer. But usually deer don't stink quite like this.
Starting point is 00:53:15 One of the hired men wandered across the field until he reached the edge of the river. The edges of the river aren't like shorelines with little sandy beaches or anything. The edges of the river, where they were, are steep and rocky, and they overlook the river many feet below. Once one of the hired men got a closer look at the bottom, he saw what he thought was an animal tangled in branches and washed up on the river. As he looked a little closer, he realized it was actually a human. They immediately called the police.
Starting point is 00:53:49 It turns out it was a missing woman who was a well-known sex worker from Kansas City who somehow made it this far downstream. Even though the police briefly questioned my father-in-law, I don't know if they ever told him who she was or how she wound up there. Luckily, my father-in-law never had to meet who was responsible for digging those graves or whoever might have been responsible for a body washing up from the river. Needless to say, I hope I don't either. Thanks for listening and make sure to stick around after the music if you're a patron
Starting point is 00:54:38 for your extended ad-free version of this week's episode. If you'd like to get access to ad-free versions of our episodes at a higher bitrate, and hours and hours of bonus content, head over to patreon.com forward slash let's not meet podcast to sign up and support the show today. This week you have heard, can I take some before photos of you by Siege Jamal? My friend was acting very weird by I am Dean. It's risky business working at an adult store by Lady Viking 93. A Perfect Night turned into An Utter Nightmare by Ari Tina. Stalker Stalking the Wrong Person by Vipas.
Starting point is 00:55:17 The Man in White by Red Ocean Water. He Wanted Me and My Dog by Cleo Torres Green and finally, Two Bizarre Tales from Many Decades of Farming by Midwest Farm Kid. 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 letsnotmeetstoriesatgmail.com if you'd like to hear them on the show. Finally, make sure you check out the new episodes of my other podcasts like Odd Trails, my True Paranormal Podcast, and the Old Time Radio
Starting point is 00:55:56 Cast at crypticcountypodcasts.com. I'll see you all next week everyone. Stay safe. I'm a six foot tall woman. I have red hair.

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